lights have just switched on inside it. “Oh, I know what must’ve confused me. It must’ve been the part where you said that you’d rather be buried in eels than go to one of those meetings again.”
Maya gives her an uncertain smile. “What do you mean, again ?”
“I mean, again – you know, like, after last time? When the dreaded Clemens talked for about ten hours and you said that you figured the only thing the planet needed to be saved from was him? Because of all the hot air?”
“Are you sure?” Maya squidges up her face and squints, trying to remember. “We went to a meeting?”
“Uh huh. You made me go with you.”
“I did?”
“Uh huh. You fell asleep.”
“Well, I’m not going to fall asleep this time,” says Maya. “You’ll see. It’ll be totally different.”
“ I’ll see ?” Alice automatically takes a step backwards. “You’re right – it will be totally different. Because I’m not going with you.”
“What do you mean, you’re not going with me?” Maya certainly wasn’t planning on going alone. Alone among the geeks. “Why not?”
“ Why not ?” Alice’s is an expressive face, and right now what it’s expressing is indignant disbelief. “I’ll tell you why not. You may not remember all the way back to last Thursday, Maya, but I was the one who nearly got pneumonia because you thought it was a great idea to play Follow That Boy in a monsoon.”
“I said that I was sorry. Gott im Himmel , how was I supposed to know he wasn’t going home?”
“I was almost bitten by an insane dog.”
“You weren’t almost bitten. He was just barking to protect his house.”
“He came after us.”
“Alice, it was a dachshund, not the Hound of the Baskervilles.”
“And my shoes were totalled by the time I got home.”
“But nothing like that’s going to happen today. I’ll call my mom. She’ll come and get us.”
“No. If you ask me, hugging trees is even more humiliating than climbing them.”
“Please, Alice? It’s just one meeting. And then me and Cody will be friends and I’ll never ask another favour from you as long as I live.”
“No. I’d rather go over Niagara Falls on a surfboard.”
“Pleasepleaseplease!” Maya clasps her hands in supplication. “I don’t want to be all by myself with Clemens and the geeks.”
“You don’t have to be.” Alice nods behind her. “I bet that’s where they’re going. You can sit with them.”
Maya follows Alice’s gaze. She sees Joy Marie and Waneeda all the time, but she hardly ever looks at them. They don’t seem real to Maya – Joy Marie with her intense expression and nervous movements and Waneeda, slow and ungainly, shuffling beside her. They look like cartoon characters. A mouse and a bear. Joy Marie and Waneeda come to a stop at the stairs. A mouse and a bear who are bickering. Maya has gone to school with Joy Marie Lutz and Waneeda Huddlesfield her whole life, and yet she has probably never said a word to either of them. She probably wouldn’t even recognize their voices in the dark. Maya sighs. “Oh, goody.”
Chapter Thirteen
Waneeda and Joy Marie discuss motivation
“I’m not saying that it’s not great you decided to come to the meeting, Waneeda,” Joy Marie is saying as they make their way to Room 111. “I just don’t understand why all of a sudden you changed your mind, that’s all. I’ve been trying to get you to join since we started the club and you’ve always been dead set against it.”
Waneeda sighs. As soon as Cody said he was joining the Environmental Club, Waneeda knew that she was going to join, too. How could she not ? She may be lazy, but she’s not stupid. But, not wanting Joy Marie to jump to the obvious conclusion, she waited till five minutes ago to tell her. She should have known that Joy Marie would jump to the obvious conclusion anyway. As soon as Waneeda said that she thought she’d come along to the meeting after all, Joy Marie got that
Maya gives her an uncertain smile. “What do you mean, again ?”
“I mean, again – you know, like, after last time? When the dreaded Clemens talked for about ten hours and you said that you figured the only thing the planet needed to be saved from was him? Because of all the hot air?”
“Are you sure?” Maya squidges up her face and squints, trying to remember. “We went to a meeting?”
“Uh huh. You made me go with you.”
“I did?”
“Uh huh. You fell asleep.”
“Well, I’m not going to fall asleep this time,” says Maya. “You’ll see. It’ll be totally different.”
“ I’ll see ?” Alice automatically takes a step backwards. “You’re right – it will be totally different. Because I’m not going with you.”
“What do you mean, you’re not going with me?” Maya certainly wasn’t planning on going alone. Alone among the geeks. “Why not?”
“ Why not ?” Alice’s is an expressive face, and right now what it’s expressing is indignant disbelief. “I’ll tell you why not. You may not remember all the way back to last Thursday, Maya, but I was the one who nearly got pneumonia because you thought it was a great idea to play Follow That Boy in a monsoon.”
“I said that I was sorry. Gott im Himmel , how was I supposed to know he wasn’t going home?”
“I was almost bitten by an insane dog.”
“You weren’t almost bitten. He was just barking to protect his house.”
“He came after us.”
“Alice, it was a dachshund, not the Hound of the Baskervilles.”
“And my shoes were totalled by the time I got home.”
“But nothing like that’s going to happen today. I’ll call my mom. She’ll come and get us.”
“No. If you ask me, hugging trees is even more humiliating than climbing them.”
“Please, Alice? It’s just one meeting. And then me and Cody will be friends and I’ll never ask another favour from you as long as I live.”
“No. I’d rather go over Niagara Falls on a surfboard.”
“Pleasepleaseplease!” Maya clasps her hands in supplication. “I don’t want to be all by myself with Clemens and the geeks.”
“You don’t have to be.” Alice nods behind her. “I bet that’s where they’re going. You can sit with them.”
Maya follows Alice’s gaze. She sees Joy Marie and Waneeda all the time, but she hardly ever looks at them. They don’t seem real to Maya – Joy Marie with her intense expression and nervous movements and Waneeda, slow and ungainly, shuffling beside her. They look like cartoon characters. A mouse and a bear. Joy Marie and Waneeda come to a stop at the stairs. A mouse and a bear who are bickering. Maya has gone to school with Joy Marie Lutz and Waneeda Huddlesfield her whole life, and yet she has probably never said a word to either of them. She probably wouldn’t even recognize their voices in the dark. Maya sighs. “Oh, goody.”
Chapter Thirteen
Waneeda and Joy Marie discuss motivation
“I’m not saying that it’s not great you decided to come to the meeting, Waneeda,” Joy Marie is saying as they make their way to Room 111. “I just don’t understand why all of a sudden you changed your mind, that’s all. I’ve been trying to get you to join since we started the club and you’ve always been dead set against it.”
Waneeda sighs. As soon as Cody said he was joining the Environmental Club, Waneeda knew that she was going to join, too. How could she not ? She may be lazy, but she’s not stupid. But, not wanting Joy Marie to jump to the obvious conclusion, she waited till five minutes ago to tell her. She should have known that Joy Marie would jump to the obvious conclusion anyway. As soon as Waneeda said that she thought she’d come along to the meeting after all, Joy Marie got that
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