It was Monday afternoon, and Mary Anne once again found herself waiting in the library for Claudia and Howie to come to the tutoring session that they had set up. Except this time she was silently wishing to herself that it would never happen. She didn't want Howie to come anyway. She was not ready to face him, especially after the day that she had had.
Lost in her thoughts and apprehension over what could be, she didn't notice that Howie had walked up to the edge of the table that she was sitting at. She also didn't notice that he was holding a bouquet of flowers; daisies, to be exact.
"I got these for you Mary Anne," Howie stammered.
Mary Anne felt herself turning red. "You really didn't have to do that, Howie," she mumbled.
"Of course I did. What happened to us Saturday night was amazing. It was almost cosmic. I know now that we are meant to be together."
Mary Anne sank down deep into her chair. She saw Claudia walk into the library, and breathed a sigh of relief. They could get down to business, and then it would all be over. She was never drinking again.
Claudia walked up to the table, and her eyes glanced from Howie, to the flowers, and to Mary Anne. She broke into a grin. "So I guess everything I've heard about Erica's party is true?" she asked.
"Everything, and then some," Howie replied, grinning like an idiot.
"So about The Great Gatsby. Did either of you finish your essays yet?" Mary Anne asked, flustered.
"We're reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Mary Anne, remember?" Claudia asked
"Right, right," Mary Anne "Do either of you have any questions about it?"
"Will you come with me to the movies on Friday?"
Howie's words hung in the air waiting for Mary Anne's reply.
"I-. Um…"
"Aren't you going out of town this weekend Mary Anne? With your family?" Claudia asked
"Right. That's right Claud. I'm going out of town this weekend. With my family. Maybe another time Howie."
"Oh. Well then. I have to go," Howies stammered. He picked up his books and the flowers and started to walk away. After a few steps he turned around and thrust the daisies back at Mary Anne, and proceeded to walk out of the library without saying a word. Claudia and Mary Anne just looked at each other.
"Thanks," Mary Anne said, burying her head in her hands. Her face was so warm that she could feel it.
"So are you going to fill me in on what happened? Since I saved you from a date with Howie? You kind of owe me." Claudia stated, pulling king-size Snickers from her backpack. She undid the wrapper and started munching thoughtfully.
"I don't know what happened. I hardly even remember being at the party. Abby and Dawn were the ones that told me what happened. Maybe you should ask them," Mary Anne mumbled, still hiding behind her hands.
"Wait a second, you went to a party with Abby?" Claudia asked.
"Yeah. With her and Dawn."
"I guess I just can't exactly see you two hanging out with each other," Claudia responded. She was choosing her words carefully.
"What do you mean? I know that she's a little wild, and she's certainly annoying, but she's not that bad. I mean, we all got along okay when we were in the Babysitter's Club," Mary Anne mused.
Claudia winced when Mary Anne mentioned the club. It wasn't a part of her life that she wanted to talk about in public. "We've all changed since then. And I guess that some of us have changed more than others."
Mary Anne nodded. "What about you. Have you changed?"
"I guess. I don't know. I did some things last year that I regret. But I think that I'm back on track now. At least I'm trying to be," As she said this, Claudia motioned to her notebook and folders. "I'm really trying to get my act together in my classes anyway."
"What do you regret?" Mary Anne asked. She hadn't really talked to Claudia all last year, so all she knew about her was what she had heard from the rumor mill.
"At the beginning of last year, Stacey became obsessed with becoming the most popular girl in the freshman class. It was right around the time she started dating Sam. And I kind of went along with it. I didn't think that I would have to drop all of my old friends. But I guess I made a choice." Claudia shrugged her shoulders, and reached into her bag for a package of Ring Dings. She offered one to Mary Anne, who shook her head.
"I guess what I regret the most is that I lost most of my close friendships. I mainly only have Stacey now," Claudia continued. "I know that there are some that I won't ever be able to get back."
"What do you mean?" Mary Anne asked, furrowing her brow. She and Claudia weren't the best of friends and the current time, but she didn't see it as an impossibility.
"Last year, right before school started, Stacey and I were hanging out at the Rosebud Café. Kristy and Abby were there too, but we weren't there together or anything. Anyway, eventually Mallory Pike came in with the triplets, while we were talking to Kristy and Abby. We ended up inviting everyone to the party at Bart Taylor's house that we were going to. And…
Mary Anne's eyes grew wide. Had this been what Mallory had alluded to earlier?
Mary Anne looked at Claudia imploringly. "And…?"
"Never mind," said Claudia, suddenly seeming cold and distant. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on Claud. Just tell me."
"You don't understand Mary Anne. Stacey would kill me if I let this slip. And she's all I have left now. I've got to go."
With that, Claudia left their table and the library before Mary Anne could get in another word. Mary Anne looked down at the table she was sitting at. It was littered with notebooks, pens, a bouquet of flowers, and junk food wrappers. This could possibly have been the most unsuccessful tutoring session ever.
Mary Anne started to pick up and sort out everything on the table. She didn't want the flowers, but she felt bad throwing them away. She took them with her, and hoped to herself that no one would notice her walking with them.
Lucky for her, the halls of Stoneybrook High were empty, as was the parking lot. Mary Anne began the walk home. Thankfully, she didn't see any one that she knew, and soon enough she was walking down Burnt Hill Road. As she became closer to her house, she was surprised to see that Sharon's car was in the driveway. It wasn't like her to be home this early.
Coming into the house, Mary Anne set down her backpack in the entryway and headed towards the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. She arranged them as artfully as her limited skill allowed, and then set the vase on a table in the hallway. The flowers really were a nice gesture, but for all the wrong reasons. She really didn't want to keep them some where like her room where she would be forced to look at them constantly. She had enough on her mind without adding Howie Johnson to the mix, though it looked like he wouldn't be going away anytime soon.
Picking up her backpack where she had left it, Mary Anne headed upstairs to her room. Dawn's light was on, and music was playing in her room, but her door was closed. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to Dawn anyway. As she was setting down her things, the phone rang. Before she could answer it, the phone stopped ringing, and the music coming from Dawn's room had been turned down a notch. Looking, at the caller identification box, Mary Anne saw that the call was coming from the Stevenson household. It didn't surprise her that Abby was calling Dawn already, despite the fact that school had ended a little over an hours ago. It actually surprised her more that Abby wasn't there already.
Mary Anne sat down on her bed and pet Tigger, who started to purr. Though he wasn't a kitten anymore, Tigger never failed to bring a smile to her face. He was so cute.
Mary Anne heard a knock at her bedroom door.
"Can I come in?" Sharon asked
"Sure," Mary Anne responded, sitting up in her bed. Sharon walked into the room. It looked like she had started to change out of her work clothes, but stopped at one point. She was still wearing the skirt and blouse that she had worn to the office that morning, but for some reason she had a pair of jeans on under it. Mary Anne didn't point this out.
"How was your day Sweetie?"
"It was okay. How was yours?
"Oh just fine. I love coming home at night knowing that both of my girls will be there waiting for me. Can I ask you a question Mary Anne?"
"Sure. I guess." Mary Anne braced herself for the worse. Could Sharon have possibly found out about the party at Erica's? What did she work with anyway?
"It's about Dawn."
Mary Anne felt momentarily relieved. Sharon hadn't heard about the party. However, Dawn wasn't the safest topic either. She had no idea what was going on between the two of them, or how loyal she was supposed to be.
"You see her more than I do. How is she doing her? Is she fitting in at school?" Sharon asked, almost pleading. Mary Anne could tell exactly what she wanted to hear.
"She's made a lot of friends," Mary Anne replied, truthfully.
"Good," Sharon sighed, relieved. "I'm really happy that she is spending time with Abby. All the girls from the Babysitter's Club were so nice. I certainly don't want Dawn to fall into the wrong crowd. Not after everything that happened out in California."
Sharon sounded so earnest that it almost broke her heart. Mary Anne didn't have the heart to tell her that Abby was the wrong crowd that she was worried about. Besides, how could she do that without implicating herself, at least a little bit?
"I think things will work out for Dawn. And for all of us," Mary Anne said. That was only kind of a lie. She hoped that, anyway.
"Thanks Honey. I needed to hear that," Sharon said, rising from the bed. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. We're having Broccoli Tofu Cabbage Loaf."
"Great," Mary Anne said weakly, her stomach turning at the thought. She would go hungry tonight.
Mary Anne lay back in her bed again. Her world seemed to be spinning so fast that she could hardly keep up. Had this been what she wished for, when she hoped and prayed to get rid of her loneliness? She wasn't sure about anything anymore.