CHAPTER 12

Why Is Dad Here?

When I get to my classroom on Monday morning, everyone is huddled around the blue bulletin board, looking at the All About Me! posters Ms. Little hung there. Marianna’s poster is right in the middle of the board. In the My Best Friend! space, she drew a picture of a girl with hair as red as Ruby’s, only it’s as long as mine. Under her smiling face is the name Sasha, Marianna’s Seattle friend. There’s plenty of room for more faces, but she only drew one. My poster is next to Amber’s. I glance at her to see if she noticed I drew her picture for My Best Friend! and Marianna didn’t. But she and Marianna are busy laughing at Mitchell. He’s pretending to be a news reporter as he reads headlines from different posters. “News flash! Jordan Bacon’s favorite food is . . . bacon! Ruby Olson’s favorite pet is a man-eating goldfish named Bubbles! And this just in . . . contrary to popular belief, Zach Williams’s best friend is not Batman . . . it’s me!”

Zach and Mitchell do a high five.

“Cool cat, Byrd,” Bo says, pointing at my drawing of Shakespeare. “It looks like an alien.”

“Um . . . thanks?” I say because I think he meant it as a compliment.

Bo nods. “Hey, how come you weren’t on the bus this morning?”

“Oh . . . um . . . that,” I say, looking around to see if anyone is listening in. “I only ride it on Fridays.”

“She was helping her dad on a new project,” Ruby says.

I nod. I’ve told the lie so many times now, it even sounds true to me when someone else says it.

“She could have gone to a sleepover.” Amber looks at me. “But she didn’t want to come.”

“Yes, I did,” I tell Amber. “But I couldn’t.”

“She’ll come to the next one,” Marianna says. “As soon as my mom gets here, I’m going to throw a big bash. I’ll even invite you, Ruby Red Punch.”

Ruby narrows her eyes. “Sorry, I’m going to be busy,” she replies, and walks away.

*   *   *

While Ms. Little meets with one of our reading groups, the rest of us have free time to do extra-credit worksheets, or play quiet games together, or go on the classroom computer. Amber is in the first reading group. So are Phoebe and Eleanor, so I take a book from our classroom library and sit down on a carpet square in the corner to read. A moment later, Marianna is standing over me.

“Hello, Tweety,” she says, dumping a jigsaw puzzle on the floor between us. “I’ll let you make a puzzle with me.”

Marianna sits down and starts flipping over puzzle pieces. I set aside my book and help her.

“How was the movie on Saturday?” I ask.

Marianna shrugs. “I’m not sure. I fell asleep halfway through it.”

“Why? Did you guys stay awake all night at Amber’s party?”

“Well, Eleanor sure didn’t. She snores like a grizzly bear!”

I snicker. “That’s true. I’ve been at sleepovers with her before.”

Marianna glances over her shoulder at Amber. She’s reading aloud to her group, so Marianna turns back to me and leans in. “Don’t tell Am I said this,” she whispers, “but, truth? Her party was mostly b-o-r-i-n-g. Do you know what that spells, Tweety?”

“Yes, Marianna,” I say. “I can spell.”

“Boring,” she tells me anyway. “I forgot to pack my phone, so I couldn’t text any of my friends. Then Amber decided we should read our diaries to each other.”

“Did Amber read hers? What did she write?”

“‘Blah, blah, blah . . . I ate eggs for breakfast. Blah, blah, blah . . . I’m so mad at Wren . . . Blah, blah, blah . . . I watched a show on TV.’” Marianna lets her head loll to the side, like she’s fallen asleep, then straightens up again. “See what I mean? Boring. She didn’t even have a juicy reason for why you two are fighting. Why are you, anyway? All she said was you left for the summer without saying good-bye.”

“I’m not fighting, she is,” I reply. “I couldn’t help not saying good-bye. No one told me I had to . . . that we were . . . leaving so fast.”

“It doesn’t matter, Tweety, because as soon as she started writing about being friends with me, she stopped writing about you. But then Phoebe and Eleasnore wanted to read from their diaries. Yawn. They begged me to read mine too, of course, but after listening to theirs, I told a little fib and said I forgot to bring mine. I don’t share my secrets with just anybody.”

Marianna goes back to making the puzzle, but she keeps talking.

“So, how long have you lived in Oak Hill?”

“Since forever,” I reply.

“Thought so. I saw a picture of your pet cat on your poster. What’s her name?”

“His name is Shakespeare.”

“Shakespeare? If I had a cat, I’d give him a cute name like Cupcake or Muffin.”

“I didn’t get to name him,” I say. “My mom did.”

“Huh. What about your dad? Were you fibbing when you said he lives in an igloo on the lake all winter?”

I rattle my head, confused. Then I realize what she’s talking about. “He doesn’t live in an igloo. It’s a tiny house, just for ice fishing.”

“How tiny?”

“Tinier than any house you’ve ever lived in.”

Marianna sniffs. “Doubt it,” she mumbles.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. How many erasers do you have in your collection?”

“Forty-nine. No, wait. Fifty, counting the orca.”

Marianna smiles. “Aren’t you ever going to invite me over so I can see your whole collection?”

Silence.

“I’ve been to Am’s house lots of times. Don’t tell her I said this, but her family isn’t like yours and mine.”

I freeze as I pick up a puzzle piece. “W-what do you mean? My family isn’t like yours.”

Marianna’s face goes blank. “You didn’t draw any brothers or sisters on your poster. I figured you don’t have any either.”

“Oh. That. Right.”

“Why? What did you think I meant?”

“Nothing.”

Marianna shifts her legs and hunts for puzzle pieces again. “Amber’s house is like a circus clown car, you know? All those noisy people crammed into a tiny space. They even act like it’s fun! When I was little, I wished for brothers and sisters. Not anymore.”

There’s a knock on our classroom door. I look up and can’t believe my eyes. It’s Dad!

I jump up and hurry over to him. “Dad?” I say. “Why are you here? Is something wrong?”

“Hey, Squirt! Everything’s fine.” He gives me a quick hug, then looks across the room at my teacher. “Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Little, but Wren left her jacket in my truck over the weekend and I thought she might need it. The temp is supposed to drop tonight.”

Ms. Little gets up from the reading table, smiling as she walks over to us. “It’s not a problem at all,” she tells Dad. “I’m always happy to have parents stop by. It’s almost time for our milk break. Would you like to join us? We have graham crackers.” She smiles again.

Dad chuckles. “That’s a hard invitation to pass up, but I’ve gotta run for now. My schedule is flexible, though, so let me know if you’re ever looking for a class chaperone.”

Ms. Little brightens even more. “Thank you, Mr. Byrd! Your wife volunteered too. I’ll give you both a call.”

“You probably have Emily’s number. Let me give you mine too.”

“I’ll give it to her,” I say quickly, glancing past Ms. Little. My whole class is looking at us. Marianna is looking right at me.

I grab my jacket and start nudging Dad back toward the door. “You should go now,” I say. “We’re busy. This isn’t a good time.”

“Okay, okay,” Dad says, chuckling again. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

I give Dad one last nudge without answering his question. Then I hurry to my cubby and hang up my jacket.

I stay there for a minute after Dad leaves, making up reasons for why he had to bring the jacket to me in the first place.

When I get back into the classroom, everyone is getting ready for our milk break. I help Marianna pick up the puzzle.

“It’s warm today,” Marianna says. “Why would you need your jacket? And why did he say he’d call you tonight?”

“He’s working out of town this week,” I say. “I won’t get to see him again until Friday.”

Marianna nods like this makes sense, but she’s squinting like she has more questions. I put the lid on the puzzle box and quickly carry it away before she can ask them.