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dropped on the floor. Mr. Korman filled a teakettle with water and set it on the stove.
     
    Upstairs, Abby knocked softly on the door to Bill's room.
     
    "Who is it?" he asked.
     
    'Abby. I came to say good-bye. May I come in?" "Good-bye," Bill said grumpily.
     
    Abby opened the door partway but didn't step inside. "I know how easy it is to say something hurtful or do something you'll regret later. But I always feel better once I apologize." "I don't," Bill insisted. "The brat deserved it." Abby backed away. Bill had his mind made up.
     
    The door to Bill's room slammed behind her. And Abby headed for home.
     
    Chapter 5.
     
    I'm not a morning person, especially on weekends. I like to stay in bed and think in pictures. I close my eyes and see paintings I'd like to make, sculptures I'd like to create, scenes I'd like to photograph. I also think about clothes. That's what I was doing when the phone rang early (early for me, not for the rest of the world) on Saturday morning.
     
    "Hello," I mumbled. It was the first word I'd spoken that day, and I can understand why someone would think I was still asleep.
     
    "Claudia? Is this Claudia?" Josh asked, sounding unsure.
     
    I sat up. "Hi, Josh. It's me." 'Are you okay?" "Yeah, are you?" "When you didn't call last night, I started to worry. And then when you answered the phone..." I pulled my knees up and rested my fore- head against them. I'd forgotten to call Josh, after I'd promised I would.
     
    "Claudia? Are you there? Knock, knock," he said.
     
    "I'm here and I'm fine. Except I feel awful about not calling you last night. Janine helped me with my math homework, then my mom and dad came in with this big announcement, then they surprised us with a video. Josh, I'm really, truly sorry I forgot." And I was.
     
    "That's okay. As long as you're all right." That was Josh through and through. He was worried about me instead of being angry.
     
    "What are you doing now?" he asked.
     
    "Thinking about what I'm going to wear tonight. You can still go, can't you?" All of a sudden, I started to worry that he was calling me with bad news.
     
    "I remember - you, me, Mary Anne, Logan, Stacey, and some extra cool guy from the city. In fact, I was calling to remind you. In case you'd forgotten that too." It was a dig, but it was a gentle one, and I deserved it.
     
    "Where are we going?" Josh asked.
     
    "Dinner at the Rosebud Cafe, then maybe a video at Stacey's. We're meeting everyone around six at the Rosebud." "Claud, what should I wear? I mean, what will the other guys be wearing?" I detected something new in Josh's voice. Was he nervous? Surely not. He knew Stacey and Mary Anne, even Logan. "It's just dinner and a video. No big deal," I assured him.
     
    "But what will I say to all those people?" He was nervous. "Josh, I've never known you to run out of things to say. And it's not really 'all those people.' You know everybody except Ethan. It'll be fun." "Sure," Josh said. Then he added, "Is there any chance there'll be a few hours in the day when we're not with your friends or getting ready to be with your friends?" My friends? I was starting to feel like taffy being pulled in too many directions by too many people - Josh, my other seventh-grade friends, and my friends in the BSC. "I know Mom and Dad are going to make me do some more homework. But why don't you come over a little early? Dad will drive us to the Rosebud when it's time," I suggested.
     
    I could almost hear his smile when he agreed. "I'll be there. You can coach me on how to act with cool older guys." I giggled. "I'm such an expert! See you later." We hung up and I dragged my body out of bed.
     
    "You're looking pretty good," Josh said when I answered his knock later that day.
     
    "Only pretty good?" I pretended to be insulted. I'd worked hard on my outfit - a long black skirt, a