The Truth About Twinkie Pie Part 10

All I could think about was this salad DiDi used to make for potluck dinners. It's covered with this blanket of mayonnaise on top, so you a.s.sume it's all bland and mayo through and through. What you don't see is that right under that blanket of bland, there's all this stuff just hiding there. Waiting. Waiting for someone to realize there's more to it than just mayo. I used to feel sorry for that salad whenever I saw it sitting there on the table with no one digging in. But now I think it was lying in wait. All mayo and innocence on the outside, not letting us know what it really was on the inside.

"Miss Galileo?"

I looked up at Mr. McGuire. The Truth?

"May I be excused? I-I think I just lost something."

Secret Layered Salad

Salad * 1 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped * Salt and pepper to taste * 8 hard-boiled eggs, chopped * 1 pound bacon, cooked and chopped * 4 whole tomatoes, chopped * 1 cup of carrots, thinly sliced * 1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced * 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated * 1 bag (14 ounces) of frozen sweet peas, partially thawed

Dressing

* cup real mayonnaise * cup sour cream * 1 tablespoon lemon juice Now, I'll just tell you that this was not always called Secret Layered Salad. It used to be just good old Layered Salad because I always made it in my favorite gla.s.s bowl so you could see all the pretty layers. Then Mary Elizabeth Clark broke it during a potluck last summer. Yes, I wrote your name right here plain as day, Mary Elizabeth, so don't you dare scratch it out next time you borrow this! Anyway, I just started using my big white Pyrex bowl.

Start with half the iceberg lettuce and then add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed, adding salt and pepper to each layer, till the bowl is full. Top with the rest of the lettuce. Mix the mayo, sour cream, and lemon juice in another bowl, and cover the whole salad, sealing it around the edges. It may look like a whole lot of nothing, but it's delicious!

And so what if you can't see the layers anymore? I say the most interesting things have more to them than just what you see on the outside. And that's a fact.

Serves 1214 as a side salad at a potluck.

twenty-two.

That day at lunch, everyone was surrounding Mace and telling her how awesome her hair looked. I just sat there, looking at my PB&B&B sandwich. Not able to eat anything.

"Are you okay?" Trip whispered.

I tried a weak smile. "Yeah, just, um, a tummyache."

Mace stopped in the middle of whatever story she was telling and looked right at me. "You probably need to go to the nurse. C'mon, I'll walk you."

Billy looked up at Mace offering to walk me anywhere and then shook his head. "Girls, man."

Trip was watching me quietly.

Mace stood up. "Well? Are you coming?" It was almost like a challenge.

"Maybe..." I said. "Yeah, I'll go."

I stood up, leaving my lunch, which Billy pounced on. "Yes! Peanut b.u.t.ter, banana, and bacon on white! Sweet!"

Mace said nothing as the two of us walked out of the cafeteria. She paused in front of Miss Homer, who was hidden behind her latest book, and said, "Leia doesn't feel well. I'm just going to walk her to the nurse."

"Mmm-hmm." Page turn.

It was touching how concerned she was for my welfare.

We said nothing in the quiet halls. Just walked and listened to the soft echo of our steps.

Right outside the health office, Mace paused and said, "Look, I still don't like you-and I don't care if you like me or not, but-"

I just stood there. Was this why she wanted to walk me? So she could tell me how much she still didn't like me? I kept my mouth shut and waited. Whatever she was handing out, I could take.

"But I-I really like DiDi. Having someone listen and talk to me... it means everything to me."

It was like being on another planet.

Mace was standing there, saying she liked DiDi.

That DiDi meant everything to her.

My DiDi.

My DiDi, who was born nine years, nine days, and nine hours apart from me. And Mace had known her for how long? Nine seconds? I could feel the angry part of me growing and growing. And then I opened my mouth and let it do the talking.

"Well-you mean nothing to her-do you hear me? Nothing. She doesn't even like you-she could never like someone as-as fussy-and stuck-up as you. She did that to your hair as a joke."

Then I opened the nurse's door and slammed it as hard as I could, leaving her standing there, looking like I'd just punched her in the face.

One-Two Punch

* Two quarts orange sherbet * Two liters ginger ale * One large can of pineapple juice (46 ounces) * 1 lemon and 1 orange, sliced in circles, for garnish When you're ready to get this party started, just put your orange sherbet in your best punch bowl.

Pour in your ginger ale. Then your pineapple juice.

Top it with some lemon and orange slices to make it pretty.

Couldn't be easier.

But then, I always say, it doesn't take much to make the perfect One-Two Punch.

Serves a whole party of people.

twenty-three.

The next few days, I tried to act like everything was the same. But it wasn't.

Mace didn't give me those glaring looks anymore. She pretty much pretended I wasn't there at all. But she looked at Trip a lot. He sure seemed happy to have her there. And I hadn't gotten a KOB since the night at Trip's house.

I found myself walking with Billy after English and watching them walk ahead.

"So, Trip and Mace have known each other since they were little?" I tried to sound casual.

"Yeah, their moms were in the same sorority in college, and they're neighbors now." He laughed. "Man, she has the most awesome house. It looks like a fort and it has this secret bomb shelter in it. Like this cool cave. We all used to play there when we were kids. Trust me, if there's ever an earthquake, go there."

My chest was starting to hurt.

"Hey, are you coming to the last big soccer game on Sat.u.r.day? Trip's family is doing a tailgate."

I thought quickly. "Um, I wish I could, but I... oh, I have the Stargazers and-we have this big meeting."

"Big meeting with the three of you?"

I glared at him.

"Okay-just kidding. But you should come. Bring the science girls when you're done figuring out how to rule the universe."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks, I'll try."

But I knew I wouldn't.

I called Haven and Allie right after school and invited them over for the morning of the soccer game and tailgate to make sure I was busy that day. "To plan our conquest of the stars!" I shouted, acting all enthusiastic. But truth is I wasn't up for conquering anything, except this terrible feeling in my heart.

Haven and Allie both seemed so excited that it just really made me wish I'd done it sooner.

Sat.u.r.day morning, DiDi was up bright and early, making Mama's Special-Occasion Fancy Tea Sandwiches. I thought it was kind of much for just having friends over, but I didn't say a word. It had been pretty quiet between me and DiDi since the fight over Mace's hair. I never brought it up again and neither did she. I guess we don't have a lot of experience fighting, so we don't have a lot of experience making up, either.

When the doorbell buzzed, I let Allie and Haven in. They kind of paused and that made me think they were probably used to being in houses like Trip's or Mace's. Not old one-bedroom apartments with DiDi's sheets and blankets still folded on the side of the pull-out sofa bed. I ran over and quickly picked them up and folded the sofa bed back into place. Then for the first time, I thought about how DiDi let me have the one bedroom.

"Hey, come on in."

Allie and Haven walked in carrying several notebooks and two huge tote bags filled with what looked like craft-making supplies.

"Um, this is my sister, DiDi. DiDi, this is Allie and that's Haven."

"Hi, girls. Nice to meet you. We are going to have so much fun today!"

I looked back and forth between DiDi in the kitchen and the girls standing in the living room. "Uh, D, what do you mean we? Did you want to help us with Stargazers?"

DiDi stopped cutting the crusts off sandwiches and looked up. "Didn't you ask the girls to come with us to the tailgate? With, you know, Trip and Mace and their families? Mace mentioned it yesterday when we were talking-"

"You talked to Mace?" I said. "When? Why? How?"

DiDi raised an eyebrow. "Now who's Getting Grammatical? Calm down, honey, she just calls me sometimes for girl talk. I know you two had a rough start, but you should give her a chance. She's a regular human girl just like you. C'mon, we'll all go and it'll be fun." DiDi smiled at Allie and Haven, who still looked puzzled.

"I thought we were having a Stargazers meeting, but..." Allie glanced over at the big basket that DiDi was preparing and then looked at Haven.

Haven hesitated. "It's just that we don't-we don't really hang out with those guys-"

"Oh pooh!" said DiDi. "You'll be hanging with us-we'll take care of you, won't we, Double G?"

"NO!" The sound of my voice surprised even me. "And I'm NOT Grammatical!" Allie and Haven were staring. "This meeting is really important-I want to plan a trip to the observatory here, because I've never seen the one that this town has and-"

"Double G, calm down. What are you going on about? What do you think I've been doing? I made a whole mess of fancy tea sandwiches, and all I have to do is take a quick shower and I'll be all set to head to the game. I thought you'd want to go. And it looks like these girls do."

The girls looked interested, but you could tell they were concerned about my feelings.

"It could be fun," Allie said. "But..." She glanced at Haven.

"But we don't have to-if Leia doesn't want to..." Haven said.

"Listen, Double G, why don't you girls talk your science stuff while I shower up? My sweet tea needs a little more time to chill anyway."

"What's Double G?" asked Allie.

"Fine. I don't care. You decide." I threw myself on the sofa.

"Great!" DiDi popped into the bathroom and then stuck her head out. "Does anyone have to, you know, go before I shower? Sorry, girls, but this is a one-stop pit stop-if you know what I mean."