But then I look at Amanda, and she nods, and I know that at the very least, I can always count on her.
“I miss y’all,” I finally say. “A lot. And that’s what this emergency meeting is about. I know that we’re all busy with different things and the pageant is long gone.”
“Thank God,” says Hannah, stuffing her baby and sling into her messenger bag.
“But I sort of hate that, ya know? Because I just never see y’all anymore, and, well, a lot of good things came out of the pageant. But the best part was all of us becoming friends.”
Willowdean smiles. “Well, not to be self-centered, but I sort of feel like the best part was when I wore a cardboard Cadillac on stage.”
“Okay,” I say. “Yes, that was pretty great. But back then we saw each other all the time,” I say. “Because we had a reason to, so if we need a reason to get together, I’m creating one.”
Ellen squints at me suspiciously.
“I’m not a big organized-activities person, in case you hadn’t already discerned that about me,” says Hannah.
“What’s your idea?” asks Amanda.
I inhale deeply. “Slumber parties. Every Saturday until the end of the school year. We’ll all take turns hosting.”
It’s so quiet I can hear the cheerleaders practicing in the gym.
Ellen speaks first. “Every. Single. Saturday. Night?”
“Well, sure,” I say, my answer coming out more like a question. “But with slumber parties. We can do face masks. And crafts. And play games. And exchange ideas.”
“Exchange ideas?” asks Hannah. “What? Like the Slumber Party United Nations?”
“It has to be every Saturday night?” asks Willowdean.“That’s prime date-night real estate.”
Amanda shrugs. “The only date I’ve got is with my TV and my cat. I’m in.”
A small bit of relief sparks in my chest, but no one is quick to follow her lead. I nod. “Okay. What about every other Saturday?”
Hannah works diligently at peeling off her dark purple nail polish. “We all have to take turns hosting?”
Ellen turns to Will, and in a quieter voice says, “This is like what we were talking about the other night. More time for us. Without the guys, ya know?”
I can see Will turning this over in her head. She’s the kind of person who is economical with her time and her love, and I can appreciate that. Sharing Ellen is hard for her.
She looks to me. “Let’s try it for a few weeks. But no hard feelings if it gets to be too much, okay? Just with work and school and...” Will sighs. “Bo, and trying to be a good friend and not go crazy. It’s a lot.”
“I get it,” I say.
Ellen grins. “You know the deal. We’re a buy-one-get-two kind of thing. I’m in.”
And as a surprise to absolutely no one, Hannah is in no hurry to respond. She picks the polish off her entire thumbnail before speaking. “We’re not, like, having pillow fights or anything, okay? And if anyone tries to give me a makeover, I’ll cut off their hair in the middle of the night.”
I swallow. “Understood.” I force out a laugh to lightenthe mood a bit. Laughing on command is something that happens to be my number-one talent, and one of the things that will make me a great news anchor one day.
I volunteer to host first and promise to text everyone more details before the weekend. A part of me is nervous, like somehow they’ll all decide they don’t like me anymore or that this will all turn out to be one big embarrassing disaster. But we only have one year left of high school, and the anxiety inside me tells me that if I don’t solidify our friendship now, the five of us will just drift away from one another eventually.
But mostly I’m just bubbling with excitement.
Callie
Four
After school, I hang back for a little while to try to talk to Vice Principal Benavidez about the dance team’s sponsorship dilemma, but he’s no help. I guess hepretendedto be helpful. He promised me stuff I know he won’t deliver on, like that he’d check with the superintendent or ask Principal Armstrong if there’s any room in the budget. When I asked to speak to the principal myself, he fed me some crap about Principal Armstrong being a very busy woman, like she’s the freaking president or something.
