Best friends for never, p.1
Best Friends For-Never, page 1
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Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Klein, J.M.
Title: Best friends for-never / J.M. Klein.
Description: New York: West 44, 2021. | Series: The totally secret diary of Dani D.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781538382011 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781538382028 (library bound) | ISBN 9781538383018 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Best friends--Juvenile fiction. | Friendship--Juvenile fiction. | Diaries--Juvenile fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.K545 Be 2021 | DDC [F]--dc23
First Edition
Published in 2021 by
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Copyright © 2021 Enslow Publishing LLC
Editor: Theresa Emminizer
Designer: Seth Hughes
Photo credits: cover (lightning bolts) melazerg/iStock/Thinkstock.
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Printed in the United States of America
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Monday, June 2
I’m so excited. I can’t sit still!
I’m in the car with Dad. He’s laughing at me. That’s because I keep wriggling and squirming— even while writing in my diary.
“I wish I had your energy!” Dad is saying. Then he laughs again when I bounce up and down in my seat.
But I can’t help it! In just four hours and thirty-nine minutes, I will be home.
Home!
I will be in my old room. I will be in my old house. And I will see my best friend, Emily Grace. And my old friends Kayla and Jasmine.
How on Earth am I supposed to sit still?!
Mom would find a place where I could get out of the car. She would tell me to dance. That’s how I use up energy now. It makes it easier to sit still. But Dad doesn’t know that trick. And I am not going to tell him.
I want to get home as fast as possible.
Grandma doesn’t like it when I call Dad’s house “home.” She says, “Dani, you live here now. This is your home.”
That’s kind of true. Mom and I have lived in our new town for eight months. We have a new house now. My new room is just the way I like it. I get to take dance lessons. I even have a new best friend, Paige. It does feel like home.
But my old house is still home, too.
That’s where my dad lives. Where I learned to ride my bike. Where Emily Grace and I ate a whole tub of ice cream in one night.
And I am going to be there in four hours and thirty-four minutes!
I get to spend the ENTIRE SUMMER at home. I get to see my dad every day. I won’t have to video-chat him just to talk to him. I get to hang out with Emily Grace whenever I want. I get to do all sorts of fun things with my old friends.
I can’t wait!!!
Dad even has the next week off from work. He’s telling me about that now.
“We can do whatever you want,” he’s saying. “We can go for bike rides. Or make extra-chocolaty brownies. We can watch movies. I’m all yours for the week.”
YES! This is so great!
“What would you like to do first?” Dad asks. “There should still be lots of daylight left when we get home.”
Oh, wow. There’s so much I want to do! It’s so hard to decide. Bike rides sound like fun. So does seeing my old room. So does making crafts with Emily Grace. And jumping on the trampoline with Jasmine.
“Can you drop me off at Emily Grace’s house right away?” I ask Dad. “I can’t wait to see her!”
Dad laughs. “You really can’t, huh? It’s nice to see you so excited.”
So Dad is going to take me straight to Emily Grace’s! I will see my best friend in four hours and thirty minutes!
I wish it was even faster!
The best part is I won’t need ANY total secrets at home. That was my problem when Mom and I first moved. I wanted to make new friends. So I pretended to be a new me. And I kept a lot of secrets.
I won’t have to do that at home. Everyone already knows me. They are already my friends. They will be my best friends FOREVER.
Just four hours and twenty-five minutes left! It’s going to be the best summer ever.
Later Monday
Emily Grace wants to go by just “Emily” now.
Not Emily Grace.
Emily.
Emily Grace has ALWAYS been Emily Grace. I’ve known her forever! We’ve been best friends since second grade. And the whole time, she’s gone by Emily Grace. She would get mad if the teacher only called her Emily. Her name is Emily Grace. BOTH names are important.
Only they aren’t. Not anymore.
“Emily Grace is too much of a little kid’s name,” she told me. “It makes me sound like a baby.”
I think Emily makes her sound like a DIFFERENT PERSON.
But Emily Grace kind of IS a different person.
Her hair is different. We used to both have hair past our shoulders. But Emily Grace cut her hair. It's short. It only goes to her chin. She says it's called a “bob.”
“I found a picture of it on a French fashion blog,” she said. “It’s very popular in Paris.”
Emily Grace never used to read fashion blogs before
Emily Grace never wanted to look French before.
I don’t get it.
I'm sitting on Emily Grace's bed. She's looking up photos online to show me. All the pictures are clothes. Shirts. Shoes. Dresses. Maybe a couple of haircuts.
It is SO BORING.
She doesn’t want to talk about my new house. Or my new room. She doesn’t want to talk about my dance class. Or the part I danced in the school play.
She doesn’t even want to make crafts.
She wants to look at fashion blogs. And talk about clothes. And talk about how cute Tyler Mitchells is.
I don’t even know who Tyler Mitchells IS.
So I decided I could at least write in my diary.
We’ve been hanging out for a couple of hours. I was SO happy to see Emily Grace when Dad dropped me off. I jumped up and down and squealed. That’s what Paige and I do when we are excited.
But Emily Grace didn’t jump up and down. Or squeal.
She dId gIve me a hug. That was nIce. But then she saId I was huggIng her too tIght. “Don’t mess up my haIr, DanI!”
Now she keeps sIghIng at me.
She looks at a pIcture.
SIghs.
Looks at a pIcture.
SIghs.
“Why are you wrItIng In your dIary now?” she’s askIng. “Don’t you thInk It’s kInd of rude?”
I DON’T thInk It’s kInd of rude. I wrIte In my dIary ALL THE TIME wIth PaIge. And PaIge draws In her sketchbook.
That’s what I tell EmIly Grace now.
She just frowns.
Now she wants to watch a fashIon show on TV. She doesn’t like my favorite dance show, Dance For It!, anymore. She says it’s boring.
“I stopped watching Dance For It! a long time ago,” she’s saying. “I can’t believe you still like that! Runway Magic is so much better.”
I don’t WANT to watch a show I about clothes.
I’m going to go get my bike. I think I’m going to go to Jasmine’s house now. Maybe she will know where the real Emily Grace is. And how to get her back.
Later later Monday
Jasmine isn’t home.
Her mom said she’s at a soccer game. I asked if I could come over tomorrow morning. But Jasmine’s mom said she has soccer practice then.
I guess I should have texted first. But I never needed to before. Jasmine was always home before.
I’m going to Kayla’s house now.
At least the basket on my bike is a good spot for my diary.
Still Monday
Kayla was home. But she’s BUSY.
“You can come in, Dani,” she said. “But I’ve got to watch my little brothers while my mom cooks dinner.”
I did go in. She gave me a big hug. She said she missed me so much. But then one of her brothers knocked down a stack of toys. And then the other started crying. And Kayla had to stop talking to me to help her brothers.
I forgot about Kayla’s brothers. They were not a problem when we were in school.
I tried hanging out for a little bit. “When did Emily Grace cut her hair?” I asked Kayla.
Kayla had to think about it. Finally, she said, “Oh, Emily cut her hair a long time ago. Like around spring break.”
Even Kayla calls Emily Grace just Emily now!
Then Kayla had to go set the table for dinner. And I was in the way.
Kayla said she was sorry. “We can do something tomorrow, Dani!” she said. But then she frowned. “Oh, wait, I can’t tomorrow. We’re going to be at my cousin’s house. Maybe the next day? I should probably ask Mom. I’ll text you.”
And then I left.
EVERYTHING is different.
I’m in my old room now. Only it doesn’t feel like I remember. It feels smaller. That could just be because Dad has a bunch of his work stuff in here. He told me he is going to move it. But then he didn’t move it. He asked if I wanted to help him make pizza.
<
Only now I like mushrooms instead of pepperoni. So we are going to make pizza tomorrow night after Dad goes to the store to get mushrooms. Dad went to get takeout. He wanted me to go with him. I had to tell him Mom lets me stay home by myself for a few hours.
“I’m not a baby anymore, Dad,” I said. “It’s okay. I need to write in my diary.”
Even the color of my walls feels weird. In my head, the walls were a really pretty blue. But it looks lighter than I remember. My new room is purple. And one wall is purple with green polka dots. It looks much better.
I wish I wasn’t just in my room looking at my walls. But none of my friends have time for me. They have all changed.
Especially Emily Grace.
I have to fix this.
I’m only here for the summer. I don’t have time to waste. So I need to do something now.
I just have to find a way for us all to be together again. I need a way we can all hang out. And remember why we used to be friends.
This can still be the best summer ever. I just have to think of the perfect plan.
Wednesday, June 4
I have a plan!
And it is perfect. The only thing wrong with it is how long it took me to think of it.
I’m at the park with Dad. We were going to go on a bike ride. Only right when we got here, I saw it: a giant poster for the summer festival.
The summer festival is a BIG deal. Everyone goes. Even the high school kids think it’s cool. There are all sorts of food and games and booths.
But the BEST thing every year is the talent show.
The acts are always so amazing. And if you win the show, you get tickets to a concert! And this year’s concert tickets are for my favorite singer, Stella Strike. And Emily Grace LOVES Stella Strike, too!
My friends and I used to talk about the summer festival all spring. But now I live in a whole new town. And it’s not a thing there. So I forgot all about the festival.
Even though I thought I never would.
Emily Grace and I always wanted to be in the talent show. But you have to be going into seventh grade.
And now we finally are!
So that’s my plan: I am going to get everyone together. Emily Grace and Jasmine and Kayla. And we will enter the talent show!
Being in the talent show will be SO much fun. And you have to spend lots and lots of time practicing for it. That’s what makes my plan perfect. We will spend lots of time together. And we will have lots of fun together.
And everything will all go back to how it used to be!
Emily Grace will be Emily Grace again. And all my friends will have time for me.
We will all be best friends forever again!
I’m going to text everyone now. Dad says we can go for a ride tomorrow instead. I need to get to work right away!
Thursday, June 5
Everyone LOVES my talent show idea!
Emily Grace texted back right away. “Great idea!! Let’s do it! So excited! I’ve got LOTS of ideas.”
Jasmine and Kayla are also in. I knew it! I knew this was the best plan ever!
All my friends want to get working right away. So I had another idea. A planning party! Everyone can come to my house to plan for the talent show. We can decide what we want to do. But also just have fun!
I asked Dad, and he said yes. And now everyone is coming! Emily Grace AND Jasmine AND Kayla!
I was so excited, I danced all around my room. Only it isn’t as good of a dancing space as my new room. I knocked over a lamp! It didn’t break, though.
The planning party is going to be tomorrow afternoon. Dad thinks it will be for a couple of hours. But I bet once all my friends are here, I can probably talk him into letting everyone sleep over. He already asked if I wanted to have a movie night tomorrow. So I’m sure he won’t mind if I watch movies with Kayla and Jasmine and Emily Grace instead.
Then my friends and I will have the whole afternoon together. And then the whole night together. And then the whole morning!
I bet we will even want to keep working tomorrow and the next day and the next!
It’s going to be just like it was before I moved.
Friday, June 6
I have to make this quick. Emily Grace is on her way over. I decided I’m going to try not to write in my diary around her. She got way too annoyed last time.
I would rather write in my diary when I want. But it’s worth it. Because Emily Grace and I are going shopping for party snacks!
Dad even gave me money. Mom would NEVER give me money for snacks.
“You’re just going to waste it all on sugar,” she would say. “You girls can eat what is already in the kitchen.”
But Dad just opened up his wallet. Well, first he asked if I wanted to make extra-chocolaty brownies with him for the party. Dad and I love making extra-chocolaty brownies. It’s our thing. We used to make them all the time when Mom and I still lived here.
But extra-chocolaty brownies take a really long time. And it’s something Dad and I do. Not something I do with Emily Grace.
So I asked, “Can we make extra-chocolaty brownies later, Dad? When I have more time?”
And Dad just said, “Sure, Dani.” And that’s when he gave me money for party snacks.
Emily Grace and I are going to get soda and chips and candy. Everything we want! Dad said he could take me to the store. But Emily Grace and I used to always have so much fun riding our bikes to get candy.
I’m SO glad I thought of this idea.
I’m going to try dancing in the living room now. My room just doesn’t work.
Later Friday
I forgot how small the grocery store here is. It’s so much smaller than the stores where I live now. They don’t even have the chips I like!
I guess I didn’t notice that where I live now is a bigger city. It feels a little funny. Like trying on a pair of sandals you loved last summer, only now they feel different.
But Emily Grace and I are still having fun! We got SO much candy. It was so funny. We kept laughing. And laughing. And grabbing more candy. We got so much candy we even forgot to buy chips!
That’s where Emily Grace is now. She is seeing if the store will let us return some candy and get chips. I’m waiting outside with the rest of the candy.
“You have to have chips at a party,” Emily Grace said.
She’s totally right. Candy is good. But chips are important, too. I am really glad we still agree about this.
I told Emily Grace lots of funny stories. She didn’t really like hearing about Paige. But she did like hearing about Danny M. Danny M. is the boy I share a name with at my new school. Everyone at my new school calls me Dani D.
“Dani D.?” Emily Grace said. “That’s so weird. You’ve always been Dani.”
It’s not THAT weird. It’s not like I chopped off half of MY name.
Oh! Emily Grace is coming out of the store. She has chips! Yes! We are totally ready for the party!
Friday
Everyone is on their way over!
Kayla and Jasmine should be here any minute. Emily Grace ran home to get her notebook. She says that way we can plan for the talent show.
That seemed like a good idea. So while I was waiting, I thought I would write down my own ideas.
I have the BEST ideas for the talent show.
Here are my ideas:
• A new dance! We could make up a dance like they do on Dance For It! I’ve been learning lots of new dance moves in my dance lessons. So I will have lots and lots of stuff to show my friends. I bet they will be really amazed.
• A play with a dance. That’s like the play I was just in at my new school. It was so much fun. I got to play a fairy dancer. My friend Paige also danced with me. It was amazing! We could do the same thing in the talent show!
I can’t wait to tell everyone. It will definitely help us win the talent show. And the Stella Strike concert tickets.
