Chapter 2

For the past hour, Bridget had been waiting for the Hunt family to come and retrieve her from this French-fry smelling waiting room. Nearly everyone in there was tired, since the flight was from Oxford, England, to Concord, New Hampshire. And, it was about a five-hour time difference, which made it about 11:30 p.m. there in the sitting area. As a result, everyone was crabby and impatient from the sudden switch in time. Bridget looked at the clock above the baggage claim area. It was exactly 11:34 p.m. suddenly, she heard something.

The abnormally loud ringing of her cell phone made Bridget nearly jump out of her seat. Without taking a second look, Bridget saw that everyone else in the waiting room had heard it too. Bridget disregarded all of the faces that had angry disturbed expressions on them, picked up her vibrant orange bag, opened the zipper, and answered her phone.

“This is Bridget,” She said. About four people in the room looked in Bridget’s direction in a murderous way. Everyone else sat in their chairs, leaning on their bags, as if trying to go to sleep.

          “Oh, Bridget, we’re so sorry for the delay, there’s been an accident by the local drug store and they’ve asked us to take a detour. But, my husband can’t quite find his way to the airport.” Lizzy’s mom, or Mrs. Hunt, said as she snickered at her husband’s cluelessness.

          Just a Bridget was about to politely tell Mrs. Hunt she’s been fine at the airport, Mr. Hunt said in defense, “You can’t trust Map Quest! As soon as you think you’re almost to your location, they turn the tables on you and send you in seven different directions.” Mr. Hunt emitted an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry Bridget.”

          Clearly, Mr. Hunt had taken the phone, and Mrs. Hunt was in the process of taking it back.

          “Sorry about this, hon,” Mrs. Hunt said sincerely.

          “No, really, it’s quite alright with me. It’s not like it’s terribly late or anything. I’ll be fine. Take your time.” Bridget said in a considerate tone.

          “Thanks, sweetie, we’ve been trying.” Mrs. Hunt replied. “I think we’ll be there in about 15 minutes.”

          “I’ll see you in a bit then,” Bridget said.

          “Bye, honey, I’ll see you then.” Mrs. Hunt said sweetly.

         

          Bridget quietly shut her phone, trying not to disturb the resting people. She quickly slipped it back into her orange bag, and then silently reassured herself that she was most definitely not nervous for the Hunt’s arrival. For months she had been dreaming of this day. Though, she had to admit, she didn’t picture herself in a congested gray room filled with people that were tired and just wanted to go home. She had pictured herself seeing Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, meeting them graciously by the door, and carrying her several blue luggage bags to their car, and making light conversation as they drove home…but not at 30 minutes till midnight.

          Bridget decided to get out of the tiny room and stroll towards the baggage claim, which was closer to the door. At least I don’t have to worry about meeting someone my age. Bridget thought. Lizzy had told her through a letter that she had two younger brothers, Tyler, 9, and Jacob, 8, and a younger sister Sophie, 13. Bridget wasn’t nervous about meeting new people, usually. But for some reason, this time, she was.

          Bridget slowly rolled her bags around the big, oval, bag checking area, and finally decided on a final resting place. She would sit in the chairs closest to the door so she didn’t have to walk in awkward silence while struggling over to the Hunt family when they arrived. Much to her displeasure, there was already two chairs taken up by an elderly couple, and the one of the chairs on the other side had a boy about her age with black hair and thick frame glasses sitting in it. The seat next to him was empty, and Bridget was debating whether or not she should sit next to him. It would only be five minutes or so, and she wouldn’t even have to talk to him. So, with that, Bridget took her luggage bags and set them by the wall, and slid into the seat next to him.

          In that short fraction of a millisecond, Bridget saw his eyes peak up from the National Geographic magazine he was consumed in. Then they quickly darted back down. Bridget was a little disappointed. She was hoping to make a little conversation, to let all of her nerves out. But just as she was about to sigh, he snapped the magazine shut, and put it on the table beside him.

          “Sorry,” he said. “I just had to finish that paragraph.” Bridget was startled by his sudden interest in having conversation.

          “It’s alright,” Bridget said, “I’m just waiting for someone to pick me up.”

          His eyes widened. “You’re British?” The boy said, surprised.

          “Yes,” Bridget replied. “I’m an exchange student from England, and the family I’m staying with is coming to pick me up any moment now.”

          “Wow, that’s…awesome,” He said sincerely. “I’m just coming back from my from my aunt’s and uncle’s house in California, before school starts on the twenty-eighth.”

          “Hah, that’s coincidental, school starts for me that day, also,” Bridget said laughing a bit, trying to find something to talk about.

          “That’s cool, I’d love to be an exchange student; you’re really lucky.”

          Bridget smiled at him, trying to endure that slightly awkward silence.

          “Where did you go in California?” Bridget decided to ask, considering there was still no sign of the Hunts.

          “Costa Mesa. I like traveling a lot, but going there every summer…well, it’s repetitive but I enjoy it. I just wish we could change the tradition around a little.” He said laughable.

          “That’s interesting,” Bridget said. “My family goes to California every once in a while to go visit my cousin. He lives somewhere around Laguna Beach.” Bridget said.

          “Really?” He said in surprise. “That’s really close to Costa Mesa. Like, only about thirty minutes…wow.” He chuckled.

          “Yeah…” Bridget had this very strange desire to talk to him more. Was she just nervous? Or was he just really fun to talk to? She couldn’t decide. Luckily, she didn’t have to.

          Just in the nick of time, a gleaming navy blue SUV pulled up to the main pavement where the airport was, and its glowing ruby red lights signalized that it was stopping. The doors of the car opened, and a petite, blonde curly-haired woman stepped out. She pushed the cold, metal door and smiled brightly at Bridget. But before the curly-haired woman had a chance to say anything, Bridget decided to say goodbye to the boy sitting next to her.

          “Bye then,” Bridget said, semi-smiling at him. He looked up as she was rising from her seat.

          “See you around!” he said, grinning, as she was making her way out the door.

She highly doubted that.

But Bridget smiled at him once more, just to show that she was thankful for his slight conversation with her.

          “Oh, Bridget! I can’t tell you how sorry we are for the wait! I apologize!” The curly-haired woman, Mrs. Hunt, helped by taking three of Bridget’s bags off of her hands as she walked through the doors to the outside, to the blue SUV.

          “No, it’s fine. The time went by fast. It’s not a big deal.” Bridget fibbed. The time most definitely did not go by fast.

          “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Bridget. My husband and my two sons, Jacob and Tyler, are in the car. I figured I should just simply come out by myself, so I didn’t have the little ones trailing behind me.” She laughed, and as they were approaching the car, she said, “They always want a piece of candy from the vending machine, whenever we go to any place that has one. They just won’t give it up. They just keep on persisting, as if there were no tomorrow: ‘Mom, can we pleeeease have a candy bar?’ ” She laughed again, and she finally opened the trunk the SUV.

          “I know how that is,” Bridget said. “My brother and I always did that when were little.” Bridget tried to chip in a bit with this conversation.

          “It’s just a kid instinct, you know?” Mrs. Hunt said while loading the luggage in the mammoth-sized trunk.

          And with that, Bridget and Mrs. Hunt hopped into the car, and what Bridget had pictured before actually started happening, starting with the introductions and light conversation.

          As Mr. Hunt pulled out of his parking space, he turned his head and greeted Bridget. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Lizzy was ecstatic about going to England… I hope you are just as excited to stay here in the states.” He said as he shook Bridget’s hand.

          “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hunt.” Bridget said as she buckled her seat belt. In the darkness, she couldn’t see much. But as they got closer to the city lights, she saw who she thought was Tyler and Jacob.

          Mrs. Hunt suddenly spoke up. “Tyler, Jacob, I think you are old enough to introduce yourselves.” She said, urging them on.

          The littler one spoke up first. “I’m Jacob.” He said. That was it.

          “It’s great to meet you, Jacob. Lizzy told me that you like racing cars.” Bridget said, trying to make the eight-year-old comfortable.

“Yeah! I do!” he exclaimed. His expression then quickly went back to a subtle smile. “What’s your name again?”

          “Bridget.” She said, still looking at Jacob.

          “Okay, well then, hello.” Jacob said, now turning to his brother. “It’s your turn.” He whispered to his older sibling.

Tyler slightly rolled his eyes.

          “Hi, I’m Tyler. I’m nine.” He said, as if expecting Bridget to say something right away.

          “Hello, Tyler, I’m Bridget. What do you like to do?” She said, wondering if she sounded a bit too teacher-ish right there.

          “I like to play soccer. This year, I’m on the green team.” Tyler said, finally showing some interest in this whole “nice-to-meet-you” conversation.

          “My brother plays soccer, too. Maybe we could play a game sometime.”  Bridget replied. She was satisfied with what she had said to each of the family members. Then she noticed that Sophie, Lizzy’s younger sister, was missing.

          “Where is Sophie?” Bridget decided to ask.

          “Oh, I almost forgot.” Mrs. Hunt said. “Sophie went to a sleepover tonight, she had planned on going to it for weeks, and she explained to me that she ‘just couldn’t miss it’. I hope you don’t mind.” She finished.

          “Oh, not at all. I guess I’ll meet her tomorrow then.” Bridget said.

For the next half hour, Mr. And Mrs. Hunt took turns about asking Bridget about her interests, and telling her a little bit about the school. And when they finally pulled into the driveway of the house, the light conversation stopped. It was time to “introduce” the house.

“Home sweet home,” Mr. Hunt said as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. All five of them got out of the car.

As soon as the luggage was removed from the car, the lot of them moved towards the large, white colonial-style home. It had black shutters, and a red front door.

“Your home is beautiful,” Bridget complimented. “The red door really looks nice.”

“Oh, thank you, we painted it about a week ago, so we could spruce up the house up a little. You know, give it some color.” Mrs. Hunt said, as they marched through the front entryway.

 

Most of the carpet inside was oatmeal-colored, and the kitchen, living room, and stairs were all connected, there wasn’t a wall between them, contrasting to Bridget’s condo. The walls of the living room were a burgundy color, the kitchen was dark green, and the stairs leading up to the second floor were wooden.

Even though it was a very spacious house, and it looked very cozy. Small lights coming from the corners of the living room gave off a warm glow.

Mr. Hunt, Jacob, and Tyler all flopped down on the cushy couches in the living room like they were post-marathon runners.

“Woo-e, what a day,” Mr. Hunt said as he massaged his temples.

“I’m going to go show Bridget Lizzy’s room, hon, I’ll be back in a sec,” Mrs. Hunt said to her husband. She lifted up some of the luggage, and Bridget lifted the rest up the stairs. 

They walked down the wide hallway for about four steps, and Mrs. Hunt quickly made a right into a perfectly square room. She flicked the light on.

“This,” she said as she was catching her breath from the luggage-carrying, “Is Lizzy’s room. She still has some things in her closet, like some books and things, but that is about all.” Bridget nodded and looked around at the room. The walls were painted plum, and the closet was a cream color. The comforter on the bed was plum also, and there was a large cream-colored desk in the corner of the room, with a mirror in front of it.

“It’s very pretty. I’m glad most of the things I brought are neutral colors, so they will match the room.” Bridget said, trying to sound thankful.

“Great! Well, I suppose you’re very tired, so I’ll leave so you can have some rest.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Hunt,” Bridget said.

“Have a nice sleep, honey,” Mrs. Hunt said, as she was leaving the room. Suddenly she stopped. She turned around to Bridget again.

“Oh!” She exclaimed. “I almost forgot. Lizzy’s school friends, Julie and Veronica, are coming over tomorrow at about eleven to help you set up your room. I figured it would be a nice way to meet some classmates before school starts- especially when they’re such close friends of Lizzy’s. I know they’ll be excited to meet you.”

“Oh, that will be fun. Thank you. Goodnight, Mrs. Hunt.” Bridget said gratuitously. 

 Mrs. Hunt nodded, smiling. “Have a nice sleep, Bridget. Sweet dreams.”

         

~

 

Bridget woke up at about nine o’clock the next morning, still thinking she was in Oxford. But as she opened her eyes, she quickly realized that she was in Concord, New Hampshire, the farthest away she’d ever been from home. She looked around at the empty room and just remembered that Lizzy’s best friends were supposed to come over about two hours from now. And for some reason, it made her nervous. Were they preppy and judgmental? Or were they friendly and considerate? Or maybe they were overly smart and all they liked to talk about was school and the latest edition of chemical equations. Bridget had no idea what to expect.

Likewise, she hopped out of bed and saw that she had slept in her clothes. She felt disgusting.

Her hair was matted, her face felt oily, and she was very tired from the night before. She hoped she could take a shower.

As she semi-tiptoed down the stairway, she heard the sounds of a TV show getting louder and louder as she got downstairs. She also heard something rolling quickly on the floor, and dishes clinking together. And as she got to the bottom, Mrs. Hunt, who was carrying a laundry basket full of brightly colored clothes, unintentionally cut her off.

“Oh, I’m sorry Bridget. I didn’t realize you were there.” Mrs. Hunt said as she bent down to set the basket on the floor. “How was your sleep?”

“Great,” Bridget replied. “Thank you.”

“Oh, you must be hungry,” Mrs. Hunt said, as she was about to scurry off to the pantry. Then Bridget realized she was, in fact, starving, and added eating as one of her things to do on her mental checklist. “We have raisin bran, grape nuts, aaaaaaaaannnd…peaches, raspberry yogurt, oatmeal, and juice in the refrigerator.” She said. “Just take your pick. You can have anything you want.” And with that, and a quick smile, Mrs. Hunt went off to do something else.

Bridget decided on some raspberry yogurt, and cranberry juice. Until she felt better, she didn’t want to eat very heavily.

After that, she went into the burgundy-colored living room to see what was going on. Jacob was watching a cartoon, and Tyler was setting up a Lego sports field. She realized what was rolling loudly on the floor was a red Hot Wheel car, coming from Jacob’s direction.

“Good morning, Jacob, Tyler.” She smiled at them as she leapt back upstairs.

“Hi Bridget!” They both said as they turned back to their interests.

 

Some forty-five minutes later, Bridget was already dressed in a casual green tee shirt, and light blue skinny jeans. She didn’t want to dress up too much, just in case Julie and Veronica were casually dressed, too. Then she tried to style her long, wavy brown hair in a manner that would look appealing to the eye. She finally decided to keep it down, but straightened it instead.

In the final look in the mirror, Bridget decided she looked presentable. She thought her silver hair slide was a nice touch.

She was satisfied.

Bridget suddenly remembered about the time. How long had it been since she woke up? Were Veronica and Julie making their way here now? She quickly bent down to her still unpacked luggage, and found her phone in her orange bag. She flipped it open. It was 10:21. And with that, Bridget decided to whip her new room into shape, and unpack most of her clothes while waiting.

“Bridget?” She heard her name from the bottom of the stairs. It was Mrs. Hunt.

Bridget raced down the stairs. Maybe Veronica and Julie were there.

As shw reached the end of the stairs, she saw an unfamiliar face at the door. It was a girl, and she had blonde curly hair, just like Mrs. Hunt. In that short second, Bridget realized this was most likely Sophie. And for reasons unknown, she looked unhappy.

“Bridget, this is Sophie, she just came back from her sleepover.” Mrs. Hunt said.

Sophie looked like she was making an effort to smile pleasantly, but it just came out as a bitter smirk.

“Hi, I’m Sophie.” Sophie said bluntly.

“Nice to meet you. Did you have fun at your sleepover?” Bridget pretended to sound as interested and comfortable with Sophie’s topic as she could.

“Let’s just put it this way, I never want to go to a sleepover again!” Sophie turned her heal while almost shoving Bridget out of the way to get up the stairs.

Bridget stood there, dumbfounded, at the scene that had just happened. Living with someone three years younger than her would most definitely be interesting.

Mrs. Hunt laughed. “She must be going through another one of her ‘dramatic’ stages. She goes through those all of the time.” Mrs. Hunt started to tap her foot. “Just don’t pay any attention to it. She’ll be fine in a couple of hours.”

Bridget nodded and semi-ran up the stairs. She went into her room, and realized that there was nothing left to do. The bed looked crisp; her luggage was zipped up and placed neatly opposite of her bed.

Suddenly, she heard a thump on the other side of the hallway. Then another. Then another.

Bridget decided to cross the hallway and see what all of the noise was about. She turned left, and saw that a room was across from hers. She knew that it wasn’t Mr. or Mrs. Hunt’s room, because she saw Mrs. Hunt go in and out of the area at the end of the hallway multiple times. So, without having a second thought, Bridget knocked on the door where the mysterious thumping was coming from.

“Who is it?” Someone said in a highly perturbed tone. She recognized the voice as Sophie’s.

  “It’s Bridget. Can I come in?” Bridget said, hoping that she’d be able to solve the problem that Sophie had at the sleepover.

“Oh, yes, you can. I just was cleaning my room.” Sophie’s tone dissolved.

Suddenly the door opened, and the room was completely spotless, but there were scattered objects on the floor closest to the door: a key chain, a bright red bouncy ball, and a paperback book. Bridget assumed these were the objects that were making the noise.

“I heard some noise in here, and I was wondering if you were alright.” Bridget said as she stepped through the door.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sophie said as she tried to push the three objects under her bed, unnoticed. Then she sighed heavily. “No, I’m not.” She plopped down on her bed and looked down at the floor.

Bridget decided to sit next to her. “Did something happen at the sleepover?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Sophie said flatly. 

Bridget could tell a whole long story would be tumbling out any second.

“You see,” Sophie said, as she looked toward the floor, “I’ve been best friends with this girl in my grade, Melanie, since first grade. We’ve both always loved acting in plays, and we’ve always acted in them together…” Sophie paused.

“Ace,” Bridget commented.

“Thanks, but that’s not the problem. At the end of the school year, we had a play for sixth grade. We both got a part, but we never had any scenes together. But, she had a scene with this girl named Lauren, and they always practiced together, and didn’t include me. Pretty soon, they become best friends. Sleepovers, parties, get togethers- and all that. And I became Melanie’s person to turn to if she was ever mad at Lauren. But now, it’s even worse. She barely even talks to me.” Sophie glanced over at her floor lamp, trying to hide her sadness.

“So why did she invite you to her sleepover?” Bridget asked in a sensitive tone.

“Well, this girl that’s sort of my friend was invited to Melanie’s big sleepover party thing. Then, Melanie told my sort of friend- Hally- that she could invite someone. So Hally invited me. And when I arrived yesterday, Hally couldn’t even make it because of her brother’s bar mitzvah, and the only other people there were Melanie and Lauren. Of course, they ignored me the whole entire time. They went roller-skating, and there were only two pairs of skates. They didn’t even say we would take turns. Then they would sprint inside the house when I’m not looking and go watch a movie. It when on and on like that for the rest of the night. And the worst part was, I couldn’t even be picked up by anyone, because they were picking up you.” Sophie teared up, and started sniffling a little.

“I’m sorry,” Bridget put her hand on Sophie’s back.

“It’s not your fault. I should have run home…even though I’d have to go through the city.” Sophie wiped away her few tears while considering the idea.

“Well, you certainly don’t want to be around them again.” Bridget as she removed her hand from Sophie’s back.

“I don’t even know why I went! Even if Hally were there, she probably would’ve paid more attention to Lauren and Melanie, anyway. They’re practically the most popular girls in school. Hally will probably be best friends with both of them pretty soon…and leave me.” Sophie said as she kicked her own leg.

“You don’t need people like that. Just show that you’re better than them, and be yourself. I’m sure you have other friends.” Bridget said reassuringly.

“Just acquaintances.” Sophie said as she sighed.

“Get to know them better. Invite them over, see if they have fun, and see if they are your type of friend.” Bridget said.

“Yeah…maybe.” Sophie said, her eyes looking a little a bit brighter.

“Great. If you need to talk about anything else, you can talk to me anytime.” Bridget smiled at Sophie.

“Thanks.” Sophie said meekly.

“You’re welcome, Sophie.” Bridget then turned out of the room, just far enough to hear:

“Bridget? Julie and Veronica are here!” Bridget sighed heavily as she straightened her shirt, and refastened her silver clip.

Bridget glided down the stairs, trying to look impressive no matter if Julie or Veronica were in the house or not.

They were.

One of the girls, closest to the door, had long, bleach-blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was really skinny, and rather short, but pretty. The other was medium sized, and had ash blonde hair and green eyes. They both looked glad to see Bridget.

The bleach-blonde spoke first. “I’m Veronica…it’s so nice to finally meet you. Lizzy said she wanted us to meet you before school, and I thought it’d be a good idea to come and help you set up your room.” She flashed a big, toothy smile.

“Hi, nice to meet you too.” Bridget said.

          The other girl, who was obviously Julie, stepped forward and introduced herself. “I’m Julie,” she said as she lifted up a large shopping bag. “We brought some things to help you decorate, because we knew what Lizzy’s room looked like, so you wouldn’t be left, you know, with an empty room.” She giggled.

          “Thank you so much! That will really help.” Bridget said. “Do you want to go on up now?”

          “Sure.” Veronica said. She and Julie both followed Bridget up the stairs. Bridget thought, in that moment, that they didn’t sound phony at all. In fact, they were quite friendly and thoughtful.

          As they made their way to Bridget’s room, Julie spoke up.

          “I really like your silver clip, it is from England?” She said as she looked at it.

          “Yes, I actually got it from London about a month ago.” Bridget said while touching it, as if trying to see if were still there.

          “I like it,” Julie said.

          When they made it into the room, Julie went over to the bed and dumped out all of the contents of the bag.

          “We brought some paper lanterns, a miniature cork board, clothes hangers, and…some gum.” Julie said as she picked up the gum package. She handed out a piece to Veronica and Bridget. 

          “Thank you " I really appreciate all of this.” Bridget said.

          “You’re welcome. It was all Veronica’s idea.” Julie replied.

          They all started bringing things out of Bridget’s luggage bags, like pillows, a clock, sheets, accessories, brushes, combs, towels, a reading lamp, make-up, and many other things. During that time, Veronica and Julie explained the school from more a student’s point of view, less like Mr. Hunt explained it.

          “You never want to upset Mr. Carlson, the principal. He has sooo many pet peeves. He is pretty old, and as far as I can see, he needs to retire.” Veronica said as she plugged in the digital clock.

          “Why is that?” Bridget asked.

          “Because last year, in ninth grade, a guy in my art class started spreading the bristles of a paint brush out like a flower on a piece of paper. Mr. Carlson stopped in the art class one day and said, ‘Now, son, why would you want to cause such damage to a paintbrush that was so recently purchased?’ and the guy kind of shrugged, and then Mr. Carlson answered, ‘Down in my office, now!’” Julie said, imitating Mr. Carlson.                       

          “Why is he so strict?” Bridget asked as she hung up some of her shirts.

          “He believes in ‘old school’ rules. Two years ago, when my sister was in tenth grade, he tried to suspend a guy who was caught spitting in a recycling bin.” Veronica said while rolling her eyes at Mr. Carlson’s overly strict punishments.

          “And at the beginning of the school year, a girl’s giant supply box full of mechanical pencil lead spilled all over the floor and Mr. Carlson told her she had to pick it up. She did, and when she got to her next class, she was given an at lunch detention for being late four minutes.” Julie said, as she placed a pillow on Bridget’s bed.

          “Wow,” Bridget exclaimed. “I would hate to get on his bad side.”

          “If you did, you would be screwed.” Julie stated.

          The three girls worked in silence for a few moments, as they scurried from left to right getting various objects to place in the room.

          “What classes do you take at Concord High?” Bridget finally broke the silence.

          “You know…math, science, social studies, language arts, and electives. And unless you join band or choir, you have a study hall.” Veronica replied.

          “Do you have swipe cards?” Bridget asked.

          Julie and Veronica simultaneously turned their heads.

          “Swipe cards?” Julie asked in puzzlement.

          Bridget inhaled.  “We probably only use them in England then. You swipe these cards through a machine to verify that you have arrived to a classroom. You can also use them as credit cards, in a way, to buy snacks and lunches at school. If you have money on them, that is.” Bridget explained.

            “That’s sweet. I wish we had those at Concord.” Julie said.

          “Lizzy gets one of those? That’s awesome.” Veronica said.

          Bridget smiled. “Once you use them for eight years, they get kind of annoying. You know, keeping track of them and all and that, but overall, they’re pretty convenient if you want to buy something.” Bridget said as she rolled one of her empty suitcases into the closet.

          “I still want one.” Veronica said, laughing.

         

After about one more hour, they finished setting up Bridget’s new, and now improved room. And as for worrying if Veronica and Julie were snots, Bridget thought they were pretty nice.

          When they all got to the door leading out of the house, they exchanged phone numbers and programmed them into their cell phones.

          “Thanks again, for coming over. It really helped a lot.” Bridget smiled kindly at Veronica and Julie.

          “Oh, it was fun, I’m glad we got to meet you before school starts on Tuesday.” Julie said as she began to open the door out.

          “Yeah, thanks for letting us put up those cream-colored paper lanterns. We thought they would be a nice touch.” Veronica added.

          “Oh, I love them!” Bridget exclaimed.

          “See you on Tuesday, Bridget!” They both said as they stepped out the door.

          “Bye!” Bridget said as she waved.

          As soon as Veronica and Julie were out of the house, Bridget raced upstairs and admired her room, which was now all in place, thanks to Veronica and Julie.

          Bridget flopped down on her bed, glad that the obstacle of meeting Lizzy’s two classmates was over.

          Now, all she had to do was wait three days to meet the other hundred of them.