My Infinity Year was ending. Atticus was out of school, still recovering from his concussion, and I was at recess alone. Well, I wasn’t really alone, of course. Other than Atticus, the whole fifth grade was there.
I sat on a swing in the corner of the playground with a stack of flashcards in my lap. Even though there was no spelling bee to study for, like Mr. Peterson said, there was always next year. I had decided to be ready.
Mae and Hannah were talking by the jungle gym. Adam and Kevin were dribbling basketballs. Isabel was reading a book under my old tree.
I picked up a flashcard from the top of the pile. I glanced at the word before lifting it over my head and out of view. Catastrophe. C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O—I was spelling the word in my head when I felt the flashcard being snatched from my hand.
It was—who else?—Elena. She wheeled around and waved my flashcard in front of my eyes. It was one of those rare occasions when she was alone. No Sissy or Chloe in sight.
“Give it back, Elena,” I said from the swing.
“Why should I?” she taunted.
“Because it’s mine. Give it back.”
“Because it’s mine. Give it back,” she mimicked.
“I’m serious, Elena!”
“I’m serious, too!”
Whenever they talk about bullies in books or in school, they always say it’s because the bully is insecure or scared and that’s why they’re so mean to everybody. I looked up at Elena. She didn’t look insecure. Or scared.
We stared at each other. A fifth-grade playground standoff. Together but alone. No best friends to come to our aid.
And strangely, I began to feel sad for Elena. She had Sissy and Chloe but they weren’t really her friends. They were her followers, her minions. Sissy would never have a magical dream that saved Elena’s cat. Chloe wouldn’t ever outrun a bull to save her leader’s life. No, Elena didn’t have friends like that.
Even though Atticus wasn’t beside me on the playground, he was always with me in spirit. Unless Elena changed, I knew she would never have that kind of friend.
“Elena?” I finally asked.
“What?” she snapped back.
“Why are you like this?” I didn’t say it mad. Really, I didn’t. I just wanted to know.
Something changed in her eyes. For a single second, Elena Maxwell didn’t look so tough. “Like what?” she asked, and looked at me like she might want an answer.
“Ah, you know,” I said, pointing at my flashcard.
“Oh,” she said, and looked at the card in her hand. She was quiet for a moment while a crowd started forming around us. Mae and Hannah, Kevin and Adam, Sissy and Chloe and others. All coming to see what Elena would do next. Finally, Elena noticed it, too.
When she saw Sissy and Chloe, I saw the steel return to her eyes. The possibility of a warm fuzzy Elena was over. The return of evil Elena was confirmed.
“Why am I like this?” she spat loudly so everyone could hear. “You mean, TOTALLY AWESOME?!”
It was her big Cruella moment. She smiled and laughed, and her friends joined in. But as usual with Elena, it wasn’t enough. She always needed a final flourish. I watched as it came my way.
Elena thrust my flashcard right in front of my face and tore it clean in half.
“Really?” I asked. “Seriously?” As my voice got louder, I could feel the volcano beginning to erupt inside. Atticus may have been there in spirit but he wasn’t actually there to stop me. What would it matter if I got up from this swing and …
That’s when I realized it would matter a lot. I was a super nerd. A Spelling Nerd. And I was never going to let somebody like Elena get in my way again.
Would I have done what I did next if Mrs. Jackson wasn’t walking up behind Elena? It’s uncertain. But in a year of infinite possibilities, it was at least possible.
I stood up in front of the whole fifth grade and held out my stack of flashcards to Elena. “Here,” I said. “They’re yours. I’m not fighting you anymore.”
A hungry look came over Elena’s face. Without hesitation, she grabbed all my flashcards and gleefully threw them up in the air. As they rained down upon us, Elena happily whirled around and ran directly into Mrs. Jackson. Who took her directly to Mr. Peterson’s office.
And the entire fifth grade at Grover Cleveland K–8—witches excluded—cheered.
* * *
The end of my Infinity Year came ten days later. It was the day after the last day of school, which was my birthday. It was also the day of the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
I got two unexpected gifts on my birthday. The first one came when my mom woke me up. She was holding an envelope in her hand.
“What’s that?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
“It’s for you,” she said, and handed it to me.
I recognized the handwriting on the envelope.
“It came in the mail yesterday,” Mom said. “I thought it should be the first thing you opened on your birthday.”
I tore open the envelope and pulled out the birthday card. It had a big fat cat on the front with a caption that said, “It’s a PURRFECT day for birthday cake.” Inside, it said, “Be sure to save me a piece.” The card was sweet and funny—like the ones my dad used to give me. But that wasn’t the greatest part. It’s what he wrote underneath that took my breath away:
I hope you have a wonderful day, Avalon. I’m sorry I’m missing it but we can celebrate when I see you soon. Can’t wait to see my sweet girl again!
Happy Birthday.
Love,
Dad
I looked up at my mom, a big question in my eyes.
“We’re going to visit him. In two weeks,” she said. “Will that work for you?”
I nodded, then reached up and gave my mom a humongous hug. Yes, that would work for me.
I got my other surprise gift later that afternoon. It came from Mrs. Brightwell. Atticus had come over to celebrate my birthday. It was going to be just him, me, and M having birthday cake together and watching the national bee. Mrs. Brightwell didn’t leave right away and I thought that was weird. “Avalon,” she said. “Atticus and I, along with Caroline and Mr. Brightwell, would like to ask you something.”
“Okay,” I said, and looked at Atticus. I could tell he was holding something big inside. I looked at his mom again.
“Would you be our guest and come to the beach with us this summer?” she asked. Both she and my mom were smiling at me, waiting for my answer. I turned to Atticus. He knew it was my true-life aim to go to the ocean.
“So, Avie, will you come with us?” he asked, all excited.
I looked at them all and grinned. I think you can guess what I said.
After Mrs. Brightwell left, we ate cake and ice cream and Mom and Atticus sang me the birthday song. Mom took a picture of Atticus and me with my birthday cake and then Atticus, M, and I started watching the National Spelling Bee on TV.
We saw Hari get through round after round. He was so smart. And so funny. And boy, he could spell. In the end, he missed the word chamaephyte. It is a word about plants that comes from the Greek. We clapped with the audience on TV as Hari walked off the stage, having placed thirteenth.
As we watched, I realized my Infinity Year was over. I’d turned eleven. A part of me still wondered if Toby the gorilla or Frank the bull had really heard me. But that didn’t matter anymore. I think my Infinity Year power was like Pop-pop’s. It came for one magical afternoon and helped me save my best friend. Like Pop-pop, that was all the Infinity magic I would ever need.
I looked over at Atticus. M was sitting in his lap and they were both watching the spelling bee, even though neither one of them could spell.
We were eleven now. We were all out of magic powers but we would be best friends forever and that was good enough for me. Atticus looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.
Then we went back to watching the bee.