*My dad talked to her for fifteen minutes," Caroline said. *She said she"d already heard from a few parents when he called."
*My mom must have called right before your dad, Caroline," Sophie said with a laugh.
Rosemary, who hadn"t said anything, shook her head when we glanced in her direction.
*Don"t look at me," she said. *My mom didn"t call anybody last night. Except Pizza Express. I think you"re all crazy. In a good way, of course."
There was a squeak from the group of girls behind Cheyenne. Cheyenne whipped around to stare at Elizabeth Pukowski, who"d raised her hand as if we were in cla.s.s.
*My mom called too," Elizabeth said shyly. *I"m sorry, Cheyenne. Don"t be mad. But my mom says I"m not allowed to go with boys until I"m fourteen. She was super angry when she heard I was going with Robert. She"s taken away all my computer privileges."
It was just then that Rosie Myers raised her hand as if she too was speaking to a teacher and said, *Um, Cheyenne? My dad says I"m not allowed to go with boys either. Not until I"m sixteen."
A few seconds later, Shamira raised her hand and said, *I can"t go with boys or get my ears pierced or a Mys.p.a.ce s.p.a.ce until I"m eighteen. My mom says we have rules in our house and not to forget it."
A couple more girls began raising their hands and telling Cheyenne what their parents had forbidden them from doing. Apparently, a lot of girls at Pine Heights Elementary had rules in their houses too.
It was right after that that an amazing thing happened, right in front of our very eyes. Cheyenne got so angry that everyone was saying they weren"t allowed to be as mature as she wanted them to be, that she turned around really fast to storm off to be by herself.
But I guess she turned around a little too fast.
Because suddenly one of her ankles went out from under her in her high-heeled zip-up boots, and she fell down in a big puddle left over from all the melting ice.
Cheyenne got soaking wet. So wet, in fact, that she had to call her mom to come pick her up.
I swear I didn"t laugh at her though, as she stood there dripping ice water all over the place.
Because that wouldn"t have been very mature.
And I swear I wasn"t happy that Cheyenne missed a bunch of school that day, because she twisted her ankle when she fell, and had to go get it X-rayed.
Because that wouldn"t have been very mature of me either.
Besides, It"s wrong to take delight in the pain of others. That"s a rule.
Of course, it would have been too much to hope that Cheyenne was so mad about everything that happened that she never came back to school and decided to move back to Canada. That would have been too good to be true.
Unfortunately, she was back in school by music cla.s.s.
But she came back wearing one of those bootees on her foot like Sophie had to wear for her broken toe. Because it turned out she had a sprained ankle.
She got a lot of attention because of it, and because of her crutches. But only from Marianne and Dominique, who volunteered to carry her books and things for her.
I stopped wanting a pair of high-heeled zip-up boots like hers though, because I had learned a really good lesson from what had happened to Cheyenne, and saw that my mom had been right all along.
On the way home to lunch that day, Caroline said to Sophie as they were holding Kevin"s hands and walking him, *Did you really tell your mom that the reason you were so unhappy was because you were in a fight with me?"
Sophie looked up at Caroline, who is one of the tallest girls in our cla.s.s, with tears in her eyes.
*Yes," she said. *I hated fighting with you."
*Sophie," Caroline said. *I"m really, really, really sorry I told Cheyenne about Prince Peter."
*I know," Sophie said. *He and I are broken up now. I guess. I mean, it"s not like we"ve talked about it. Not that we ever talked. Which was fine with me, because now I can go back to having a secret crush on him. It"s much better that way."
*Well," Caroline said looking as if she felt a little guilty about something, *Lenny and I were never actually going together. I sort of made the whole thing up about asking him to go with me. I don"t think he ever even knew we were going together."
Kevin started to say something about this, but I shushed him.
*Oh," Sophie said as Erica and I exchanged stunned looks.
*Do you forgive me?" Caroline wanted to know.
*I forgive you," Sophie said.
And they dropped Kevin"s hands to hug one another.
And just like that, the four of us were friends again and everything went back to normal.
Really. Almost everything.
I still have to sit in the last row with those boys.
But it"s all right, because I have my best friends to support me.
And All you need is friends.
That"s a rule.
Allie Finkle"s Rules.
It"s the thought that counts.
The best part about the holidays is showing all the cool stuff you got for Christmas to your friends.
As a big sister, it"s your job to take care of your brothers and not punch them in the arm and make them drop their new bikes in the snow and get them all wet.
It"s OK to lie if the lie makes someone else feel better.
Wearing the fact that you are talented on your T-shirt is always a smart rule.
Friendly people don"t tell other people that their games are babyish.
You aren"t supposed to hate people.
Boys can seriously be so stupid sometimes. Also deeply thoughtless.
Just because something is popular doesn"t mean it"s good.
Lying doesn"t solve anything. Usually.
Sometimes you have to use your reasonable voice to get what you want. Especially with boys.
If someone is having a party and doesn"t invite you, just have your own party and don"t invite them (and make your party better).
One way you can tell that people are talking about you is if they look over at you a lot while they are talking to other people.
It"s impolite not to high-five someone back when they are high-fiving you.
The worst thing that can happen is for your secret crush to know your secret, and for it not to be a secret any more.
Older siblings are better than younger ones because they have already been through everything that you are going through, and can Show You the Way.
Sometimes it"s better just to say things will be OK (even if you know this isn"t true).
You"re only a big baby if you let yourself think you"re a big baby.
Horses are way better than boys who want to go with you.
Speak softly to your neighbour, please.
You"re supposed to do what your parents say.
Parents are supposed to protect you from getting hurt.
Moms are like that.
Tacos make everything better. Well, almost everything.
Snow boots may not look as good as high-heeled zip-up boots, but they will never let you down.
It"s wrong to take delight in the pain of others.
All you need is friends.
Meg Cabot is the author of the phenomenally successful The Princess Diaries series. With vast numbers of copies sold around the world, the books have topped the US and UK bestseller lists for weeks and won several awards. Two movies based on the series have been ma.s.sively popular throughout the world.
Meg is also the author of the bestselling Airhead, Airhead: Being Nikki, All American Girl, All American Girl: Ready or Not, How to Be Popular, Jinx, Teen Idol, Avalon High, Tommy Sullivan Is a Freak, The Mediator series and the Allie Finkle series as well as many other books for teenagers and adults. She and her husband divide their time between New York and Florida.
Visit Meg Cabot"s website at
www.megcabot.co.uk.
Books by Meg Cabot.
The Allie Finkle series.
Moving Day The New Girl Best Friends and Drama Queens.
Stage Fright Coming soon Allie Finkle"s Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls.
Allie Finkle"s Rules for Girls: Blast from the Past For teens The Princess Diaries series The Mediator series.
All American Girl All American Girl: Ready or Not.
Airhead Airhead: Being Nikki Avalon High Teen Idol.
How to Be Popular Jinx Tommy Sullivan Is a Freak Nicola and the Viscount.
Victoria and the Rogue.
Also available in audio For Best Friends Everywhere.
Special thanks to Beth Ader, Jennifer Brown, Barb Cabot, Laura Langlie, Abigail McAden and especially Benjamin Egnatz
end.