The Friendship Bracelet Read online

  Toward the end of their game, she felt overheated and called time. She shook out her ponytail for a few seconds and then gathered her long hair and put it up again. When she lifted her racket, she was surprised to see Surfer Dude staring at her.

  But before she could catch his name, he was rotated off, and Hannah Bojarski, a girl she knew from flute lessons, took his place.

  When the lesson ended at eleven, Olivia casually scanned the courts and then the park for him. Blast! He was nowhere to be seen. Practically everyone had gone home or to lunch. Guess I better go too, she thought, putting on her blue helmet. Wonder if Surfer Dude will be here again tomorrow…

  Chapter 5

  “Au revoir! Au revoir!”

  Alex was hanging out of the back window of the limousine, waving good-bye. All too soon, the day had arrived for the LeBrun family to catch their flight.

  “Au revoir! Au revoir!” shouted Olivia. As the limo pulled out of the driveway, she caught her reflection shining on its side and windows, and a poetic vision floated before her—maybe her image would fly along with them. But a moment later, the limo turned onto Bedford Road and her image vanished along with Alex.

  Well, she told herself, the moment she dreaded had finally arrived and she was still breathing.

  She straightened her shoulders and walked over to Main Street. Four shops in from the corner was Katonah Crafts, her mom’s store, with its barrels of white Shasta daisies outside by the roomy front stoop.

  As she opened the door, a bell rang, and once more, Olivia was reminded how much she loved every inch of the old-fashioned shop. She loved that her mom kept the original high tin ceilings, lazy fans, wooden floors, and the built-in shelves, which used to seem so tall to her. Her mother made sure to stock skeins of yarn and embroidery flosses in every neon, pastel, and regular color imaginable along with tons of weaving materials: string, hemp, silky cord, pearl cotton, and more.

  Summer was the busiest season, and this afternoon, Katonah Crafts was humming with young boys and girls checking out the beads, crafts books, scrap papers, and friendship bracelet supplies. Even the sight of Ethan Fleckman standing over by the cash register couldn’t lessen the pleasure Olivia took in her mother’s shop.

  That is until the sound of high-pitched giggling burst the spell. Over by the jewelry supplies, a group of her old fifth grade Village Elementary classmates were laughing and texting. She made eye contact and waved hello.

  Nobody waved back.

  That’s weird, Olivia thought, feeling dumped on. A total diss? Is this a preview of middle school? Oh no! Thoughts swirled through her head: Maybe they didn’t say hello because they didn’t see me? Maybe because they’re busy texting? Or maybe because at the center of the group, like a major star in a constellation, is Elin Pierson, only the most popular girl since forever?

  But was that really Elin? Olivia had to look twice—Elin’s light-blond hair seemed to have grown more than a foot since school let out last week. Maybe that happened because her mother owned Magic Tresses, the hair styling salon Elin always let everybody know about. Could Elin’s magic tresses actually be extensions?

  Looking around to locate her own mother, Olivia noticed one of Elin’s squad, Kennedy Washington, whispering something to Elin.

  “Who?” asked Elin in a loud, peevish voice.

  Kennedy pointed to Olivia.

  Instantly, Elin turned on a smile and strolled over. “Hi, Livia,” she said, taking off her leopard-print sunglasses. “This is your mother’s store? It’s so awesome!”

  “Oh, thanks, Elin,” said Olivia.

  “Yeah, it’s stellar,” chimed in her friends.

  “Do you ever give out free samples?” purred Elin. “Like my mother does at Magic Tresses?”

  Yuck! Olivia felt as trapped as a pelican in an oil slick. Desperately, she looked for help and saw Miss Ruth Ann, her mother’s invaluable store manager, heading toward them. Whew…

  Trying to get out of the way, Olivia stepped backward and bumped smack into a table display piled high with birdhouse kits. Crash! Several hit the old wooden floor, making a loud noise.

  Ethan Fleckman glanced up from his flosses catalog and shook his head. Elin and her friends started giggling. Olivia could hear one of them muttering, “Klutz!”

  Miss Ruth Ann ignored the disturbance. Instead, she said in a firm voice, “Good afternoon, girls. How may we help you?” She looked at them over her wire-framed glasses. A retired school secretary with dark skin and frizzy gray hair, Miss Ruth Ann was so no-nonsense that even Olivia’s father, the by-the-book head of Katonah’s Building Department, made sure to be on his very best behavior around her. Naturally, Olivia’s mom loved her.

  Olivia leaned down to pick up the birdhouse kits. Straightening up, she caught her mother’s eye and signaled toward the entrance. Nearing the door, she could hear Miss Ruth Ann asking Elin, “And what is your budget, young lady?”

  Two minutes later, her mother emerged. “Have a good night, dear,” she said to Miss Ruth Ann with a wave. “See you in the morning.”

  Olivia’s mom led her down the shop-lined streets toward their car. “Was that Pippi Pierson’s daughter? With the sunglasses?” she asked. “Maybe you would like to spend some time with her this summer?”

  Olivia rolled her eyes.

  “Well, maybe not,” her mom said. “Any thoughts about where to have dinner?”

  Olivia’s father was away on a two-day municipal building conference, so Olivia and her mother got to be bachelorettes and eat out.

  “Can we go to Golden Panda for takeout?” Olivia asked.

  “You’re not saying that just so you can give Sullivan the fortune cookies, are you?” her mother teased.

  “No, Mom. But he does have his eye on my new black tights,” said Olivia. “I can’t wait to wear them. But maybe I should save them for school?”

  “Then promise you won’t grow over the summer,” replied her mom with a laugh.

  Chapter 6

  “And can we please get lots of extra duck sauce?” a young girl was asking.

  Mu Mu Lin was in front of Golden Panda’s pickup counter when Olivia and her mother entered the bright-red-and-gold restaurant.

  Standing near her, an Asian woman was texting on a cell phone. That’s probably Mu Mu’s mother, thought Olivia. They looked a lot alike, with small, pretty features and slender builds, only Mu Mu’s mother was wearing a dark business suit and heels, and Mu Mu was dressed in a bright-yellow tank top and cutoffs.

  “Hey, Olivia!” shouted out Mu Mu. “You eat here too? Don’t they have absolutely the best spring rolls?”

  “Hi, Mu Mu,” Olivia replied in a much quieter voice. “Yup, and I love their General Tso’s chicken.”

  “That’s my favorite too!” squealed Mu Mu. “And their sliced pork with mixed vegetables!”

  Before Olivia could think of anything to add, the cashier returned and called out, “Lin?”

  Mu Mu shouted, “Right here!” as he handed her three filled-to-the-brim plastic bags. Trying not to stare, Olivia remembered Alex mentioning that Mu Mu had an enormous appetite. Actually, “big eater” was how her BFF put it.

  “Got to run, company’s coming,” Mu Mu said with a smile. “See you at camp! Can’t wait!”

  “Right!” said Olivia, trying to match Mu Mu’s enthusiasm.

  Chapter 7

  An easy silence fell between Olivia and her mother as they picked up their order and drove home. They decided to eat on the wraparound front porch that faced the Parkway. As they settled down, Sullivan waited patiently under the round wicker table.

  “I have to order some new supplies for the shop,” Olivia’s mom started saying as she passed Olivia the carton of General Tso’s chicken.

  “New supplies like what?” Olivia asked, taking a serving.

  “Oh, beads, lanyard laces, waxed cor
ds, pearl cotton, charms. We already got in an expanded assortment of embroidery threads. Everybody wants them, especially your friend Ethan Fleckman. He keeps requesting so many different colors.”

  “He’s not my friend,” replied Olivia, picking up the last of the spareribs.

  “Really? He always talks about you and Alex,” her mom pointed out.

  “Stop!” cried Olivia. “I’m eating.”

  “Well, in any event, we’re going to have to order more friendship bracelet books too. We’re getting a lot of requests for new patterns,” her mother said, wiping her hands.

  At the mention of friendship bracelets, Olivia remembered the one she had found in her mother’s dresser, the mysterious blue-and-white one. She wondered, Is now a good time to bring that up?

  “Of course, today, there are so many new patterns and threads,” her mom continued. “I wonder if kids realize how popular friendship bracelets have been for years and years.”

  Before she could stop herself, Olivia blurted out, “OK, Mom, I saw that blue pouch with the friendship bracelet in your drawer. What’s so special about it?”

  For an instant, her mom appeared so distressed that Olivia wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. Then her mom said in a low voice, “Everything. Everything is special about it.”

  “Mom, ‘everything’ sounds pretty dramatic,” laughed Olivia. “Why is it special? Does it have magic powers?”

  Her mother took out the pouch from her pants pocket. “Magic powers? Yes, I guess you could say it has magic powers.” She opened the pouch and reached inside for the bracelet. “The magic of this friendship bracelet is how it led to the craft store.”

  “Katonah Crafts?” asked Olivia.

  Her mother nodded. “It means a lot to me. When I was a little older than you, I had to have an operation, and a nice person gave me this bracelet.”

  Olivia gasped. “What kind of an operation?” She didn’t know anything about an operation!

  “I dove into the side of a pool and injured my spine. I was showing off for a group of kids…kids I thought I wanted to be friends with.”

  “Oh, Mom! Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “Because I got over it,” said her mother, looking at the bracelet entwined in her hands. “I wore this bracelet every day and even learned how to make others while I was getting better.”

  “You said a nice person gave you this bracelet. Who was that?” asked Olivia, still amazed.

  “A girl named Dawn. Really, I didn’t even know her that well. She had a twin sister, Nicole, and they were very, very close. Dawn came to visit me in the hospital totally out of the blue. She told me their parents went through a really terrible divorce and that she had to come here to New York to live with her father and Nicole had to stay in Texas with her mother.”

  Olivia looked shocked.

  “I know. It seems cruel today,” her mother explained. “And this was way before cell phones and email, so you can imagine how wrenching it was to be separated. Dawn missed her sister so much that her grades went down and she lost interest in practically everything.”

  “That’s horrible!”

  “Yes, but one day, Dawn got a letter in the mail with this bracelet. Nicole had made it for her with a wish that Dawn would get better. Dawn told me that one small thing like that just made a huge difference.”

  “Wow!” said Olivia. “Amazing!” After a few seconds, she asked, “But what did you mean about the crafts shop?”

  “That’s how I fell in love with making things, really how I came to start Katonah Crafts. Sweetheart, if you want this bracelet, it’s yours. Daddy and I love you so much and know that you will be able to make true friends again—friends as true as Alex.”

  “Tie it on for me?” asked Olivia, holding out her wrist.

  Sullivan got up, walked over, sniffed it, and then tried to bite it.

  “Stop!” Olivia told him while taking a better look at the bracelet. “But I’m not sure I remember what light blue means.”

  “Funny you should say that. Miss Ruth Ann is making up a chart for the shop with the meanings of all the colors. Light blue stands for loyalty,” replied her mom, standing up. “I’m getting juice. Can I get you a glass?”

  “Sure. But can I have that last spring roll?” asked Olivia, reaching into the carton. She was so intent on eating with her chopsticks that she didn’t notice when a black Land Rover drove past their porch and turned at the corner onto Bedford Road. Out of sight, it drove down the green and then circled around to Alex’s old house.

  A boy and a girl jumped out of the backseat and headed inside.

  The boy was tan with golden curls. It was Surfer Dude.

  Chapter 8

  Zoe Santana instantly fell in love with her new house on Bedford Road. Shaded by ancient chestnut trees, the old-fashioned house had fireplaces, window seats, and cozy nooks—just about everything she’d ever dreamed of.

  But it was her new bedroom she especially loved, with its big bay window that faced the leafy backyard. I love the color too, she thought, surprising herself. Even though she would never have picked something girlie like lavender, there, in that airy space, it felt just right.

  She walked across the pale-blue wall-to-wall carpeting and opened a door. The walk-in closet was gigantic! On the inside of the closet door was a full-length mirror.

  So, this is what I look like in my new room, she thought. Reflected was an athletic-looking girl with tawny skin and long, dark curls held back with a headband. Her green eyes were framed with eyelashes so black and full she’d never have to worry about mascara.

  Her mother walked in, saw Zoe gazing in the mirror, and smiled. “Niña,” Zoe’s mother said. “It’s time to unpack.” Behind her was a burly moving man pushing a hand truck loaded with cartons.

  Zoe knew it would be useless to think about anything else until the unpacking was done.

  Actually, she was kind of a pro at moving. This time, the move was because her mother had been appointed the new school superintendent in a large school district across the New York border, in Connecticut.

  But this move was different. For one thing, it promised to be permanent. Zoe’s mother had a long-term contract. For another, Zoe’s new stepfather, Press, wrote a popular food blog from home. He’d said he was happy anywhere there was a decent gas stove.

  In the past, Zoe had never let anyone know how hard it was to move. Fortunately for her, from an early age, she’d been an ace at soccer and softball. Just as she’d learned to walk off injuries on the field, when it came time to pack and say good-bye, she’d just walked off the pain.

  “And Austen will be here soon to help out,” her mother added.

  Zoe hadn’t seen her cousin Austen for a couple of years. So when he and her uncle Russell had picked her up last night at the Westchester Airport, she was amazed how good-looking he had become—tall, with golden curls framing his face.

  She unpacked her tennis racket and took a brisk practice swing.

  Hear he’s supposed to be pretty good at tennis, she thought. Let’s see what he’s got.

  Chapter 9

  The afternoon was sunny and mild, so when her flute lesson ended, Olivia was happy to be outside, riding home on her bike.

  Maybe I’ll stop at the library and ask when Mrs. Vreeland has time to talk about volunteering, she thought. Making the sharp turn onto Bedford Road, she spotted a huge moving van parked in front of Alex’s old house.

  Moving van! She was so surprised, she didn’t see the forty-foot-tall telephone pole in front of her until she crashed into it.

  A tall boy and a dark-haired girl came running over. “Are you OK?” they asked.

  Sprawled out facedown, Olivia felt totally embarrassed. The boy knelt down and helped her to her feet. Her legs were covered with grass clippings. She brushed them off and then unfastened her bi
ke helmet, letting her long hair fall over her shoulders.

  “Hey, you’re the girl from tennis camp,” said the boy.

  Then she looked his way. Oh, great. I got my wish, thought Olivia, immediately recognizing Surfer Dude. But really, can I just die this minute?

  “Oh, right,” she managed to reply. “Sorry I’m such a klutz.”

  “I’m Austen, and this is my cousin Zoe,” the boy replied with a smile.

  “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done things like that,” Zoe said.

  “Really?” asked Olivia. “No, not really. You’re just saying that, right?”

  Zoe laughed again. “You know, you’re the first person I’ve met here. What’s your name?”

  “Here? You mean here? Here in Katonah here?” said Olivia, her voice rising. “Or here in this house here?” She pointed to Alex’s house.

  “Both. I’m moving in here with my mom and new dad.”

  “This was my best friend Alex’s house,” Olivia blurted out. “She just moved.”

  “It’s pretty cool,” said Austen. “Like a hundred years old?”

  Olivia couldn’t think of what to say. She felt like her whole BFF-moving story was such a downer, and she just met these kids.

  “So Alex’s best friend, are you going to tell us your name or not?” asked Zoe with a smile.

  “Sorry,” said Olivia, apologizing again. “I’m Olivia, Olivia Jones. I live on the Parkway. That’s the street just up Bedford Road and around the corner from the library.” She waved toward the top of the road.

  “I live in North Salem,” explained Austen. “That’s probably why I’ve never seen you around. I went to Meadowlark Elementary. Do you go to Village Elementary?”

  “Not anymore,” said Olivia. “I’m going to Alexander Hamilton Middle School in September.”

  “Hey, me too,” said Austen.

  “And me,” added Zoe.