Read Online Wedding Drama by Karen English - Free Book Online Page B

I guess,” Deja says. Once Ms. Shelby let everyone out of the class, Deja noticed Nikki lagging behind with Keisha and ChiChi. Deja thinks it’s really rude for Nikki to keep Auntie Dee waiting. However, Auntie Dee must not think so, because she pulls a book out of her purse and starts to read. Auntie always carries a book with her just for times like this.
    At last, Nikki strolls up and gets into the back seat. She greets Auntie Dee, then says to Deja, “I was with ChiChi and Keisha. They’re coming over later.”
    â€œWell, Rosario and Ayanna and this girl from Mr. Beaumont’s class are coming over to my house to play Ping-Pong.” Deja quickly turns to Auntie Dee. “Is it okay?”
    Auntie Dee puts her book away. “I suppose so.” She looks back at Deja and then at Nikki. “What’s going on?”
    â€œNothing,” they both answer together. Any other time, they would have slapped palms for saying the same thing at the same time. Now they just stare straight ahead.
    Â 
    Nikki
and
Deja’s guests arrive at almost the same time.
    Deja takes Ayanna, Rosario, and Suzanne, the girl from Mr. Beaumont’s class, outside to the Ping-Pong table. A rousing game begins, full of extra-loud laughter. Deja leads with the loudest laughter of all.
    She wonders from time to time what Nikki is doing with
her
guests. She saw them from the kitchen window when they were dropped off together. She had gone inside to get drink boxes for everyone. Then Auntie brought out a tray of her healthy version of snacks: celery and bell pepper strips with peanut butter.
    For a while, all is quiet on Nikki’s side of the fence. Deja looks up at Nikki’s bedroom window at one point and sees that it is open. That encourages her to be even louder and to lead the other girls into being as loud as possible, too.
    When she gets Ayanna out, she shouts, “You’re out, Ayanna!” She practically leans her head back and aims this up at Nikki’s window.
    Rosario is the next to challenge her. Back and forth it goes until Deja sees her opening to slam the little white ball. Rosario misses. Deja leads loud cheers. Then Suzanne takes her place at the Ping-Pong table. She’s good at the game. Back and forth the ball goes—on and on, while Ayanna and Rosario cheer first for Deja, then for Suzanne. On and on.... At one point, ChiChi comes to Nikki’s window and looks down. She’s soon joined by Keisha. Deja loves showing off. She sneaks a glance up at her audience. While she’s busy doing that, Suzanne slams the ball hard, sending it quickly past Deja’s attempt to return it.
    â€œOut!” Rosario shouts.
    It takes Deja a moment to realize she’s really out. Then she hears laughter. It’s coming from Nikki’s window! Nikki is at the window with her guests. All three are pointing and laughing.
Extra loud,
Deja thinks. That’s it, she decides. She’s never,
ever
going to be friends with Nikki again.
Never!
    Â 
    A cool front moves in for the rest of the week. In the car going to and from school, Deja has nothing to say to Nikki, and Nikki seems to have nothing to say to Deja. And that’s just fine. When Deja sees Nikki dash off at recess to join her new best friends, Keisha and ChiChi, she just joins
her
new best friends, Ayanna and Rosario. Deja likes it better this way, she tells herself. She’ll just be friends with Ayanna and Rosario forever. And not miss Nikki even a little bit.

10
Wedding Day
Nikki & Deja

    Â 
    Nikki wakes very early on the
Big Day.
She looks at her dress hanging on the closet door.
So pretty,
she thinks. Her hair is in sponge rollers. She’d gotten it done after school the day before. After the beauty shop lady had finished, she’d looked in the mirror and thought that she could have been a movie star. Her hair looked so pretty. Last night she had to sleep in sponge rollers with a scarf tied over them so