We Are Party People Read online

  Sophie is waiting with a towel. “I watched from the window,” she says. “You were magical.”

  “It was fun,” I say as I dry off and then wiggle out of the mermaid tail. It feels so nice to have the use of my legs again—I want to run and jump and do ten cartwheels in a row. I’ve got so much pent-up energy. But instead I change into my regular clothes and then go to the bathroom sink and take off the wig and scrub the makeup off my face.

  Once I’m back to my regular old self, I walk outside. The guests are eating cake and my parents are cleaning up the crafts table.

  I head over to help them out when someone stops me. “Hey, Luella.”

  I spin around and find myself face-to-face with Jenna.

  But instead of being mortified, I’m feeling proud. And I’m glad she saw me, because I know I was awesome. I smile at her and say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Pixie Jones.” I even hold out my hand and Jenna shakes it, jokey and exaggerated, like we’re in some business meeting.

  “That was awesome,” she says. “I’ve never seen my little cousin so happy. Actually, I’ve hardly ever seen Molly smile. That was really cool of you.”

  I shrug, unsure of what to say. What I’m thinking is—it was cool. Not because Jenna thinks it is, but it’s cool because I think it’s cool. It’s cool because I did it.

  “It was nothing,” I say, and then give her a little wave and go on over to help my parents pack up.

  34

  School on Monday feels different and I can’t figure out why. Not at first, I mean. But soon it dawns on me. Beachwood Middle School is exactly the same as it ever was—I’m the one who’s different. Or at least, I want to be. And I know I can be. I mean, I am already different. I know this in my brain and somehow I can even feel it in my bones.

  Not that there was anything wrong with me before, exactly. It’s simply now I feel like a new and improved version of myself: stronger and brighter. One of those sparkly party people. I’ve proven I can do it and I can’t stop smiling.

  Sophie finds me at my locker and says, “Hey, mermaid.”

  “Shhh,” I whisper, raising my finger to my lips. “Let’s let that be our little secret, okay?”

  “Too late,” Lola says. She’s just snuck up behind me and when I turn around she gives me a big hug. “Sophie called me and told me all about the drama. How she chickened out at the last minute and you totally saved the day. I hear your performance was incredible. And you looked so gorgeous! I so wish I could’ve been there to see you in person.”

  “It was incredible,” says Sophie. “I was hiding in the pool house and Pixie took over. She grabbed that mermaid tail and wiggled into it and made a huge splash. Like, literally and figuratively.”

  The three of us giggle and high-five.

  “It was pretty awesome,” I reply as I get my books out. “Molly seemed to appreciate it.”

  “Who’s Molly?” Lola asks.

  “The birthday girl,” Sophie tells her. “But Pixie’s being too modest. Everyone loved the mermaid. The entire party stopped to watch. No one could take their eyes off her.”

  I shrug. “What can I say? I’m a natural!”

  “Hey, what are you wearing?” asks Lola.

  I look down at my T-shirt. It’s the one Sophie made for me two weeks ago, the one that reads, VOTE FOR SOPHIE.

  “It’s a little late for that,” says Sophie.

  “Or simply early for next year,” I say.

  When the first bell rings, we say goodbye.

  And a minute later I’m walking down the hall toward my homeroom when I see Blake in the distance. And for the first time in ages, I don’t panic.

  I keep my head raised up high. I catch his eye and I don’t look away.

  His hair is long and floppy, like he’s overdue for a haircut. His T-shirt is clean and blue and the color looks good on him. And that’s when I realize he’s staring at me now, too.

  “Hey, Blake,” I say with a smile and a wave.

  He grins warmly. “Hi, Pixie.”

  And this is the weirdest thing. He stops in front of me, like he actually wants to have a conversation.

  Is it going to happen? Maybe yes. Maybe no. I’m not running or ducking or hiding. I’m not avoiding. I’m not afraid. I’m not blushing, I don’t think. I’m definitely not worried about blushing, anyway.

  This is no biggie.

  I can do this.

  Because suddenly something dawns on me and it makes me stand up straighter.

  There was a time, not so long ago, when you couldn’t throw a great party in town without my mother. But that time is over.

  Now there’s a new chicken in town.

  The phrase simply pops into my brain and it makes me giggle out loud. I can’t help myself and I don’t try to hide it.

  “Hey, what’s so funny?” asks Blake, shifting his books from one arm to the other.

  I look him straight in the eye before I answer. “It’s kind of a long, crazy story.”

  Acknowledgments

  I am so grateful to the following people: Lucille Jones, Lucy Margolis, Leo Margolis, Jim Margolis, Coe Booth, Morgan Matson, Rachel Cohn, Dolores Martinez, Janine O’Malley, Melissa Warten, Kristie Radwilowicz, Jennifer Sale, Karen Ninnis, and Laura Langlie. You are all amazing!

  ALSO BY LESLIE MARGOLIS

  If I Were You

  THE ANNABELLE UNLEASHED SERIES:

  Boys Are Dogs

  Girls Acting Catty

  Everybody Bugs Out

  One Tough Chick

  Monkey Business

  THE MAGGIE BROOKLYN MYSTERIES:

  Girl’s Best Friend

  Vanishing Acts

  Secrets at the Chocolate Mansion

  About the Author

  LESLIE MARGOLIS is the author of more than fifty books for young readers, including two Annabelle Stevens books: Boys Are Dogs and Girls Acting Catty. She lives with her family in Park Slope, Brooklyn—which is also the setting of her new series, the Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Leslie Margolis

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

  An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Margolis

  All rights reserved

  First hardcover edition, 2017

  eBook edition, October 2017

  mackids.com

  The Librar
y of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Margolis, Leslie, author.

  Title: We are party people / Leslie Margolis.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017 | Summary: Even though twelve-year-old Pixie prefers to blend into the background, she might have to step closer to the center of attention when her friend runs for class president and when her mom leaves town indefinitely, leaving her parents’ party planning business in need of a British-accented punk mermaid. |

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016050816 (print) | LCCN 2017025283 (ebook) | ISBN 9780374303914 (ebook) | ISBN 9780374303884 (hardcover)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Parties—Fiction. | Self-confidence—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Family-owned business enterprises—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.M33568 (ebook) | LCC PZ7.M33568 We 2017 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050816

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  eISBN 9780374303914