Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Too Many Boys

She took a deep breath. "This is what I've come up with. Chris thinks Mal is his secret admirer."

"Right."

"And he wants to take her out Saturday night." She paused. "So the answer is obvious."

"It is?" I had no idea what she was going to say next.

"It's very simple. We won't be here Saturday night. We're leaving tomorrow. So all I have to do is write Chris another poem and tell him how disappointed I am that we'll be back in Stoneybrook."

"You're not going to tell him that you, and

not Mallory, were the one who fell in love with him and sent him those poems?"

She shook her head. "What good would it do? Mallory is the one he likes. This way is much better. He'll never know the real story, and neither will Mallory."

It was pretty hard to believe that a nine-year-old kid could come up with such a great idea.

"I'll read the poem to you if you like, but you've got to promise me something. If you think it's silly, please tell me. I don't want to make a total idiot of myself."

Just then, Mallory made a funny snuffling noise in her sleep and rolled over. Vanessa and I froze for a minute and then relaxed. "It's okay. She's a very heavy sleeper. She's just dreaming," said Vanessa.

"Read the poem," I whispered.

" 'Dear Chris,

I'd love to see you tonight,

but the timing just isn't right.

We're leaving Sea City today,

and going far away.

I'll always remember your smile,

please think of me once in a while.

I

Vanessa's voice choked up a little on the last line, and I had a lump in my throat. "It's a beautiful poem," I told her. "You said just the right thing, and it's not silly at all."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I leaned over and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you, Vanessa. I know this must have been really hard to do."

"It was one of the hardest things I've done in my whole life." She hugged me very tightly, and I knew she was trying not to cry. "Will you help me deliver it to Ice-Cream Palace tomorrow?"

"Of course I will." I could barely get the words out because I had started to cry myself. All I need is to see someone sad or in trouble, and I immediately start bawling.

"Don't cry, Mary Anne," Vanessa whispered against my shoulder. That only made things worse, and before you know it, both of us were crying.

"I better go to my room," I said finally. "You need to get some sleep."

"Okay," she said, turning off the light and snuggling under the covers. She managed to smile at me, even though she looked a little weepy. "Thanks for helping me out."

"Any time." I headed for the door when a noise made me turn around suddenly.

"I told you I want sunscreen, not sunblock!" Mallory was sitting straight up in bed, pointing a finger at me. I felt like a criminal.

My heart stopped. "What — what did you say?" I stammered. I looked at Vanessa, who flipped the light back on. I knew my face must be flaming red.

"Lie down, Mallory. You're in the middle of a dream," Vanessa said calmly.

I was amazed. "She is? She looks like she's wide awake."

Vanessa nodded. "She does this all the time. She's sound asleep but she talks to herself. It's pretty creepy, but I'm used to it by now."

Vanessa hopped out of bed and gently pushed Mallory's shoulders until she was lying down again. Mallory's eyelids fluttered a few times and then closed.

Vanessa smiled as she got back in bed. "She won't remember a word of this in the morning," she said, as I tiptoed out of the room.

I was dying to crawl into bed, but there was one more hurdle to cross. Stacey. She was in bed, but she wasn't asleep. In fact, she was sitting up with a book. She closed it when I came in our bedroom, though.

"I'm glad you're back," she said. "I've been waiting up for you."

I felt bone-tired. "Look, Stacey," I said

wearily, "if you're all set for another argument, it will have to wait till morning." Stacey had seemed saner — almost nice — earlier in the evening, but I still didn't trust her. People who've been dumped like to pick fights.

"No, I don't want to argue with you, Mary Anne." She hesitated. "Just the opposite. I've been such a jerk. I want to apologize for the lousy way I treated you."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Oh, no. Not again! I thought.

"Do you think you can ever forgive me?" Stacey asked in a quavery voice.

"Of course I can," I told her. "But please don't say another word about it, or I'll start crying."

"Okay," she said, laughing a little. "I don't want you to turn on the waterworks or we'll be drowning in here." She quickly changed the subject. "How was your date tonight?"

"It was great." I could feel myself breaking into a grin. "Really a super night."

Stacey looked surprised. "No sad goodbyes?"

I shook my head. "No, everything was wonderful. Because I finally figured something out."

"You did?"

I nodded. "Alex is a good friend, but Logan

is my boyfriend. The love of my life," I added, blushing a little. "Once I figured that out, everything fell into place. I don't feel confused anymore."

Stacey leaned back against the pillows. "I'm glad things worked out for you."

"I'm sorry they didn't work out for you," I said, reaching for my pajamas.

Stacey sighed. "Well, at least it's been an interesting vacation. Never a dull moment."

"Never a dull moment," I repeated.

"You know what, Mary Anne? I think I'll be kind of glad to get back to Stoneybrook."

"Mmm, me, too." I pulled on my pajamas and fell into bed.

"Do you think Stoneybrook will seem dull after Sea City?"

I yawned and buried my head in the pillow. "No," I mumbled. "I think it will seem . . . peaceful." Stacey said something else, but I had already pulled the quilt over my shoulders and was heading for a dream.

Chapter 15.

"Who has the beach blankets?"

"My bathing suit is still wet!"

"My inner tube has a leak."

"Good, it has to be deflated anyway."

Moving out of the Sea City house was just as hectic as moving in. Maybe more so. Let's face it, packing up to go home is never as much fun as unpacking in a new place. The excitement just isn't there. The house looked empty now that most of our belongings were stashed in the cars.

Mr. Pike was cooking an early breakfast, while I helped Mrs. Pike clean out the refrigerator.

"At least we don't have many leftovers," she said, tossing some cold cuts into a cooler. "How about the pantry?" she said to Stacey, who was opening cabinet doors all over the kitchen.

"It's almost bare," Stacey said. "So far all

I've found are some stale potato chips, a piece of bubble gum, and three Oreo cookies." She peered at something moving on one of the shelves. "Yuck! And a few ants."

"You don't have to pack those," Mr. Pike teased her.

All of the kids wanted to take a last swim after breakfast, but the sky was overcast, and they finally decided against it. I was glad. Now that our vacation was over, I was eager to get back to Stoneybrook. Of course I had one important thing to do before we left. I had to keep my promise to Vanessa to take her to Ice-Cream Palace.

"It would have been nice if the sun was shining on our last day here," Stacey said, sitting down to breakfast. "I could have used another hour on the backs of my legs."

"The backs of your legs look fine," Mal told her. Stacey had been aiming for the perfect tan for the past two weeks. She brought her watch to the beach and carefully turned over every half hour so her tan would be even. She reminded me of a chicken rotating on a barbecue grill, but I didn't tell her so. (I still looked as pale as ever, because I had worn my caftan and hat every single day.)

"Can we play on the beach before we go, Dad?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, let's build one more sand castle/' Jordan chimed in.