At lunch the next day at school, Ava sits by herself at a table under the trees. It is warmer today, and the sun is shining. But Ava is feeling blue. And she forgot to pack herself a lunch. Being hungry doesn’t help her mood.
She gets a text message:
This is Peter, the bird specialist from the zoo. I’d be happy to come over on
Friday. How is 4 p.m.?
Ava pauses. She remembers her mom’s face the night before. She messages back.
Perfect.
She should feel happy, but she feels like crying. She sighs. She looks up and sees Kim B. heading her way, smiling.
“Look, Ava, I was thinking,” Kim B. says as she slides in next to Ava. “It’s stupid that we’re fighting.”
“I’m surprised you’re even talking to me,” says Ava. “Did Kim V. send you?”
Kim B. shrugs. “She feels bad. I feel bad. We’re friends. We can figure this out.”
“Well, I guess.”
Kim wrinkles her nose, something she’s done for years—Ava remembers her doing it when they were little. It means that Kim is trying to figure out what to say.
“You’re both giving me a really hard time about this parrot,” Ava says to fill up the awkward silence.
“Well, it is super gross.”
Ava thinks about Mervin and how quickly he’d responded to Melinda’s gentle voice. “I know he seems gross, but he actually isn’t.”
Kim B. wrinkles her nose again. Now she’s disgusted—Ava knows Kim so well. “We don’t want to talk about your parrot, okay?”
“I really appreciate you coming over, Kim,” says Ava. “I hate it when things are awkward between us. But I do kind of like the parrot. Maybe you should come over and meet him sometime.”
Kim B. shakes her head. “No way. But as soon as he’s gone, can we come over?”
Ava doesn’t know how to respond. She’s confused. She wants her friends back. Right? She says, “The zoo will probably take him away on Friday—they’ll be assessing him, but he’s so smart they’ll want him for sure. I’m actually sad about it. I like Mervin. And he’s my responsibility. My great-uncle trusted me to look after him. He knew I liked the bird.”
“When you were a kid!”
“Maybe my great-uncle saw something in me that I didn’t even know was there.”
“Whatever, Ava. At least the parrot is going.”
Ava nods, but really she wants to shake her head. “I guess.” Across the grass, Melinda waves at Ava. She starts to walk over. But Ava drops her gaze and pretends she hasn’t noticed Melinda waving. Melinda isn’t really the sort of person Kim B. wants hanging around. Ava looks up and sees that Melinda has changed direction—she is now walking toward another table. Ava feels her cheeks redden. She hopes Melinda will understand. Ava has to fix things with her BFFs.
Kim B. opens up her backpack and pulls out a granola bar. “How’s Gregg doing?”
“Why?”
Kim B. giggles. “I don’t know. Just wondering. It’ll be good to see him next time we come over.”
Ava asks, “Did you seriously just come over and talk to me because you think my brother’s hot?”
“No!” Kim says.
“Oh my god. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying to me, Kim. You do this thing where you touch your eyebrow—just like that. Wow. You and Kim V. are welcome to my horrible brother. But not through me.”
“You don’t have to be like this, Ava.”
“I thought it was weird that you came over to talk to me after what happened yesterday. Then I just figured that Kim V. had sent you.”
“I’m not her puppet.”
“So she didn’t send you?”
Kim B. looks away.
Ava says, “She wants to hang out with Gregg. Well, maybe he’ll ask you over sometime.”
Kim B. gets up and flips her hair. “Whatever,” she says and stomps away.
Ava slumps at the table. She takes out her phone and checks her feeds. There’s been hardly any response to her last post, just requests for more photos of Mervin. And stupid Gregg has added another post to the AvaandMervin feed. That post has lots of likes and comments.
Ava flicks through the photos she took with Melinda the night before. There’s a great shot of Mervin preening himself in the sink. She decides to post it.
My new #parrotpal @avaandmervin might be feathery but he’s actually a bunch of fun. Now that he’s figured out how to get clean, right @melindaflor ?
Almost immediately people start liking the photo and commenting. But Ava is waiting for Melinda to comment. She realizes she doesn’t care about all the other likes and comments flashing on her phone. She just feels stupid for having ignored Melinda for Kim B.
But there is no comment from Melinda. Ava looks over at the table where Melinda is sitting. She’s with people from the chess club. She doesn’t even glance Ava’s way.
That night both Gregg and Mom are out. Ava eats supper tuned in to Netflix. Mervin sits on the arm of the couch. He comments and clucks along. Sometimes it sounds like he’s laughing. Ava finishes eating and then practices tricks with him. He agrees with Ava, saying, “GOOD BIRD” more than once, and he enjoys his peanuts.
Neither Gregg nor Mom is home by the time Ava goes to bed. She looks at her phone for a while and reads through all the comments about the photo she posted. She says good night to Mervin. He is shuffling around his cage. He clucks and grumbles and says “IDIOT MONKEY” a couple of times. Ava is so sleepy that she ignores the feeling she has forgotten something. She drifts into a dream about being famous. She’s arriving at a huge party.
In the dream, she realizes that she doesn’t want to be at the party. She wants to leave and hang out with her family. In the dream, she sees a parrot flying above the party. She tries to get the parrot’s attention. He can’t hear her. People are surrounding her, trying to get autographs and yelling her name.
“AVA!” a voice yells. She wakes. Her phone is ringing. Where is it? She fumbles around the bed. “AVA!” the voice shouts.
She finds her phone. But she has missed the call. It was her dad.
“AVA!” It’s Mervin yelling.
“Stop yelling, you silly bird. It’s the middle of the night. It was just my phone.” Ava messages her dad.
Everything okay? Was asleep.
He replies immediately.
Was just calling when I realized how late it was. Sorry. Always forget the time difference. Miss you, baby girl. Okay. Night.
Mervin starts yelling again. “AVA, AVA, AVA, AVA, AVA, AVA!” He is hopping around his cage.
“What is it?”
The door flings open. “Why is that bird making so much noise?” Ava’s mom is standing at the door in her dressing gown. She flips on the light.
Gregg stands next to her. He’s wearing his boxer shorts. He scratches his chest. Ugh. He’s like a gorilla. “Gotta keep it down, Mervin.” He yawns.
“MONKEY, MONKEY!” Mervin yells. He flaps and screeches in the cage.
“It’s my fault, Mom. Sorry,” Ava says. She remembers what Melinda told her. “I didn’t cover his cage—I knew I’d forgotten something. My phone ringing set him off. Sorry.” Ava turns to Mervin and says softly, like Melinda did, “Hey, calm down, buddy. It’s okay.” She reaches to open the cage, thinking she can soothe him better with a peanut. Mervin bursts out in a flurry of feathers. He swoops out and lands on her mom’s head.
“What is going on?” she shrieks. “Get this bird out of my hair! NOW!”
“Mervin, shhh, shhh,” says Ava.
Gregg starts to laugh, and Mervin copies him. Then Mervin hops over and lands on Gregg’s head. He nips him on the ear. Gregg yells. He bats the air around his head. “OW, that hurt!” he yells.
Ava grabs her phone. She films Gregg as he tries to get Mervin off his head. Mervin keeps laughing and nips Gregg’s other ear.
Now Gregg is running around in circles in his underwear, yelling. Mervin keeps laughing. And Ava keeps filming. Then she holds up a peanut and calmly calls him. “Come, Mervin.” It is the trick Melinda showed her.
She keeps filming with one hand while Mervin flies over to her. He lands on her arm and grabs the peanut. He happily goes back to his cage to eat it.
Gregg yells, “What just happened? That bird bit me! Were you filming?”
“No, of course not,” says Ava. “You were annoying him. He didn’t bite you—he just gave you a little bird kiss!”
“It hurt.”
“Everybody back to bed,” says their mom. “The zoo people can’t get here quickly enough, as far as I’m concerned. That bird needs to be out of my house.”
“Okay, Mom. The zoo guy is coming on Friday. Can’t we just enjoy Mervin while he’s here?” Ava says.
Gregg stomps off to his room. Their mom sighs. “Good night, Ava. Keep that bird quiet.”
Ava plonks back on her bed and writes her post.
THIS is where it’s happening.
Hahahahahahaha!
@Greggtheman1234 @melindaflor #avaandmervin
Then she attaches the video of Gregg running around in his underwear. She loves the end of the clip, where Mervin comes to her and the peanut. She watches the responses. Lots of people like the video, and within a few minutes it has 150 views! This is, as Gregg always says, internet gold. There is still nothing from Melinda though. Ava totally gets why Melinda is ignoring her now and regrets snubbing her earlier. Or maybe Melinda is sleeping. Like a normal person! Like Ava needs to be. “Night, Mervin,” Ava says and pulls the sheet over his cage.
“Night,” he mutters.
“I actually wish I could keep you,” Ava whispers. After tonight, she knows there is no way her mom will ever allow that to happen.
Mervin doesn’t reply. Ava falls into a troubled sleep.