Kelly slept over at my house after the dance. Before we went up to bed we stopped in the kitchen for another snack. There were a lot of Christmas cookies left, and Kelly wanted hot chocolate, so I made some for both of us.
“Do you have any whipped cream?”
“Let me check,” I said, yawning. I moved some things around in the refrigerator. “Found some.” I handed the can to Kelly, and she sprayed a huge swirl onto the top of her drink.
“Want some?”
“Sure. But just a little.”
Kelly squirted about as much whipped cream on my hot chocolate as she had on hers.
“I said ‘a little,’ Kelly.”
“I know, but it’s more fun this way.”
I was too tired to argue.
Mom came into the kitchen and sat with us. “Hi, girls. How was the dance?”
“The dance was good.” I thought about telling Mom Potter had kissed me, but I wasn’t sure if I should. When you’re almost twelve there are some things that you just don’t want to tell your mom anymore.
“Kelly?” Mom asked, wanting to know if Kelly had a good time, too.
“Yeah, it was a great dance. You should have seen the decorations in the gym.”
“Mom?”
“What is it, Tory?”
“I’m really tired. Can we skip my therapy tonight?”
Mom looked at me for a long moment. “Do you think that’s smart?”
I sighed. Mom was right. “No,” I said.
“I didn’t think so,” Mom said. “Let me know when you’re ready to go up.”
“Well, I guess I’m ready now,” I told her. I turned to Kelly. “Do you want to come up with us?”
“Yeah, sure.” Kelly drank the last of her hot chocolate. I put our mugs in the dishwasher. I scooped up all my nebs from the kitchen counter where they’d been drying since Mom washed them this morning.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Mom didn’t stay the whole time I did my therapy, since Kelly was there to keep me company. Kelly lay in her sleeping bag on the floor, flipping through one of my teen fashion magazines.
“Aren’t you tired?” I asked her.
“Nope!” Kelly said with a smile. I got the message: She was waiting for my therapy to be over and the machine to stop making noise so she could talk quietly. She was also waiting for my mom to stop popping in and out of my room. Kelly had something to tell me. It was late when I was finished.
“Don’t stay up too late,” Mom warned us when she finally left my room.
“We won’t. Goodnight, Mom.”
“’Night, Mrs. Richards,” Kelly said.
“Goodnight girls, sleep well.”
“I thought she would never leave!” Kelly said in a loud whisper when Mom closed the door.
“You know how long it takes,” I said.
“Oh, I know, I know! I just have something to tell you!”
I knew it! I unrolled my sleeping bag next to Kelly’s. There’s a big picture of a puppy snuggled with a kitten on my sleeping bag, which I’ve had since I was in first grade. I was thinking maybe I would ask for a new one for my birthday. I pulled two pillows from my bed and tossed one at Kelly. After I turned out the light and my room was dark, I asked, “What do want to tell me?”
“About Jimmy,” Kelly grinned, “He kissed me!”
“He did? Where?”
“On the lips!”
“No, I mean, where were you when he kissed you?” I asked, ignoring Kelly’s tone of voice.
“Behind the Christmas tree! It was so romantic!” I wondered what Kelly knew about romance. Maybe she read something in one of those books her parents keep on the top shelf of the bookcase in their bedroom.
My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could see Kelly smiling. “He kissed me about four times!” Kelly looked proud of herself or something.
“Four times?” Potter only kissed me once.
“Okay, twice,” Kelly admitted. “Did Potter kiss you?”
I didn’t answer right away,
“He did kiss you! I knew it! He did, didn’t he?”
“Yep.”
“Where?”
“On the lips,” I teased.
“Tory!”
“Outside, after the dance. In the snow,” I said, then added, “It was so romantic....” just for good measure.
Kelly sighed.
“You know, when Potter found out I have CF, well, I was kind of afraid he wouldn’t want to take me to the dance. And when I started coughing before we left, I thought for sure it was over.”
“Tory?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?” Kelly’s voice was sounding sleepy. “And you won’t get mad?”
“Okay.” Maybe she wants to trade Jimmy for Potter, I thought, but not seriously.
“Okay, well,” Kelly began, “so why don’t you tell people you have CF? I mean, when your secret was spilled at my Halloween party, I felt terrible. But then nothing bad happened. None of the kids treated you differently, except for Isabella and Sara telling some of the kids that you were in the hospital. But even then nothing happened. I mean, Zoe and Shayna were the ones who organized our visit to the hospital when you were there.”
Nobody had told me that. I had assumed it was Kelly’s idea.
“Zoe and Shayna planned that?”
“Yeah, they did. When I told them I was going to visit you, they felt left out. They wanted to see you, too. I’ve always known you have CF, and it doesn’t make any difference to me. You’re my best friend. And tonight Potter saw you coughing and it didn’t change the way he felt about you. So why are you so afraid to tell people?”
I rolled over on my side and faced Kelly. I was quiet for a few minutes.
“Are you still awake?”
“Yes,” I said quietly.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No, I’m not mad at all. I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Well...I was thinking maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s dumb to keep CF a secret. You know what Kelly?”
“What?”
“Now I can’t even remember why I kept it a secret in the first place.”