Freaky Tuesday #17 Read online

  Suddenly, Eve pointed to her.

  “What’s your GPA?” Eve asked.

  “Umm…” Brynn stuttered. She wasn’t exactly sure. She’d never bothered to figure it out.

  “Eve, that question was not appropriate,” Ms. Owen said firmly.

  “I’ll take Rick,” Eve decided.

  Peter looked around the room. Brynn knew she was the only one who hadn’t been chosen. It took him a second longer. “I’ll take—”

  “Brynn,” she supplied.

  “Great,” the boy behind her muttered. “Couldn’t have been anything decent or she would have said.”

  At least there’s one place where GPA and what books you’ve read—or haven’t—don’t matter, Brynn thought as she stepped into the cafeteria.

  As she moved through the food line, grabbing a taco and a fruit salad, she promised herself that she was going to talk to at least one person before lunch was over. But which person? She scoped out the tables, deciding against the ones that were already almost full. The ones that were basically empty didn’t seem right either. There had to be a reason they were avoided, right?

  She picked one that was about half full and had a couple kids she recognized from her morning classes sitting at it, including the girl who’d been reading the massive book before history. “Hi,” Brynn said as she took one of the empty seats. She got “hi’s” from pretty much everyone except one boy, who just grunted. He was already working on his homework as he shoveled food into his mouth.

  “I’m Brynn. I just started here,” she offered.

  “Cool,” the book girl said. Then she pulled out her ginormous book and started to read.

  “How’s everybody’s first day back starting out?” Brynn asked no one in particular.

  This time she got grunts from everyone. They were all either reading or scribbling away on homework as they ate. This was craziness.

  There has to be a table that’s more fun, Brynn thought. She looked around the room.

  Her jaw dropped open. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. It couldn’t be possible.

  She leaned forward and squinted. “This is just too bizarre,” she whispered. No one at her table even bothered to ask her what she was talking about.

  Brynn grabbed her backpack and her lunch tray and stood up. She needed a much closer look. “Bye, you guys,” she said, and got some grunts back.

  Her day seemed like it was going to turn around. There was actually somebody she knew at this school! Somebody who was already a friend! Maybe not a BFF, but definitely a F.

  Of all the people on earth, Candace—repeats-every-phrase-ever-uttered-to-her Candace—was sitting at a table about twenty feet away. Never mind that she and Brynn had never actually passed the acquaintance stage. Brynn raced over to her as if they were long-lost friends and waited for a pause in the group conversation.

  “You run for president, and I’ll run for vice president,” Samantha, the girl who had been fiddling with her tie in the bathroom, told Candace. “We’ll be unstoppable. And if you hold a class office in middle school, it’s easier to do it in high school. People just see you as a leader. And being a class officer in high school is great college-application material.”

  “I’d vote for the two of you,” a cute blond boy said.

  Suddenly, a realization hit Brynn. Candace was one of the popular kids. Capital P popular. Talk about bizarre. Shy, awkward, Candace. And not just plain old popular. Class president popular.

  “I’d vote for you too, Candace,” Brynn volunteered, jumping into the conversation.

  Candace looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. “Brynn!”

  Samantha raised her eyebrows. “Do you two know each other?”

  “We go to the same camp,” Brynn explained. “And now we go to the same school, too!”

  “You’re going to school with me?” Candace said, doing a little of her echo thing.

  “Yep,” Brynn answered. She waited for Candace to ask her to sit down. There was one empty seat.

  But Candace just kept looking at her.

  “Anyway, I just wanted to say hi,” Brynn finally said lamely. “I’ll see you around.” She gave a little wave to the group. Then she walked away, trying to decide if she should go back to the table of grunters or find a new new place to sit.

  Is there anyplace I’m going to fit in here? she asked herself.

  She wasn’t sure about the answer. How could she be sure of anything when Candace was one of the popular kids? The Wilton Academy was turning out to be some bizarre backward school.

  How was she going to survive?

  chapter

  TWO

  Candace let her backpack fall to the floor with a thump the moment she got through her front door. She felt like she’d been lugging her textbooks around for a million years—when she’d really only made it through her first day at school.

  She immediately headed for the stairs. She wanted to change out of her uniform right away. It fit perfectly, but somehow it still felt tight. Candace had her tie off before she walked into her bedroom. And it felt like she could breathe again. She sucked in a deep gulp of air as she pulled off her plaid skirt. She felt like hurling it onto the floor, but she hung it neatly in her closet, followed by her plain white blouse. Then she grabbed a pair of jeans and her favorite Camp Lakeview T-shirt.

  Wearing the shirt made her think of camp. Had she really just been there, swimming in the lake, going on moonlit hikes, eating hot dogs at cookouts? It was hard to believe. She sat down in front of her computer to check the camp blog. Maybe Brynn would post a message about her first day. Candace was curious to hear what Brynn thought about the Wilton Academy.

  She felt bad that she hadn’t asked Brynn to sit at her table. But Brynn was so different from Candace’s Wilton friends. They’d think she was weird. And Brynn would probably think they were weird right back. So it was probably better that Candace had kept them apart.

  “So how did it go your first day back?” her older brother asked from the doorway before Candace even had a chance to log on to the board. He was barefoot and wearing the cutoffs their mother hated. Lucky. He didn’t have to go back to school for a few more days. The high school started later.

  “It was fine,” Candace answered. She didn’t want to get into details. Max was a great older brother in a lot of ways. He was willing to drive her places. He made amazing pancakes. And he always knew about the coolest YouTube videos before anyone else.

  But Candace hated talking to Max about school. It was like he had a chip in his brain that Candace didn’t. An accelerated-learning chip. Her parents seemed to have it, too. It’s not like Candace wasn’t good at school. She got As in everything except math. But she had to really put in the hours. Max just seemed to sit in class and, zap, the facts were downloaded.

  Max came into the room and plopped down on Candace’s bed. “So what clubs are you signing up for this year?”

  “I’m still trying to decide on the right one,” she answered. “A couple of my friends are doing debate. I think Rowan is going to do the science club.”

  “Maybe you should go out for the Mathletes,” Max suggested.

  Candace shot him a sharp look. Was he making fun of her? He knew math was her worst subject. She had even needed to have a tutor last year.

  He didn’t look like he was teasing. And usually when Max teased her it was about something dumb, like if she loved a song he thought was bad.

  “I don’t know if I’m good enough for the Mathletes,” Candace answered.

  “That’s the point. You join the Mathletes, and you get in a couple of extra hours of math practice a week. You have friends in the group, right?”

  “I have friends in the group,” Candace echoed. “At least I’m almost positive Allen will sign up again.”

  “I’m sure he would help you out if you joined,” Max said. He stood up and started for the door, then turned around. “I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you.”

&n
bsp; “A surprise for me?” Candace felt a grin spread across her face.

  “Yep. Let me at your computer,” Max replied.

  Candace stood up, and Max took her seat in front of the monitor. He tapped a few keys, and a brightly colored grid filled the screen. “I made a study schedule for you,” Max announced proudly. “I was making one for myself, and I thought you might want one, too.”

  “Um, thanks,” Candace said, trying not to sound disappointed.

  “I put you down for a couple of hours of math on Sundays, ’cause I know you need extra time on it,” he explained. “But if you join the Mathletes, you could probably cut that down to one. I wasn’t sure if Mom and Dad were getting you a tutor this year or not. So I didn’t put that on the schedule.”

  “They said that we would decide in a few weeks, after I had time to see how the year was starting out for me,” Candace told her brother. “I’m feeling pretty good about it.”

  But she wasn’t feeling good at all, really. Her stomach seemed to have twisted itself into a figure eight. Day one, and she was already completely stressed out.

  Brynn dropped her backpack on the kitchen table with a thud. She’d had to lug home practically every book in her locker. Day one, and she already had a ton of homework.

  She poured herself a glass of pomegranate-grape juice—way better than the bug juice at camp. Math homework first, she decided. Her brain was still tired after the school day, and math was her easiest subject. After math, she’d take a little break and check out the camp blog.

  Time to fire up the laptop, Brynn thought twenty-five minutes later when she’d finished the last math problem. She signed on and immediately jumped to the Camp Lakeview site. No new messages on the board. She was about to head over to Little Fluffy Industries, the site with the best online games, when Alex IM’d her. Grinning, Brynn opened the window to talk to her friend.

  : So how was it?

  : Alexalinda, Alexadoodle, Alex baby!! It was hideous. Horrible and hideous. But I do have some truly excellent gossip. Beg and I’ll tell you.

  : W8. Val just IM’d me. I’m setting up a private chat room for us. Just give me a minute.

  Brynn slowly counted to thirty, and then a new window popped up on her screen inviting her to a private chat. Did she want to join? “Yes,” Brynn said happily, clicking to open it up. Val and Alex were already there.

  : Hey, girlfriend!

  : Brynn was just going to give me some juicy gossip.

  : Wait, I want to hear about the new school.

  : It’s a robot academy, that’s what I’ve decided. All anyone talks about are GPAs and reading lists and the History Channel. At my lunch table everyone was doing homework! No one even talked to me. I hate it!

  : Ouch.

  : Did you find the drama club?

  : Club sign-ups start tomorrow.

  : So it’ll get better tomorrow. Definitely. So what’s your gossip scoop?

  : Candace goes to my new school. In fact, she’s in my math class.

  : That’s great! So you already know someone.

  : Wait, wait, wait! I didn’t even get to the actual gossip part. Candace is one of the most popular kids in school.

  : Get out! Get all the way out!

  : I think my head just exploded. Yep, there’s brain goo all over my keyboard.

  : I’m speechless. I’m typeless! I like Candace. You know I do. But Candace and popular. That’s just…I’m typeless.

  : She’s thinking about running for class president, and it seems like all the other popular peeps think she’ll win no prob.

  : But Candace is kind of shy. It doesn’t seem like her.

  : I’m telling you, at my new school, Candace isn’t shy. I feel like I don’t even know her!

  : Subject change alert. Or sort of subject change. It’s still about weird camper behavior. What do you guys think about Gaby volunteering at Home Away From Home?

  : Gaby. Volunteering. As they used to say on , one of these things is not like the other.

  : Do you think it’s even serious? Or do you think she’s pulling a huge scam on all of us? She’ll get a bunch of us to agree to help her, then just laugh and say it was all a joke. Which would be seriously twisted. We’re talking about a charity that helps the families of really sick kids.

  : But she said she’s trying to change. She said what happened at camp when she lied about knowing that reality-TV guy made her think more about how she treats other people.

  : Yeah, and even though Gaby’s a tiny bit twisted, I don’t think she’s so twisted she’d make a joke about helping the Home Away From Home families.

  : Hmmm. I live near the Home Away From Home center. It’s a great place. I’d like to volunteer there, if Gaby’s not pulling a big prank. I’m going to call her up and see what I can suss out.

  : Let us know what she says.

  : Yeah. We require the deets.

  : You got it. L8tr.

  Valerie logged off the computer and pulled the Camp Lakeview contact sheet out of the top drawer of her dresser. She ran her finger down the list of names. There it was. Gaby Parsons.

  Val had mixed feelings about Gaby. She could be bossy and her sense of humor could be on the mean side sometimes. But she had also totally apologized about lying to them all. She’d had the guts to admit she was wrong.

  And wanting to gather volunteers for Home Away From Home—that was a really excellent thing to do. If Gaby was serious about it. Val quickly dialed Gaby’s number before she could change her mind.

  “Talk to me,” Gaby said instead of hello. Her tone was a little…superior.

  Remember what Brynn and Alex told you. Gaby’s trying to change, Val thought. Give her a chance.

  “Hey, Gab. It’s Valerie,” Val said.

  “Oh,” Gaby said. It wasn’t exactly a friendly sound. Actually, it sounded like Gaby was trying to remember who Val was.

  Why am I doing this again? Val asked herself. Oh, right. Home Away From Home is a great place and I want to help them out!

  “From camp,” Val added.

  “Oh! Val! Sorry,” Gaby said in a rush. “I thought you were this girl Valerie from school. I couldn’t figure out why she was calling me. We’re in the same English class this year, but we hardly every talk. Probably because all she ever wants to talk about is Justin Timberlake. She should just change her name to Loser, right?” Gaby sucked in a breath. “Oh, wait. That wasn’t nice. And I am trying to be nice. It’s my new thing.”

  “That’s why I’m calling,” Val answered. “I read your message on the camp board—”

  “And you want to volunteer with me?” Gaby finished for her.

  “So…it isn’t a joke?” Valerie asked. She figured she should just get her big worry out there.

  “A joke? No. How would it even be a joke?” Gaby asked. Then she let out a long sigh. “Oh, I get it. Because selfish, horrible Gaby would never actually want to help anybody.”

  I hurt her, Valerie realized. “No. I—” She couldn’t think of what to say. She had doubted Gaby’s motives. “Look, I really want to volunteer with you. I think it’s a great idea.”

  “Good. I’ll arrange everything. There’s an orientation on Saturday. I’ll e-mail you the details. And guess what? I already have another volunteer! Chelsea!”

  Chelsea. Who tied with Gaby for being the most irritating girl at Lakeview. What have I gotten myself into? Val thought.

  Remembering her promise to Brynn and Alex, she got back online and started to write an e-mail.

  To: Brynn and Alex

  From: Valerie

  Subject: Freaky Tuesday

  I’ve decided that from now on, we should refer to this day in history as Freaky T
uesday. Because one, this is the day we discovered that Candace is popular. And two, this is the day that I confirmed Gaby is absolutely sincere about volunteering. Yes, Gaby is nice!

  chapter

  THREE

  Brynn hesitated outside the cafeteria. Lunch yesterday had not been fun.

  Then she remembered something that got her rushing through the big double doors. Sign-ups for clubs started today!

  Oh, yeah, she thought as she saw the long tables decorated with balloons and streamers and blowups of group photos set up along all four walls. She scanned the selections. Where is it? Where is it?

  Yep. Uh-huh. There it is. Brynn cut across the room, heading for the Wilton Academy Drama League table. She expected there to be a long line of kids waiting to sign up for the club. At her old school, the drama club was one of the most popular ones. But there was only one girl and one guy standing in front of the Drama League table.

  The boy immediately turned to face her. “Hey, I’m Drew. Anything you want to know about Drama League, I can tell you. Although my friend Rosemary over there will probably try to beat me to it. She likes to be the authority on everything.” He gestured to the slim Korean-American girl standing next to him.

  The girl, Rosemary, wrinkled her nose at him. “Go ahead. You talk. Enjoy your moment in the spotlight.” She was pretending to be offended, but Brynn could tell that she was kidding.

  “The play this fall is going to be Little Shop of Horrors,” Drew told Brynn. “Do you know it? It’s a musical about a man-eating plant who will do things for the guy who grew it if the guy kills people for him.”

  “I’ve seen the movie a billion times,” Brynn answered. “I love it. All the songs are so funny, especially ‘Don’t Feed the Plants.’”

  “My parents finally told me I could only watch it once a week,” Rosemary said after she added her name to the sign-up sheet. “I was watching it, like, every day this summer because Mr. Saunders gave us the heads-up that he had picked Little Shop for the first play this year.” She brushed her thick, dark bangs away from her eyes. “Wait. You’re new here, right?”