As soon as she saw me, Suzanne started laughing. “I was right!” she gasped between howls. “I felt something. . . . We were at my aunt’s. . . . I said I wasn’t feeling . . . I had to see . . . You’re not . . . anymore . . . You’re back . . .”
I heard my bedroom door open. Reggie bounded to Suzanne, wagging his tail.
She gave a final peal of laughter. “You are going to be so sorry you said I wet my bed. The anus story will be . . .”
Thank heavens I was me and not Suzanne. Even if I had no friends at all. But I didn’t have no friends, I had Reggie and Daphne—and maybe Jared.
There were footsteps behind me.
“And the bed-wetting story will be too!” It was Daphne’s voice.
I turned. Ardis and Daphne were there.
“Hi, Suzanne,” Ardis said.
Suzanne looked at Ardis, looked at me. I could read her thoughts. Is Wilma still popular? No, she couldn’t be. Then why is Ardis here?
“Hi, Ardis.” She ignored Daphne. “Did you come because . . . because Wilma, um, reverted?”
“What do you mean?” Ardis said. “Nothing happened to Wilma.”
What?
“We were just hanging out.”
“Oh.” Suzanne thought about it. “Well, I’m not busy right now. I could hang out too.”
Daphne said, “Who invited you?”
“You came at a bad time,” Ardis said. “Sorry. Shouldn’t she go, Wilma? I mean, it’s your house.”
I nodded, grinning. “Another time, Suzanne. Maybe in fifty years.”
“Okay. I’m going. But when you’re through here, Ardis, come up to me. I want to tell you something fantastic.” She turned to me. “Or you could come up when they leave, Wilma.” She backed out. Reggie wagged his tail at her. I locked the door.
I turned to Ardis and Daphne. “Thanks.”
We stood there in the foyer.
“I couldn’t let Suzanne be nasty to you,” Ardis said. Then she led us back into my room.
BeeBee was sprawled across my bed. Nina was in Maud’s chair.
“Suzanne’s too much,” BeeBee said, grinning. “She’s a riot.”
Suzanne just wants to be popular too, I thought, surprising myself.
“Look,” I said, going back to our discussion, “it’s not fair. If there hadn’t been a spell, you wouldn’t have gotten to know me, because you wouldn’t have bothered, but—”
“Points off,” Nina said. “Lots of people never get to know lots of people.”
“It’s not that simple,” Daphne said, “and you know it.”
“Right.” I nodded. They had to know. Especially Ardis, once known as The Mountain, had to know. “Nobody has anything to do with somebody who isn’t popular, and you can’t be popular if nobody has anything to do with you.”
“Catch twenty-two,” Nina said.
I frowned at her. “You say, ‘Catch twenty-two,’ and then you don’t think about it anymore because you said something smart. But it is that way.”
BeeBee laughed. “She got you that time, Neen.”
I wasn’t finished. “Nobody has anything to do with anybody who isn’t popular, even if they’re really okay.” I swallowed. “Even if they’re me.”
“You were nice to me when we studied for the debate,” BeeBee said, staring up at the ceiling. “And I wasn’t nice back.”
“I’m nice to kids who aren’t popular,” Ardis said.
“You wave,” Daphne said. “You say hi. Big deal.”
“Sometimes you do a little more,” I said. “You talked to me after Ms. Hannah read my essay. But then you went back to waving.”
Ardis shook her head. “This is so strange, Wilma. You’re different, but the same. I can’t get used to it.”
“Are you going to try?” Daphne said. “Or are you going to walk away?”
Nobody said anything for a few seconds. I felt like a dress in a store window that the three of them were deciding whether or not to buy.
I waited. A car alarm went off outside. I was through pleading. It was up to them now.
“Promise not to trick us again,” Ardis said.
“I can’t trick you again. It’s over.”
“Points off for not answering. You can’t be trusted,” Nina said.
“I promise not to trick you again even if I could.”
“I’ll try,” Ardis said. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll try.” A grin started. “But don’t give Reggie away.”
It was the first time she’d joked since the spell ended. I felt such relief, I could hardly talk. “I won’t,” I got out.
“I’ll try too,” BeeBee said. “It was out of sight, being bewitched. It was subtle. I didn’t feel anything or anything.”
“Are you two a package deal?” Nina asked, nodding at Daphne.
“No,” Daphne said.
“No,” I added, “but we’re friends. If I had a sleepover or a party, I’d invite her too.”
“You’re a great dancer,” BeeBee told Daphne.
“Thank you.”
Nobody said anything. I wanted to be sure of them, but I couldn’t be. Without a spell, I couldn’t be. The friendship would have to be their wish as well as mine. It would have to keep on being what each of us wanted, or it would end. Which was right, I supposed. Which was right, even if I wanted more certainty than that.
“I really have to go or my mom will put a spell on me,” Ardis said. “I’m leaving for camp tomorrow.”
“We’re going to Europe,” BeeBee said. “Dad’s taking me to see Florence . . .”
Whoever that was.
“. . . and Rome.”
Oh, Italy.
“What train was the old lady on?” Nina asked. “What did she look like?”
“I could make Carlos my slave,” BeeBee said.
“I could— Never mind,” Daphne said.
“Well, I have to go,” Ardis repeated. “I’ll call you from camp. Can you put Reggie on the phone? Would he bark?”
“I’ll train him,” I said, smiling.
When everyone left, I stared at the door for a minute. It was over. But I wasn’t the same as before it started. I knew four girls and one boy better than I had three weeks ago, and maybe I had four friends. And maybe one boyfriend.
I ran to call Jared. The answering machine picked up. While I left a message, I pictured him listening and not picking up because he didn’t want to talk to me.