Holly's Heart Collection One Page 2

  I jotted notes in my red binder and sneaked a look at Jared. He gestured that we should talk after class. I smiled yes.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Andie scrunch her eyes at me like a snapping turtle ready to attack. I turned my back and ignored her. True to my word, I hadn’t spoken to her all day—even though her locker was right next to mine.

  After English, Miss W gave Jared and Tom a tongue-lashing. I waited in the hallway, nervously pulling on my hair. Who should I ask about Friday night? Jared or Tom? Tom was a tease and a real pain, but at least I’d known him since first grade. I hardly knew Jared at all. Thinking it over, I decided to play it by ear.

  Before long, Jared came out. “Hope you aren’t in trouble with Miss Wannamaker,” I said.

  “Not really, but Tom’s still in there.” He glanced over his shoulder, and then we headed down the hall toward our lockers. “Any chance you’re going to youth group tomorrow night?” he asked.

  “Well, Pastor Rob said he wants kids to wait till they’re thirteen,” I said, my heart thump-thumping.

  “When will that be?” He reached for my books.

  “I doubt you’ll believe it if I tell you.” I was actually walking down the corridors of Dressel Hills Junior High with the best-looking guy in school balancing my books on his hip!

  “Try me.”

  “February fourteenth.”

  “You’re kidding.” He looked surprised. “Valentine’s Day?”

  “That’s my birthday.” My face felt like it had a bad sunburn. Jared had to notice. That thought made it worse.

  “How’d you end up with a Christmasy name like Holly?”

  What was wrong with my knees? They shook like I was up on the second riser again.

  “My mom named me after her great-aunt,” I said. “We share the same name, but that’s where the similarity ends.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My great-aunt Holly became a missionary to Africa.”

  “Really?”

  “Her life was filled with fabulous excitement—dangerous adventure that would build your faith instantly. I’m lucky if I remember to read my devotions every day.”

  Jared grinned.

  “Mom calls me Holly-Heart,” I volunteered without thinking. “It’s her special nickname for me, because of my Valentine birthday.”

  “It’s perfect for you. You are all heart, aren’t you?” His eyes softened.

  I didn’t dare tell him the nickname my gym teacher had chosen for me. Holly-Bones was verbal abuse at its worst, I thought, tucking my shirttail into the tiny waist of my jeans.

  Arriving at my locker, we found Andie rummaging in hers.

  “See you tomorrow,” Jared said, handing back my books.

  “Okay…” My heart pounded as he headed down the hall.

  “Aw, how—what should I say?—promising,” Andie muttered inside her messy locker.

  Refusing to respond, I spun my combination lock and opened the door—right into Andie’s.

  “Ex-cuse me!” Andie said, pushing my door aside. Then she slammed her locker shut and stomped off.

  I shrugged, deciding to keep my word about not talking to her. But I wanted to, so I could find out what she knew that I didn’t. No way would I let her withhold valuable information from me—her best friend.

  Suddenly Tom was beside me, hanging on my locker door. “That was some act you pulled last Friday night,” he teased. “Some way to upstage the entire seventh grade.”

  “Maybe,” I said, rummaging around my locker, pretending to search for something. Now was my chance to ask, but did I dare?

  “You were so wiped out,” he said, like he was dying to talk about it.

  I summoned up my courage. “What happened after I fainted?” I asked. I kept my head in my locker so he couldn’t see my flaming face.

  “Are you saying Andie didn’t tell you?” he said.

  “Not yet.”

  “Ve-ry interesting.” He put his hand to his chin and stroked an imaginary beard. “Hey, I guess you’ll never know then. See ya.” He waved and took off down the hall.

  Weird, I thought. Why wouldn’t he tell me? Sighing, I knew I had only one other option. Jared Wilkins. Now I’d have to ask him.

  I walked home from school, watching my breath float ahead of me. As usual, Dressel Hills was swarming with winter tourists. Skiers roamed the streets and crowded into shops and coffeehouses. I turned the corner away from the bustling village, toward Downhill Court. The trees, bare as skeletons, shivered in the cold mountain air.

  Picking my way along the slippery street, I thought of Jared. Could someone that cute possibly like me? Could he overlook my “no-shape” and see my heart instead? Daddy had with Mom. She said she was so thin when they met, she looked like a pipe cleaner. As for me, I ate like a hippo, but nothing ever changed. Something about my metabolism made me burn up the fat. Meanwhile, all the other girls were changing…developing. Maybe something would happen in time for my thirteenth birthday—an eternal twenty-seven days from now.

  I waved to a neighbor and plodded ahead to the tri-level three houses away, where I lived with my mom and sister. Flecks of powdery snow dusted the icy bricked walkway. I hoped we’d have another snow day soon. Andie and I always managed to get together on bad-weather days we had off school, no matter how snowy the streets were.

  Then I remembered—she and I weren’t talking. I kicked at a hardened gray clump of ice clinging to the gutter in front of our house. This secrecy stuff made me mad. Somehow, I had to get Andie talking again.

  When I walked in the front door, Mom was relaxing with her usual after-work cup of peppermint tea.

  I pulled off my shoes. “Love you, Mom,” I said, tossing my scarf aside.

  “Everything okay at school?”

  I dumped my books on the sofa, scaring Goofey, our cat, away. “Andie’s a total nightmare.”

  “What do you mean, Holly-Heart?”

  “She still won’t tell me who…uh, you know.” I pressed my hands against my cold face. “Mom, I’ve got to know.”

  She nodded.

  “I tried to ask Tom, but he wouldn’t tell, either.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Mom asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said glumly.

  Three whole days had passed since I backflipped off the risers, and Andie still guarded her secret. I wondered if she’d paid the boys to keep their mouths shut, too. Sooner or later the truth had to pop out. Whatever it was.

  BEST FRIEND, WORST ENEMY

  Chapter 3

  After school the next day I studied at the library while I waited for Jared to get out of basketball practice. For once I didn’t have to hurry home to be with Carrie, because she was going to a friend’s house after school.

  I couldn’t exactly study, though. I kept looking out the window, across to the gym. I pictured Jared shooting hoops and dribbling up and down the court. I hoped I could actually muster up the nerve to ask him about the night I passed out!

  Just then I spied him leaving the gym, wearing gray sweats, his navy blue gym bag slung over his shoulder. Even with his hair wet from the shower, he looked great. I jumped up and was out the front doors of the school in a flash.

  Jared waved, coming across the freshly plowed walkway toward me. “Hey, Holly. Glad you waited.” He grinned, like he was really glad. He held the door for me as we went back into the building. “Got time for a soda?”

  “Sure.” Thump-thumpity went my heart.

  “Wish you didn’t have to wait another whole month to come to the youth group at church. I’ll miss seeing you there tonight.”

  I breathed slowly, deeply. Should I ask him about Andie’s secret now?

  We stopped at his locker, and I waited while he grabbed his jacket and books. It was now or never.

  I took a deep breath. “Jared, uh, can I ask you something kinda personal?”

  “Sure, what?”

  “I’m having a little trouble getting
things straight.”

  He closed his locker and leaned against it. “What things?”

  “Like what happened…you know, Friday night when I fainted?”

  At that precise moment, Andie appeared. She marched toward us like a soldier in battle. Her dark eyes flashed. I tried to ignore her, but she came right up to me. “Holly, can I talk to you a minute?” she asked, oh so sweetly, offering a smile to Jared.

  I was trapped. I couldn’t be rude to her in front of Jared. What would he think?

  “Excuse me,” I told Jared. “Can you wait a sec?”

  “No problem.”

  I pulled Andie over to our lockers. I’d vowed not to speak to her, and I wasn’t about to now. She’d just have to read my expression. Pure disgust!

  “What’s with you?” she demanded.

  Ignoring her, I reached into my locker for my jacket.

  “Cut the jokes. Stay away from Jared,” she said.

  I scowled at her as I pulled my long hair out of my coat collar and flung it over my shoulder.

  “Talk to me.” Her voice softened. “We’re best friends.”

  My patience with her was almost gone. I glanced down the hall at Jared, who was still waiting for me. It was useless. I had to talk to her.

  “Look, Andie, you’ve had your fun. You’ve played your secretive game long enough.”

  “Have you forgotten our Loyalty Papers?” she insisted.

  “ ’Course not,” I said. “After all, I wrote most of them.” In third grade Andie and I had drawn up our first Loyalty Papers. Every possible problem in our friendship had been thought out carefully and written down, legal-like. “Devoted, caring best friends, until the final end of us” was some of the dramatic wording. We revised the Loyalty Papers every year. But the message always remained the same—pals to the very end.

  “Well, you’re not following them very closely, are you?” she said, looking up at me. The top of her dark head just reached my shoulders.

  “Hey, Holly!” Jared waved to me from down the hall. “Meet me at the Soda Straw later, okay?”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” I called, nodding. Then, as soon as he was out of earshot, I turned on Andie. “You’re spoiling everything,” I said. “Listen, Andie, if you hadn’t shown up just now, I’d know your secret.”

  She began yanking all her stuff out of her locker, hurling books to the floor. It looked like the beginning of one of her fits. “I can’t believe you asked him,” she said over her shoulder. “You should reread our Loyalty Papers.”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” I said. “If you’d stop being so stubborn and just tell me—”

  “Look who’s being stubborn!” Andie interrupted.

  “I should’ve known better than to talk to you.” I slammed my locker extra hard and stomped off. Andie was being totally unreasonable, and I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore.

  Outside, the mountain air cooled me down some, but I was still steaming inside. Andie had never been so rude before, and we’d been friends for ten years—ever since preschool, where we became instant playmates. By first grade we were true-blue best friends, and that’s how it had been ever since. We’d even traded favorite teddy bears! Her droopy-eyed Bearie-O had been sitting on my bed for six years. My hugging had worn the tan fur off his teddy head. And my beloved Corky sat with a collection of stuffed animals in her room.

  Maybe it’s time to send Bearie-O back, I thought as I opened the jingling door to the Soda Straw. It was a fifties-style diner, with red-vinyl booths, stools lined up at the aluminum counter, and a jukebox in the corner.

  Jared sat in a booth toward the back of the restaurant, his notebook spread out in front of him. My heart did its skipping thing.

  He looked up as I slid into the seat opposite him. “Still thirsty?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

  “Sure,” I said. When the waitress came around, I ordered a pop.

  Jared leaned forward, tapping his pen on the table. “Where were we…before, uh—”

  “I’m sorry about that,” I interrupted. “Thanks for waiting.”

  “Wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”

  I felt my face grow warm. “Doing homework?”

  “Just plotting my short story for English. Have you written yours?”

  “Not yet.” I couldn’t tell him my mind had been focused on more important things…like getting the truth from him.

  “I was worried about you the other night, Holly. You didn’t hurt yourself, did you, when you fell?” he asked softly.

  “No bruises.” Except to my ego, I thought. Then the waitress brought my drink in a tall soda glass.

  “Just glad I could help.” Jared closed his notebook.

  Reaching for my pop, I sipped through the straw. “Was I breathing?”

  “You were breathing fine.”

  “Then why did I need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”

  He smiled. “So…you heard?”

  Br-ring! The bell on the door jingled as Andie appeared, popping my magical moment. Again!

  “Hey,” she said, bouncing over to our table.

  Couldn’t she read the secret message in my eyes? Get lost. Get lost…

  Jared looked surprised. Her timing was unbelievable.

  “Hi, I’m Andie Martinez,” she said to Jared. “We met when Holly, uh, fainted the other night.” She tipped an invisible hat.

  “You two must be friends,” Jared said, looking at me.

  I wanted to say no but told the truth. “We’re best friends.”

  “Can I borrow her again?” Andie asked, pulling on my arm.

  “We were just leaving,” he said, grinning.

  “Oh, were you headed somewhere?” she asked, her voice honey-sweet. Sickeningly sweet.

  “Nowhere,” I said. Thanks to you.

  Awkwardly, Jared and I stood up. Looking into his face, I realized we were almost the same height.

  Andie grabbed my arm again. “I need to see you, Holly. Alone.” She mumbled something to Jared about being sorry and then promptly escorted me out the door and over to a clump of aspen trees. I was ready for a face-off like in ice hockey, only this was a game I wanted to end.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.

  “I’m ready to talk. I’ll fill you in on what happened Friday night.”

  “Finally! You’ve come to your senses.” I glanced back at the Soda Straw. “So talk.”

  “This is it—the truth. Jared didn’t try to revive you. Tom did.”

  I heard her words, but they made no sense. I wanted to turn her upside-down like a saltshaker to get all the answers out.

  “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?” I tried to erase the mental picture of Tom leaning over me, his breath on my face.

  “You really shouldn’t be so curious, Holly.”

  “Andie, give me a break.”

  “Figure it out,” she said, her nose red from the cold. “We like the same guy.”

  “What?” I exclaimed. “Jared?”

  She nodded.

  “No wonder you’re following us around everywhere,” I said. “It’s ridiculous.”

  “Don’t change the subject. There’s more,” she said, surprisingly eager to tell me everything. “Jared grabbed Tom off the floor—away from you.”

  Just as I had imagined it in my diary! “Really? What did he say?” I asked.

  “His exact words: ‘Get up, you total loser.’ ”

  “He said that?” This was too cool!

  “Jared knew you didn’t need resuscitating. You were breathing. Tom jumped at the chance to get near your lips,” she said, studying me.

  I wiped my mouth on my coat sleeve, groaning. “I was probably his first romantic moment.”

  “Knowing Tom, that could be.”

  “So, you kept that part a big secret—about Jared pulling Tom away—because you didn’t want me to know how Jared feels about me. Right?”

  She nodde
d sadly. “It’s just that I want Jared to like me.”

  “I should’ve known.”

  Andie’s lip quivered. “Am I forgiven?”

  “If you promise one thing,” I said, forging ahead.

  “What?”

  “Ban the secrets, okay?”

  “Sure, no secrets. But I can’t promise much else.”

  I knew what that meant. The battle lines had been drawn. Jared was fair game. Not surprisingly, Andie and I had more in common than ever before. Only now instead of trading teddy bears, we were playing tug-of-war over a boy.

  Across the street, Jared burst out of the diner and waved to us. He crossed the snow-packed street to catch the city bus. We watched as the doors closed, sighing identical sighs. This was too much!

  “I wonder if he needs someone to type his English assignment,” Andie said, breaking the spell.

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  Our eyes locked. Better than anyone else, I knew Andie would do what she wanted. No one could talk her out of it. Not even her best friend.

  “Well, gotta go,” Andie said. “I’ve got youth group tonight—with Jared. See you later, Holly.” She walked off, her curls bouncing.

  I watched her cross the street and go into the drugstore. More angry and confused than ever, I headed for home. I wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but it seemed that I had traded the mini-problem of Andie’s secret for a worse problem—the greeneyed monster.

  BEST FRIEND, WORST ENEMY

  Chapter 4

  When I arrived home, Carrie met me at the door. “Hi, Holly,” she said, looking up at me with pleading eyes. “Will you French braid my hair?”

  I sighed. “Okay, but let me grab a snack first. Where’s Mom?” I poured some pop and threw together a peanut butter sandwich.

  Carrie sat at the kitchen counter and banged her legs impatiently against the stool. “She’ll be down. She already drank her tea. Guess you missed it.”

  It meant the first half hour of Mom’s arrival home each day. She was usually cheerful even after a long day at work.

  “How are my angels?” Mom said, coming downstairs a few minutes later. She was wearing the giant elephant slippers I had given her for Christmas.