Tales From a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy Read online

  About fifteen minutes later there was a knock on my front door. And when I opened it, Brandon was standing there holding a bag of caramels.

  “You said you needed caramels, right?” He grinned. “And since I’m here, I’ll share my secret recipe for popcorn balls and help out.”

  Brandon said his SUPEReasy recipe was only three steps: (1) melt twenty-eight caramel candies into a sauce with two tablespoons of water in the microwave, (2) cook one bag of popcorn, and (3) stir them together, shape into balls, and EAT!

  He said it was an ingenious, foolproof recipe that he could make with his eyes closed. But was it Brianna-proof?

  Brianna was excited about making popcorn balls! And Brandon and I were excited to be hanging out with each other after a long week apart. However, after Brandon prepared the sauce, Brianna got an attitude and started trying to boss everyone around. . . .

  BRANDON AND ME, HELPING BRIANNA MAKE POPCORN BALLS!

  “Listen, Brianna, while Brandon stirs the caramel sauce, YOU get to microwave the popcorn. Doesn’t that sound like FUN?!” I said cheerfully.

  “NO! I WANNA STIR THE CARAMEL SAUCE!” She pouted.

  “You’re REALLY good at making popcorn. So that’s going to be YOUR job,” I said sternly.

  I read the microwave popcorn box aloud. “Place ONE bag of popcorn in microwave. Set microwave to cook for FOUR minutes. Makes THREE servings.”

  “Okay, I’ll make the STUPID popcorn!” Brianna finally muttered. “But as soon as I’m done, I’m gonna STIR the caramel sauce and TASTE it too! You’re NOT the boss of ME!”

  Then she stuck her tongue out at me. I was SUPERembarrassed that she was acting like such a BRAT in front of Brandon.

  I handed Brianna the box of popcorn. “If you need any help, let me know.”

  Soon the caramel sauce was ready and cooling to room temperature and the popcorn was popping in the microwave. The sweet and savory aromas in the kitchen smelled delish!

  Cooking with Brandon was actually kind of, um . . . ROMANTIC! SQUEEEEEEEE !!

  He stared at me and smiled, and I stared at him and smiled. All of this staring and smiling went on, like, FOREVER!

  Until we were RUDELY interrupted by Brianna. She was gleefully stirring the caramel sauce and humming to herself. Suddenly she decided to sneak a taste and brought the huge bowl up to her mouth and tipped it sideways.

  “Brianna! WHAT are you doing?!” I gasped. “Put that down right NOW before you accidentally—”

  That’s when Brianna said, “OOPS!!”

  Brandon and I stared in horror as . . . SPLOOOSH! The caramel sauce slowly poured down the front of her shirt until she was covered in a huge, sticky MESS!

  BRIANNA, IN A STICKY SITUATION

  JUST GREAT !! I grabbed some paper towels and was about to clean her up when I heard a ridiculously loud racket coming from the microwave.

  POP-POP! POP-POP-POP! POP!

  POP! POP-POP! POP-POP-POP!

  POP-POP! POP! POP-POP! POP!

  POP! POP-POP! POP-POP-POP!

  “Why does it sound like July Fourth fireworks in there?” I asked, peering inside the microwave and noticing it was completely filled with popcorn. “Brianna, WHAT did you do?!!”

  “I did exactly what YOU said. I put in FOUR bags for THREE minutes to make ONE serving!” she yelled at me.

  “NOOO!! The directions said ONE bag for FOUR minutes to make THREE servings!” I groaned.

  “OOPS!!” Brianna muttered again.

  I hit the stop button and opened the door to the microwave. I was shocked and surprised when . . .

  BRIANNA AND I ARE PRACTICALLY BURIED ALIVE IN A HUGE AVALANCHE OF POPCORN!!

  What a DISASTER! It took us an hour to clean up the humongous MESS Brianna had made.

  She DID try to help! But because she was still covered in sticky caramel, she just ended up a giant ball of popcorn and random kitchen stuff! . . .

  BRIANNA, THE HUMAN POPCORN BALL!

  But at least she was a SUPERyummy human popcorn ball. . . .

  BRIANNA SNACKS ON HERSELF!

  Lucky for Brianna, Brandon had managed to save a cup of caramel sauce that was left over in the bowl, and I found a lot of popcorn still inside the microwave.

  So Brianna was able to make a dozen mini popcorn balls, which she took to her Scout meeting later in the afternoon! . . .

  BRIANNA’S MINI POPCORN BALLS

  When Brianna got home, she excitedly explained how EVERYONE at her meeting LOVED her bite-size popcorn balls and begged for MORE!

  Then she showed me her brand-new cooking badge! . . .

  BRIANNA’S NEW COOKING BADGE

  I congratulated my little sister and told her how proud I was of her that she had NOT given up.

  Then I gave her a really big hug.

  I was also proud of myself for being a mature, supportive, and patient big sister !

  UNTIL Brianna asked me to help her earn a gourmet chef badge. All she had to do was plan, prepare, and serve a formal four-course gourmet dinner for six people.

  That’s when I ran upstairs SCREAMING, locked myself in my bedroom, and hid in the back of my closet.

  Sorry, but cooking with Brianna was a risky and dangerous activity, and, seriously, I would NEVER, EVER do it AGAIN !!

  Unless, of course, BRANDON was going to be Brianna’s assistant chef!

  SQUEEEEEE!!

  !!!

  MONDAY, MAY 19—9:50 A.M.

  AT MY LOCKER

  OMG! I was SO happy to be back at WCD! I wanted to KISS everything HELLO!

  Like the walls, the floors, my locker, my textbooks, and my very cute CRUSH, Brandon!

  SQUEEEEEEE !

  Everyone shared exciting stories about the schools they’d attended and the new friends they’d made.

  Like Brandon, Chloe and Zoey had enjoyed attending South Ridge Middle School and hanging out with Max C.

  Of course I bragged about throwing a HUGE party for my twenty-two new friends at NHH and showed off the photos of the science club meeting.

  Everyone was pretty impressed that I was such a social butterfly.

  Anyway, my day was PERFECT! Until I got a very strange and ominous-sounding e-mail from Principal Winston:

  Monday, May 19

  TO: Nikki Maxwell

  FROM: Principal Winston

  RE: MacKenzie Hollister

  Dear Nikki Maxwell,

  This is to notify you that MacKenzie Hollister has requested an emergency meeting in my office on Tuesday, May 20, at 10:00 a.m. concerning a personal matter that involves you.

  Please be prompt.

  Thank you,

  Principal Winston

  JUST GREAT ! !

  On Friday it was quite obvious that MacKenzie and Tiffany were still at war with each other.

  But HOW did that involve ME at MY school?

  I thought all the NHH drama had been resolved.

  That’s when I suddenly remembered MacKenzie’s last day at WCD about a month ago.

  She had threatened to file a phony complaint against me for cyberbullying her.

  Only WHY would she do that NOW?!

  I didn’t know the answer, and it didn’t really matter.

  I was about to face my worst nightmare.

  !!

  TUESDAY, MAY 20—NOON

  AT MY LOCKER

  Today was my meeting with Principal Winston and MacKenzie, and I was a nervous wreck !

  “So, this is what I get for helping that drama queen get a bug out of her hair?” I fumed as I walked down to the office. “NEVER AGAIN!”

  Back in April, one of MacKenzie’s frenemies had secretly recorded her having a MELTDOWN about the bug in her hair and then texted the video to a few friends.

  The video got circulated around the entire school, and one day during lunch MacKenzie caught her CCP friends watching it and laughing behind her back.

  MacKenzie was so angry and humiliated, she stopped being friends with her BFF, Jessica, and demanded
that her parents let her transfer to a new school.

  When they refused, MacKenzie decided to take matters into her own hands. She secretly posted a copy of her own bug video on YouTube. . . .

  MACKENZIE POSTS HER BUG VIDEO ONLINE!

  MacKenzie LIED and told her parents that the situation had escalated into a more serious one because Nikki Maxwell (ME?!) had posted the video online and was cyberbullying her.

  Then she pleaded with her parents to transfer her to North Hampton Hills International Academy!

  After her FAKE meltdown, complete with hysterical crying worthy of an Academy Award, her concerned parents relented and agreed to send her to a new school.

  It’s sad, but true! MacKenzie Hollister is such a cruel and malicious person that she had heartlessly cyberbullied HERSELF!

  Anyway, when I arrived at the office for our meeting this morning, MacKenzie was already there, applying her lip gloss. The secretary was on her lunch break, and Principal Winston’s door was closed.

  “Hi, MacKenzie!” I said awkwardly.

  She glared at me like I was something large, green, and slimy that she’d just sneezed into a tissue.

  I decided to try to reason with her one last time.

  “Why are you doing this, MacKenzie?! It makes no sense at all!”

  “Actually, I have TWO very good reasons! First, if you’re expelled for cyberbullying, then everyone at NHH will believe that I was telling the truth and YOU were lying. Second, Tiffany now HATES you as much as I do, especially since you undermined her beloved selfie club. Once I’ve FINALLY gotten even with you, she’ll totally ADORE me and we’ll become BFFs!”

  “You’d actually TRUST Tiffany to be your BFF?!”

  “Of course NOT! I’ll just PRETEND to be her BFF . . . until I stab her in the back, label her an uncool, selfie-addicted weirdo, turn all her friends against her, AND steal her title as QUEEN BEE! It’s all part of my carefully crafted master plan!”

  “So, let me get this straight, MacKenzie. You’d LIE about me and completely DESTROY my life just to hang out with a popular girl at NHH?!”

  “ABSOLUTELY! But don’t take it personally, hon! I realize all of this is probably MY fault. But you have no idea how STRESSFUL and HUMILIATING it was to have that huge, icky BUG stuck in my hair.”

  It was quite obvious that this girl was out of touch with reality AND more SELF-ABSORBED than a SPONGE the size of New Jersey!

  “Sorry, MacKenzie! But as someone who’s been a real victim of cyberbullying—thanks to YOU, by the way—I have some invaluable advice for you. GET OVER IT!!!”

  “I will. As soon as you’re EXPELLED!!” She sneered. “All I have to do is convince that clueless slob, Principal Winston, that you’re guilty. He’ll believe anything I say!”

  I watched in disbelief as MacKenzie took a mirror out of her purse and actually practiced her CRY FACE!

  “Principal Winston!” she fake sobbed. “Nikki’s bullied me, and it’s been horrible! I saw her post that video with my own eyes! Please HELP me!! . . .”

  MACKENZIE, PRACTICING FAKE CRYING

  “And YOU’RE a pathological LIAR!” I shot back.

  “You say that like it’s a BAD thing!” She grinned.

  Suddenly the office door opened and a lady wearing trendy, cute clothes entered with a cameraman in tow.

  MacKenzie and I exchanged curious looks.

  “What did you do, MacKenzie?! Contact a national NEWS network?!” I complained.

  “No! I didn’t,” she replied. “I have no idea what they’re here for.”

  “Excuse me! Do you girls have a minute?” the reporter asked. “We’re with TeenTV News!”

  “TeenTV?!” MacKenzie shrieked. “Are you going to be filming here at the school? If so, I need to put on my high-definition lip gloss!”

  “Well, that depends,” the reporter answered. “We’re here to find out more about a video that was posted online on April 21. It was about a girl with a bug stuck in her—”

  “OMG, Nikki! You sent that humiliating bug video to TeenTV?!” MacKenzie shrieked. “Why are you trying to RUIN my life?! I’ll just lock myself inside the office supply closet until they leave.”

  Then she very rudely SHOVED me toward the reporter.

  “Interview HER. It’s ALL her fault. But be careful. She’s so UGLY she might BREAK your camera!” MacKenzie sneered.

  “SHOVE me like that again, girlfriend, and you’ll see just how UGLY I can get!” I fumed.

  But I just said that inside my head, so no one else heard it but me.

  Since the school secretary was still at lunch, Mr. Winston was in his office, and MacKenzie had pretty much barricaded herself inside the office supply closet, I sighed and reluctantly agreed to talk to the reporter.

  “We’re looking for a student named Nikki Maxwell,” the reporter said. “Do you know her? When we called here yesterday, we were given her name by a student office assistant named Jessica.”

  “Actually, she is ME! I mean, me is HER! What I’m trying to say is, I’M Nikki Maxwell,” I babbled incoherently.

  “Fabulous!” she replied. “Ready to film, Steve!” she cued her cameraman. “This is Jade Santana, coming to you live with a TeenTV News exclusive!”

  Even though I was on television a few months ago (it’s a long story and another diary!), I fidgeted uncomfortably and smiled awkwardly into the camera.

  I had to restrain myself from grabbing the nearest wastebasket, shoving it over my head, and running out of the office SCREAMING!

  The reporter continued. “I’m here with Nikki Maxwell, the mastermind and creator of the VIRAL video that is sweeping TeenTV and the nation . . . the STINK BUG SHAKE!” Jade exclaimed. “Congratulations, Nikki! You’ve just been nominated for the TeenTV Awesome Awards Best Viral Video of the Year!! How do you feel?”

  That’s when the office supply closet door slowly opened.

  A very shocked and surprised MacKenzie cautiously peeked out.

  “How do I feel? Um . . . REALLY confused!” I muttered. “Can you run all of that by me again, please? I’m not sure I understood everything you just said!”

  “Well, Nikki, the teens of the world have spoken. And they LOVE your video!” Jade exclaimed. “Did you have any idea it was going to go viral?”

  ME, BEING INTERVIEWED BY TEENTV FOR BEST VIRAL VIDEO OF THE YEAR!!

  Suddenly my interview with Jade was RUDELY interrupted.

  “STOP! You should be interviewing ME, not HER!!” MacKenzie screeched as she jumped in front of me. “I’M the REAL STAR of that video!”

  Then she got really close to the camera and did a DUCK FACE. That girl was a hot mess!

  “Sorry! But WHO are you again?” Jade frowned.

  “MACKENZIE HOLLISTER! I’M the one who posted that viral video of—what did you call it—the Stink Bug Shake that’s sweeping the nation! NOT this pathetic POSEUR!” she said, pointing at me.

  “Wait a minute, MacKenzie! For the past month, you’ve been spreading nasty rumors and telling EVERYONE that I posted that bug video!” I exclaimed. “So NOW you’re CHANGING your story?!”

  “Nikki, do you actually think I’M going to STUPIDLY stand by and let YOU take credit for all of MY hard work?!” MacKenzie shrieked. “GIRL, BYE!”

  Jade and the cameraman exchanged puzzled glances. “Listen, girls, you’re going to have to figure all of this out and do it quickly. We’re going live to finish this segment in sixty, no, fifty seconds!” Jade said, looking at her watch.

  I couldn’t believe I FINALLY had a chance to END this NIGHTMARE once and for all.

  “So, let me get this straight, MacKenzie! You’re willing to admit on national television that YOU purposely put that video online and I had absolutely nothing to do with it?” I asked.

  “YES! You got it straight!” she snarled. “Just admit it! You WISH you had BUGS in your hair like I do. This is MY moment! Quit trying to steal it, you basic, no-talent WANNABE!”

  “Hello, I’m Jade
, and we’re back live for TeenTV! So, MacKenzie, tell us how you first came up with the concept for your fabulous video?” . . .

  MACKENZIE, BEING INTERVIEWED BY TEENTV ABOUT HER VIRAL VIDEO!

  “When you’re a trained dance GENIUS like I am, it all comes naturally! One day I was cleaning the girls’ locker room showers when an idea just, um . . . crawled into my head. And then later, in class, it tangled itself in my hair and, um . . . became inspiration. It actually made me cry. Tears of joy! And then, to express the emotional rawness I was feeling, I started to scream! And jump around too! Then I actually projectile vomited, um . . . passion! I just had to get my video out there and share it with the world, so I posted it. And, Jade, the rest is history!” MacKenzie raved overdramatically.

  I could NOT believe that girl had just confessed on national TV! I breathed a sigh of relief as I continued to watch the MacKenzie freak show.

  “So, what are your future plans?!” Jade asked.

  “Well, I’m open to guest appearances on all the most popular dance TV shows. My vision is to revolutionize the Internet with my cutting-edge dance art, and I think I’m on my way to accomplishing that!”

  “OMG! That was SO deep!” Jade gushed. “So, can you tell us which performance artist has inspired you the most?”

  “NONE of them! Most performance artists are inspired by ME!” MacKenzie bragged.

  Maybe the glare from those bright camera lights had affected my eyes. But while I was watching MacKenzie’s interview, her head appeared to be swelling up larger and larger!

  OMG! Her EGO was so big, it had stretch marks.

  I was just hoping she’d complete her interview before her head actually EXPLODED on live television!

  BOOOM!!

  After the TeenTV interview was over, students excitedly swarmed the halls and actually mobbed MacKenzie. . . .