The phone rang. “Excuse me,” Mom said as she stood up to answer it.
“Did that help at all?” I asked Claudia.
“Sort of,” she said. “It gave me something to think about, anyway.”
We headed back to the stairs. “Your mom’s still feeling down, huh,” Claudia observed once we were in my room.
“I guess so. I’d say it was Dad and Samantha, but it seemed as if there was something on her mind even before I went to New York. Remember?”
“Yeah. Last Friday your mom did have something on her mind,” she recalled as she sat cross-legged on my bedroom floor. “Do you think she’s lonely?”
“Could be.” I stretched out on my bed.
“Would she be happier if she were dating?”
I remembered once when I had played match-maker. I was sitting for two kids who lived with their divorced father. John, their dad, had seemed perfect for Mom. I introduced them and almost immediately John asked Mom out. Now that I thought about it, Mom had seemed happier while they were dating.
At least at first.
Then, slowly, Mom began to see traits in John she didn’t like. Nothing awful. She thought he was impatient with his kids, and she said he was self-centered. So she broke it off.
“Even if she would be happier dating, what can I do about it?” I asked. “The last time I found someone for her to date it didn’t exactly work out.”
“I remember,” Claudia said. “Besides, where would we find someone for her?”
I stood up and dug my science textbook out of my pack. Claudia took out hers.
“I’ve got it!” she cried suddenly. “I know where we can find a man for your mother. A video dating service!”
“Huh?”
“Definitely,” she continued, excited. “We’ll ask for a bunch of tapes of possible dates, and we’ll pick out the good ones. After all, this guy could be a potential stepfather for you, so we have to be careful.”
“Mom would never go for that,” I objected.
“She won’t know. We’ll do all the work. That way she doesn’t have to be anxious about it. This is perfect!”
“You know, it might work. How would we get tapes from a video dating service, though?”
Claudia’s enthusiastic expression faded. “I have no idea,” she said. “But there must be a way.”
A week later, Claudia called me after school just as I was heading out for a sitting job. “I think I almost have them,” she said.
“Have what?”
“The date tapes.”
“Oh, my gosh! How did you do it?”
Before she could answer there was a click on the line. “That’s my call waiting,” she said hurriedly. “It might be them. I’ll call you later.” With another click, she was gone.
I couldn’t believe she’d actually gotten the tapes. What kind of men would be on them? Would they all be geeks or would there actually be someone right for Mom?
I didn’t have time to stand around thinking about it. I was supposed to be at the Pikes’ to baby-sit with Mallory in five minutes.
As I walked around the block, I realized that I’d barely seen Mallory since her party. I’d been so busy with school, baby-sitting, and studying for finals. Also, I’d become used to her being gone. It no longer occurred to me to include her in things. It would be nice to spend the afternoon together.
Mallory opened the door. “Hi. Everything’s calm for the moment. Come on in.”
It was unusually quiet for the Pike household. “Where is everybody?” I asked.
Mallory nodded toward the upstairs. “Get this,” she said. “Byron now helps them all with their homework as soon as they come home.”
“No way.”
“Yes way. It seems he jumped right into my spot the moment I was gone.”
“But you never made everyone do homework as soon as they got in.”
“I know. Not only is he determined to be the big brother, he wants to be the biggest big brother of all time.”
“And the others go for it?”
“In a major way. They love having a big, oldest brother. They’re crazy about it.”
“What about Jordan and Adam?” I asked.
“They couldn’t care less. They’re so busy with sports and their friends.”
I laughed. “Funny. Byron has always been Nicky’s and the girls’ older brother, but now that they think of him as the oldest he has a whole new status.”
“I don’t think it’s funny,” Mallory grumbled as we headed into the kitchen. “I’m the oldest in this family.”
“Does it matter?” I asked. As an only child, I had no idea.
“Yes, it matters! All my life I’ve been … I don’t know … in charge here. Now it’s like I’m nobody!”
“Oh, come on. You could never be nobody. They were all so excited when you came back. They almost crushed you with hugs.”
“I know. But that was then. The thrill has definitely worn off.”
I realized something. Like me, the Pike kids had grown used to Mallory’s being gone. They now had their own way of doing things, which didn’t include her.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll get used to your being home again, and everything will change back to the way it was.”
“I hope so. I can’t wait until summer.”
“What do you mean? Your vacation has already started.”
“I’m waiting for the rest of you guys to be free. Right now, no one’s around most of the day.”
“You love to read,” I said. “It must be nice to have free time for that.”
“A person can only read for so long. I’ve read eight books just since I’ve been home. By the end of this week I’ll have completed my entire summer reading requirement.”
“There’s TV,” I suggested feebly.
“Obviously you haven’t watched much daytime TV lately. I really couldn’t care less how to redecorate my home. I have only a tiny interest in celebrity interviews. I can’t stand those shows where people fight about who did what to whom. That leaves game shows and daytime soaps.”
“What about those?” I asked.
She buried her head in her hands. “I have become so pathetic! I actually know what couples are divorcing and who has a split personality and an evil twin.” She lifted her head. “On every single channel!”
I patted her shoulder. “It’ll get better,” I assured her. “You’ve only been home a week.”
“A week,” she wailed. “I knew half the kids at Riverbend in a week. How could it possibly be easier to adjust to a new boarding school than it is to readjust to your own home?”
“I don’t know. But I bet you’re right. Once school is out around here it’ll change.”
As we spoke, Vanessa came into the kitchen. “Oh, hi,” she said when she saw us. Her tone had a tinge of frostiness.
At the same time, Margo ran in and pulled up a chair at the table. “Hi,” she said. “So, Mallory, what did you do today while we were at school?”
“Nothing in particular,” Mallory replied. “How was school?”
“Cool. We had a spelling contest to see who would get to bring home Graybaby — he’s our chinchilla — over the summer. Everybody wanted to. Mom told me I couldn’t, but I forgot and raised my hand anyway.”
“Oh, no.” Mallory gasped. “You didn’t win, did you?”
“No. I was first runner-up, though,” Margo said proudly. “If for any reason Robert Amato can’t keep Graybaby, I get to bring him home.”
“You’d better hope Robert can keep him,” Mallory warned her.
“You should hope she gets Graybaby,” Vanessa said, her head in the refrigerator. “At least he would be someone for you to hang out with this summer.”
I wondered where that little dig had come from. Was Vanessa still angry at Mallory for going away? She had been mad at first, but I thought she was over it.
“I’ll have my friends to hang out with, thank you very much,” Mallory replied
coolly.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Vanessa replied in an annoying singsong voice as she poured herself a glass of milk. “When you leave town you can’t expect everyone to just wait around for you to come back.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mallory asked her angrily.
“Whatever you think it means.”
Mallory slapped the table. “She’s been acting like that for the last week!”
“She’s mad at you,” Margo offered. “She says you can’t just come back and expect everyone to drop dead over you. Those were her exact words.”
Mallory’s jaw dropped.
Margo jumped up from the table. “Got to go,” she said, bounding out of the room after Vanessa.
“See!” Mallory said to me. Her face was red, as if she wanted to cry but wouldn’t let herself. “It’s like I’m a stranger in my own house.”
“Margo was friendly,” I pointed out.
“She didn’t stay, though, did she? She wants to be with the others all the time. Look what she just did. She dropped her little bomb about Vanessa being angry and then ran out. That’s not exactly friendly.”
I felt bad for Mal. Guilty too. I hadn’t been much of a friend this last week. From now on I would try to do better.
Claudia was waiting at my locker when I arrived at school on Wednesday morning. Her face glowed with excitement. “I have a tape,” she said.
A slow grin spread across my face. I hadn’t really thought she could do it. “You’re a genius! How did you manage to get it?”
“I found the name of a dating service in the phone book. Then I called and said that I was a college student doing a project on computer dating for my social sciences class.”
“College?”
She nodded, smiling, obviously very proud of herself. “The receptionist couldn’t see me over the phone, so she didn’t know I’m only thirteen. I thought a college paper sounded more serious. I told her I needed to see a tape in order to write the report. It came in the mail yesterday afternoon but I didn’t see it lying on the table until this morning.”
“Awesome,” I said, opening my locker. “We can watch it at my house this afternoon. Mom won’t be home.”
“That’s good,” Claudia replied. “Janine will be home at my house. And you know how she can be.” I did. Claudia’s older sister was the type to tell her parents, who might not approve.
On our way to homeroom, we decided to make the afternoon a party of sorts. We’d invite our friends. “I’ll call Mallory at lunchtime,” I said, remembering the promise I’d made myself.
That afternoon, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Kristy walked home with me. We’d invited Jessi, but she was rushing off to dance class after school and Abby had soccer practice. Mallory had agreed to meet us at my house.
We’d been there only minutes, putting snacks together, when she knocked on the kitchen door. “Okay, where are these fabulous guys for your mom?” she said as I let her in. “Let’s have a look at them.”
“We should set up a rating system,” Kristy suggested.
“How about a star rating, like hotels and restaurants,” I said.
“Or thumbs-up, thumbs-down,” Mary Anne offered.
We carried our snacks into the living room and placed them on the coffee table. Then Claudia slipped the tape into the VCR.
In minutes we were settled in, watching. First, a pretty woman with a smooth speaking voice came on and explained how the dating service worked. You were supposed to look at the tape and decide whether you’d like to meet a particular man from the video. If you did, the dating service sent him your tape and he would agree or decline to meet you. It worked the other way around too. If a man saw your tape and wanted to meet you, you could then view his tape and make a decision.
The first man to appear had a pleasant face. He looked about Mom’s age. He said he was a dentist. He liked pets, swimming, and traveling.
I paused the tape. “He seems nice.”
“Are you kidding? He’s bald!” Kristy cried.
“No, he’s not.” His hair was thinning, but I wouldn’t call him bald.
“He will be in about a week,” Kristy insisted.
“That doesn’t matter,” said Mary Anne. “Bald men can be very nice. Watson is a little bald.”
“I know,” replied Kristy. “That’s what I mean. When Mom married Watson he had thin hair. It wasn’t too bad. But he got more bald by the day. He’s practically one big bald spot now.”
“Does your mother mind?” Claudia asked.
“She says she doesn’t. She tells Watson it’s cute. But Watson minds. I see him checking it out in the mirror. It’s awful. I could never go out with a bald guy.”
“That’s because you’re thirteen!” cried Mary Anne. “There aren’t too many balding thirteen-year-olds around, unless they shave their heads.”
“Ew. I wouldn’t go out with one of those shaved-head guys either,” Kristy said.
“Sports stars sometimes shave their heads,” I reminded her.
“Maybe then,” Kristy grudgingly agreed. “But I don’t like it.”
“I don’t think grown women mind baldness that much,” Claudia commented. “I think they just accept it.”
“How could they?” Kristy looked revolted. “Besides, what’s with all this swimming? Your mother would always be at a pool or traveling to the beach. The guy loves traveling, after all.” Kristy gave him a thumbs-down.
“Wow, you’re tough,” Claudia commented. “I thought he was kind of nice. Besides, it might be good to date a dentist if you ever had tooth trouble.”
“Forget it,” Kristy scoffed. “You’d have a toothache and he’d be off traveling around, looking for a good beach.”
I held up the clicker and unpaused the tape. “Let’s try the next guy.”
The man who appeared on the screen was mildly good-looking, with lots of thick brown hair. “Hello, my name is Alex,” he said. “I’m an accountant. I’m a fan of skydiving, bungee jumping, and surfing. I like to dance, eat fine foods, and have a good time with that special woman.”
I paused the tape. “He’s lying,” I said.
“Why do you say that?” Mary Anne asked.
“Listen to his voice,” I replied. “He sounds super-dull but he claims he likes to do all this exciting stuff.”
“That doesn’t prove he’s lying,” Mary Anne objected.
“No, just that he’s an idiot,” Mallory put in.
“Why?” Mary Anne asked.
“Bungee jumping has to be the stupidest activity in the world,” Mallory replied.
“Actually, I can’t see my mom with a bungee jumper,” I agreed.
“She’d like to eat fine food and dance, though,” Mary Anne said. “He’s kind of cute too.”
“Yeah, and he could do her taxes for her,” Kristy added. She shot her thumb up.
“Okay, it’s a tie so far. Mary Anne and Kristy are thumbs-up. Mallory and I are thumbs-down.” I turned to Claudia. “You’re the tiebreaker.”
She pointed her thumb down. “That voice of his would drive me nuts. He sounds like the cat Garfield, on TV.”
I started the video again. The third man had a lined face, curly black-and-gray hair, and a nice smile. “I’m Roy,” he said with the trace of some kind of accent. “I’m a stamp collector. That’s not my job. It’s a hobby. I haven’t worked in awhile, which is not to say I’m a bum. I have a bad back and I collect disability from my union. Anyway, because of the back, sports are out, so don’t expect to be Rollerblading or anything. But if you like the movies, theater, concerts, I’m your guy.”
“He’s the one,” Mallory said. “If I were older, I’d go out with him.”
“Much older,” Claudia commented. “He could be Stacey’s grandfather, not her stepfather.”
“Yeah, and he’d never want to do anything because of his back,” Kristy added. “Your mother likes to jog and bike ride.”
“She could do that with her other fri
ends. He seems like such a nice man,” Mallory said. She looked at his face. “Wouldn’t he be a cute stepfather, Stacey?”
“I don’t know. He’d be nice to have as an uncle or a neighbor. I couldn’t see my mother dating him.”
“He sort of bottoms out on the attractiveness scale too,” Claudia said.
“Not as dreamy as Alan Gray, huh?” Kristy teased her.
Claudia threw a couch pillow at her.
“Roy’s not exactly a hot number,” I agreed.
“Your mother wouldn’t care about that,” Mallory said.
“I’m not saying she’s shallow, just human.” I gave Roy a thumbs-down.
Kristy, Mallory, and Mary Anne said thumbs-up. Claudia and I agreed on thumbs-down.
I clicked off the video. “Trust me. My mother would not want to date him.”
“Then which one would she like?” Kristy asked, sounding frustrated.
“None of them,” I said. “Sorry.” I turned to Claudia. “It was a great idea, really. And the way you got the tape was brilliant. I just don’t see anyone there who would be right for Mom. I hope you’re not mad.”
“No, I’m not mad. I didn’t see any good matches for her there either. But one thing still bothers me.”
“What?” I asked.
Claudia sighed. “What do we do now?”
By the time I came home from my BSC meeting that afternoon I felt defeated.
My friends and I had spent every spare minute discussing my mother — and no one had thought of a way to cheer her up.
As I headed toward the kitchen, I heard singing. Mom had left the radio on.
I stopped. No. Mom was singing!
She sounded awfully happy.
I continued into the kitchen. Her back was to me as she unpacked a bag of groceries. Her song was one I’d heard on one of her albums, called “Feelin’ Groovy.”
And, obviously, she was feelin’ groovy.
She whipped out a cereal box from the bag and tossed it from hand to hand before landing it on a shelf in the cupboard.
I coughed to let her know I was there.
She turned and smiled. “Hi,” she said, not even embarrassed that I’d seen her acting so goofy.
“Hi,” I replied. “Did something good happen?”