Girls in Pants - Ann Brashares [38]
“Well, this pool is closed.” Tibby felt sour as she said it.
“Just come on, okay?” Bee said.
Tibby followed them over the bridge of the piddling creek that used to seem to her like a roaring waterway connecting parts unknown. It was probably just for sewage. She followed them up the endless steep stairs that used to seem to her like the stairway to heaven. They approached the locked gates, then fanned out to the sides.
Tibby was starting to get an even worse feeling about this.
“This is the place!” Bee called out, pointing up at the one part of the fence not spangled by razor wire. Bee was already climbing by the time they’d gathered at the foot of it. “Up and over,” she called gaily, making it look as simple as mounting a bike.
“I’m not coming,” Tibby said.
“Why not?” Carmen and Lena both turned to look at her.
This was the kind of stunt she would normally have gone along with. But the thought of climbing the fence made Tibby feel almost physically sick. She couldn’t explain all the reasons, but she knew she wasn’t doing it.
“I just don’t feel like it,” she said.
Bee paused on the other side of the fence. They were all obviously disappointed that they couldn’t get Tibby excited about their plan. Bee reversed her climb. Now Tibby felt bad.
“But you guys go ahead,” she said, trying to lighten her voice. “Seriously, go. I don’t mind. Besides, you need someone to stand guard here…you know, like, just in case.” It sounded pitiful to Tibby’s own ears.
“I wish you’d come. It won’t be as fun without you,” Lena said.
“Next time,” Tibby answered, feeling like a big loser.
So there she sat, slumped against the side of the fence—the outside, the wrong side—pretending she was standing guard, while she listened to her friends strip down to their underwear and splash into the water. They were more subdued than they would have been if Tibby had gone along. But still, they were willing to play.
“Carma, I will pay you back, I swear.”
Carmen rolled her eyes. “Shut up. Why are you saying that? We don’t pay each other back. We’re not keeping score.”
Tibby actually paused from her insane flurry of activity to look appreciatively at Carmen. “So I won’t pay you back.”
“Thank God.” Carmen took a tube of cherry-flavored Blistex from the mess of stuff on Tibby’s dresser and put some on. “Eleventh floor, right?”
“Yeah, check in at reception. Ask for Dr. Barnes. There’s a little kids’ lounge in case you have to wait.”
“No problemo. It’s my home away from home.” Carmen held up Tibby’s soft charcoal T-shirt and considered stealing it.
“Katherine’s going to be very happy about this.”
Carmen returned the shirt to the mess. “And it’s good practice for me, right?” Her voice had turned sober.
Tibby sensed her mood and touched her wrist. “I think you already got it down, Carma.”
Carmen led the way to the foot of the stairs, where Katherine was waiting eagerly, her yellow backpack strapped over both shoulders, her hockey helmet tipped at a slightly rakish angle.
“Ya ready, baby?”
Katherine stood up on her kitchen chair, and with no regard for her cast put her arms up in a point like a diver. She jumped to Carmen.
Tibby helped her load Katherine into the baby seat they’d fastened into Carmen’s car, and hopped into the copilot seat. First Carmen dropped Tibby off at work, and then she drove to the hospital. As they parked, Carmen enjoyed the good spirits of Katherine, chirping away from the backseat, never complaining once about her driving, in contrast to, say, Valia.
As they whooshed through the automatic doors into the giant lobby, Carmen lifted Katherine into her arms. Sweetly, Katherine clung to her like a koala, her hockey helmet wobbling just under Carmen’s chin.
“Can I push the button?” she asked in the elevator.
“Yes, eleven. One one,” Carmen steered Katherine’s index finger in the right direction.
Her excitement over this made Carmen feel as though she’d just awarded Katherine a lifetime of good fortune. “Nicky always gets to