All the other girls on the soccer team were having a party at the coach"s house. But that was two counties over, and Kristen"s mother didn"t want her so far away on a night when the roads were so full of drunk drivers. As an ER nurse she"d seen, firsthand, what happens to people who get in car accidents on New Year"s Eve and said it made roadkill look like rose petals. So it was either babysitting with Ali or hanging out in the condo with Marty, a male nurse from Pediatrics. Kristen chose babysitting.
"Fine, six bucks. Whatever." Ali finger-stirred her c.o.ke.
A buzzing cell phone vibrated across the gla.s.s coffee table. In one swift motion, Ali slammed down her soda, lifted her dirty blond hair, and clipped it to the back of her head. She was desperate to protect the blowout she"d gotten from Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow, on the off chance she could make it to her best friend"s party before midnight.
"Speak, geek," Ali answered. "What am I missing? Who"s there?" She jumped to her feet. "He is?... You swear?... He asked asked you that?..." She leaned against the back of the couch and kicked her legs in the air. "What did you tell him?... You did?... you that?..." She leaned against the back of the couch and kicked her legs in the air. "What did you tell him?... You did?... Yes! Yes!"
"Ouuu-wahhhhhhhhh," cried Max.
"Shhhhhh," Kristen urged smugly.
But Ali kept shouting.
Max got louder.
"Of course I brought a change of clothes.... Yeah, the shiny black pair... I know, I know.... They"re perfect." She beamed. "Keep him there as long as possible. I"ll try to get out of here before midnight." Ali paused, eyed Kristen, and then hurried toward the kitchen. "She needs the money, what was I supposed to do? Don"t worry, I"ll send her home first," she whispered. "Okay, cool, I"ll check in later. "Bye." She giggle-snapped her phone shut.
"Ugh, Kristen, what did you do?" Ali hissed, stomping toward the nursery.
Kristen turned on the TV wondering if she should have chosen the pediatric nurse.
Down in New York City, d.i.c.k Clark was rockin" Times Square. MTV VJs were counting down the best videos of the year surrounded by midriffs and muscles. CNN was showing celebrations in So Paulo, Brazil. And Merri-Lee Marvil had commandeered an entire airplane hangar, vacuumed up every red carpet in the country, and dumped the contents on her stage. Four lucky girls in matching Burberry dresses were jumping and cheering while Ricky Martin took the mic. Were they some hot new girl band she"d be hearing about in the New Year? Junior models on a.s.signment for a fashion house? Or maybe they were there solely to remind Kristen how boring and uneventful her existence was, is, and would continue to be, for another three hundred and sixty-five days.
It seemed like everyone in the world was out partying except her and baby Max. Even Ali had plans for later-plans that excluded Kristen.
The Burberry girls threw their arms around each other and shout-sang "She Bangs!"
Kristen clicked on the video monitor. Max was still screaming and Ali was shushing him fervently while applying lip gloss.
Kristen shut off the TV and tossed the remote on the couch. Reflected in the dark screen was a sobering image of herself wearing red sweats and flip-flops, surrounded by textbooks, binders, pencil shavings, and someone else"s vibrating phone.
Stepping closer, she looked her reflection in the eye, lifted her right palm, and made her first resolution of the night. "I, Kristen Gregory, promise to do whatever it takes to get a life in the New Year."
Then she kicked her binder off the coffee table and took a long unauthorized swig of Ali"s marshmallow c.o.ke. It wasn"t exactly life in the fast lane, but at least her pedicured foot was on the gas.
KISSIMMEE, FLTHE LYONS RESIDENCECLAIRE"S BEDROOMFriday, December 31st8:35 P.M. P.M.
Briiinnnggggggggggggg.
The egg timer rang again.
"Crafts down!" Claire Lyons announced. Her sharply cut New Year"s Eve bangs brushed across the tops of her eyebrows while she reset the dial for thirty minutes.
Sarah lowered her glue stick. Sari released her tube of pink glitter. And Mandy placed her paper hat on her lap.
"Is it time already? "Cause Ifeellikewejustdidthis." Sari stretched out her skinny legs on the white s.h.a.g rug and began French braiding her long blond hair. Her uncle Bruce had completed his first semester at the Vidal Sa.s.soon Inst.i.tute and taught her everything he knew about twists over Christmas. There wasn"t a doll left in Claire"s room whose locks hadn"t been woven like challah bread.
"You"re right. We did just do this." Claire pa.s.sed around the silver bowl of gummy worms. "A half hour ago."
"And the half hour before that and the half hour before that." Mandy picked through the gelatinous tangle until she found three yellows. Her electric blue eyes lit up with joy.
"Sugar is the only way we"ll make it to midnight." Claire rolled a new can of grape soda to each girl. "Now drink!" She popped open her Fanta, tilted her head back, and chugged. This was her year. She was finally going to stay awake long enough to see the ball drop. And she was determined to share the moment with her favorite people in the world. Even if it made their teeth rot.
Sarah tilted her head back and yawned. When she straightened up, short b.u.t.ter-yellow curls boinged around her narrow face.
"Only two and a half more hours," Claire urged. She hiked up her plaid flannel Gap pj"s and padded over to the h.e.l.lo Kitty sticker-covered boom box by the bed. "What"s that, Britney?" she shouted over "Oops, I Did It Again." "I can"t hear you!" She cranked the volume up to nine. "Much better!"
Claire bopped back to the craft circle and happily reclaimed her place on the s.h.a.g. The girls were making party crowns and masks out of construction paper and metallic markers. They were twisting pipe cleaners into garish jewelry. And salting their hair in their glitter colors-blue for Mandy, pink for Sari, orange for Sarah, and green for Claire. If all went according to plan, and everyone managed to stay awake, they would adorn themselves in their festive creations and pose for a self-timed photo at exactly midnight.
"Ehmagosh, who am I?" Sarah jumped to her feet and hiked up her hearts "n" bunnies nightgown. She balanced a paper crown on her nest of short blond curls and wobbled across the rug on her tiptoes, smile-waving. Then she tripped and landed on her knees with a thud.
The girls burst out laughing.
"N-n-no." Mandy stood. "It was more like this." She lifted onto her toes, took a few uneven steps, then crashed down on her b.u.t.t. Strands of damp dark hair covered her pale face.
The CD skipped on the word ooops ooops, as if in on the joke.
Sari and Claire joined in, offering their best impressions of the fallen Miss Kiss and the tragic ankle twist that had landed her in the orchestra pit and cost her Kissimmee"s most prestigious pageant t.i.tle. The girls had been imitating her for years. And it never, for one second, stopped being hilarious.
"Watch this one," Sarah shouted, cycloning around the room, her arms spinning at her sides. After eleven dizzying rotations, she stopped and then swayed. Her neck moved like a spring, tipping from side to side under the weight of her woozy head. She teetered stiffly like a zombie on the high seas and then slammed straight into-thud-smash!
The h.e.l.lo Kitty stickercovered boom box landed on the floor. White plastic splintering across rug was the last sound it ever made.
"What was that that?" shouted the red-faced teenage babysitter, who, thanks to her prescription zit medication, always looked embarra.s.sed or sunburned. "Is everyone okay?"
"We"re fine, Kelsey." Claire sighed at the plastic shards.
"Should I call an ambulance just in case?"
"We"re fine fine."
Kelsey surveyed the damage. "n.o.body goes near those broken bits, understood?" She tossed a pillow over the crime scene, then jumped back as if it were shooting flames. "I"ll be right back with a broom and a-Wait! Where"s Todd?"
The girls shrugged.
"Todd?" Kelsey called.
No one answered.
"Todd!" She bolted into the peach carpetcovered hallway and stormed the boy"s bedroom next door like a one-woman SWAT team.
"Todd?" she panic-shouted. "Todd?" "Todd?" Seconds later, she was back in Claire"s room. "Okay, your brother is gone. Totally gone. Was he standing near the boom box when it fell? Did he get hit on the head and wander off in a state of delirium? Oh no. Was the window open?" Seconds later, she was back in Claire"s room. "Okay, your brother is gone. Totally gone. Was he standing near the boom box when it fell? Did he get hit on the head and wander off in a state of delirium? Oh no. Was the window open?"
Claire and her friends suppressed their giggles. The only thing funnier than Miss Kiss falling into the orchestra pit was watching Kelsey the babysitter panic.
"Oh my heavens, it was was!" Kelsey stomp-raced over to the window and peered out at the gra.s.sy front yard. "Where is he? You can tell me. We don"t have to tell your parents if I can confirm his vitals and make sure he"s okay."
"I have no clue where he is." Claire rolled her blue eyes, letting her friends know that she was no more okay with Kelsey"s intrusion than they were. "Maybe you should check the kitchen or the-"
Fffffffpuuurpppp. Fffffffpuuurpppp.
Claire stomped her bare foot. She knew that fake fart sound anywhere. "Todd, come out!" She yelled at her daisy-print comforter.
A shock of orange hair appeared from under the bed. It was attached to a small freckly boy wearing Batman pajamas and a mischievous grin.
"Ehmagosh, was he under there the whole time?" Sari screeched, her thin upper lip practically disappearing from the horror of it all.
Claire responded by shoving Todd out the door. How would she ever convince her friends to spend New Year"s Eve at her house again if they were flanked with a snooping brother and a hyper-protective babysitter?
"It"s way past your bedtime, Toddy." Kelsey reached for his hand. "Now, back to night-night for you." She closed the door behind her, purposely leaving it open a crack.
"Now what?" Sari yawned.
Claire checked the timer-nine more minutes until their next sugar hit. "How "bout a dance contest?" She flicked on her clock radio.
A commercial for Simmons Toyota urged people to drive on down before midnight to take advantage of their crazy year-end deals.
"Let"s Google dirty words." Mandy wiggled her thick black eyebrows.
"We did that last Sat.u.r.day," Sarah whined.
"Well, maybe there are more," Mandy tried. "It"s been a week."
Sarah shot her hand in the air. "I know! Let"s pretend we"re ghosts and scare Kelsey."
Claire giggled at the thought.
Sari and Mandy yanked the white sheet off the twin bed. They gathered underneath in a giddy cl.u.s.ter, b.u.mping into each other and giggling with glee.
"Shhhhhh, listen." Mandy suddenly poked her head out.
"Fffffffpuuurpppp." Sari did her best impression of Todd"s fake fart. Sari did her best impression of Todd"s fake fart.
Sarah and Claire cracked up.
"No, seriously." Mandy threw the sheet off their heads. "Turn up the radio."
Claire hurried over to the white Sony Dream Machine and rolled the dial. Sc.u.m 101.1"s late-night DJ was playing the Miss Kiss theme song.
"That"s right, it"s Dr. Party," he announced in the raspy, sleep-deprived voice that had earned him his moniker. "And joining me tonight is the lovely Miss Kiss. Miss Kiss, your reign ends at midnight. How do you feel about that?" He made a crude sniffing sound. "By the way, has anyone ever told you you smell like grapefruit?"
She giggled. "It"s Happy, by Clinique. One of the wonderful sponsors I had the opportunity to work with over the past year."
"Well, it"s making me me happy, I"ll tell you that." Dr. Party chuckled like a perv. happy, I"ll tell you that." Dr. Party chuckled like a perv.
The girls rolled their eyes.
Miss Kiss giggled again. "Sorry, what did you ask me?" Her high-pitched voice sounded slightly m.u.f.fled, like she was curling up shyly and speaking into her shoulder.
"Are you going to miss Miss Kiss?"
"Oh yeah," she said, suddenly sounding serious and rehea.r.s.ed. "I"m going to miss it so much. I"ve gotten to work with so many wonderful people, charities, and mammals. And I learned bunches about all the different car shows in the state of Florida. Did you know there are over nineteen different exhibitions on the Gulf Coast alone? And that doesn"t include antique shows or monster trucks."
"We have to take another break, but for those of you dying to get a whiff of this lovely lady beside me, be the first caller to properly name the last five Kissimmee pageant winners. If you can, you and Miss Kiss will ride in our station limo to see tonight"s midnight performance of Orlando"s very own boy band, ThRob, at Disney"s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Their song "Twice the Fun" will be broadcast live via satellite on Merri-Lee Marvil"s New Year"s Yves New Year"s Yves. And so will you you, when twins Theo and Rob plant a big smooch on your lips, making you their first kiss of the New Year. And you know what they say? You never forget your first, right?" He snorted, making Trojan, his sidekick, cackle-cough. "Phone lines are open. The number to dial is 1-800-YRU-Sc.u.m. That"s 1-800-YRU-Sc.u.m. Back in a flash with Dr. Party and Trojan on Florida"s destination station, Sc.u.m 101.1."
"Ahhhhhhhh!" The girls scrambled for their Nokias.
Claire, who had been forbidden to get a cell phone until her sixteenth birthday, ran into her parents" bedroom and grabbed the tan cordless off the cradle. She dialed and immediately got through. Her insides soared. Finally, a New Year"s Eve worth remembering. "I"m in," she shouted-ran back to her room, forgetting all about Kelsey and her sleeping brother.
"Me too." Mandy sucked on a piece of black hair.
"Same." Sarah bounced on her toes.
"Number three!" Sari announced.
Mandy and Sarah immediately ended their calls.
"Why"dya do that that?" Claire gasped.
"I had number fifty-nine." Mandy sighed.
"Sixty-one." Sarah moped.
An automated voice informed Claire that she was eighty-seventh in line.
"How did you get so close?" Claire asked Sari, hanging up.
"I have them on speed-dial," confessed the bony blond. "For All-Request Wednesdays."
"Dr. Party and Trojan, back with the lovely Miss Kiss during her last moments as our reigning hottie."
She tee-heed at the compliment.
"Time to turn to the phones and find some lips for Theo and Rob, the twin brothers in ThRob, to kiss at midnight. Caller one, can I have your name please?"
"Theo and Rob can kiss my pimple-infested a-"
Dr. Party disconnected the line with an embarra.s.sed chuckle. "Next caller. Can you name the last five winners of the Miss Kiss pageant?"
"Oh my lord, Dr. Party, is that really you? I swear I"m a huge fan. I saw you perform at the Comedy Castle last month and you were hair-sterical!"
"Thank you, uh..."
"Jillian!"