Middle School

Chapter 8

Mary woke up to the chirping of birds and warm sunshine on her back. She was finally at home, though the stay with her relatives wasn't as horrible as usual. In fact, if she had to rate it out of ten, ten being the best, she'd give it a six. It would usually get a one or two. But Wren made it skyrocket.

Her eyes still closed, this thought made Mary question Julie's friendship. Julie was selfish, Mary realized. Why am I friends with her? she thought. Mary began to think of how she could confront Julie. She sent her a text before she chickened out. Julie quickly called her back.

"Um, what was that about?" Julie asked, matter-of-factly. Her voice was surprisingly steady at five in the morning. Mary cleared her throat, stiffened her posture, and prepared for a secret battle.

"What do you mean?" But this was girl world. All the fighting had to be sneaky. Mary reassured herself with Lindsay Lohan movie quotes. She smiled to herself, ready to fight for her friends!

"What do you mean 'what do you mean?' Don't play dumb, Schultz. Your text says, 'We need to talk. I'm done being your clone.' What the crap?" Julie fumed. Mary was worried her mom and her boyfriend would wake up, Julie was so loud.

"Oh, yeah, that. You've kind of been a jerk to, well, everyone. Melody, Lynn, even your own 'friends'! Julie, you are a bad person! I'm not going to lie! You changed me for the worse. I became your clone. And I'm changing back to my old self. If you don't want me to, suck it up."

Mary hung up, ready to swear at Julie. And she did, in her mind. She yelled and she swore at the bully in her head. She would have done it on the call, but she knew that was something Julie would do. Maybe it was the brave choice, but it wasn't the right choice.

Suddenly, she heard a yelp: "Yes! Oh, yes, of course! I love you so much!" Mary smiled to herself. Yesterday, Joe told her he was going to pop the question very soon. He must have done it. Mary let out a quiet squeal.

She'd have a good dad this time around! Mary wondered what her parents were doing up at five AM. Probably watching a "rom-com" as her mother called them. Miss Shultz--or Mrs. Shultz, as she was now--had a really bad habit of watching television in the middle of the night or the weak early hours of the morning. What other women do that?

But Joe didn't mind. Sometimes Taryn would sneak in there and watch scenes, and once or twice she had reported to Mary with very gory details. Taryn often snuck into Mary's room in the early hours, telling secrets and quiet jokes. Today was one of the days.

Mary heard a creak and saw Taryn, clad in a baby-blue silk nightgown, pad into her room. Little noise was made. "Greetings," Taryn said formally. Even though she was a little bit of a snob, she always spoke like a rich girl from forty years ago.

"Sup," Mary replied. She squirmed uncomfortably as Taryn plopped down in a bean bag chair. Taryn was unpredictable, and even though there was a shaky friendship between them, Mary was often worried she was the victim of Taryn's latest prank. Her worries were hardly ever fulfilled.

"Daddy and Mother--can I call her 'mother'?--are betrothed now. Engaging, isn't it?" she told Mary in a soft voice. "I presume we are marriage-relatives as of the wedding date. Unless they break the marriage."

Sometimes Taryn could be a little bit of a downer.

"They won't," Mary said. "I think they're in love, you know. And Joe seems like an okay guy." That seemed to be enough to reassure Taryn, because she changed the subject.

"Guess what? I have a crush on somebody!" she whispered. Mary was intrigued.

"Who?" she asked, heading over to her dresser. Her alarm would go off soon, and she wanted some extra time to eat and hang around in the school courtyard.