Maggie Bean Stays Afloat by Tricia Rayburn

Author:Tricia Rayburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2008-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

14.

“I’m nervous.”

“Me too.”

“But you never get nervous,” Maggie said, growing even more nervous at the thought of Aimee being nervous. “You’re my rock, my pillar of unwavering confidence, my tower of strength in uncomfortable circumstances, my—”

“Mags.” Aimee looked at her. “This is a party for counselors—your coworkers, but my counselors. Not exactly my area of social expertise.”

“Should we just forget it and go get low-fat frozen yogurt instead?”

Aimee shook her head. “Maybe.”

They stood on the sidewalk in front of Polly’s house, right where Maggie’s mother had dropped them off fifteen minutes earlier, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Aimee usually led the way—into classrooms, school functions, club meetings, and basically anything else that involved more than two people and wasn’t the library—with Maggie following closely behind, but tonight she’d climbed out of the car and stopped short. Which meant that unless they wanted to stand there for the next three hours, inviting an inevitable barrage of curious looks as other guests came and went, Maggie was going to have to take charge.

“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath and facing the yellow two-story Colonial that was easily three real estate leagues out of that of her family’s. “First, we go in and see if we know anyone or if anyone admits to knowing us. After that, we find the kitchen and become very busy with soda and pretzels. Then, depending on how things go up to that point, we find the entertainment, during which we can hopefully just blend in with the upholstery and people-watch until it’s time to go.”

“Solid plan.”

Before she could change her mind, Maggie hooked one arm through Aimee’s and headed for the front door. “Do you think we ring the bell?” she whispered once they were on the porch.

Fortunately, a group of loud, laughing guys—soccer instructors, Maggie guessed, though it was hard to be sure without the color-coded camp T-shirts—burst through the door and ran down the porch steps before they could debate the issue.

“Well...” Aimee stared through the open door.

Maggie’s heart raced and she silently reminded herself there was no reason to be nervous. It wasn’t like they were crashing—Polly had officially invited her. Still, this being not only her first party with high school kids but also her first real party ever, she couldn’t help but worry about what she would say and do once they crossed through the doorway. What did high school kids say and do at these things, besides make fun of one another while playing American Idol karaoke?

“Jason’s destroying Celine Dion.”

Not much, apparently.

Maggie spun around. Ben stood on the top porch step, holding jumbo-size bags of chips, popcorn, and pretzels.

“We tried to talk him out of it, but he had an entire playlist of greatest hits prepared.”

“Celine’s had a lot of hits,” Maggie said, taking two bags of Doritos from his load as he joined them at the door.

“Which is why the snack replenishment. We may be here for days.” Grinning, he turned to Aimee. “I’m Ben.

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