Author's note
Awe, thanks guys, I've only launched this for 2 hours and I've gotten positive feedback plus constructive criticism! I love it, sorry the characters sounded so formal, I had just finished writing an essay for school and I guess it kind of stuck, lol but thanks a bunch and I hope you enjoy!
They all gather in the Wong's white living room waiting for everyone to sit down before they begin. Once they do they wait for Mrs. Hawthorne to begin speaking, all of them are curious to what the girls had thought during this book because Becca Chadwick had joined the book club that year, and they all knew that meant trouble.
From the Wong's kitchen you can smell the Cinnamon rolls Mrs. Wong had promised the day before. "Aunt Lilly when will they be done?" Cassidy begged "I'm starving!" Clementine rolls her eyes "It's as though I don't feed you." Cassidy sticks her tongue out at her mother then replies "Well I have to get my energy from somewhere." Lilly chuckles then assures Cassidy that they will be done in around fifteen minutes "Enough time to finish a chapter," prompted Phoebe who was eager to continue the story.
The seating was different at the Wong's, mostly because they had more room but the girls still wanted to sit on the rug while the adults and other family members sat on the couches.
"Since its Megan's chapter first, let's has Lilly read." said Phoebe. Mrs. Wong, sensing Mrs. Hawthorne's eagerness accepted the book without hesitation and began reading Megan's chapter.
Autumn
"It's fun to be almost grown up in some ways, but it's not the kind of fun I expected, Marilla. There's to learn and do and think…"
-L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
"That exactly how I felt on my thirteenth birthday." Sighed Jess, remembering what had happened that day. Darcy, who sat right next to her, sensing her discomfort patted her softly on the back. Jess looked up and shot him a grateful smile, happy she had such a great guy.
Megan
"Well, this is a pretty kettle of fish."
-Anne of Green Gables
"I can only imagine what that means this chapter is about." Chuckled Darcy. "With these girls it could mean anything." Replied Stewart, who barely finished the sentence before his girlfriend jabbed him in the ribs, the room fluttered with laughter before Mrs. Wong continued.
"What are you girls up to out there?" I swear all mothers have radar that doesn't quit.
"Lilly, I think she's on to us." Says Shannon, the rest of the room chuckled and to press the point of laughter the moms gave each other worried glances, which worked because the room soon filled with laughter, which startled young Chloe, who began to cry. Once Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid calms her down, she motions Mrs. Wong to continue.
"Nothing, Mom!" Jess calls back. Motioning frantically to Emma and me. Giggling, the two of us scoop up the evidence—garlic powder, cinnamon, peppermint extract, and blue food coloring—and hastily stuff it back into the spice cupboard.
"So I was right! There was something going on, I knew that radar would come in handy…I mean nothing." Jokes Mrs. Delaney "Haha nice save mom," says Jess rolling her eyes but you can tell she's joking because she has a smile pasted on her face. "Hey, a mother's intuition is always right." Phoebe adds smiling.
"Doesn't sound like nothing to me."
As though on cue Mrs. Delaney does a victory dance, as this happens Jess hides herself in Darcy's shoulder pretending to be embarrassed. "Come on Jess, you know you love the dance, even if you don't your stuck with me forever."
"Oh no, how will I ever survive." Gasps Jess in mock horror. "Well you've done a good job for the past fourteen years." Says Emma and the group laughs.
We hear Mrs. Delaney's chair scrape on the dining room floor as she pushes back from the table and comes to the kitchen to investigate. Emma and I quickly wipe the grins off our faces. Jess leans back casually against the counter, blocking our concoction from view.
"I think us mom's should take notes because now we know what they do when they try to hide stuff from us." Jokes Mrs. Chadwick, the group thinks this is hilarious because not many would dare to hind something from Mrs. Chadwick, yet no one dares laugh either.
"Hmmm," says Mrs. Delaney, scanning the kitchen suspiciously. She spots the open cupboard and lifts an eyebrow.
"Busted!" whisper yells Darcy. Megan, Emma, and Jess give each other a knowing glance. "I bet they get away with it," Stewart wages. "Same stakes Chadwick, loser pays winner two bucks?" Stewart replies without hesitation "It's on Hawthorne!"
"Uh, we were thinking of baking cookies," Jess explains, which isn'ttechnically a lie
All the mom's except Mrs. Wong raise their eyebrows as if to say "explain that." Mrs. Wong steps in and says "Don't worry it explains, well sort of."
Even though we decided not to because the kitchen is sweltering.
The mom's nod even though it's not much of an explanation.
Normally, any of our mothers would have seen through this in a flash, but Mrs. Delaney seems kind of distracted today.
"Ha! Hawthorne I was right, cough it up!" says Stewart promptly as Darcy reluctantly gives up two bucks. "I'll get you back sooner or later, Chadwick!" Darcy grumbles. "Keep dreaming Hawthorne." Stewart smirks, tucking away the two dollars Darcy just gave to him. "If you two cut it out, we can continue, you can more bets then," scolded Mr. Hawthorne with a smile that contradicted his statement. "It's not over." Grumbled Darcy but all Stewart did was smile and motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.
She shakes her head and sighs. "Please don't bake anything, girls it's hot enough here already without the oven on. We've got peppermint ice cream—
"Speaking of ice cream it looks about time the cinnamon rolls are ready!" Mrs. Wong said gleefully. The group looks eagerly once Mrs. Wong comes out of the kitchen with a plate full of cinnamon rolls. Cassidy, naturally, is the first to dive in she swallows, hard. "Eww what's in this stuff?" she asks dissecting the food. Curiously, one by one the others try the nasty concoction that Lilly created.
"Well you see I made vegan cinnamon rolls, also I replaced the frosting with cream cheese! Isn't it good?" Most of group nodded trying to keep down what Mrs. Wong made; others who were lucky didn't eat any, claiming they were full or already ate.
"How about we go to Kimble Farm after this chapter?" whispered Mr. Wong loudly enough to were the whole group could hear it except Mrs. Wong, who was happily humming in the kitchen. Once Mrs. Wong came back, she continued the story.
You can have some if you want a snack." She opens the freezer and sticks her head inside. "A day like this sure makes you wish it was winter, doesn't it?"
"Or that we had air conditioning," says Jess mournfully.
Mrs. Delaney gives Jess of soft smile and Jess gives one in return. They both know that hard times that will soon come, sensing that Jess goes over to her mom and dad and hugs them both soon returning back to her spot on the carpet next to Darcy.
Mrs. Delaney pulls her head out again and gives her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe someday, honey. Right now we have other priorities." She looks over at Emma. The smile disappears.
"Could've she written the smile fades, the smile disappearing all together makes me feel like there's something wrong with me." Emma said making a face "There was something wrong with you," Megan retorted "You were wearing a turtleneck in AUGUST! That's like almost a cry for heatstroke!" The group filled with laughter as Emma grumbles, Stewart ruffles her hair and whispered "Hey, I don't think you ridiculous, I think perfectly sane," Emma slaps his arm lightly "What, too soon?" Stewart asked ruefully with a smile on his face, Emma rolled her eyes, grinning, and then motioning for Mrs. Wong to continue.
"Emma Hawthorne, you must be roasting in that turtleneck! Didn't you offer her a t-shirt, Jess?"
The room tensed because everyone knows why Emma was still wearing that turtleneck, she was a little on the chubby side and it didn't help that Jess was petite so Emma couldn't fit in her clothes. Emma didn't care though because she was over it plus she wasn't chubby anymore, thanks to figure skating she lost some weight, not enough for her to fit in Jess's clothes, which Emma didn't care about, it was enough for her to stop feeling self-conscious, which was a good feeling for Emma.
"Yup Mrs. Delaney, I was roasting like a turkey, wearing the turtleneck was a bad idea wasn't it," said Emma smiling, signaling that it's ok to laugh; they got the message because the tension quickly relieved from the room. Taking the bait Mrs. Delaney replied "If we kept you in that turtleneck any longer, we might have had to serve you for Thanksgiving, imagine what your parents would say." She gestured to the Hawthorne's. "As long as mom doesn't have to cook I'm fine!" Darcy said bravely, his mom just rolled her eyes and said nothing.
"Phoebe, if your cooking horrible enough that you'd eat your own child for thanksgiving I think, no I must teach you how to cook!" exasperated Clementine. "I feel so loved." says Emma dryly,Stewart moves close to her ear and whispers "That's because you are." Then he quickly sits upright again leaving a blushing Emma forced to tell Mrs. Wong to continue.
(Authors note, I know early huh, don't worry it isn't over this is just a sidebar, I'm going to try to incorporate all the couple feels, I put in some Jarcy, or did I? I already forgot, lol, but at the moment I focused on Stemma, sorry not sorry, they're my favorite ship, couldn't help it. I will try to do other feels but I ship Cassidy/Tristan, Becca/Theo, and Megan/Simon, so unless I fly them in or have them on Skype or something, it won't be easy. I'm going to continue the story now.
Jess looks uncomfortable. "Uh,"
"I forgot to bring something to change into afterschool, and nothing of Jess's fits me, Mrs. Delaney," Emma replies matter-of-factly
"You're welcome Jess, I saved the scheme." Emma says proudly. "I think it was more of shenanigan," Jess responds smiling "Really I think of it more as a plot," Mrs. Hawthorne adds trying not to laugh "Really, it makes it sound as though we are trying to kill someone…that's not until next chapter." Cassidy retorts breaking the famous Hawthorne synonym game. "Haha, like they believe we tried to kill someone, even you are famous prankster isn't capable of that," Jess responded laughing, the others too even though it took a dark turn. Mrs. Wong just continued, ignoring the people trying getting their say in.
Patting her stomach. Emma is a little on the plump side, and Jess is really petite.
There was silence; Megan was about to apologize to Emma about her remark until Emma stopped her. "Hey you don't have to apologize, I know what I was but its ok, I'm over it, trust me from what I've been called when I was younger plump is a compliment, seriously though its fine." During that sentence Becca had gulped, she knew what Emma meant when she said she heard worse that's because she was the one who said it. "Emma I'm really sorry, I know you said you're over it but I still think what I said was wrong and I'm really sorry, could you ever forgive me?" Becca said hopeful that Emma would forgive her. "Becca, I already had." Emma replied and went over to hug her friend, and then she went back to her seat on the white rug and motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.
"Well for Pete's sake, you should have said something," Mrs. Delaney tells her. "We have plenty of things around here that will work for you. Hang on a sec." She trots upstairs. As soon as her mother is out of sight, Jess grabs the jar of blue liquid from the counter behind her and sticks it in her t-shirt pocket.
"Aha! I knew you were doing something behind my back!" Mrs. Delaney says triumphantly "Then you should've turned around." Jess says in response, Mrs. Delaney just sticks her tongue out at her daughter and Mrs. Wong takes this as a signal to continue.
I glance over at Emma. Emma is one of my best friends, but she's not exactly the fashion queen of Concord, Massachusetts.
"I know, that title is taken by you Megan," Emma says in a sincere voice "Thanks Em." Replies Megan smiling.
I mean, I like to dress up for the first day of school too, but a turtleneck on a day like this? You'd think she'd know by now that the beginning of September is pretty much still summer everywhere, except maybe Alaska.
"I'm aware of that Megs, I just choose to rebel against the norm." Emma said "Yeah sure Emma, are you sure it wasn't because you wanted to impress someone, maybe—" Cassidy began but didn't get to finish due to the fact that Emma through a pillow at her face. "Shut up!" said Emma, Cassidy just rolled her eyes.
At least she picked a good color
"Thank you, finally something that's not criticizing my poor choice of clothing." Mumbled Emma
Purple goes well with her brown eyes and curly brown hair. And it matches her new lavender glasses, too. Mrs. Delaney reappears and tosses Emma a white t-shirt with a heartbeats logo on it. "Try this," she says.
Heartbeats is a sore topic and the whole room knows why, Jess's mom left for a whole year to do that show when she was trying to become an actor, Mrs. Delaney left a hole in her family which really stayed for a while. Things are better but it still stings, hearing those words the entire Delaney family winces, well except the twins who have returned from New Hampshire to go to a Boy Scout meeting.
Dart sensing the sadness in Jess, gives her hand a squeeze giving her a reassuring smile. Jess felt instantly better and grateful too, not just for Darcy but for her family to be whole again.
HeartBeats is the soap opera that Mrs. Delaney was on last year. You'd never guess by looking at her now that she's an actress.
"Why gee thanks Megan I feel so loved," said Mrs. Delaney sarcastically, Megan just laughed.
When visited her in New York this past summer, she was all glamorous.
"Now I forgive you." Said Mrs. Delaney with a smile on her face, Megan rolled her eyes but she was grinning.
Now—well, now she looks the way she always did. Today, for instance, she's wearing jeans and a faded Red Sox T-shirt. She's still pretty and everything—really pretty, just like Jess
"Awe thanks!" gushed Jess and Mrs. Delaney at the same time, causing the room to burst with laughter. Darcy leaned next to Jess and whispered in her ear "She's right, you are beautiful." She began blushing madly and leaned her head on Darcy's shoulder, he smiled.
With the same sparkling eyes, though Mrs. Delaney's hair is dark, not blond like Jess's—but she looks ordinary, too. Like a mom. I wonder if she misses all the makeup and clothes and stuff from her acting job. I sure would.
The room looked her to her as though to say "answer that", Mrs. Delaney sighed and responded "I do miss being an actress-," she didn't get to finish because Jess interrupted "So you did miss it, I knew you did but I only though it was a little but I was wrong, I'm going to use the bathroom excuse me." As soon as she said that she was gone.
Panic creased through Mrs. Delaney's forehead as she ran after her daughter, god knows where she could be, this house is huge. After a few minutes of searching she found that sure enough Jess was in the bathroom. "Jess sweetheart open up," Mrs. Delaney pleaded, tears streaking her face. There was no response but the door opened a crack, not waiting for Jess to speak Mrs. Delaney opened the door as quickly as she shut it.
Jess was cradled on the floor, her eyes red. Mrs. Delaney, seeing her daughter like this began to cry even more but she had to stop herself so she could talk to Jess.
"Sweetheart, it's true I miss acting-," Jess winced "But I love being at the farm with you father, the twins, the animals, and you." Jess sniffles and wipes her face on the guest towel and looks up at her mom "I'm sorry I didn't let you finish, it's just, I don't want you to leave again." Mrs. Delaney is taken aback; she didn't want to know how her daughter carried this fear. "Honey, I know you scared but I promise you I would never separate this family again and that's a promise I intend to keep, ok?" Mrs. Delaney finishes offering a hand to her daughter who is still on the ground; Jess takes that hand and responds "Ok." "Good, now let's get cleaned up before we go back ok?" Jess nods and they get cleaned up, when they are about to return Jess gives her mom a bug hug then walks over to her spot next to Darcy.
Darcy tenses when he sees the tell tale sign that Jess was crying, he took her hand again and held it protectively as though to protect Jess from the pain she felt, it worked.
The room was silent for a bit, waiting for the appropriate time to start again. Mrs. Delaney had motioned Mrs. Wong to continue, and she did.
But Mrs. Delaney seems really happy to be back home at Half Moon Farm.
"And I Am." says Mrs. Delaney contently
"How's your mm doing, Megan?" she asks me. "We missed her yesterday at yoga class."
"She just got elected to the board of the Concord Riverkeepers," I tell her. "Yesterday was their first meeting." My mother's kind of a nature freak.
Megan instantly regrets those words as soon as her mother says them, as soon as she was about to apologize, her mom said "I prefer the title 'Savior of the planet' 'nature freak' sounds so bland." The room erupts with laughter, as soon as it dies down Mrs. Wong continues.
If something on the planet needs saving or protecting, you can bet Lily Wong is there on the front lines to make sure it gets done.
"That will be my slogan!" Mrs. Wong chuckles.
"Oh that's right, she told us about that," Mrs. Delaney replies. "I guess I forgot," She spots a pile of mail on the counter where Jess left it. "Bills, bills, nothing but bills," she grumbles, flipping through the envelopes. Shaking her head she disappears back into the dining room.
Jess gets three bowls from the cupboard and dishes up some ice cream for us. Crossing the kitchen, she beckons Emma and me to follow. One of her chickens—Johnny Cash or Elvis or something, I can't keep their names straight—darts in the minute she opens the screen door. Jess nabs it and it lets out a big squawk.
"You know the rules, Loretta," Jess tells it firmly
"So close Megs," Jess says laughing, as does the rest of the group. "I know I'm not the only one who doesn't know their names." Megan said defensively. Most of the group admits to not knowing the names but they continue to laugh anyway.
"No chickens in the house!"
Sometimes I still can't believe I'm friends with somebody who talks to chickens. Or somebody who even has chickens.
"Thanks Megs, you make me feel so special." Says Jess sarcastically "Your welcome Jess, I'm glad you feel that way." Megan replies. Jess sticks her tongue out at her and then Mrs. Wong continued.
Emma and I follow Jess to the barn. Mr. Delaney let us fix up an old storage room in the hayloft for a secret hangout. Not that it's much of a secret, what with Jess's little brothers always sneaking around.
Right now, there's no sign of them. We scared them off after we caught them spying on us in Jess's room when we were changing out of our school clothes.
The room filled with an uncomfortable silence so Mrs. Wong just continues on with the chapter.
They'll turn up eventually, though—they always turn up—and when they do we'll be ready, thanks to the concoction that's safely in Jess's pocket.
"I wish it could stay summer forever," sighs Emma
"I couldn't agree with you more Emma." Responds Mrs. Chadwick looking contently out the window at the summer sun.
Climbing up the hayloft ladder behind me.
"Me too," echoes Jess.
Not me,I think, but I don't say anything.
"Same Megan, if it was summer everyday there would be no hockey season." Said Cassidy, no one in the room seemed to be surprised.
"Shocker Sloane," Darcy retorts, Cassidy just responds by sticking her tongue out at him.
I've always liked the first day of school.
"How?" asked Cassidy with a disgusted look on her face. "Who are you and what have you've done to the real Megan Wong?" Megan just rolls her eyes.
Mostly because I get to wear one of the new outfits that I spend all summer picking out.
"Ok, I was starting to question the person the person narrating the story, I think we all were." Cassidy said, the group nodding along with her statement. Megan just began to roll her eyes once again, smiling.
I can't help it—I like clothes.
"I for one am shocked," retorted Jess smiling.
I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up.
"And looked what you've become, that and better." Beamed Gigi, Megan smiled in admiration.
"Hey, did you guys see Zach Norton at the assembly this morning?"
"Oh great, more Zach," Grumbled Stewart, the room laughed. "I don't know how many more Zach attacks I can handle." Emma rolled her eyes and said "You'll have to bear with it." Stewart pouted causing the room to laugh once again, Stewart turning a different shade of red motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.
I ask them. "He's so tall! He must have grown about a foot over the summer." I take a bite of ice cream and give Emma a sidelong glance. "He's cuter than ever too."
"Oh great, I think I'm about barf," Stewart muttered. "You and me both," Darcy grumbled "Is that all you girls talk about." Megan just rolled her eyes "Ok, the next time our thoughts get published we'll make sure to have a broader range of conversation." That had got them to shut up and sooner after Mrs. Wong continued.
Emma shrugs, but her cheeks turn as pink as her ice cream.
Stewart said some words that no one could really hear but you can tell they weren't pretty.
Lately she's been telling us that she doesn't have a crush on Zach anymore. Jess and Cassidy and I are pretty sure she still does, though.
"Was I really that obvious?" Emma asked, the four girls nodded vigorously. Emma rolled her eyes a turned away from her friends hiding her blush, once it faded Mrs. Wong continued.
Not that I'd mind if she didn't—the way I see it, the fewer girls lined up hoping Zach Norton will notice them, the better my chances are.
"Why gee thanks Megs." Emma says, Megan just makes a face and shrugs.
That fact that we both like Zach is one of the only things Emma and I have in common, when you come right down to it. Well, that and the mother-daughter book club our moms cooked up last year. We looked different, for starters.
"Seriously Megs, of course we look different." Emma laughs.
I'm Asian American—Emma's not. She's a bookworm—I'm not. I love fashion and clothes—she couldn't care less. And although she's not off the charts smart like Jess, she's a good student. Me, I just scrape by, which drives my parents nuts.
"That's right but you have gotten better." Mrs. Wong said Megan smiles at this praise suddenly glad she had brought up her grades.
Somehow, despite our differences we're still good friends.
"They say it's our differences that bring us closer together." Mrs. Chadwick says wisely, as though she were a psychologist. The room nods trying to suppress giggles at the thought of Mrs. Chadwick as a psychologist.
Emma sticks out her lower lip and puffs at her bangs, which are sticking to her forehead. It's even hotter out here in the barn than it was in the Delaney's kitchen. Jess turns on the table fan and aims it straight at the old sofa where the three of us are sitting.
"Can you believe we're in seventh grade now?" she says. "Just think—two more years and we'll be in high school."
We eat our ice cream for a while as we think this over.
"We're going to be teenagers this year," Emma adds. "We're practically grown-ups!"
"Ok Emma I wouldn't go that far but that's how I remember feeling when I was younger." Mrs. Hawthorne says as the other mothers nod along to what she just said. Emma blushes a deep shade of red and mumbles "It was a big deal at the time."
"I'm sure it was." Stewart says as he pats Emma's head, Emma sticks her tongue out and pretends to be mad but no one believed her as her blush became more pronounced.
Something I feel like I've been looking forward to being a teenager forever. And I especially can't wait until I'm old enough to date.
"Date who I wonder." Says an unfamiliar voice as the front door of the Wong's house/mansion shut closed. Cassidy and Megan both jump up out of their seats hopping their eyes don't deceive them because standing right in front of them is the Berkley Family. To astonished to move Cassidy and Megan stare blankly at each other then back at the Berkley's. Mrs. Berkley quickly explains
"Well Phoebe told me that you lot had found a book that tells your thoughts? Well, I haven't quite got a hold of the concept but since Phoebe told me that the goal is to bring you lot together and it's been working, well I was interested so I brought the family on a flight here to see what all the fuss is about!" the group took a while to take in the thought but once they did, they all greeted each other and filled them in.
"Plus, Simon and Tristan were very anxious to see you lot, especially, well you know, their girlfriends." The whole room burst into laughter, except Simon and Tristan who both groaned "Mu-um!" the laughter grew and a blush deepened on both Cassidy and Megan.
"Sloane, are you blushing?" Darcy teased but it wasn't long before a pillow was thrown across the Wong's white living room.
"CASSIDY ANNE!" yelled Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid. Cassidy just shrugged.
"Ugh, I give up." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid finished, tossing her hands up in mock-surrender.
Authors Note
No it's not over don't worry this is just a response to my previous author's where I joked that I would fly the Berkley's in, well I did. I thought the story was missing something and it seemed to fit at the time, I don't know how I will fit Theo but I'll try, keep your fingers crossed because miracles do happen as you just saw. Ok back to the story, if you're still reading that is. Later.
…
"Let's begin where we left of, this chapter in Megan's POV, this is the first day when they were in seventh grade and they are right now at Jess's house." Mrs. Wong says filling in the Berkley's, they nodded and asked Mrs. Wong to begin where she left off.
"So do either of you have any classes with Zach this year?" I ask trying to sound casual.
"By the way, Megan used to like Zach until 9th grade." Cassidy says filling them in.
"Oh, is that so?" Simon replies, not sounding the least bit pleased.
"Yeah join the club." Says Stewart, gesturing his hands as though to invite Simon to the "I hate Zach Norton club" Emma and Megan rolled their eyes.
"Seriously though it was a long time ago and if I'm not wrong did he a) kiss you in eighth-grade? And did you not also date him in the beginning of tenth?" Megan retorted feeling satisfied with herself, this sentence caused both Cassidy and Tristan to scowl.
"Hey, you had it coming." Jess said acknowledgingly, which made Cassidy laugh.
"Ok, fine you win Megan; you had logic on your side." Jess rolled her eyes as Cassidy said this.
Mrs. Wong just continued with the story before the angry Berkley boys could give their opinion, most likely against Zach.
"Zach! Zach! Ooooo, Zach Norton!" squealed a pair of voices behind us.
We whirl around to see Dylan and Ryan, Jess's twin brothers, emerge from under a pile of old horse blankets in the corner.
"I TOLD YOU TO QUIT SPYING ON US!" hollers Jess.
"Lily was it really necessary to scream that?" asked Mr. Wong rubbing his earlobe.
"Hey, that's how it's read; it's supposed to show that she is really mad, I mean why else would it be in all caps?" Lily responded.
"It was pretty scary, I've never seen Jess get so mad and I've known her for practically, what? Six years now?" Emma added as Jess nodded "Yup, six years."
She launches off the sofa toward them, but they're too fast for her. Shrieking in alarm, they duck past her out the door. The three of us are close on their heels. The boys fling themselves of the loft and tumble into the pile of hay below.
The boys, thankfully at boy scouts did not have to hear their mother silently scold them in anger and in fright.
Jess dives after them.
"Jess! That is completely unsafe! What on earth possessed you to do that?" Scolds Mrs. Delaney.
"Hey! In my defense they deserved it and don't worry no one got hurt."
"It doesn't matter! What if someone did? What then?" Fired back Mrs. Delaney furiously.
Jess shrugged meekly not really knowing how to respond.
"That's what I thought!"
Darcy in effort to comfort Jess squeezed her hand, it helped.
So does Emma.
"Are you serious? I don't feel the need to repeat what Shannon said but keep that in mind." Mrs. Hawthorne said angrily at Emma. Emma looked down at the carpet. Stewart, like Darcy, wanted to calm his girlfriend too, so he stroked her hand, she felt better.
I hesitate. My friends all love doing this, but it always seems like a long way down to me
"Good judgments call Megan," praises the moms.
"Oh really? How do think she got down?" asks Cassidy smirking at Megan.
"Megan Rose Wong how do you explain yourself?"
"Peer-pressure?" Megan shrugs
Her mom shakes her head but continues on.
I close my eyes and force myself to jump.
"See technically I didn't jump with want, forced myself to. Does that count for anything?" Megan asks
Megan's mom just shakes her head.
"Ouch!" I cry when I land, wishing I were wearing jeans and not shorts. The hay is stiff and prickly, and it jabs into my bare legs. I scramble off of it as quickly as I can and run after Emma and Jess.
We corner her brothers by the chicken coop.
"Pest Control 101," Jess whispers to Emma and me, taking the small jar from her t-shirt pocket.
"Is that the same the Carson Dawson drank on Hello Boston?" Asks Becca.
The girls nod uneasily and Becca nods in response.
"You made your brothers that?" Asks Mrs. Delaney
Jess nods once again. Mrs. Delaney cracks a smile.
"I guess they deserved it but it's still not nice."
Jess smiles to her mother and Mrs. Wong continues.
"Watch and learn." She holds it up. The blue liquid inside shimmers in the September sunlight. "Gee," she says, "too bad you guys are such little weasels—I was going to share some of this with you."
"What is it?" one of them asks cautiously. Like the chickens, I can't tell Dylan and Ryan apart.
"So I'm not alone," Becca says, most of the room nods in agreement except for Cassidy and The Delaney's.
Jess glances around, like maybe somebody is listening, and her voice drops to a whisper. "It's an invisibility potion."
Her brothers' eyes widen.
"Really?" says one of them.
Jess nods. "If you drink it, you'll disappear just like that." She snaps her fingers and looks over at Emma and me. "Isn't that right?"
Emma nods. "Yup. You'll vanish right into thin air."
"Vaporize," I tell them.
"Dematerialize," adds Jess for good measure.
The three of us are smothering grins. Emma's family invented this thing called the synonym game. I used to think it was dumb—actually, I still do—but it's kind of addictive.
The whole room nods as Mrs. Hawthorne takes a bow, being the one who invented it.
"Please, can't we try it?" one of the twins begs.
"C'mon, Jess!" says the other.
Jess shakes her head. "No way. You broke your promise. You said you wouldn't spy on us anymore."
The boys exchange a glance. With their blond curls and brown puppy-dog eyes, they look like angels, but there's hardly anything angelic about them. "Double trouble," Jess calls them. "Pests with a capital P," and she's right.
"I couldn't agree with you more book Megan and Jess," Says Emma as the room nods in agreement, even their own mother.
I still think they're kind of cute, though. I wish I had a brother or sister, but my parents decided on just one child. Me. My mother tried to explain it to me once—something about zero population growth. Another one of her schemes to save the world, as usual.
Mrs. Wong sighs. "Look if it means that much to you, and then I guess we can consider adopting…"
"Really?!" Megan exclaims.
"Nope! April Fools!" Mrs. Wong laughs.
"That's cruel, it's not even April!" Megan whines, Mrs. Wong goes over to her daughter and pats her head and when she's done and goes back to her seat Megan sticks her tongue out at her.
"We're sorry, Jess. Right, Dylan?"
"Yeah, really sorry,' Says Dylan "We promise never to do it again."
"Cross your hearts and hope to die?" Jess demands.
They both nod.
"Well, I guess in that case…" Slowly, tantalizingly, she unscrews the lid and passes the jar to Dylan.
He sniffs it cautiously. "P-U!" he cries, and hands it to his brother.
"You first."
Ryan takes a sip and makes a face.
"You have to drink more than that or it won't work," Jess tells him.
"Jessica Delaney, you're horrible," her mother jokes.
"Hey, you can't get everything being nice," she responds with a despicable smile.
Grimacing, her brother gulps down half the liquid, the passes the jar to his brother, coughing.
"Yuck! That is gross!" Dylan sputters after he finishes off the rest.
I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Beside me, Emma is doing the same. The twins crowd around us. "Is it working?" they demand.
We pretend to examine them.
"You're fading at the edges," Emma says.
"It probably takes a minute or two," I explain.
Suddenly, Jess jumps back, her eyes wide in mock disbelief. "Wow, guys, look! It worked! They're gone!"
Emma shades her eyes with her hand and scans the backyard. "Where are they? Where did Dylan and Ryan go? Do you see them anywhere, Megan?"
I shake my head, still trying not to burst out laughing. Was I this gullible when I was seven?
"Actually Megan you were," Mr. Wong began. "Back when we lived in the condo we didn't have much money and it was around Christmas time. You were desperate to see Santa but all the Santa costumes had been rented for other families so I had to improvise, I rented the only costume that was available, a bunny."
"A bunny?" Megan said, trying to choke back laughter. He nodded while everyone laughed, when they stopped which toke a while he continued. "I managed to convince that I was a representative of Santa and I was going to give you his presents for you." Everyone laughed, Cassidy almost peed her pants. Once everyone settled down Mrs. Wong continued.
Dancing around us, Dylan and Ryan chant, "Nyah, nyah! We're invisible!"
They stop and stare at each other.
"Hey, how come I can see Ryan?" says Dylan.
"Yeah, and how come I can see Dylan?" says Ryan.
"It's because you're both invisible," Jess explains, making it sound perfectly logical. "Invisible people can always see each other. It's the people who aren't invisible who can't see you."
Just then there's a crunch of gravel behind us. We turn around to see Cassidy Sloane flying up the driveway on her bike. She skids to a stop right in front of us.
"Hi guys," she says.
Dylan and Ryan poke their heads out from behind Jess. Dylan sticks out his tongue.
"Hey dude," Says Cassidy. "What's up?"
"Dang-it Cassidy you ruined it!" Tristan jokes.
"Well sorry how was I supposed to know!" Cassidy retorts.
They both smile at each other.
His eyes narrow. "How come Cassidy can see me? She's not invisible."
"Uh, it's because she has special powers," Jess replies. "Right, Cassidy?"
"I guess so," mutters Cassidy, not really paying attention. She must have ridden over straight from baseball, because she's still wearing her practice jersey. It's the same one she had on at school today. No back-to-school outfits for Cassidy Sloane.
"No matter how much I beg." sighs Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid, bouncing Chloe up and down on her leg.
"Never!" Cassidy responds.
She cares even less about fashion than Emma does. Cassidy is a jock and proud of the fact that she's the only girl at Walden Middle School good enough to make the boys' fall baseball team. I notice that her face is streaked with dirt and sweat.
"You tricked us!" shrieks Ryan. "I'm going to tell mom!"
The boys head for the house, howling for Mrs. Delaney. A minute later Jess's mother sticks her head out the dining room window. "Jessica Delaney! You are too old to be teasing your brothers!"
"But they've been spying on us again!" Jess protests.
"I don't care what they've been doing! You quit it this instant, do you hear?"
"Yes, Mom," Jess calls back meekly.
Beside me, Emma is staring at Cassidy. "Are you okay?"
Cassidy wipes her nose on the sleeve of her jersey.
Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid was about to tease her daughter's manners until she realized where the chapter was going, then turned to Cassidy.
I look at her face more closely. What I thought were streaks of sweat in the dirt are actually tears.
The whole room now stares at Cassidy; she just looks down at the floor.
I stare at her, dumbfounded. Cassidy Sloane is crying.
"Emergency session of the Mother-Daughter Book Club," Emma announces crisply. "Well, the daughter half." She tugs Cassidy toward the barn.
"Hurry, before my brothers' spot us," Jess urges.
We pick up out pace to a trot.
Once safely inside and out of sight, Jess leads the way back to the hayloft, then pulls the ladder up behind us so the boys can't follow this time.
"What's going on?" Emma asks, as Cassidy flings herself face-first into the pile of blankets.
"Nothing." Cassidy's voice is muffled.
"Doesn't sound like nothing," says Emma.
She and Jess sit down beside her. Jess reaches out and pats Cassidy on the back, the way I've seen her do with Sugar and Spice, the Delaney's' Shetland sheepdogs. "C'mon, Cassidy," she coaxes. "You can tell us."
I sit down too. The blankets smell good. In fact, the whole barn smells good—like hay and horses and leather and old wood and other stuff all mixed together. Eua de Barn. I make a mental note to jot it down in my sketchbook later. It might make an interesting men's cologne.
"Really Megan, while your friend is upset you're thinking of creating a men's cologne." Darcy laughs.
Megan shrugs because she can't quite think of a good come back.
"It's my mom," Cassidy says finally in a low voice.
Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid finally realizes why Cassidy was so upset, she gulps, and she never realized how upset she truly was.
Emma and Jess and I exchange a worried glance. Cassidy's dad died a couple of years ago. What if something's wrong with her mother?
"Is she okay?" asks Emma gently. "She's not sick or anything is she?"
Cassidy sits up. "No it's not that," she says. She draws her legs in close to her chest and rests her chin on her knees. "She's not sick," she repeats, plucking at the blankets. "It's just that she...she…" Her sentence trails off.
"She what?" I prod.
Cassidy looks up, and tears start to spill from her eyes again. She swipes at then angrily. "My mother's started dating again."
The people who didn't know now have looks of surprise on their faces. Stanley Kinkaid looks shocked, it all made sense, why she was so mean, why she was cruel, it was because she wasn't ready. He gulped because it was in some way his fault she cried.
"Stanley, it's not your fault, I just wasn't expecting it, I'm sorry." Cassidy apologized, but before he could respond she went over to her family and gave them a hug and stayed over where they sat.
"It's ok." Stanley responded, holding them all close.
"Lily, you can continue." Said Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid.
"Actually it's over, and Cassidy's chapter is next, who wants to read next?"
Courtney breaks up from the group hug and takes the book "Alright Cass, let's see what's next."
Author's note
Ok so I'm finally done, it's 12 am where I am but I finally finished the chapter, sorry it took so long, between school and band practice, I'm trying. I hope you enjoy, this is my first fan-fic. Constructive criticism is appreciated because I want to make this story enjoyable for you guys and the only way to do that is if you help too. It's a group effort. Suggestions on feels also accepted. Hope enjoyed it!
Stay rebelling,
Rebel Belle
