Zoe versus the Sparkles

Leaving earlier the next day combined with the careful avoidance of three different sparkles on the way got Zoey to school nearly twenty minutes early. Mrs. Anand gave her a big smile when she walked in and took her seat.

Friday at school wasn’t Zoey’s favourite. Not only did images of the weekend to come keep intruding on her thoughts, but the subjects for the day were not among her favorites. Chemistry and economics in the morning almost put her to sleep even though she’d rested well last night. Introduction to physics in the afternoon sent her head spinning with vectors and forces, then world history got her thinking about far-away lands and wanting to visit them. Her parents had talked about a trip a few times, but Zoey had pretended to be reluctant to hide the sudden fear of sparkles getting her while she was on an airplane and zapping her into mid-air. Or when they were on a beach somewhere and sending her miles into the ocean!

The only real excitement for the day happened at lunch when a new boy had come over to the table of Familiar Strangers, sat down and said hello. It was, Zoey thought, the first word spoken at the table since she’d joined the group. One of the other boys stared at him for a long time before turning back to his phone. A younger girl squeaked and ran away. Zoey gave him a smile, which he returned.

Thankfully, she was going over to Sara’s house after school. Sara went to St. Boniface catholic school and had to start class a whole half hour before Zoey did, but got out twenty-five minutes earlier. Zoey had once thought about figuring out how much extra school time that five minutes a day worked out to, but figuring in holidays and breaks and PD days had soon become too much of a nuisance and she’d given up. An afternoon with Sara let her forget about the sparkles and that she missed soccer and volleyball and wasn’t just another normal kid.

She was running from the building before the bell stopped ringing. The sparkles were few on the way to Sara’s and Mrs. Collins let her in only a few seconds after she’d rung the bell.

“Hi, Mrs. C,” Zoey said, kicking off her boots and charging up the stairs to Sara’s room. She didn’t notice if there was a reply.

Sara, when Zoey entered, was all but screaming into the hand-held microphone attached to her miniature karaoke machine.

“Zoey!” she yelled as the little screen flashed red. “Hurry up. You know this one better than me.”

Zoey grabbed the microphone, studied the display for a moment to find her place, then launched into the lyrics to one of her favorite songs.

Karaoke turned into gossip and Zoey learned that Kevin, who was the grossest boy in school and never washed his hair, had pledged his eternal love to Emily, who was a complete flirt with every boy she met, except Kevin, who was gross. Pledging eternal love when you were only twelve seemed like a bad idea to Zoey, but she kept quiet and chuckled in all the right places. Emily, likely someone Zoey never wanted to meet, had laughed at Kevin but got her due when she tripped over her own feet and bit her lip when she hit the wall. Jacob, the know-it-all who wore a tie to school every day and nobody liked, got shoved into a locker by two bigger boys and spent most of lunch inside. Jesse, the meanest boy in her class, teased Anna, who just started wearing glasses today, until she burst into tears and ran to the girl’s washroom. Sara had chased after and spent the whole recess calming her down.

Zoey didn’t have nearly as much to share with her friend about the goings on at her school as she had to keep to herself almost all the time. She talked about the boy who said hello and Sarah immediately bombarded her with questions. Was he tall? Was he cute? Where did he come from? How old is he? Where does he live? When the answers were all ‘I don’t know’, Sara heaved a tremendous sigh and shook her head sadly.

“You’re such a good person,” she said to Zoey. “You should have lots of friends. Did I tell you about David?” And she was off again with stories about the boy who picked his nose and the girl who came to school with her long hair cut off and the twins who kept trying to trick their history teacher and the teacher who broke a heel on one shoe and spent the rest of the day barefoot.

Gossip led, naturally, to nail polish.

“I have a surprise for you,” Sara said as she dug through a desk drawer.

“What is it?” Zoey asked, sitting up and trying to peer over Sara’s shoulder.

“Look.” Sara spun around and held out a bottle of nail polish. “Glitter!”

Zoey felt her stomach cramp when Sarah thrust the bottle full of sparkles towards her. She scrambled away from it so quickly that she fell off the bed. On the floor, she pushed back with hands and feet until she thumped up against the wall and stared at the bottle with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Sara asked, staring at Zoey, then inspecting the nail polish carefully. “It’s just glitter. It’ll make your nails sparkle.”

“No sparkles,” Zoey replied, her voice hushed. “Never sparkles.”

Just the thought of putting sparkles on her body had Zoey ready to scream and flee not only the bedroom, but the entire house. What if they were real sparkles? Would she just keep teleporting and zapping and jumping? What would happen if she touched so many all at the same time?

“Put them away,” Zoey said to Sara. “Please.”

Sara shrugged dramatically and returned the bottle to the drawer.

“What colour do you want then?”

“Anything,” Zoey answered as she pushed to her feet. “Anything but sparkles.”

“Yellow?”

“Yes.” Zoey climbed back onto the bed and crossed her legs. “Yellow is perfect.”

“That was weird,” Sara said as she opened the bottle and drew the brush out. “What’s wrong with glitter? It’s pretty.”

“It’s…just not for me,” Zoey mumbled. How could she explain the sparkles? Everyone she’d ever told thought she was making up stories. It really did sound make believe, even to Zoey, who lived through it every day. If she told Sara, her one and only friend would think she was crazy or lying. Either option could see her not wanting to be friends anymore, and Zoey couldn’t bear the thought of being alone all the time. The two or three chances she got to spend time with Sara each week were the best moments of her life. Losing them was unthinkable.

Sara continued to gossip as she painted Zoey’s nails. Tales of the new blonde teacher spending far too much time visiting the shop teacher and two of the younger students getting suspended for fighting in the yard.

The last swipe went on and Zoey raised her hands to study her freshly painted nails. Yes, she thought, yellow is much better than sparkles.

“Zoey?” Mrs. Caruthers asked from the doorway. “I thought I heard you leave already. It’s after six.”

“After six?” Zoey’s gaze flashed to the alarm clock behind her and found it was already 6:16.

“Oh no!” she cried, jumping from the bed. “I’m going to be late for dinner.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sara’s mother said as Zoey grabbed up her jacket and book bag, smearing the strap with yellow streaks. “I got busy and didn’t notice.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. C,” Zoey said as she pushed her arms into her jacket’s sleeves. “It’s my job to remember. Thanks for checking.”

“Bye Sara,” Zoey said as she started towards the door. “Have fun this weekend.”

She raced down the stairs, stamped her feet into her boots, and stormed out the door.

Why her mother couldn’t give her a break on dinner time on Fridays was something she couldn’t figure out. It was Friday, and she didn’t have to go to school tomorrow or anything. What could be wrong with having leftovers when she got home? No, her mother said whenever she asked. Dinner time is family time. You have the weekend to run around and spend time with your friends, but during the week we have dinner as a family.

Even tonight, when Sara and her family were going away tomorrow morning and spending the weekend at her grandmother’s, she wouldn’t make an exception. She was looking forward to this weekend a lot less than she had any other since she and Sara became friends. It wouldn’t be so bad if she had someone else to spend time with, but she’d be alone or with her parents.

Zoey turned right onto Highland Road, holding her book bag against her with one hand and rushing, but knowing she was going to make it with at least a whole minute to spare. Her mother allowed no dirty hands at the table, so she’d need that minute to wash up. She glanced down at her fingers and found her nails smeared beyond repair. She’d have to -

Blink.

She came to a sudden halt and looked around. Highland Road was gone.

Oh no! Not now! Not now! I just got told how disappointed mom and dad are in me for being late to school yesterday, now I’m going to be late for dinner today. They’ll ground me or … ugh, where am I?

She looked around carefully and found that the sparkles had teleported her a very short distance. She was on the other side of her house now, but much closer than she’d been when she touched it! Only two blocks away! For the first time in her life she wanted to thank the sparkles for doing her a favor.

Chapter the Fourth