Pippa park crush at firs.., p.13
Pippa Park Crush at First Sight, page 13
“Yes!” I yelled, pumping my fist. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Please call me back to discuss details. I’m leaving in just a few minutes, but you should be able to reach me tomorrow, any time after four p.m.”
I strode into the rehearsal feeling as if I could jump over all the chairs in a single bound. I had a party space! Of course, it was probably going to be expensive, but I would figure that part out. In the worst-case scenario, I could ask the Royals to chip in—fifty bucks each would probably cover it—with a promise to pay them all back over time. I could earn enough from babysitting to pay everyone back in a couple of months.
I had a party space!
Onstage, voices were raised and every face I saw wore a scowl. As I walked closer to the disgruntled pageant group, Annie pointed a finger at Jewel. “Stop bragging about being Mary. The sheep are important, too.”
“Girls!” Pastor Oh rushed over, his big brown eyes blinking rapidly. For a moment, the auditorium fell silent as everyone whipped around to look at him. “Pippa, they’ve been at it all afternoon, rehearsal is falling apart, and I have to tend to the scenery. If you can fix this…” he waved a hand, drawing an imaginary circle around the girls, “… it will be nothing short of a miracle.” He walked to stage left, shouting, “More hay! Much more hay!”
I let out a sigh. I really, really wanted to find Marvel, but this would have to come first. And anyway, the way I was feeling right now, these kids would be putty in my hands.
“Well, it is her fault!” Annie exclaimed, at the same time Jewel shouted, “She started it!”
“Pippa, you said we’re all on the same team,” Annie huffed. “But she doesn’t act like it.”
“All right.” Putting on my best Coach Ahmad voice, I said, “Being on a team means you talk to each other. Now, one at a time, let’s start. Annie, you go first.”
It turned out that jealousy was the cause of it all—Jewel was jealous of Annie because she got to be in charge of the sheep, and Annie was jealous of Jewel because she was playing Mary. I finally got them to agree that everyone’s role mattered, and peace was restored.
Pastor Oh gave me a relieved and jovial grin. “That was amazing!” he told me.
“Nothing to it,” I replied, and hurried backstage to where I thought I’d find Marvel.
There he was, sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and had large white headphones wrapped around his neck, and even though his hair was all mussed up like he had just taken a nap, he somehow looked even cuter than the last time I had seen him. My chest started to ache the more I stared at him, and I realized it was because I had forgotten to breathe.
Which was practically the same feeling I had when I was with Eliot, I realized.
How can you really like two guys this much at the same time—two guys who are so totally different? I didn’t understand it, but maybe the Royals would. They have much more experience with these things than I do, I thought, and that’s when I remembered their flirting tips.
Okay, here goes. Don’t start with the Buddy-not-your-boyfriend thing, I told myself. That might make you look too interested. Play it cool.
“Hey,” I said. “Weird rehearsal, right?”
“Pretty much a train wreck till you showed up,” Marvel agreed, and I tried to ignore the fuzzy feelings that passed through me.
“You think so?”
I knew it was pathetic, but I wanted to hear him say it again.
“Are you kidding me? Of course!” Marvel said. “I tried to step in and almost got my nose bitten off. Annie might only come up to my hip, but she’s freaking terrifying.”
I laughed.
But now it was time to let him know Buddy wasn’t my boyfriend, and I suddenly felt nail-bitingly nervous. I took out my phone, pretending I had just received a text. “Oh, it’s just from my friend Buddy. My good friend. No feelings between us. Well, just good-friend feelings. In fact, he’s dating my best friend! I kinda helped introduce them.”
This was not sounding cool.
“Oh,” Marvel said.
“Yeah. So, no boyfriend currently. Or, I mean, in the foreseeable future, either.” I paused. I didn’t want him to interpret that as me not wanting a boyfriend. “Not that I would object to one!” I quickly added. “I’m not a nun or anything. Although nuns are great, I bet—no offense to them, I love The Sound of Music. It’s just not the life for me. For a lot of reasons, but also because, yes, I do want a boyfriend. Eventually. Not right this second. I mean, I’m ready for it, but what I’m trying to say is it’s not like I’m asking you to be my boyfriend or something. Ha ha, that would be ridiculous. Right?”
I bit my lip so that I would stop speaking and snuck a glance at Marvel from the corner of my eye. He had a small smile on his face, which I hoped meant that he was happy that I wasn’t dating anyone—but then again, it could also just mean he was laughing at me.
“Good to know,” Marvel finally said.
My heart thumped in my chest. Good to know? What was that supposed to mean? Did it mean he’d say yes this time if I asked him to the party?
Slow down, Pippa. I could practically hear Bianca’s voice in my head. You don’t want to seem too eager.
On stage, I heard Jewel say, “We’ve traveled so far, Joseph. How much farther until we find somewhere that will open its doors to us?”
My heartbeat sped up, drowning out the rest of her lines. In just a few minutes, Mary and Joseph would find a manger to stay in, and that would be the cue for Marvel and me to head onstage. There would be no time for talking for the rest of rehearsal, and afterward, Peter would find Marvel, and the two of them would head out to their mom’s car, and Marvel would be gone, and I would spend the next week thumping my head against my bedroom wall, wondering what “good to know” meant.
Maybe flirting would seal the deal. I remembered Bianca’s advice—tease him a little.
“You know, you’re a little bit of a goofball,” I blurted out. “I was, uh, just thinking that.”
“I’m a… goofball?” Marvel repeated.
I could tell by his tone that my first attempt at flirting wasn’t winning any awards. Maybe Starsie’s approach?
“But you have really good hair. Even when you have bedhead.”
“Um, thanks? I guess?” He squinted as if he was trying to see me clearer. “Are you okay, Pippa? You’re acting a little… strange.”
Strange?
This wasn’t working.
Just ask him to the party.
“Marvel, I—”
“I think that’s our cue,” he interrupted. “So you should probably head back to your side of the stage.”
“Right.” I sighed. “Guess I’ll see you around.”
“I’d like that,” Marvel said. “Maybe at Duo’s?”
For a moment, I just stared at him. Because what else was I supposed to do? Had Marvel seriously asked me out on a date? Or was he just making fun of me?
“What? Together?” I sputtered.
“Yeah,” Marvel said, grinning. “It’d be fun to see you someplace that’s not here. You in? Maybe Tuesday after school? I’ve got to watch Peter until my mom gets home from work. So how is six fifteen?”
“Um—sure!” I couldn’t believe it. This would be my first actual date. And in between laughing and endless amounts of ice cream, I’d ask him to come to the party. And I knew this time he’d say yes.
Things were starting to come together!
Perfect party space: check (almost).
Perfect party dress: check.
Perfect decorations: check.
Perfect date: check (almost).
Everything finally falling into place: check.
* * *
Swish! The ball went through the net and Bianca pumped her fist, satisfied.
“Nice one,” I congratulated her, and she grinned.
“Thanks. Hey, how’s the allergic cat?” she asked me.
I blinked. This was the second time in less than a week Bianca had seemed downright friendly. “He’s a giant pain,” I admitted, thinking about Boz, and Bianca laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Caroline asked. Bianca and I were on the same team today, and Caroline was covering me.
“Oh, nothing,” Bianca said carelessly. “You had to be there.”
Caroline’s eyes narrowed. But before she could say anything, Coach Ahmad blew a blast on her whistle. “Ten minutes on the clock, girls. Stay sharp!” she barked. “Remember—you’re not on break yet, and I don’t want to see anyone slacking!”
Even though the ball hadn’t passed half-court, I bent my knees lower, and raised my arms higher. I would not be caught slacking. From my position on the three-point line, I watched as Serena passed the ball to Helen, who passed it to Starsie, who passed it back to Serena, who passed it to Caroline. Caroline dribbled forward—zigzagging past Win and Kate—and headed straight for the hoop.
I sprinted forward. We were supposed to be practicing zone defense, but it was clear that Caroline was going to score if I didn’t do anything.
“Nice decision, Park!” Coach called. “Assess and adapt, girls. Assess and adapt!”
Caroline made a face but was forced to dribble back a step. I stayed on her, not giving her any wiggle room. Her eyes darted back and forth between me and the hoop, searching for a way out. But there wasn’t one.
“Over here!” Starsie shouted. “I’m open!”
Caroline’s feline gaze shifted to the side. She liked to play aggressively and hated passing—but there was nothing else for her to do in this situation. My hips twitched to the left, ready to block her throw.
Only Caroline surprised me.
Instead of picking up the ball and passing, she made a break for it. Straight forward—into me.
Her shoulder rammed into mine, and I went sprawling across the court. Before I had the chance to register the pain, Coach blew her whistle.
“Bingham! That’s a personal foul!”
“Sorry, Coach,” Caroline called back. “Accident!” She gazed down at me, not sorry at all, and held out a hand. From my vantage point on the floor, she looked monstrously tall. “You understand, right, Pippa?”
“I understand. Totally.”
I understand that you are the worst kind of person.
But I couldn’t say that out loud—not when Caroline was batting her big eyes at me, pretending to be all innocent. And definitely not while everyone—including Coach—watched. Ignoring Caroline’s hand, I climbed to my feet and massaged my sore shoulder.
“You good, Park?” Coach yelled.
Glaring at Caroline, I called, “Never been better.”
After practice, I made a beeline for the locker room. I had a babysitting gig to get to, and I didn’t want to be late. With today’s money, I’d have enough to pay Helen back for the dress. Bianca headed for the bathroom, Helen to the shower, and I went straight to my locker. As I started to shimmy into my Lakeview skirt, Win sat on the bench next to me.
“You okay?” she asked. “Caroline rammed into you pretty hard.”
Two lockers away, Caroline rolled her eyes. “Please, I barely tapped her,” she said. “In fact, I was more surprised than anyone at how fast you dropped, Pippa.” Caroline laughed, and my stomach clenched. I wanted to wipe that smile from her face. Instead, I turned back to my locker and pretended to rummage around for a textbook. If I didn’t engage with Caroline, she would eventually stop talking. But even if I was done with the conversation, Win wasn’t.
“Probably because she didn’t expect her friend to attack her,” Win argued. “You were playing dirty.”
“I was playing smart.” Caroline’s nostrils flared and her hands balled up into fists. “In fact—”
But before Caroline could say anything else, Starsie draped an arm around my shoulder and frowned at her. “Oh, don’t get salty, C,” she said. Normally, her voice was light and airy, but today it bordered on chiding. “You were the one who went all feral on Pippa.”
“Yeah, you’re lucky Pippa’s so chill,” Win added. “If you tried that on one of us, you know we’d push back.”
Caroline’s mouth closed with a furious popping noise. She glared at me with a gaze as boiling hot as lava, but eventually shrugged. Apparently, she knew when she was outnumbered.
“All right,” she said. “All of you are so sensitive. I was just joking. Obviously.”
When none of us said anything, she shook out her long mane of hair.
“Fine.” She turned to me, her lips jutting forward petulantly. “I guess I’m sorry if I accidently hurt you. Okay? Anyway,” Caroline said, before I could respond, “let’s talk about something actually important. When did you mail the invites, Pippa?”
“The invites?” I blinked at her, confused by the rapid change in subject.
“Uh, duh. For the party?” Caroline looked sharply at me. “I checked with my friend Veronica this morning, and she still hasn’t gotten hers.”
“Oh! Those invites. Of course.” I laughed confidently, attempting to cover up my mistake, but my stomach clenched. The invitations had completely slipped my mind. And even if I had remembered them, it wasn’t like I could have mailed them anyway. Not when I wasn’t sure what address to put down for the party. But I couldn’t tell the Royals that.
In fact, the cards and envelopes were still stuffed in the lower compartment of my backpack. I gripped the straps tighter, just in case Caroline used her Jedi mind powers to read my thoughts and tried to snatch them from me. Probably they were all wrinkled by now, and if she saw the state of them, I knew she would do more than shoulder-tackle me.
Trying not to panic as Caroline grew more impatient, I finally blurted, “Um, well, the reason Veronica hasn’t gotten hers is because… no one has.”
“Excuse me?”
“I saw these cute holiday stamps online, so I just had to put in an order!” I claimed. “It took forever to ship, but they, uh, finally got here last night, and so I was planning on stamping everything and mailing them tonight.”
“Riii-iiight. The reason you haven’t sent out the invites is because of… holiday stamps,” Caroline repeated dubiously.
“Yeah! You know. They’re stamps… but holiday themed! They have little snowflakes and reindeer on them. Stuff like that.”
Caroline stared at me for so long that I could feel sweat bead up on the back of my neck. It seemed like hours passed before she rolled her eyes. “Pippa, there are exactly ten days left before the party. What if people made other plans? What if no one can make it now?” Her voice turned shrill.
“Calm down, Caroline.” Helen came out from the shower, towel-drying her hair. “Everyone knows about the party. Everyone knows where and when it is.”
“That’s right,” Win said. “We all told our guests about it. And I saw you send your guests save-the-date emails.”
“That’s not the point,” Caroline huffed. “The Royals have standards. It’s not the way we do things. We don’t send out our invitations late.” She turned abruptly and headed for the bathroom, ending my interrogation.
They told everyone the party is at my house. That was awkward. But assuming I would reach Joanne at the Blue Room after four today to confirm, I could fix it. It was a slipup but not a catastrophe.
Still, I was starting to get that knot in my stomach again. Caroline was right. Ten days was cutting it close. And what if the Blue Room was too expensive?
“Sorry that Caroline is being such a grump today,” Starsie told me. “She’s probably stressed about her family coming over. She has like seventeen cousins, and she hates all of them.”
“Not that that’s an excuse,” Win emphasized. “But don’t worry—the rest of us know you’ve got this!”
“Yeah!” Starsie squeezed my hand. “We believe in you!”
“Thanks,” I said. “That means a lot.”
And it did.
I just hoped I deserved their confidence.
And just like that, I was horribly nervous again. Disappointing them would be terrible. And Caroline would be joyous. I could hear her now: “I told you she couldn’t do it. I told you she wasn’t Royal material.” Suddenly, my fingers felt like ice.
Swallowing my worry, I waved goodbye to Win and Starsie and headed to the exit. As I walked out, I spotted Helen and Bianca in the corner of the locker room. Their heads were bent low toward each other, and they were speaking so softly that I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I watched Helen glance over at me—but before I could wave, she looked away, and whispered something in Bianca’s ear.
I froze. Were they talking about me?
Helen wouldn’t, part of me argued. She’s not like that.
But when Bianca also glanced back at me, my stomach took a dive.
What if Bianca had told Helen how weird it was that I wouldn’t let her upstairs to my apartment the other day? Maybe she asked Helen if she’d noticed anything strange about me lately. From there, it would be natural for Helen to tell Bianca about how I owed her money, and how I hadn’t been able to pay her back yet.
And now they were probably wondering if I was lying about the invitations.
Tucking my head down, I hurried out of the locker room.
At the bike rack, I fumbled with my bike, my pulse pounding in my ears. Why, why, why had I ever thought I could really fit in with the Royals? How could I ever live up to their standards? It was obvious that Caroline didn’t think I could.
But Helen? Helen, who called me Pips and laughed at the same things I did? It really hurt to think she was talking about me behind my back.
Calm down, Pippa, I told myself. You don’t know what they were saying. They could have been talking about anything.
But as I pedaled to my babysitting gig, I felt lonelier than ever.
17 DOUBLE TROUBLE
Only 9 Days Left Until Christmas Eve (How? Just How?)
By the next day, I was feeling a little better. I hadn’t been able to speak to Joanne at the Blue Room, but I left a message with all the details with her assistant, who seemed to think there would be no problem. Joanne just had to get back to me with a final price. The assistant promised she would text it to me sometime today.
