Mrs. Cierra was the first neighbor their mother met. Like most adults, who are blind to the difference a whole year in age makes, they decided that it would be a great idea if Pat and Maria played together. But neither mother could coax their daughters to approach the other little girl. Maria would not face the two Coppenhagen children by herself, and Pat was afraid of making Brian mad at her.

Pat had seen Maria in the neighborhood, and thought the things she did were interesting. Maria rode a bike with no training wheels and could turn around on her skates. On her outings with Brian, Pat spotted Maria shooting basketballs with older boys at the playground, jumping off swings at the park and climbing trees. Brian dismissed her, calling her a tomboy, a word he had heard at their old school which meant a girl who didn’t act like a real girl. He would pull Pat away when they saw Maria. One day at the park he pointed at a group of girls. They were grouped in a corner by the slides laughing and teasing Maria, who was alone on the other side of the playground, trying to walk on her hands.

"You see?" Brian had said, "If you hang around with her, that’s what’ll happen to you."

"But mommy said..."

"Mommy’s not always around Pat," Brian answered with disdain. That seemed to end the discussion. He ran off to shoot baskets with some boys and Pat, alone, continued to watch Maria and the girls.

She frowned. Despite what Brian said she thought the things Maria did had to be better than anything those girls could think of. Not that she really knew what those girls did, but the stuff she saw, like Barbie dolls and hula hoops, looked pretty stupid compared to trying to do a handstand.

One day, Pat was moping around the house, bored because she and Brian were mad at each other and she had no one to play with. Her mother didn’t respond to Pat’s sighs with any suggestions and Pat was about to give up and read when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find a beaming Yvonne Cierra, standing with her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.

Pat’s mother appeared from somewhere, sounding entirely too chipper. The Cierras were ushered in; the mothers chatting and exchanging looks, the daughters each silently appraising the other.

Suddenly Pat was face to face with this strange tomboy girl she had been watching. Those same girls from the park had just been laughing at Pat’s scabby knees and had been poking fun at her for playing with her brother. As she led Maria out to the backyard at her mother’s suggestion, Pat thought about how she hated those girls and was about to open with that, then ask if Maria wanted to try more handstands when Maria spoke.

"What grade are you in?" Maria demanded when Pat had shut the back door.

"It’s summer," Pat replied, "there aren’t any grades."

Maria screwed up her face. "Only babies say that."

"I’m not a baby," Pat stuttered. This was not starting out the way she’d hoped.

"How old are you then?"

"Eight," said Pat.

"I’m nine." Maria folded her arms with a look that was intimidating even though Pat was still standing on the back steps, towering above her.

"So what?"

"Sssso what?" Maria repeated with a laugh.

Pat sat down on the back steps, wishing she wasn’t mad at Brian. Her mother wouldn’t have may her play with this girl if she and Brian were talking to each other. "Tomboy," she muttered under her breath.

"What? You better say that louder."

Pat stood. This girl wasn’t going tell her what to do at her own house. "Those girls at the park don’t like you," she said.

"They don’t like you either."

Pat shrugged, unconcerned. "Who cares?" She turned away and started back in the house when she saw her mother watching her through the kitchen window. She decided going back into the house would be more trouble than putting up with Maria. So she turned back into the yard and tried standing on her hands. By resting her legs and feet against the side of the house she was able to get completely upright after a few tries, which Maria had not been able to do that day at the park.

Maria watched her awhile then said, "I can do that."

"So why don’t you? "Pat said. Her tone was more of a challenge than she felt. For all she knew the other girl could get up on her hands and walk around the yard.

"I can’t right now," Maria said.

"Whatever," Pat said. She tried to move away from the house. She was going to have to stand up pretty soon, the blood rushing to her head was making it feel like a water balloon. Finally, when Pat could feel her heart beating in her whole head, Maria asked if she had a bike.

Pat flipped over to her feet. "Yeah." Woozy, she led Maria to the garage.

Pat led Maria into the house and towards the garage. They smiled and waved at their mothers as they went to the garage door through the family room. Pat heard them murmuring, no doubt about how smart they were in making Pat and Maria play together.

Pat opened the door to the garage and went over to get her bike. Brian sat in a corner at their father’s worktable, hard at work at something Pat couldn’t see. He glanced at Pat and looked away. He ignored Maria.

"Is that your brother?" Maria asked in a loud whisper Brian probably heard.

"Unfortunately," Pat said.

"You still have training wheels?" Maria said when Pat wheeled her bicycle out.

Pat sighed. "So what?" She was getting tired of saying and hearing that. She hoped the Cierras would home soon. Brian wouldn’t stay mad too much longer. She’d forgotten why they were fighting anyway.

Maria surprised her. "Hey you wanna take ‘em off? I’ll show you if you want," she said in a tone that was nearly friendly.

Pat shrugged. "I guess. How?"

"You got a wrench?"

Pat snickered, feeling a little bit like the girls the park. "I don’t know."

Hands on hips, Maria shook her head. But in the laughing way Pat’s mother shook her head at their Aunt Stacy, who often got down on the floor to make play forts out of blankets and chairs with Pat and Brian.

"C’mon, let’s find the wrench." Maria took Pat’s arm and led her to the worktable. She paused, glancing over the tools hanging neatly against the wall. Brian glanced up as Maria pulled a box closer to the wall. She stood up on the box and plucked out a long, silver tool with a U-shaped gap across the top. She noticed Brian watching her and held it out with a little grin. He looked back down. Pat was close enough to see he had a tennis ball in his hands.

"Bet you thought I didn’t know what a wrench was."

"Bet you thought I could give a crap," answered Brian without looking up.

Undaunted, Maria peered down and looked at the tennis ball in Brian’s hands.

"What are you doing?"

"None of your business," Brian said.

"He’s been trying to peel off the cover of that tennis ball forever," Pat said.

"Ooookay," Maria said with a look at Pat, who actually giggled, "that’s not too weird."

Pat thought Brian would ignore them, but he said, "I’m weird? Why is your pocket moving?"

Pat looked up at Maria and noticed for the first time that one of the pockets of her jumper was in a bulge. She glanced at Brian, who returned it. Their fight was over.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" the new girl cried. She handed Pat the wrench, then reached into her jumper and pulled out a small frog.

"Ugh!" cried Pat. But Brian stood up on the rails of the stool to see.

"What’s his name?" he asked.

"Peeper."

"What kind of a dumb name is that?"

"It’s not dumb. Isn’t he cute?"

"Let me see him," Brian held out his hand and Maria placed Peeper in it.

"Okay, but don’t drop him," Maria said sternly to Brian. Pat expected a sharp answer from her brother, but he just stood there on the stool, touching Peeper’s head lightly with his index finger.

"Wanna hold him?" Brian held Peeper out to Pat. She wrinkled her nose and backed away. Brian and Maria laughed.

Maria took the wrench.

"Are you sure you know what you’re doing?" Pat asked.

"Sure, it’s easy," said Maria. She bent down and applied the wrench to the bolt of one of Pat’s wheels. "Are you sure you know what you’re doing?"

"What do you mean?" Pat asked.

"Riding as bike with no training wheels."

"Oh, I could do that a long time ago. I practiced on Brian’s bike. Dad just hasn’t taken the wheels off. Right Brian?"

But he was watching Maria take off the training wheel and screw the bolt back on. She walked around Pat’s bike to get at the other wheel.

"So where’d you find him?" Brian asked.

Maria looked up. "Oh, Peeper?"

Brian shook his head. "You gotta come up with a better name than that."

"I like the name Peeper. It’s cute. Like he is." Maria stood. She looked at Pat and patted the bicycle seat. "C’mon, bike riding expert. Let’s see it."

Pat knew she should say thank you, but the last challenge killed any gratitude she had for the strange girl. She got on the bike and wheeled around the garage. "See, I can ride."

"You’re welcome," Maria answered.

"Thanks," Pat mumbled, but Maria had already turned back towards Brian and Peeper.

"Peeper’s not cute. Frogs aren’t cute. Right Pat?" Brian said.

Pat paused in circling the garage. "No, they’re gross."

"They are not," Maria took Peeper from Brian and held him out to Pat. "Just pet him."

"No."

"Chicken."

"No."

"He can’t bite you Pat, don’t be such a baby," Brian said.

"I’m not a baby; I just don’t want to touch him," Pat said as loftily as she could. She got back up on her bike and pedaled out on the driveway.

Pat only rode down to the house next door and back, but when she returned to the garage, Brian and Maria were gone.

Brian didn’t return home until almost dinner. When Pat confronted him about playing with Maria, "the tomboy," he told her, "I said you shouldn’t play with her, it doesn’t matter if I do."

Something about that didn’t sound right, but before Pat could decide what it was Brian went into the bathroom and shut the door.

After that, Maria was over a lot and she never let Pat forget about the training wheels. At first, Brian would ask her to go along with them, but Pat, thinking that their mother was making him ask, proudly refused. Soon he stopped asking. It was like that until Diana and the Aarons moved in. Then suddenly there was someone to say, "C’mon Pat, we have our own things to do." Not that they particularly impressed Brian and Maria, but it was enough for Pat to not have to stand by while her brother ignored her.

Now it seemed like Diana had forgotten all about everything. And Pat couldn’t even say anything because she knew the first thing Maria and possibly Diana would say, "God Pat, that was fourth grade, grow up!"

And what about Brian? Maybe he hated her now, but she and Brian used to get along really well. He complained to Maria even way back? He must have, why would Maria lie now if she was mad at him?

The bell rang and Pat decided she was sick of thinking about it all. She slid off the bench and started off to class. It was a tricky path--she skipped going to her locker to avoid Diana, she had started taking different stairs to keep from passing Brian and she ducked in class the back way because she wasn’t in the mood for Richard, who often caught up to her before fourth period. Pretty soon she was going to have to scale the roof to get to class with all the people she was avoiding.

Pat came home to find Brian in the kitchen describing the Winter Pep Rally to their mother. She stalked past them, got an apple out of the refrigerator and took it into the living room. Pat pulled out a book, so to the innocent passerby it would not look like she was listening. Which she wasn’t of course. She was at the stupid pep rally, who needed the egomaniac’s recap?

Pat had thought out the lunch situation in her afternoon classes. She decided she probably did overreact to Maria’s presence. Her line about Diana’s having other friends was good--but it would’ve been so much better if she’d said it coolly, in her left in charge voice. The way she was practically yelling at them just made it look like Maria bothered her. Maria did bother her; but wasn’t better if you didn’t let people know they could get to you? She’d heard that somewhere. Plus, she and Diana did talk about getting to know Maria and Anne for useful purposes. So Diana and Maria’s friendship shouldn’t have been a surprise to her. Pat still didn’t like it however.

Pat didn’t put all of these thoughts in her semi-apologetic note to Diana. She did write that she was sorry for freaking out and that she could believe all of the changes in their lives. Without getting too much into the fourth grade memories she reminded Diana how the two of them had always stuck together and that she, Pat, didn’t want to lose that. Diana loved that wear your heart on your sleeve stuff. Pat could only imagine what her future boyfriend was going to have to go through.

It was good note, Pat decided as she left it for her cousin in their locker. Friendly, but not too lame. Pat didn’t feel the need to go overboard with the apologies; she was set up after all.

Pat zoned out during the first part of dinner conversation, which was about the pep rally. Her father had to call her name twice. Melissa finally hit her elbow to get her attention.

"Oh huh?" she asked, looking around.

"Welcome," George said.

"Hmm-mmm," answered Pat.

"What’s going on with you? Anything new?"

"Who me?" Pat said.

"Hel-lo! Earth to space cadet!" Troy called.

Pat glared in his direction. "Actually, Maria and this guy invited me and Diana to a party."

"What party?" asked Heather.

"What guy?" asked George.

Pat noticed Brian pause ever so slightly in his eating. Pat smiled to herself. Now to go in for the kill.

"Danny Willis," she said in answer to both questions, "he’s having a party."

Silence met this announcement. Her parents kept eating. Brian stared straight ahead, not looking at Pat or their parents. Pat continued, figuring her parents were still thinking about it.

"Diana and I would go with Maria and bunch of girls. Everybody has to be home before midnight."

George swallowed. "Before midnight?"

"Well...yeah. So we’d be home early," Pat answered.

Her parents chuckled at the same time without even looking at each other. Not a good sign.

"And you think midnight is early for a fourteen year old freshman in high school?"

"Dad, it’s over Christmas break, it’s not like we have school."

"That’s not the point, Pat, we don’t even know these people," George said.

"Maria? You’ve known Maria since she was nine years old," Pat said, gesturing towards Brian’s direction.

"We don’t know Danny or his parents."

"Mom, there’s plenty of time for that, the party’s not until the weekend of the 29th."

Heather looked over at George. "The 29th of this month?"

"Yeah," said Pat.

"We’ll be out of town that weekend, you and your brother have to watch the house."

"Why can’t Brian do it? I have plans!" Pat said.

"No you don’t."

"Dad! You didn’t even consider it!"

"I said no."

"But..."

"Patella," said George, "no. That’s it."

The phone rang. Yolanda jumped up to get it. Pat glared at her plate so she didn’t have to look at her parents or her brother.

Yolanda came back in the dining room. "It’s for Pat."

"Can I be excused? I’m done." Pat held up her plate for inspection.

"Yes, you may," Heather said. Pat took the phone in the basement and yelled for Yolanda to hang up.

Diana was on the phone. She had read the note and was acting normal. Pat told her what had happened at dinner.

"Sneak out," Diana said.

"I can’t, my parents are out and I have to stay and watch the kids and the house."

"So just say you’re coming over here."

"But if they ask your Mom, she’ll know what you’re doing," Pat said. Diana was smart, she didn’t blurt out the whole story, she just asked permission to go driving with Maria and the girls--without mentioning where they were going.

"If she asks, I’ll say it was last minute."

"I don’t know..."

"C’mon cuz, Danny asked you himself; you’re going to miss it?"

"You’re right," Pat said. The old Diana was back. By the time they had hung up, their whole story was planned out. Pat was so pleased, she went back to the table for dessert.