On Tuesday, Michael and I met after school to work on the final version of our Green Team article. He had a done a really good job revising it, and I could see it was a lot more balanced than my first draft had been. We proofread it one last time.
“I guess it’s all set for Trigg,” I said.
“Maybe not,” Michael replied. “I had an idea.”
Michael explained that he thought we should present our research at the next student government meeting and propose a compromise. Then we’d have a real ending to our story. It was a good plan, even if it meant facing Hailey.
We sat in the front row of the auditorium at Wednesday’s student government meeting. Mr. Trigg and the rest of the Voice staff joined us. Michael had already talked to Anthony about speaking, and Anthony called us up to the podium. We took turns presenting all our findings, summing up the information in our pro-versus-con chart.
“In conclusion,” I said, “we’d like to propose a compromise. We will publish a digital edition of the Cherry Valley Voice. We’d also like to continue to print a paper edition, but we’ll print fewer copies, so that only the students who really want a printed copy will get one. We’ll also look into printing on recycled paper. Even though it costs a little more money, we can publicize the fact that we are ‘going green,’ and maybe other newspapers will take notice. Mr. Trigg will help us with that.”
Michael and I went back to our seats, and Anthony returned to the podium.
“I think that Michael Lawrence and Samantha Martone have come up with an excellent compromise,” Anthony said. “My vote is in favor of it. Does anyone have any objections?”
I could see that Hailey was about to raise her hand, but she didn’t. I wondered why.
“Since there are no objections, the GO GO subcommittee will now work to help the Cherry Valley Voice publish both a print and a digital edition and will help the staff find good sources for environmentally friendly printing options,” Anthony concluded.
Hailey immediately got up, came over to Michael and me, and held out her hand.
“Congratulations,” she said coldly. “I hope a pile of paper was worth destroying our friendship over.”
Then she rushed out of the auditorium.
I was stunned. It would have hurt less if she had punched me.
“Ouch,” Michael said.
“I destroyed our friendship?” I gasped. “What is she talking about? She’s the one who came up with this whole GO GO idea.”
“You know, someone once gave me some very good advice,” Michael said.
“Let me guess. . . . I should tell her how I really feel.” I laughed.
“Great advice,” Michael noted. “Whoever came up with that should think about being a guidance counselor.”
I reached up and rumpled his hair the way he usually did to mine.
“Can you finish the article?” I called as I rushed down the aisle. “I’m going to be a little busy.”
I knew which way Hailey walked home, so I ran until I saw her up ahead.
“Hailey!” I yelled when I was close enough for her to hear me.
She didn’t stop walking.
“Hailey!” I yelled again.
She still didn’t stop.
I caught up to her and walked by her side, but she wouldn’t even turn to look at me.
“Hailey,” I said. “I just wanted to explain how I’ve been feeling.”
“I think you already did that pretty clearly,” Hailey replied.
“Huh?” I said, confused. “When did I do that?”
“Guess what? You win,” Hailey said, trying to imitate my voice.
That’s when it hit me. Hailey had gotten the e-mail that I’d written just to get my feelings off my chest, not to send her! I must have hit the send key instead of hide screen when Allie had barged into my room.
“I don’t think you need to say anything more,” Hailey added. “You’ve said enough. And guess what? You did win. So just leave me alone.”
I really didn’t know what to say to her then. I had a whole bunch of feelings inside of me, and I wanted to get them out, but I also didn’t want to say anything without thinking about it first. Because obviously that strategy wasn’t very effective. So I just went with the only thing I could think of at the moment.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Then I turned around and headed home, alone again.
The rest of the week flew by. The newsroom was a flurry of activity as everyone was excited about the new digital publishing plan. Mr. Trigg invited some computer designers from the local paper to come in to show us some tricks. We had launched a digital version of the Voice a while back, but it was really basic. The computer designers gave us some tips on how to make our newspaper look really professional and great on-screen.
At home, the decorating committee was in full swing, and my room was looking even more amazing by the minute. Oh, and the sparkling with pizzazz design? Totally the new look for Allie’s room.
I was still searching for a way to solve the whole Hailey dilemma, though. I was past the point of being angry. I just wanted to find a way to put it all behind me so we could move on, whether we would ever be best friends again or not. It was so uncomfortable seeing each other around school. Now I knew that every time Hailey looked at me—even when she was surrounded by her friends—the look that she was giving me wasn’t spiteful. She seemed as upset as I was, and I really felt terrible about sending the e-mail. I had hurt my best friend as much as she had hurt me, and I didn’t know how to make it better.
I even told Michael all about the e-mail. Considering that we were calling ourselves friends now, and not just co-reporters, and considering that he had already cared enough to try to make things better between us, I thought he might have some more advice for me. He was stumped, though.
“That’s tough, Sam,” he said. We were at his house hanging out. “Did you tell her that you didn’t mean to send it?”
“I didn’t get a chance,” I said. “And that would just sound stupid anyway. I wrote it, so obviously I felt that way. Whether I sent it or not doesn’t really matter.”
“That’s true,” he said. “I still think you both just need to tell each other how you feel.”
“That’s a little hard to do when the other person won’t listen,” I said. “Not that I blame her.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure out it,” Michael said. “And if you need my help, I’ll be there.”
“I know,” I said. “I do have one favor to ask you.”
“Sure. What do you need?” Michael asked.
“Could you pitch a little better the next time you play West Hills?” I joked. “Maybe even strike out Danny Stratham?”
“Oh, that is a definite yes,” Michael replied.
“Good,” I said. “Maybe a fastball or something.” I was totally joking around. I don’t really know the difference between a fastball and a curveball.
“Well, aren’t you Little Miss Know-It-All herself?” said Michael, laughing.
I stopped laughing. “Why would you say that?” I panicked. No one was supposed to know I was Dear Know-It-All.
“Wait . . . what?” said Michael. “I was just joking.”
“You said I was Know-It-All!” I said, my face getting hot.
“Well . . . ,” said Michael, looking straight at me. “Aren’t you?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Nope. Not me. Not at all. I mean, I never really know anything about anything. How could I know anything to write about? Or tell people what to do? I’m a mess.”
Michael was smiling at me. “Okay,” he said. “You are Dear Know-Nothing.”
“Yep!” I said. “That’s me!” I was trying to figure out if Michael believed me or if he was just teasing me. I was kind of tired from all the drama of the past few weeks. I didn’t want to guess anymore.
“I don’t like Danny Stratham,” I said.
“You said that,” said Michael.
“I like you,” I said. Oh. My. God. Did I just say that? Did aliens come down and abduct my mouth?
“I like you too, Sam,” said Michael. He was smiling a lot now.
We sat there looking at each other for a while.
“Okay, well, I should get going,” I said. “I told my mother I would be home by now.”
“I’ll walk you halfway,” said Michael.
I wondered if he noticed that I was walking really slowly. It was just kind of nice to be walking together, not saying anything.
“Well, this is halfway,” he said. We stopped.
He reached over and whispered in my ear, “I like you a lot, Sam.” Six little words. Six shocking words. I was so surprised I kind of whipped my head around, and when I did, his mouth landed on mine, and well . . . we kind of stayed there for a second. I don’t think he meant to kiss me. We were both a little startled. But neither of us really pulled away either. It. Was. Awesome. And at that moment, there was only one person I wanted to tell all about it.