Grace was trying her best to silence her steps. Her and Harry were hiding from Filch in an unexplored room with a giant mirror. Harry saw his reflection standing with his parents, but Grace didn’t see her reflection. In her place, moving her hands upward at the same time and raising her eyebrows in surprise, was a girl who looked so much happier than Grace felt. She wore pigtails and had a gap in her front teeth. She grabbed her cheeks and pulled outward, sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes. Grace chuckled.
“Ms. Thompson.”
The tone was so clear and stern, it broke Grace out of her trance. She had been reading at her desk during the free time the class had earned at the end of the day. But the classroom was now empty and dark. “The bell has rung and I have papers to grade.”
Grace’s 4th grade teacher, Ms. Carson, was usually the first person off campus when the bell rang, so her required presence after-hours likely contributed to her short temper with Grace, who never stuck a toe out of line. Maybe Grace annoyed Ms. Carson…
Grace hurriedly packed up her backpack, put her chair on top of her desk, and ran into the hallway. Looking back to see if Ms. Carson approved of her desk (she did not even glance in its direction), Grace ran into another girl. Grace dropped her book and the girl dropped her Gameboy Advanced.
“Oh no! Your book!” The girl picked up both her Gameboy and the book. “It looks like the book cover is still in tact, but I would take off the cover and use a protective sleeve if you’re worried about damage. I know I always drop my things.” She put the book back in Grace’s arms.
Grace looked at the girl, her goucho pants looked comfy and her platform sandals reminded Grace of the Bratz dolls her friend Nat liked to play with. Grace stuttered, “Th-thank you. I have to go. Um… M-Maybe I’ll see you—”
Gameboy Girl could see there was a lot on Grace’s mind. She wanted to make her laugh. “I’ll see you later, alligator!” The girl stuck out her tongue as she waved. Grace chuckled and then gasped.
Finally, Grace recognized her: the girl she saw in the mirror.
~
Grace’s mom ended up contacting the office to tell them she needed to walk home. This usually never happened because her mother worried fiercely that Grace would be attacked or stolen in the 10 minute walk home in their lower-upper class, suburban neighborhood they lived in. But today her mom was out with a client and her dad was on a work call. Even in the hot Arizona sun, Grace reveled in the new responsibility of walking home alone. How adult. How mature.
As she walked, she wished she had asked Gameboy Girl’s name. She wished she had someone to walk with, but not out of fear for her safety (she believed she was loud enough to declare any weirdo jumping out from the bushes as NOT her parent or guardian). She just didn’t want to be alone.
“You know,” Hermione said, in her Hogwarts robes walking next to Grace. “You’re not alone. You have a whole class of friends that all know your name. You can ask any of them to play tomorrow.”
“Yeah, the worst you could do,” said Bernard, following along behind them, eating an apple loudly. “is not try at all.”
“But most importantly,” said Eddie, the tattered hamster stuffed animal poking out of Grace’s backpack. “I hope you know that your family is always there to talk to. And so is Natasha!”
“You’re right, guys. I just need to…”
And at that moment, she was hit on the side of the head with something hard… and wet? As the sting wore off and she fixed her glasses, she realized chow mein was plopping down onto her shoulder. Had she been hit by a… Panda Express bowl?
“Oh sorry! I didn’t see you there.” There, in a car too shiny and expensive for Grace to know the name of, was her school bully Jessica and her mother Patricia, who definitely proved to Grace that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Even though Jessica’s aim was definitely purposeful (she was the best player on the girls’ basketball team), Patricia didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with her daughter throwing a plastic bowl out the window of her car.
“Ms. Tinley,” Grace said, still confused why noodles were now being sun-cooked in her thick hair. “it’s really not good for the environment to throw trash—”
“Grace, sweetie,” Patricia’s round face was taken up mostly by her gigantic, expensive sunglasses and her gigantic, expensive lips. Unlike her mom, Jessica’s skin was darker and her hair was in box braids. “the HOA will get a street cleaner and clean that right up. And why are you walking home? It’s a heat advisory today.”
“My mom said—”
“Oh, do you need a ride?”
She would do anything to avoid being alone with Jessica. “No thank you."
“Okay, well, tell your mom I said hi!” And with that, she drove off, with a snickering Jessica in the backseat.
~
Back home, Grace was putting her school things away as she was to do every day after school. She heated up her “wheels and cheese” and made her way to the table to watch Nickelodeon. Just as the Fairly Odd Parents theme song ended, a loud noise almost made Grace throw her fork. It was Natasha, who had slammed both hands and the side of her face on the outside of the glass door to the courtyard.
Once Grace caught her breath, she unlocked the door for Natasha to come in. “Nat, you scared the…you scared me.” She sat back down to enjoy her noodles.
“It’s all in my plan of exposure therapy.” Nat explained, walking over to the fridge for milk and the pantry for cereal. This was not the first time Nat had been over to Grace’s house, and definitely not the first time she had eaten there. “You’re easily scared. But you don’t watch scary movies or try things that scare you. So, we need to have you spend a lot of time with something you’re scared of and then— KABAM!” Grace jumped again, this time knocking a cheesy wheel off of her fork before it could get to her mouth. Grace glared at Nat. “You won’t be scared anymore! Hopefully! What’s something you’re afraid of?”
Grace shivered as she answered. “Spiders.”
“PERFECT!” Nat yelled. And Grace immediately regretted telling her.
~
Later that night, after a few games of 4-square, dinner with her parents, and a family viewing of Survivor, Grace was in bed, with Eddie and some of her other stuffed animals.
“Grace, what’s bothering you?” asked Aspen, a worn, wise winter bear.
“I just want to have a best friend.”
“I thought Nat was your best friend?” asked Baylee, a neon orange dog on a keychain.
“I mean, she has been coming over a lot to play after school and eating our food, but does that make her my best friend?”
“What does a best friend look like?” Eddie asked, as Grace curled his tough-textured tail between her fingers.
“Well, I guess it’s someone that I spend a lot of time with. We don’t have to be the same, but we have to care about each other and what each other has to say.”
“That sounds a lot like Natasha.” Aspen said, smiling in a way she never does.
Grace lit up. Was Natasha her best friend? She would sure want her to be. Natasha wasn’t afraid of anything. And Natasha always just showed up to hang out with her. Grace didn’t have to beg Nat to come over; Nat just wanted to come over, so she did.
Grace always fell asleep listening to music and it would sometimes become the musical score of her dreams. She fell asleep hugging her stuffed animal friends, listening to a song she loved about friendship and changing the world.
~
The next day, the entire grade was in the library for an author meet-&-greet. This happened a lot, as there were many Arizona authors that wrote stories either taking place in cities we had lived in or teaching us about animals that lived in our state. The author visiting today was focused on animal education and worked closely with a photographer to capture animals in the Arizona desert. Grace immediately spotted one particular book, which had a terrifyingly detailed, zoomed in photo of a…
“TARANTULA!” Nat yelled, hugging Grace so her arms couldn’t move.
"SHHHHHH!”
“A tarantula!” Nat exclaimed quietly through a smile. Grace was already avoiding eye contact with the hairy-looking monster on the cover of the displayed book. “This is perfect! This can be part of your exposure therapy.”
Grace whimpered. She had forgotten about Nat’s plan to help Grace face her fears. She had been too busy imagining her and Natasha singing about the environment while running through a field. But she was glad to see Natasha. She was in another class, so full-grade events were opportunities to be together.
After sitting together and scooting up to make room for everyone, the author began to read a story about coyotes. Natasha took out a paper fortune teller and poked Grace to get her attention. She wanted Grace to choose a color. Grace pointed to green. The fortune teller slowly (quietly) flapped back and forth 5 times. Now, Grace had to choose between numbers: 3, 4, 7, or 8. She chose 4. 4 flaps later, she landed back on the same numbers. Nat seemed really excited. Grace got a feeling there was a right answer. She didn’t want to pick the same number twice. Maybe she should pick 3? Her favorite number was 6 and maybe Nat knew that. So, maybe it was 7, because it was closest to 6. Or Nat picked 8 because Grace’s glasses looked like a sideways 8. Would she disappoint Nat if she chose wrong?
If anything, Nat’s excitement seemed to have faded in waiting for Grace’s decision. Grace quickly poked at the number 8. Nat excitedly opened up the flap, which was connected to 7, and it read “YOU CAN DO IT!” Nat showed all her teeth in a big smile at Grace. Grace blushed and smiled back. She had chosen right! Then, Nat opened the other flaps. Grace was surprised to see that all of the fortunes said the same thing: “YOU CAN DO IT!” “YOU CAN DO IT!” “YOU CAN DO IT!” In the middle of the flaps, Grace saw a message in crayon.
“To: Grace
From: Natasha
BFF!!!!!”
Grace hugged Nat tightly. And Nat hugged back.
Later, after the author finished reading and began signing books people were buying, Grace pointed to the tarantula book.
“Oh, so you want to know more about tarantulas?” the author asked, signing the inside cover.
“Um… Yes!” Grace replied.
Nat crossed her arms, impressed.
~
🤍 End of Chapter
Long time no see!
Tune in next week for more from the Party People!
💟