When Malia arrived at Aloysius’s house, both Bree and Dot were already there. Malia felt nervous but not surprised. It was just like both of them to do the goody-two-shoes thing and show up where they were expected.
The truth was, Malia almost didn’t go. She had stayed up thinking the night before, trying to figure out whether or not she was ready to see her friends. She was done being angry. Now she just felt embarrassed about what went down at the Larssons, and in a larger sense, with the entire club. She had wanted them to form the club for three reasons. The first was obviously to raise money for an epic party, to cement her place in Playa del Mar history as somebody who mattered. The second reason was to build something together, with her two best friends. The third reason was harder to admit. In her heart, Malia had wanted to start a babysitting club because she thought that maybe it was finally something she could be good at. (She wasn’t sure exactly why she thought this, since she never even particularly liked small children, but whatever.)
All around her, everyone else seemed to have their “thing.” Dot was good at science. Bree was good at singing and dancing. Chelsea was good at everything. Malia thought taking charge—of a club, of little kids, of the plans for a party—could be her thing. When everything imploded, she felt like a total failure, and now even her friends thought she was a loser. As much as she missed them, she wasn’t ready to see them.
But now, as if by magic, the three of them were together again. Well, together might be a strong word, since they hadn’t actually acknowledged one another. But all three of them were in Aloysius’s room, so that was something. For an awkwardly long while, nobody spoke. The three of them stared at their phones, absentmindedly tapping away while Aloysius sat on his bed, reading the dictionary. Finally, he closed the giant book with a thud.
“Okay. I’m supposed to be the one who doesn’t talk here. What’s going on?”
He crossed his tiny arms. Bree, Dot, and Malia glared at each other, but no one spoke. Aloysius looked back and forth, intently examining each of them.
“I wasn’t gone for that long, and now you’re not speaking to one another?”
None of them said anything. Bree just shrugged.
“All right, fine. You’ve left me no choice but to weigh in on your body language,” he said with a sigh.
He pointed to Malia. “She’s angry because she doesn’t feel appreciated. She feels like she put a lot of effort into something, and she’s disappointed it didn’t work out.”
Next, he pointed to Bree. “She’s just sad. Really, really sad.”
Finally, he pointed to Dot. “She just wants everyone to make up and be friends again, largely because fighting is very inefficient and she wants to move on with life.”
Then he stepped in the middle of the room. “But you—all three of you—have a lot of love for one another. That is clear to see. I saw it that day at the cat café, and I saw it the last time you babysat. Believe me, good friends are valuable, and you can’t just let that go. You can’t let your frustration get in the way of how much you care. And you can’t waste time being angry when you could be busy creating more wonderful memories together.”
They all just sat there, dumbfounded. What was up with this little kid? Where did he learn this stuff?
“Now,” he continued, like he was leading some kind of self-help seminar, “I’m going to go around the room and I want each of you to name one thing you love about the other two.”
He pointed to Malia. “Malia, you go first.”
Ugh. Well, that wasn’t fair. Why did she have to go first? Malia thought for a while. Should she be honest? Of course there were lots of things she loved about both of her friends, but what if they didn’t have anything nice to say about her? Finally, she spoke.
“Bree, you are so special. I loved when you ate that weird twig thing Dot’s mom served us at her house that time. You probably think no one notices, but I know that you do things because you care and you don’t want other people to feel bad or get hurt. You’re probably the nicest person I know.”
Bree gave Malia a little smile. “Yeah, that twig thing was weird,” she confirmed.
“Dot, I love how you apparently know everything.” Dot shot Malia a look like she might kill her. “No, no, don’t take that the wrong way! I’m not suggesting you’re a know-it-all. I’m saying you literally know everything. I love how you’re wise. You understand feelings and thoughts and you have such great insight into every situation. Sometimes I wish I could be more like you.”
“Very good!” said Aloysius. “Dot, now it’s your turn.”
Dot took a deep breath. “Malia. I love that you’re an idealist. I love how you believe in the power of dreams and you’re not afraid to prevail, even when something seems out of reach or isn’t the most logical. I love how you never give up. And, Bree, I love how you’re full of surprises. Whether you’re secretly learning how to code or breaking out into a spontaneous dance, being around you is always an adventure. I find that really inspiring.”
“Can’t . . . can’t . . . speeeeeeeeeeeeak,” said Bree in between sobs. “I love everything! I love all the things about both of you.” Then she just cried and cried, which was essentially the same as her sharing specific things she loved about them.
“I really missed you guys,” Malia said. “I love you both, and nothing is going to change that.”
“I love you, too,” said Dot.
“I’m sorry we missed your birthday,” said Malia. “I thought about you the whole day.”
“Yeah, happy birthday, Bree,” said Dot. “We’ll make it up to you.”
Bree just sniffled.
Malia had never felt more relieved. Without her friends, nothing else mattered. And with them, everything else—Chelsea, her family, absolutely all of it—magically seemed okay.
Then, like they were characters at the end of a movie, they gathered in the center of the room for a group hug. They stood like that for a whole minute—the three of them embracing one another—until they felt a fourth set of arms come to encircle the group. Aloysius.
“You guys are my favorite people,” Malia said. “I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”
“Little kids are still gross, though,” said Dot.
“Hey!” said Aloysius.
“Not you,” they both said with a laugh.
So maybe the girls weren’t so bad at this, after all. And maybe, as they learned stuff, they could get better. Malia definitely wasn’t ready to give up on the babysitters club, and she could tell her friends weren’t, either. After all, what’s that saying? Nothing that’s good is easy? Yes, her friends, her evil sister, the realities of running a business—basically everything about the past few weeks—had been pretty annoying, and she still didn’t have the answers. Even so, she couldn’t help but admit that, together, what they had was really, really good.