Chapter
1
Josie Letay’s house stood in front of Olive and Forest like a big blue present waiting to be unwrapped. It especially looked like a present today, because today it was dressed up with shiny streamers and gold balloons for Josie’s eighth birthday party.
Olive was dressed up, too: New overalls. New light-up sneakers. New Olive. She had embarrassed herself at every one of Josie’s parties so far, but this year, she was finally going to get it right.
Except they were already twenty-three minutes late.
Forest sprang out of the car, landing on all fours like a wild cat ready to party-pounce. Olive eagerly stepped out after him, and her dad honked the horn as they rushed to the door.
“HONK, HONK, HONK!” Forest yelled over his shoulder.
“HONK, HONK, Forest! Have fun! And Olive, remember your goal,” her dad called.
“We’ll have fun, Dad,” she said. Olive knew that sometimes just saying things made them true. That’s what a goal was: a wish that you said out loud.
I will have fun and make new friends, she thought.
I will not embarrass myself like last time or the time before, she thought.
I will be the bigger person and try to get along with Josie, she thought.
That last one was going to be hard, especially after the Wizard of Oz play. Josie had been the most popular girl in school since kindergarten, while Olive had been a loner—until Forest had literally dropped out of a redwood tree and into her life a few weeks ago. But Olive knew she could do anything with Forest by her side. Since he had come to live with her family, her shyness had disappeared.
Well, it had at least shrunk. Her stomach bopped like the balloons tied to Josie’s porch, all mixed up with excitement and nervousness.
Forest leaped onto the porch and rapped his knuckles against the wood, just like a woodpecker. Olive smoothed her hair down with one hand.
“Forest help Olive with hair.” He ripped the sparkly purple bow off the present Olive was carrying and stuck it right on top of her head. She admired her reflection in the door’s glass—Forest was developing a unique fashion sense.
“Thanks, Forest,” she said.
Josie’s mom opened the door. She looked a little frazzled already; the huge blond bun on top of her head was drooping to one side.
Olive gulped. Seeing Mrs. Letay reminded her that at Josie’s party last year, Olive slipped and fell into a bucket of water balloons. She broke every single one with her butt and had to spend the rest of the party in wet pants. Did Josie’s mom remember the water balloon thing?
“Sorry we’re late, Mrs. Letay,” Olive said in a small voice. Her heart started to sputter.
“Josie’s mom need help finding birds?” Forest said, pointing at Mrs. Letay’s hair. “Nest on head empty.”
Olive blushed. “Forest!”
“It’s all right, Olive.” Mrs. Letay sighed, adjusting her hair with both hands. “So you’re Forest. Follow me, you two—the party’s already in full swing.”
Mrs. Letay led them down a long garden path. Just a little hiccup, Olive thought. Maybe this will be fine. No, more than fine—good. Great. It will be—
“Candy!” Forest cried, and dove for the ground.
Before Olive could stop him, he scooped up a handful of decorative glass pebbles from the landscaping and popped them into his mouth. Then he spit them out, and one flew across the yard and pinged against a bird feeder.
“Ow. Bad candy,” he said, rubbing his cheek.
Mrs. Letay stopped and stared at the spit-covered stones scattered across her yard.
Olive piped up. “He’s still confused about what’s candy and what’s not candy, Mrs. Letay. He won’t try to eat anything else in your yard. Right, Forest?”
“Right, Olive.” Forest held his jaw. Olive hoped his teeth were okay, because when they went to the dentist last week, Forest had climbed out the window and run all the way home.
Mrs. Letay smiled, but it was the kind of smile Olive gave her dad when she said his scrambled eggs were yummy—really, the eggs were cold and slimy, but she didn’t want to make him feel bad. It was a polite smile.
They started walking again, but Olive’s insides twisted up with a serious case of the Worries. Questions flooded her head: Is Forest ready for a birthday party? Is getting a new start with Josie even possible?
A few steps later, Mrs. Letay opened the gate to the backyard, and what they saw made Olive’s Worries disappear.
Josie Letay’s Amazing Birthday Party Extravaganza was just like she remembered, except better. The huge backyard was huger than before, the pool was a sparklier blue, and a bigger mountain of candy and snacks was spread across the picnic table in the center of everything. The yard was dotted with blue and purple balloons—Olive knew these were Josie’s favorite colors—and streamers were woven in and out of the Letays’ tall fence. In one corner, a magician in a pink suit was making balls disappear under cups. Josie’s rabbit was outside in a pen. And from the looks of it, half the school was there.
Forest had a zillion questions—about the magician, magic, the bunny, the streamers, the sprinkler, the swimming pool, and the magician again. He was especially confused about magic.
“Olive, what kind of tent is that?” Forest asked. He happened to be pointing smack in the middle of the yard, where a towering bounce house stood.
“It’s not a tent, Forest. It’s a bounce house!” Olive beamed. Perfect. That was the word for it. The party was perfect, and today Olive and Forest were going to be perfect, too. “It’s like when we jump on the bed, except the jumps are much higher, and Dad’s not around to yell at us.”
“Forest!” a bouncing girl yelled, her pigtails flapping up and down. “Look how high I can jump!”
Forest turned to Olive. His big brown eyes were even wider than usual and melting like chocolate ice cream. “Bounce house make you fly like bird? We go inside?”
“Yeah, but first we have to say hi to Josie. You know … start off on the right foot.”
Forest lifted his left foot up like a flamingo. “Stay like this whole party?”
“No, Forest. It’s an expression. It means we need to do things right.” Forest lowered his leg. “We also have to put her gift on the table.”
Forest suddenly looked worried. “Forest didn’t bring gift for Josie.”
“It’s okay, this gift is from both of—”
But before she could finish, Forest sped off, quick as a cheetah.
“Forest!” she called after him. Olive searched for him under the table and in the line of kids waiting for the bounce house, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She did find Josie talking and laughing with a group of their classmates right next to her mountain of presents.
Olive tugged at her braids. She really, really wished Forest was by her side—without Forest, all the courage she had built up suddenly popped like a birthday balloon.
But Olive took a deep breath and walked toward Birthday Present Mountain alone. Three steps closer, two steps closer, one step away …
“Hi Josie happy birthday!” she blurted out. Josie snapped her head toward Olive, her dark blond hair bouncing.
“Hi, Olive. Thanks for coming.” Josie smiled, but it was small and polite, just like her mom’s smile had been earlier.
“Thanks for inviting us.”
“Us? Did Forest come with you?” Josie asked. The polite smile turned into a real one.
“Yeah, but … I’m not sure where he is right now,” Olive said.
Josie’s face dropped. “Maybe later we can hang out when you find him?”
“Definitely,” Olive said, feeling a sudden burst of confidence. Josie jogged over to her mom, who was waving at her to greet someone. “Maybe later” was Okay. Not Good. Definitely not Great.
“Olive. Ooooooooolive,” a voice hissed from above.
She looked up and gasped—Forest was dangling upside down from the tippy-top of one of the bounce house’s towers.
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