ONLY A HALF hour of class had gone by. Time was going so slowly. Dana looked back longingly. She should be the one sitting beside Janelle. Julia had moved her desk right up against Janelle’s. They were sharing a math textbook, and Julia was explaining something. Dana could have done that. She looked over at Jason, but he was talking to Mickey.
When the bell finally rang for recess, Dana jumped up and headed for the back of the classroom. Julia had gone to her locker, so Dana slid into her desk.
“Hi, Janelle.”
“Dana. How are you?”
Dana shook her head. “How are you?” she asked.
“I’m okay. Getting there.”
“I was at your house.”
“I know. My mom told me.”
Julia came back and stood beside her desk.
“Excuse me.” She tapped Dana’s shoulder. When Dana got up, Julia slid back into the seat and placed Janelle’s lunch bag on top of her desk. “Anything else you need, Janelle?”
“Yes, anything I can do?” asked Dana quickly.
“No, that’s it, I think. Thanks, Julia.”
“No problem. That’s what best friends are for.”
Julia smiled and took out her own snack. “I told Mr. B. I would stay in with you during recess, and he said that was a good idea. I can help you with the stuff you missed.”
“Oh. Okay. I have missed a lot.” Janelle looked up at Dana. “So, my mom said you had your first run already.”
“Yes. Oh, Nelly, it was so awesome. We—” Avery and Allie Grant came over and asked Janelle if they could sign her cast.
“Sure,” said Janelle. “Let me just see if I can find something to write with.” She began to poke around in her desk.
“Here you go,” said Julia, producing a twelve-pack of permanent markers in a rainbow of colors. “I bought these especially for cast signing.”
Janelle grinned. “Awesome.” She held them out for the twins to pick a color. “Thanks, Julia.”
“Dana,” said Julia. She motioned to Dana to come closer and lowered her voice. “I can’t believe you are talking to Janelle about cross-country. She obviously can’t run this season. That is so insensitive.”
“But she asked me…”
“Of course she did. She’s such a sweetie. But I don’t think you need to rub it in.”
“I’m not rubbing it in. I just wanted to tell her how great the team did on Friday. I got third. I’ve never gotten third in my life. I got a ribbon!” Dana opened her fist to show Julia the green ribbon rolled carefully inside. “I want to give it to Janelle,” she continued. “Neta said if we couldn’t run with Janelle, we could at least run for Janelle, and so…”
Julia smiled tightly. “Just remember, Dana, that talking about things Janelle can’t do will not make her feel better. We want to make her feel better, don’t we?”
Dana nodded. “Well, of course…”
“Besides,” continued Julia, “if I remember correctly, when Janelle ran she was always in front of you, wasn’t she? So third place isn’t really worth mentioning. You probably only placed because Janelle wasn’t in the race. She would have earned that ribbon on her own, don’t you think?”
Dana was quiet. Maybe that was true. She remembered standing beside Neta just before the race started. Neta had smiled and held her hand up for a high five. “For Janelle?”
Dana had high-fived her. “For Janelle.” She had run the whole race with this in mind—that she was running for her friend. But maybe Julia was right. Maybe it had been a stupid idea. She quickly stuffed the ribbon into the front pocket of her jeans.
Janelle inspected the colorful additions to her cast as Avery and Allie skipped away. Then she turned back to Dana. “Sorry about that. What were you going to say?”
“Mmm…nothing. I forget.”
Janelle raised an eyebrow. Dana looked away.
“Do you want to sign my cast?”
“Sure.”
When Dana asked Mr. B. if she could stay inside to help Janelle too, he said one friend was enough.