How much money she had to save from her allowance each week.
“In her grill,” as Alfie’s big brother EllRay might say, pretending to be tough.
Maybe Mrs. Marino was like that because Lulu was an only child, Alfie told herself now. Who knew? Lulu was kind of like her mother’s main job, Alfie thought—and her hobby too, for that matter.
Think of all Lulu’s super-cute outfits, for instance.
And her bangs, always so perfectly trimmed.
Things like that took time.
And it was a lot of responsibility for Lulu, Alfie thought. She felt sorry for her. Almost.
“See, last summer was hard,” Lulu was trying to explain.
Alfie blinked, wanting to keep up. “You mean in Maine?” she asked, surprised. Lulu and her parents had been gone the whole summer, she remembered. It had been the longest vacation in the world, as far as Alfie was concerned. “Why? Wasn’t it fun? It sounded fun.”
“It was fun being with my grandparents,” Lulu said. “Only I didn’t have anyone much to play with, either.”
“What about your cousins?” Alfie asked. “I thought you had tons.”
“They’re older,” Lulu said, her voice soft with leftover sadness. “The point is, they’ve been friends with each other since forever. So Mama and I were kind of lonely on that island,” she said, poking a hole through what was left of her sandwich.
“Huh,” Alfie said, thinking about it.
“I would have video-called you,” Lulu continued, “only I couldn’t get a signal.”
Wow, Alfie thought—but it was an island! She would have had fun. She wondered if any mermaids swam nearby—if mermaids were real. She could never decide about that.
But she would have left out snacks for them, just in case.
“So when we got back,” Lulu was saying, “Mama told me it was time for us to have some fun. And so we decided it would be a good time to have a sleepover. I partly wanted to do it for my mama,” Lulu confided, like this was a secret. “She likes to plan stuff so much. That’s why her feelings were hurt on Wednesday night, when she started getting those phone calls saying how wrong she was about the party.”
“But didn’t your mom know about the school rule?” Alfie asked.
“She didn’t break the rule,” Lulu reminded her. “I did. I guess I kind of got carried away with the whole thing, once I saw how much everyone wanted to go to my party.”
“Uh-huh,” Alfie said, nodding. “I kind of get that. But how come you had to go and make Bella cry the way you did?”
“I didn’t have to,” Lulu admitted. “But I wanted to—when I saw her in the restroom that day. She kind of made me feel bad, looking so sad and lonely. And that made me mad for some reason. I don’t know why,” she added with a tiny shrug. “Just like I don’t know why I said you weren’t my friend anymore,” she added softly, looking away.
Alfie held her breath.
17 Even
“I’m sorry I said you weren’t my friend anymore,” Lulu said again.
In front of everyone, Alfie added silently. “Oh, did you say that?” she asked out loud, kicking the cafeteria chair with her sneaker. “I guess I didn’t hear.”
“Yeah, you did,” Lulu said, laughing. “But the point is, I didn’t mean it. So do you forgive me?”
“You meant it a little bit,” Alfie said, her voice quiet. “For a second, at least.”
“But being mad at someone for a second doesn’t count,” Lulu said. “Not for Upside-Down Heads like us,” she added, and she slid Alfie a pleading look.
“Why did you say it?” Alfie asked as she remembered the awful moment.
“Like I said before, I got carried away,” Lulu said.
“Well, can you quit getting carried away?” Alfie asked, only half joking.
“I can try,” Lulu said.
“Okay, then,” Alfie said. “But getting back to before, I think your cousins not wanting to play with you should have made you want to be nice to Bella.”
“But it didn’t,” Lulu said, frowning a little. “So, okay, I yelled at Bella for no reason. And I guess I’m sorry.”
“Tell Bella that,” Alfie said. “And then we’ll be even.”
“Okay. Maybe,” Lulu said as she opened a small bag of grapes and popped one into her mouth. “But how come you want that so much?”
“Because it’s the nice thing to do,” Alfie said. “Just like it would have been nice if your cousins played with you last summer.”
“And not kept ditching me,” Lulu chimed in. “On an island. Like, who was I supposed to play with? The rocks? And it kept raining!”
“So, tell Bella you’re sorry,” Alfie said again.
“Okay, okay,” Lulu said with a dramatic sigh. “I’ll apologize. I promise. But we’re still stuck with no party,” she added, scooping her lunch trash back into its crumpled brown paper bag.
“Maybe we are, and maybe we aren’t,” Alfie said, thinking.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lulu asked.
And Alfie told her the basic idea.
“So let me get this straight,” Lulu Marino said a few minutes later. “You want to have a party tomorrow—at your house? And invite all the girls in our class?”
Alfie nodded. “Because that was such a great idea you had,” she told Lulu.
“And that’s why you would be, like, the honored guest at the party,” Alfie went on.
“Really?” Lulu asked.
“Mm-hmm,” Alfie said, nodding some more. “But I wanted to check it out with you first.”
“What kind of party?” Lulu asked. She was starting to get excited.
“I dunno yet,” Alfie admitted.
“Not a sleepover,” Lulu said. “Because I want to be the first one in our class to have a sleepover—like the big girls have.”
“Okay,” Alfie agreed. “But what else sounds like fun?”
Lulu shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe something kinda like a sleepover,” she said slowly. “A party where you get to wear your cutest jammies. And then just eat something and go home.”
“Yeah,” Alfie said, picturing it. “The girls could come wearing their awesomest jammies. And eat breakfast, maybe. With no sleeping over.”
“Because breakfast is my most favorite meal of
