Tiffany lived in one of those houses that’s way bigger than it needs to be. Does anyone really need a fifth bathroom? Or a third car in the garage? Or a first sitting room? I don’t even know what a sitting room is. All I know is, no one ever sits in them.
But Tiffany’s extra-huge house also meant that it was an amazing place for a barbecue. She had a pool, a tennis court, and even a croquet course that her dad set up.
Unfortunately, the Cavemen weren’t using any of those things.
Instead, we were sitting on the (giant) porch, playing another game. This time, we each had to confess about a text we’d sent about someone in the group, behind their back.
The game was Tiffany’s idea, so she went first. “I once sent a text about Celia,” she said. “It was when you started going out with Phil. I sent a text to Eliza that I thought he was just going out with you to make Eliza jealous.”
“Huh?” Phil said. “That’s not true!”
“I remember that,” Eliza confirmed.
Celia looked surprised, but also a little proud.
“I’m really sorry,” Tiffany said. “It was really immature of me. You two are like the most awesome couple.”
“It’s okay,” Celia told Tiffany. “I once sent a text to Jill Kerhsaw, saying that I thought your highlights looked fake.”
Tiffany’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
Celia nodded and giggled.
“Uh-oh,” Hannah said. “Tiffany takes her hair very seriously.”
“I do not!” Tiffany said. “Well, maybe a little,” she added, giggling.
Eliza was the only one who didn’t laugh at that. Looking very serious, she said, “I’ll go next.” Then she turned to me. “Katie, I remember texting Amber and Tiffany that you could be really mean.”
To say I was caught off guard would be an understatement. “Huh?” I managed to stammer.
Hannah tried to rescue me. “Does anyone want to play pool volleyball?”
But nobody moved.
“We’re being honest, right?” Eliza said. “No hiding behind phones or texts?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well,” Eliza continued, “I think you always knew I liked Charlie Joe, and I think you thought it was funny that he didn’t like me back, because he liked Hannah. And I heard that you made fun of me on text a lot, like about my asking you for help on homework and stuff, which really hurt my feelings and made me feel stupid. So I was wondering if it was true—if you ever sent mean texts to anyone about me.”
WOW.
There it was.
The most honest thing any of us had ever said to anyone else.
I turned red. Everyone waited to see if I would be honest back.
“I did,” I said finally. “I sent mean texts about you wanting my help with homework and not knowing the answer to something in class and stuff like that. But I never thought you were stupid, just lazy. Like you could get away with not working hard because you’re pretty. And you’re right. I did think it was funny that you liked goofy Charlie Joe Jackson, and he didn’t like you back. I never thought about your feelings being hurt. I’m really sorry.”
DOUBLE WOW.
The porch was silent. The only sound you could hear was the sprinkler on the clay tennis court, whirring around, spraying water.
“It’s okay,” Eliza said to me, finally. “I understand.” And we hugged.
“Wow, that was intense, you guys,” Ricky said.
“I can honestly say that wouldn’t have happened if we had our phones,” Jake added.
Everyone else agreed.
“Burgers are ready!” yelled some adult.
We ate, and then we decided what the heck, we’d play some croquet after all. While whacking the ball around the lawn, I felt really tired, but happy. This was what Jane meant by communication and connection. The next two days were going to be even better, and then I could tell Jane we did it! Backstage tour, here we come!
And then came Thursday morning.