Gladys

Sitting on the front steps, taking a much-needed afternoon break, Gladys phoned Chickie. Annabelle picked up.

“Hold on a minute,” she said.

Chickie wasn’t allowed to have a cell phone yet, so Gladys had to wait while Annabelle hunted her down. Cobwebs were practically growing over her before Chickie came on.

“What’s up?” Her best friend sounded suspiciously cheerful, as if nothing was wrong. As if she hadn’t betrayed Gladys with someone named Morgan. Gladys had planned to bring this up and patiently listen to Chickie’s apologies, but hearing her friend’s voice made her realize just how lonesome she was.

“A lot actually,” she began, but paused. Was that whispering in the background? Was someone else there? “Anyway,” she went on, speaking more quickly, “just so you know. I don’t hold a grudge about you ditching me. I’m prepared to be magnanimous about it.”

A giggle.

“Chickie? Is something funny?”

“Why do you talk to me like that?”

“What?” Gladys sat up straighter. “Like what?”

“Like you’re a teacher and I’m the kid who needs special help.”

“I don’t!” Gladys was flabbergasted. “I love talking to you. You always listen to me.”

“And listen and listen and listen.” Chickie blew a breath. “That’s all I ever get to do, because you never stop talking.”

Gladys was sure she heard more whispering in the background. Was it that Morgan? Gladys swallowed.

“You never told me this before,” she said.

“Well. I guess I am now.”

“Okay. I mean, not okay. We can talk. I mean, you can talk.” Gladys watched a big ant crawl across her foot like she was a rock or clod of dirt. “Anyway, the reason I called is because we really need to plan our traditional back-to-school shopping trip.”

“I don’t know. I might not have time.”

“What?”

“I know what’ll happen. We’ll go to the Goodwill and Aunt Annie’s Attic and you’ll talk about how cool all the old clothes are, then we’ll go to Target and you’ll say how boring and generic everything is.” Chickie blew another breath. “Well, I happen to like Target!”

“Okay. You can like Target.”

“You say that, but you don’t mean it.”

“Well, Target is kind of generic and—”

“See? You don’t value my opinions.”

“I can’t believe you said that.”

“See what I mean?”

“Why are you acting this way? Someone must be poisoning your mind.”

Whispering.

“I’m sorry, Gladys.” For a second Gladys believed her, but then Chickie added, “I guess I’ll see you in school.” She hung up.

Years ago, Gladys had accidentally stepped onto a yellow-jacket nest. They’d swarmed up from under the ground, surrounding her, attacking from all sides. At first she couldn’t even tell what was happening. It felt as if the air itself had turned against her, shooting her with invisible fiery arrows.

That was a good description of how she felt now.

Sophie slipped out the front door, wearing a pipe-cleaner crown. When she sat down and leaned into Gladys, she was warm and solid and, to tell the truth, not completely unwelcome. At this moment in time, Sophie might be the only friend Gladys possessed.

What had happened? She’d have sworn on her half-a-million-word dictionary that she and Chickie were best friends, but she’d been wrong. So wrong. Chickie preferred a girl who liked Target and probably had a two-syllable vocabulary.

“It’s okay,” whispered Sophie. “Let the sad out.”

When Gladys looked at herself in the mirror, she saw one person, but when Chickie looked at Gladys, she must see someone else. Not the person Gladys thought she was, but someone...unlikable. Bossy and self-centered. Two totally different definitions of Gladys.

Which one was right? They couldn’t both be, that was for sure.

All summer, Gladys had been counting on a friend who wasn’t really there. What if there was nothing in this world you could really, fully depend on? What if everyone was walking around with their own separate, secret versions of life? What if even the people you counted on most could change their minds about you?

Could abandon you?

What if it was your own fault?

“You’re the best babysitter in the uniworse.” Sophie patted Gladys’s knee. “After Ms. Suza.”

What if no matter how hard you tried to understand the universe, to pin it down and name it, nothing was for sure?

Sophie un-Velcroed herself from Gladys. “You got clothes on,” she said, disappointed.

Gladys lifted her head. Blinking tears, she saw Jude and his little brother coming toward them.