“So what are you going to do?” I ask. Sally stares blankly at me, then quickly swings open the door. Ivy, Brie, and their team are still standing there.
“I knew you’d come to your senses,” Ivy says. “Come on, guys! I smell Mr. Walker’s barbecue.” Sally steps in her way before Ivy and the other Belles can set foot in the house.
“Not so fast,” Sally says. “Is there anything else you and your friends would like to say to me before I let you back into my house?”
Ivy sulks, and then she leans over Sally’s shoulder to whisper in her ear.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Ivy says discreetly.
“No, not okay!” Sally says loudly. “You guys kicked me off the team because I made one mistake. And then you’ve picked on me every day since. Do you know what that’s done to me? I’ve become free game for anyone who wants to pick on me at school.”
“We kicked you off the team because you messed up our chance to go to New York last summer,” says Ivy.
“So you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have to work with me and my new team?”
“Maybe not,” Ivy says, still acting smug. Sally steps closer to Ivy, who backs up from the entrance. Suddenly Sally seems different: tougher, stronger, and definitely braver. It’s like she’s even standing taller.
“Well, if you were really my friend from the beginning, you would’ve had my back. You would’ve helped me, you would’ve told me, ‘It’s okay, there’s always next year,’ something, anything. But instead you chose to treat me like I had no feelings, like we hadn’t known each other since second grade. I was the first kid to make friends with you. You were my best friend in the whole world, and I thought you were a good person, but you’re not. You’re a fraud, because good friends don’t bully friends!” Sally turns to walk away with tears falling from her eyes. I guess all those hurt feelings finally came out right there at the front door.
“Wait!” calls Ivy, holding back tears. Sally slowly turns around. Ivy looks for permission to enter the house. Sally tilts her head to the side, I guess to show it’s okay. Ivy looks at me as she passes, and I stare right at her as if to say, That’s right, I still have my eyes on you, girl. She then looks back to Sally.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry,” insists Ivy. “I was so mad at you because I know how good you are and we really wanted to go to New York to compete. But once we started making fun of you and everyone else started making fun, I couldn’t stop. I guess I didn’t want anyone to think I was weak.”
“So you’re a follower and you pretended to be mean?” asks Sally. “Don’t you know being mean to someone doesn’t make you look strong or cool? It makes you look weak and stupid.”
“Okay, maybe I was mad or jealous because the coach gave you the solo and not me!” Ivy confesses. “I thought I deserved it, but she gave it to you, and then you froze like a block of ice.”
“I don’t know what happened. I freaked out because I thought I couldn’t do it,” Sally admits. “The pressure of everyone expecting me to be so good got to me.” There’s a silence as they both think about that moment, I suppose. Then Sally lightens up. “But it was pretty funny.”
“When you think about it, it really was funny,” says Ivy. “You stood there like an ice sculpture. Seriously.” Ivy pretends to be frozen. Sally gives her a blank stare, but seconds later they both bust out laughing.
“And what’s worse is that I couldn’t hear a thing. All those eyes on me, I almost fainted! It was so crazy.” They keep laughing.
“So are we cool again?” Ivy asks sheepishly.
“It depends. Are you, Brie, and your whole team going to stop bullying me?” Sally asks boldly and loudly. Ivy looks at her friends and they all shamefully nod. “So you promise I won’t have any problem in or out of school?” Again, they all nod. “Good. Now we’re good.” Sally smiles and holds out her hand to shake on it, but to her surprise Ivy gives her a hug. Maybe all that fronting she was doing for her friends was exhausting. Suddenly Melissa and Tina burst into the kitchen.
“She said yes!” Tina exclaims.
“Gabriella’s going to coach us!” shouts Melissa, then notices the Belles. “What are they doing here?”
“They’re here for the party.” Sally smiles at Ivy. Well, I guess now we’re one big team. The Belles rush through the door, straight out to the pool. I hope Ivy and her friends were telling the truth, but we’ll see how things go when we finally get to work to prepare for the competition. We’re going to New York together! Then I remember I left my brother on the phone with my parents. Oh no! I run to Cameron, who’s just hanging up.
“They said they’ll call back later,” says Cameron as he hands me a dead phone. But I didn’t get to ask them if they’re going to get a divorce. I guess I’ll just have to forget about it and wait until the time comes. Like Charlie said, everything will work out. I can only hope.
—
After we eat, the pool calls to us to jump back in, so we do. Without all the tension between us and the Belles, we’re able to get along like nothing ever happened. Music plays as Aunt Jeanie enjoys a glass of wine, the way my mom does after a hard day’s work, smiling out of the side of her mouth. I think she is happy to see Sally and her old friends getting along again. She’s probably especially happy for Sally. Aunt Jeanie knows what a relief it must be to have her best friend back. As
