Betrayals, Alliances, & Bewilderment

Amanda goes back to the football party and Sonny goes back to the reading party. He finds all the girls facing Elizabeth, their books down, some of them with looks of total awe on their faces, just staring at the older girl.

"Finally!" Frannie says, perking up when she sees him. "Will you puh-lease get this party back on track, Uncle Sonny?"

"Huh?"

"They're not talking about books, they're talking about BOYS!" Frannie dramatically flops onto some pillows.

"My boyfriend, sorry," Elizabeth says sheepishly.

"And mine," someone else pipes up.

"He's just a potential," Elizabeth corrects her. "Mine is an actual."

"Ugh."

"Okay, okay," Sonny says, waving his fingers at all the books. "Are there any boys in those books that you girls might want to talk about?"

And that starts some excited, mumbling, and fangirling, and sharing of passages. Frannie mouths a silent "thanks" to her uncle, who smiles back at her. The party has been saved!


"Cake time!" Frannie hears Aunty Am announce from the other room as Leo's baby starts to cry. As she's finishing up stacking her books neatly, she overhears her brother asking to hold the baby to see if he can calm her down.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" her cousin Elizabeth asks. Everyone else has left the room.

"I don't' know. Are you going to dominate the entire conversation?"

"Frannie, I'm sorry I didn't mean for that to happen. It just does sometimes."

"Are you denying that you enjoy 'holding court' as your mom puts it?"

Elizabeth pouts and puts a hand on her hip. "Look, I'm trying to apologize. I didn't mean to monopolize your birthday party with my boyfriend."

"Well, you kinda did."

"Only part of it." Elizabeth grabs her arm. "Look, I'm worried about your sudden friendship with Emma. I know she's family, but you can't trust her."

"I can and I will."

Frannie leaves the room in a huff. Elizabeth puts her head down and follows her glumly.


In keeping with the two-party theme, Frannie and Frankie each have their own birthday cakes that Sonny and Amanda had carted over from Carlotta's when they picked up the twins last night. Frankie's of course is a football field, complete with plastic goal posts and enough little footballs for all of his guests. Frannie's is an open book with the titles of a bunch of her favorite books listed upon it in frosting, laid out like a table of contents. In front of it are bookmarks for all of her guests, all fanned out.

Connecting the two cakes are ribbons leading to a balloon floating high above them all, touching the ceiling.

"What's in that?" Frankie asks, pointing at it, noticing that there's what looks to be a card inside of it.

"Your birthday gift from your Aunty Am and me. You get to open that last," Sonny answers. "But right now, cake!"

"Okay, but I need to make an announcement," Frankie says.

"Okay," Uncle Sonny says, putting down the lighter for the candles that had been in his hands.

"Seeing as how now I am twelve and no longer a boy. . . "

Sonny and Leo exchange looks.

"I want you all to start calling me Frank."

This is greeted by silence.

"There you go. I said it."

Which is greeted with a bit more silence . . . until Emma breaks it.

"Frannie's no longer a little girl either!"

Frannie goes pale. Is this really happening?

"She –"

"Emma, stop," Elizabeth is tugging on her arm.

"But she –"

Elizabeth is yanking her away.

"Today, she –"

From deep in the hallway Elizabeth can be heard hissing, "You shut up right now, Emma, if you know what's good for you."

They don't hear any more out of Emma.

Sonny sidles up to Amanda and says quietly, "That didn't sound good. Want me to go check on Emma?"

"No. Elizabeth's got it," she answers.


"You two can finally join the land of the living," Elizabeth says to the twins, clapping her hands as their present from Uncle Sonny and Aunty Am is revealed.

Inside the balloon conjoining their cakes is a card detailing that they will be receiving . . .

Two phones. TWO PHONES. Two separate phones after the party. Woo-hoo!

Turning twelve is sweet!

"How?" Frannie asks, knowing about their financial limitations.

"We worked it out with your mom," Sonny says.

"Like in a lawyerly kinda way, huh?" Frank asks.

His uncle just chuckles at him. "Don't worry about the fine print there, buddy. Just enjoy your phone."

"Make sure to put my new number down as 'Frank' now, okay?"

"Will do, Frank."

He beams.


"Yo Frank, when did Frannie and Emma become best cousins?" Tyler asks as he tosses the football to his buddy out in the yard.

"Wait? What? Who told you that?" Frank is perplexed, almost missing the ball. "They're not best cousins. Are they?"

"I don't know. That's what some of the girls said. There was some big showdown between Frannie and Elizabeth over it."

"What?" Frank turns to Jesse and gently throws her the ball, turning this into a game of three-way catch.

"That's what they're saying," Tyler says, holding out his hands for the ball next.


Frannie is standing near the window, looking outside. Watching Tyler play catch with Frankie and Jesse through the glass as the party winds down. Elizabeth comes up to her.

"Thanks for the save," Frannie says.

"No problem," Elizabeth responds. "I would have been humiliated. Didn't want that to happen to you."

"How did you know?"

"Know what? What happened today or that Emma is evil?"

Frannie wrinkles her nose, thinking. "Both. Either."

"Well, I've been around the block," Elizabeth says, puffing out her chest a little. "And I AM two years older than you. I've gotten it already myself."

"Again, how . . . ?"

"It was just obvious to me, I don't know." Elizabeth shrugs. "Especially when Emma started to open her big mouth."

In unison, the cousins both shake their heads with disgust at the memory.

"That girl is evil," Elizabeth says quietly. "Silent but deadly. Like a fart. You gotta watch out for those quiet types. They'll screw you."

"I didn't know. We're cousins. She was the first girl here, you know. After it happened I wanted to share it with someone besides Aunty Am. And Emma is family. I thought sharing something like that would make us closer for some reason. I don't know. . ." Frannie thinks in silence for a bit, chewing her inner lip, suddenly remembering why she had invited Elizabeth to the party after all. Even though she could be horribly obnoxious at times, Elizabeth always had her back. Always.

"Well, you're close to people . . . and then you're not." Elizabeth shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant instead of sad. "Story of my life."

"Were you close to your dad?"

Silence.

"I mean, before he left?"

"I don't want to talk about that," Elizabeth answers. "My boyfriend is nicer."