At the end of science class, Lucy, Theo, and I went to talk to Mr. Dibble. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
“We have a question about our project,” Theo said. “Do we give an oral report, or hand in something written, or both?”
“What?” Mr. Dibble asked, looking confused for a moment. “Oh, right. You know, the truth is, I didn’t have anything specific in mind. So whatever works best for the three of you, works for me.”
“If we do both, will we get extra credit?” Theo asked.
“Hmm,” Mr. Dibble said. “I suppose that would be all right. Sure thing.”
“Thanks,” we told him.
He fist-bumped each of us. “You’re a terrific trio,” he said.
“We prefer to call ourselves the Kindness Club,” Lucy told him.
“I like that,” Mr. Dibble said. “I’m expecting great things.”
Monroe was standing outside the classroom when we walked out. “Hey, Chloe,” she said. “I waited for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I can’t even really hang out today, because I have work to do, and then I have to go to my dad’s.”
“I know,” she said. “I’ll walk you home.”
“But my house isn’t on the way to your house,” I said.
“I’ll walk with you anyway,” she said. “I just have to go to the bathroom first.”
“Oh, sure, of course,” I told her.
I said good-bye to Lucy and Theo, and followed Monroe down the corridor. She pushed open the door marked “girls.” It was a small bathroom, only two stalls, and they were both empty. But Monroe didn’t go in either of them. At first I didn’t think anything of it, because she stood in front of the mirror and fixed her hair, while I went into the one on the left. “I heard what Lucy said to Dibble,” she called to me through the stall door.
I could tell by her voice that it was something she disapproved of, and scrunched up my eyes, trying to remember what Lucy had said, what Monroe could possibly be talking about.
She said the words the very same instant that they popped into my brain: “The Kindness Club,” she said. “Even though you told me that you told her you didn’t want to be in it.”
“I did tell her,” I said. “Like I told you before—I told her that I didn’t think I’d have time to be in it, once I got into the It Girls.” I’d finished in the bathroom, flushed, and I pushed open the stall door. “It’s just for this project. Just until Monday. I promise.”
I watched Monroe’s face to see what she was thinking, but it was hard to tell. She certainly didn’t look happy with me. But she didn’t necessarily look that mad, either. She stepped aside so I could wash my hands.
“I like your hair like that,” I said, watching her in the mirror, hoping my compliment would work some kind of magic—or at least some kind of science.
“Thanks,” she said. “I guess you did give the patch back, since I saw you give the signal at lunch today.”
I pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and dried my hands.
“And your project is done on Monday,” she said.
“That’s right.”
“But trust me, Chloe, you don’t want to be seen doing things with them any more than you have to. I’m just looking out for you.”
“Good.” She gave herself one last glance in the mirror. “I think it’s safe to go now.”
“Don’t you have to go to the bathroom?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I just said that so Lucy and Theo would get a head start walking home and wouldn’t try to walk with us.”
We headed out to Braywood School Road. At the crosswalk, Monroe made a left with me, toward my house, instead of going straight toward hers. She pulled a disposable water bottle out of her bag and took a swig. “Want some?” she asked. I shook my head and she put the cap back on. “Have you noticed what close friends Anjali and Rachael are?”
“Sure,” I said. “The three of you are really tight.”
“We are,” she agreed. “But the two of them, well, the thing is, I’ve always been the head of the It Girls, so I know everyone likes me and looks up to me. But when there were four of us, it was better. Rachael and Anjali were a pair, and I was a pair with Haley. The other two were still my friends—they’re like tied for second-best-friend in my life. But Haley was my best friend. It was totally unfair when she moved away.”
“I understand,” I told her. “When we moved this summer, I had to leave my best friend. Her name is Lia, and we’ve always had each other, ever since the first day of kindergarten. She dropped her cream cheese bagel on the ground and I offered her half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and that was it, we were best friends.”
“Haley and I were best friends from the first day of kindergarten, too. Our teacher, Mrs. Tilly, kept mixing our names up. I think because we were the only two kids in the class who had a french braid.”
“Is that why the It Girls wear french braids on the first day of school?”
“Yup,” Monroe said. “It became our tradition, and when we started the club, Anjali and Rachael wore them, too. I figured it would always be like that, but then Haley’s mom got a new job last spring, in New York. It was for a lot of money. I told my dad to offer Mrs. Booker a job for even more money. My dad owns his own company, so he can do things like that. But he said no. Even when I begged. He said kids shouldn’t meddle in adult decisions. I don’t think that’s fair, since kids have to live with the decisions the adults are making.”
“That’s exactly how I felt about it when my parents said they were getting divorced,” I told her. “They said they were selling my house, and I’d be switching schools. They didn’t ask me what I thought about it.”
“Of course they didn’t,” she said, and she shook her head. “Parents.”
“I think I’ve found the best friends in my new school, though,” I said. It was the closest I’d come to saying my affirmation out loud; well, except to Captain Carrot. “I always try to find the bright side of things, and that seems like a pretty bright side, don’t you think?”
Monroe didn’t answer right away, and I was afraid I’d said the wrong thing. It was hard, waiting to see if I’d get to be an official It Girl. I always felt like I was in the middle of a test. But then Monroe linked her arm through mine, and I felt relieved, as if my whole body had just exhaled. “Let’s skip,” she told me.
We skipped down the next two blocks, until we had to stop for a red light. Monroe chucked her water bottle into the garbage can on the corner. “Wait,” I said. “There was still water left, right?”
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “I thought you said you didn’t want any.” She plucked it off the top of the garbage. “I don’t think it touched anything gross.”
I unscrewed the cap, walked over to the tree on the corner, and poured the leftover water around its roots.
“It was for the tree?”
“I’m not thirsty,” I said. “But trees always are, right?”
“OMG, Chloe. Only you,” Monroe said, but she had a smile on her face, and I was pretty sure it was a compliment. I smiled back and swung my backpack around to unzip the front pocket. “Now what are you doing?”
“I’m putting the bottle away to recycle it at home.”
“Only you,” Monroe said again. “Here, I’ll unzip it for you.” I could feel her fiddling with the zipper, and sticking a hand in the front pocket. “What’s this?”
“What?” I said.
She pulled away from me, Lucy’s patch in her hand.
“Monroe, I can explain,” I said. “Lucy had just said something really nice, and well, you know . . .” My voice trailed off. “I wanted to be kind.”
“God, you’re so obsessed with that,” Monroe said. “The whiny kid at the food court, and the water for the trees, and Lucy’s patch. But what about how you lied to me? Doesn’t keeping this when you said you wouldn’t count as being unkind?”
“I guess I just didn’t know what was so bad about keeping a patch,” I told her.
“I’ll tell you what’s so bad,” she said, shaking her head. “There are people who do what they say they’re going to do, and then there are people who say they’ll do something but they’re just lying.”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” I told her.
She shook her head. “Here, take your stupid patch. I’ve got to go.”