The Bubblegum Notes, Page 4

  “The faster we do it, the better. I say we can get this down in twenty-nine seconds.”

  “Twenty-nine? Do you know how high you are? You can probably high-five the moon from up there.”

  “Casper, do you remember fourth grade when we had that field day? Do you remember your time back then? You beat everyone, climbing in 12.5 seconds. Do you not remember that, dude? That was awesome—the highlight of your career. The starting point, the…”

  “All right, DUDE! I get it. I just haven’t climbed this high in a while, okay? But I know I can do it. Just give me a sec.”

  I didn’t know it was going to be this tough to get Casper and Flynn into Tammy’s room. But then again, we had no idea her room would be up this high in the sky. I knew Casper was really nervous. I knew this was going to be a dangerous stunt. I mean, we were approximately forty-eight feet from the ground. Well, at least that’s what it felt like. If either of them were to fall, they’d definitely die.

  Flynn climbed up first just to show Casper how easy it was, and boy did he make it look easy. He climbed the rope like he was chewing gum. You’d never guess what he said when he got to the top, so I’ll just tell you. As soon as he landed his two feet on Tammy’s carpet, he said, “Dude, we should totally slide down from up here.”

  I knew Flynn was adventurous, but, apparently, he wasn’t so bright.

  “Dude, if we slide, it would be the death of us.”

  “Live a little, bro,” Flynn said.

  “All right, your turn,” I told Casper. “And whatever you do, bro, don’t look down.”

  Casper climbed about two feet before he looked more scared than the time he found worms in his PB&J. I knew I had to do something to keep him calm. So I started to tell him a story to keep his mind off how high he was.

  “There once was a bat,” I said, “and he grew up to be…”

  “Shut up! You’re making it worse.”

  “How? I’m only trying to help. I know you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared.”

  “So why are you still down there?”

  I have no idea what clicked in Casper’s mind, but once I said that, he climbed the rope so fast that I didn’t see him coming. Once we were all in Tammy’s room, we could hear the band begin to warm up in the backyard.

  “We really cut this one close.”

  “Okay, I’ll search the closet. Flynn, search the right side of the room. Casper, get the boxes.”

  We had only a couple of minutes to find what we needed and get out before everyone would see us.

  “By the way, dude, you look awesome in that rat costume,” Casper said, laughing.

  “It’s not a rat. It’s a hamster.”

  He chuckled. “Same thing, bro.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Dude, look what I found.”

  “What is this?”

  “What in the world?”

  “It’s a diary.”

  “There has to be some good stuff in here!”

  “Yeah, I bet she secretly loves someone.”

  “Or maybe she has her plan for destruction in here.”

  “Dear diary, I wish I had more things to buy, but I’ve already bought them all. What do I do?”

  We all laughed.

  “Shh. Quiet, guys.”

  “She’s calling you, dude.”

  “She’s looking for you.”

  “Quick, hide under the bed.”

  I ran out of the room and down the stairs, and wiped the sweat off my face with my rat’s claw.

  “Sorry, Tammy, I just got a little diarrhea in the bathroom.”

  “Ewwww, whatever! You’re supposed to be handing out fruit juice to everyone, not hiding in the bathroom.”

  “Right.”

  “Get out there, punk! Ugh, you’re such an idiot.”

  “Sure I am.”

  I did what she said and handed out fruit juice. Everyone stared at me. I was either laughed at or frowned at like I was some scary bug man raised from the dead. I wanted to dress like Scream and really scare them off. That’ll teach them!

  A few minutes later, the entrance to the place was closed and everyone inside it was officially considered “cool.” The band began to play. Everyone started to dance. The sun had set, so it was dark out and there were only a few low lights. My goal was to try and run out of juice so I would have an excuse to go back inside. I even gave some to the pup when no one was looking.

  “Uh, Tammy?”

  “What? Can’t you see I’m busy, loser? Don’t interrupt me. Get us some more juice.”

  “No problem.”

  I quickly ran back upstairs to check on Flynn and Casper, who were still nervously hiding underneath the bed.

  “Dude, what took you so long?”

  “She had me hand out drinks to every one of her little friends. On top of that, they all just stared at me like I was some type of contagious disease.”

  “Whatever, dude. We got her diary.”

  “Yeah, payback is on its way.”

  We opened the diary, and the first few pages were full with drawings. They weren’t like Picasso or anything; they were just simple stuff like rainbows, butterflies, flowers, and trees. Oh, and there was this portrait of her and her parents.

  “This is it?” Flynn said. “Man, there’s gotta be another notebook in here somewhere!”

  As we further searched through Tammy’s diary, I came across a note that was folded and stuck behind the portrait. I opened it, and it read:

  Why did my mom have to leave? Why did she leave me and Daddy alone in this house? All alone and afraid of what might be next. Too soon for me to understand. That’s what Daddy said. He also said you were very important, angel, that God needed you very much for very important things. But why couldn’t I come with you? I’m not very happy anymore. Not since you left and went to heaven.

  Flynn, Casper, and I looked at one another and placed the diary back where we found it.

  “Let’s go,” Flynn said to Casper.

  Casper agreed and climbed back down with Flynn. I stayed to finish what I started.

  Note 18

  Casper and I never spoke much about it. Neither did Flynn. We all still had our mothers and didn’t know what it felt like not to have one. Still, it must have been hard. Mom does everything for me. So I felt bad for Tammy.

  When Tammy walked into school, the hallways cleared. If you walked into school that day, it was pretty hard to ignore the gossip because it was written all over the walls! Hurtful things about Tammy were marked on the lockers and in the bathrooms. Pieces of Tammy’s diary were taken out and stuffed into lockers. The word was out about her situation at home—her real situation. Sure, Tammy is a liar, manipulator, and an attention seeker for all of the wrong reasons, but she didn’t deserve this. No one is perfect anyway. Just because she’s famous doesn’t mean she’s unblemished. I didn’t know who was behind all of this, but I was dying to know just so I could tell them they’re really wrong there, just as wrong as Tammy when she was running around school lying and being a brat! Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter who did it, because everyone thought we did it anyway. Flynn, Casper, and I all went down for the crime even though we didn’t do it. We were immediately taken to the principal’s office. Once Flynn began to cry, I saw Casper get a little twitchy, so I had to do something. It was the only thing I could think of at the time.

  “I did it, Ms. Spalding,” I blurted out.

  “I took Tammy’s diary at her party, while I was getting dressed to be the mascot. Flynn and Casper weren’t even there. They weren’t invited. I took the diary and I stuffed the pages into all of the lockers on my own.”

  “Mr. Turner, are you sure you know what you are saying?”

  “Yes, Ms. Spalding. It’s the truth.”

  “Flynn, Casper, you may leave now.”

  After Ms. Spalding skewered me for hours, she decided to give me a not-so-harsh punishment after all. I thought I was getti
ng expelled, but Ms. Spalding said she had a better idea in mind. First I had to write an apology note to Tammy.

  Dear Tammy,

  I really, really didn’t expose your diary. I wouldn’t do that. You probably won’t believe me now or ever, but all I really wanted to say is that I am sorry. I’m sorry for knowing your name and not your story. I shouldn’t have judged you. I hope you can understand that I wasn’t ready for change, and I think you’re really smart. I hope that you can forgive me.

  Joey Turner

  For the rest of the year, the school was able to cut back on its expenses by hiring me as the janitor. Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s better than having detention with Ms. Spalding and her mole every day. Plus I found a lot of free bubblegum during lunch!