Roshni took a small box off her dresser and handed it to Amelia. “Happy birthday!”
“Splat Washables?” Amelia said, reading the side of the box. “Easy to Apply Hair Color?”
“It’s called Totally Red. It’s gonna be totally you.”
Amelia studied the photograph of a woman who looked like a movie star on the front of the box. “I don’t think so.”
“Come on. Just streaks. And it washes out. It’s not half as scary as what I did.”
Scary was a good word to describe Roshni’s wild hair, Amelia thought. She opened the box and took out a skinny tube and a brush that looked like one of Gabriella’s mascara brushes, only bigger. She peered inside the empty box. “No instructions.”
“On the back of the box,” Roshni said.
Amelia turned the box over. “Squeeze a small amount of color onto applicator brush,” she read. “Comb through hair from roots to ends.”
“Easy,” Roshni said.
“Must not be used for dyeing eyelashes or eyebrows.”
Roshni snorted and Amelia giggled.
“It says Rebellious Colors,” Amelia said.
“Right. You’re twelve today. It’s about time you rebelled.”
They stood side by side in front of the bathroom mirror. Fluorescent red, brilliant pink, dazzling turquoise.
“We look awesome,” Roshni said.
“We do,” Amelia agreed. “Let’s go show Gabriella!”
“Now?”
“Now. Come on!”
Roshni was acting weird. She kept peeking at her watch the whole way back to Amelia’s.
“You’re walking too fast,” she said as they turned the corner onto Amelia’s block. “Slow down.”
“Do you think it’s going to rain?” she said a minute later.
Amelia glanced at the gray clouds piling up in the sky. “Probably.”
Roshni groaned. Then she lingered a whole ten minutes in front of Jordan’s house, fussing over the cats, who were all outside.
When they got to the door of the apartment, Roshni looked at her watch one last time. “Okay. You can knock.”
“Thanks for your permission.” Amelia knocked and then opened the door and shouted, “It’s us!”
Gabriella must have been standing right next to the door. “Your hair! Superbe!” She hugged Amelia. “Happy birthday! You must show Duke your hair. He is in the living room.”
Gabriella and Roshni exchanged looks, and Roshni started to giggle. Weird, thought Amelia again.
She stepped through the living-room door. Something was draped across the one little window, and there were no lights on. She stopped, confused. Then a chorus of voices shouted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
The lights flicked on and Amelia stared at a sea of faces. Duke, her mom, Liam, Marguerite, Jordan, Rachel, Strawberry and the triplets, Mick, Kamal, Namita, Simon, Jeannie and Frank. And, mon dieu, the Mafia guy, Domenico! Everybody was grinning.
“You said you didn’t want a party,” Diane said, “but you were outvoted.”
“I knew! I knew!” Roshni yelped. “It was my job to keep you busy. Tell me you didn’t suspect.”
“I didn’t.” How could she ever have suspected this?
“Bon anniversaire!” Gabriella said.
And then Liam called out something that sounded like shung ruh kwy luh. He shrugged. “That’s happy birthday in Mandarin.”
“The barbecue’s in the back of my van,” Simon said. “Let’s fire it up and get this party started.”
Simon and Jordan rolled the barbecue onto the front lawn, and Rachel, Strawberry and Gabriella set out wieners, hamburger patties, buns and bowls of chips on a card table. Liam and Mick tied helium balloons (which had been hidden in Duke and Gabriella’s bathroom) to the lawn chairs (hidden in the backyard.) Diane set her iPod station on the front step and turned up the volume on The Beatles: Greatest Hits.
When Amelia ran into their kitchen to get ketchup and mustard, she spotted a huge white bakery box on the counter. She peeked inside. Happy Birthday Amelia was written in gooey pink letters on a round white cake. From their cages in the corner of the kitchen, Beaker whistled and Mango gave a screech. Amelia was pretty sure they were saying “Happy Birthday” too.
Halfway through her third hot dog, a red minivan drove slowly down their street and pulled over in front of the house. She could see two faces with blond pigtails peering out at her. Dad had brought the twins.
She walked over to the van slowly. Her dad got out.
“New van?”
“Secondhand. Or maybe thirdhand.” Her dad’s eyes drifted over to the front yard, where Strawberry, Diane and Domenico were dancing on the grass to “A Hard Day’s Night,” and he looked a little confused. “It’s quite a gathering you have here.” Then he added, “Amelia, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. I…uh…wanted to tell you myself.”
Amelia was pretty sure she knew what it was. “Not on my birthday.”
“It’s your birthday? Today?”
“Yup. And this is my party.”
Her dad’s face sagged. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
He dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He gave Amelia two twenty-dollar bills. “I know it’s not that camp you wanted to go to so badly, but maybe you can buy yourself some new clothes.”
“I don’t want to go to camp anymore anyway,” Amelia said. “I’ve got too much to do around here. And thanks, Dad. That’s great.” She stuffed the money in the pocket of her jeans. As soon as she got a chance, it was going straight to the pickle jar.
“Do you want to join us? The twins—I mean, Kelsey and Kaitlin could have a hot dog. And there’s watermelon.”
Her dad pulled out his cell phone and shut it off. “You bet I do!”
The first raindrops started after Amelia had blown out her candles. Everyone carried their plates of cake inside the house, crowding into the living room.
Duke made an announcement. “There’s a brand-new beauty salon opening up next month, and they’ve hired Gabriella! Full time!”
“Do not forget the rest,” Gabriella said. “Diane and I are going into business together on the weekends. Massages and makeovers. Two for the price of one!”
“Can I get a coupon for that?” Jordan called out.
“Well, Amelia,” Marguerite said. “Did you know you’re sharing your birthday with George, the future king of England?”
“It’s Prince George’s birthday today?” Roshni screeched. “And I forgot?”
Her eyes went straight to the TV. “It might be on the news. Please, please, please, everyone. Just for a minute.”
Liam groaned loudly, but there were a lot of royalists at the party. In the end, everyone congregated in front of the TV.
Roshni grabbed the remote and flipped through channels until suddenly Queen Elizabeth filled the screen, a corgi on her lap and a sea of microphones in front of her.
“I can only say how delighted I am with my great-grandchildren,” she said. “George and his sister and their parents are spending the day with Kate’s parents. I ask that you all respect their privacy.”
“Are you a doting great-granny?” a man’s voice said. “Planning on spoiling the birthday boy with gifts?”
“Grannies are permitted to spoil their great-grandchildren,” Queen Elizabeth said. “I’ve sent a few gifts. My favorite is a squishy stuffed tortoise called Winston.”
“Mon dieu!” Gabriella said. “Did I hear right? Winston?”
“She must have named it after Winston Churchill,” Liam said. “He was a famous prime minister.”
But he was shouted down by everyone in the room.
“Liam,” Amelia said with a huge grin. “You owe me an iPod!”