True or False:
If someone sees you talking to the dog, they won’t think it’s weird.
Answer:
Generally true, unless they catch you having a full discussion with the dog where they can hear only one side, in which case they will decide you are the strangest person they’ve ever met.
Katie and I were doing a craft project in my room. Her mom had gotten her a book that showed how to make animals with small cotton pom-poms and pipe cleaners. So far we’d made a lion and giraffe. The lion looked pretty good, but the giraffe’s neck kept drooping. Katie had gotten bored of following the directions and was now making up her own animals. She glued three pom-poms onto the neck of one creature.
“This is going to be a three-headed dog,” she said. “It’s like the one in Harry Potter, only instead of being scary, it’s a friendly dog.”
Winston snorted from the bed where he was watching everything. “Someone should tell her the dog in Harry Potter is totally made up. Three-headed dogs.” He snorted again. “Absurd. Why mess with a perfect creature like a dog? We’re naturally handsome. Of course some of us are more handsome than others.”
I ignored Winston. “Look, I made a snake.” I held up a pipe cleaner I had bent into an S shape. Katie and I laughed. I felt the tight band of tension that had been around my chest since we got to the house start to loosen up. Things were going to be okay.
That’s when I saw my dad. I dropped my pipe cleaner snake.
My dad was floating right outside my window peeking in. He still had this notebook with him, and he was taking notes on how Katie played. His glasses had slid down to the end of his nose. What was he thinking? How was he going to explain being outside the second-floor window if Katie saw him? I flicked my hand at him, trying to let him know he needed to go away. Dad waved back.
Katie started to turn to see what I was looking at. I leaped up, nearly tripping over our school bags and lunged to the window, yanking the curtains closed with a quick swipe.
“Is it too bright in here? I think there might be too much sun,” I leaned against the wall trying to look normal. I was breathing hard. “Wouldn’t want to get a sunburn while sitting inside.”
Katie stood. “It’s not too bright. We need the light if we’re going to see.” She reached over to open the curtains.
“NO!” I screamed.
The curtains opened, but there was nothing there. My dad was down in the yard holding his hedge trimmers. He must have floated down right after I saw him.
Katie gave me a puzzled glance, but then she caught sight of a glass box of rainbow-colored pixie dust on my desk.
“Hey! You have a bunch of glitter.” Katie picked up the pixie dust. “We can use this on our animals.”
My heart froze. There was no telling what could happen if Katie spread that dust around. Winston could turn into an elephant; lime green snow could fall from the ceiling; or a thunderstorm could break out in the closet. The bed could float, the carpet could turn to water, or she could disappear. Careless use of pixie dust can cause all sorts of problems.
“I need that, um, glitter for a project,” I said, my mouth completely dry. I held my hand out to take the glass box from her. I hoped she wouldn’t notice how my hand was shaking.
“I’ll just use a bit to stick on the noses of my three-headed dog.” Katie started to twist off the top of the box.
I dove across the room, snatching the box out of Katie’s hand. I hit the floor hard and rolled to a stop. I slowly opened my hand. The lid was still on the box. I took a deep breath. I felt a wave of relief until I looked up and saw the way Katie was looking at me.
“You must really need to use that glitter for something else,” Katie said.
“Sorry. It’s just that I promised my mom I would use it for a project I’m doing with her. She’s sort of funny about her glitter,” I said. I hoped Katie wouldn’t say that since I’d basically just tackled her to get the box back, maybe I was the one who was weird about my craft supplies.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” Katie said.
I started to follow her down the hall. I wanted to make sure the mirror kept its mouth shut. Katie stopped part way down the hall. I realized she probably thought it was strange I was going with her.
“I’m just making sure you know where the bathroom is,” I said. I pointed to the bathroom, which was sort of dumb. It wasn’t like our upstairs is that big.
Lucinda opened her bedroom door when she heard us in the hallway and peeked out. When she saw Katie, she dashed across the hall and threw herself in front of the closed spare room door as if Katie was trying to attack it with an axe.
“You can’t go in here!” Lucinda said. “This room is off limits. No hum—er, no guests allowed.”
“Okay. I was just going to the bathroom,” Katie explained. She backed away from my sister.
“The guest room is a bit messy, so we don’t let guests see it,” I said. “It’s sort of a non-guest, guest room.”
Katie slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
“Stop acting like such a spaz,” I hissed to Lucinda.
“What if she had seen the room? How were you planning to explain my orange carriage to her?” Lucinda whispered back. “Having a humdrum in this house is a big mistake. There’s too many ways she can figure out we’re fairies.”
“She’s not going to figure it out.” I flounced back to my room.
Winston was surprised to see me back so quickly. He had a pipe cleaner in his mouth.
“Winston!” I yelled. I yanked the cleaner out of his mouth. All that was left was the wire center. The soft fluffy bit had been chewed off. I held the wet, bent wire in front of his face.
“It was on the floor,” Winston pointed out. “You know how I find things on the floor irresistible.” His tail drooped. I hardly ever yelled at him.
I sat on the floor next to Winston and picked through our craft stuff, putting things away. I had the sense Katie was going to want to go home soon. “At least you didn’t eat Katie’s three-headed dog. That’s about the only thing that hasn’t gone wrong.”
“It will be okay. Real friends don’t expect things to be perfect,” Winston said, resting his muzzle on my knee. “Friends like you just the way you are. Even if you do, for example, sometimes chew on things you shouldn’t.”
“I’m not really mad at you for chewing on the pipe cleaners. I just wanted Katie’s visit to go well. How are we ever going to be best friends if I can never have her over here?”
“Maybe having people over takes practice. The first time you do anything it’s always harder,” Winston said. “Next time she comes over, your mom will know not to make quite so many snacks. Lucinda could maybe spend the afternoon with your grandmother.”
I picked at the carpet. “I don’t think Katie’s ever going to want to come over again. Even if she did, I’m not sure if Mom and Dad will let her. We can’t take the risk that she’ll find out who we really are.”
“What do you mean, who you really are?”
I spun around. Katie was standing in the doorway looking at me. Uh-oh. This was going to be harder to explain than the chocolate fountain.