Anna Banana and the Sleepover Secret

  For Derya

  (and his parents)

  —A. M. R.

  To my parents and my sister, who endured my antics and attitude since day one

  —C. K.

  Chapter One

  Pajama Plans

  “Which pajamas should I bring: the rainbow pair or the pony pair?” I asked, peering into the top drawer of my dresser.

  My dog, Banana, tipped her head to one side as she considered the question.

  “The rainbow ones are softer, but the pony ones are newer,” I said. I grabbed both pairs and held them out for inspection. Banana sniffed each one, then nudged my left hand with her snout.

  I grinned. “Rainbows it is.” I returned the ponies to their drawer and tucked the rainbow pajamas into my backpack, on top of the toothbrush, hairbrush, underwear, socks, shirt, leggings, glow-in-the-dark clawed dragon-feet slippers, and sparkly nail polish that I had already packed for the sleepover. I went to my closet and stood on tiptoe to pull my sleeping bag off its high shelf, and as I turned back around with it, I heard a familiar squeak. I looked down and saw Banana holding her favorite toy, a yellow plastic bunny, in her mouth. She wagged her tail hopefully, and bit down to make it squeak again.

  I bent to take it from her, and tossed it across the room. It landed in the doggy basket right next to my bed, where Banana always sleeps. She bounded over to retrieve it and carried it back to me proudly. She dropped it at my feet and looked up at me, hoping I would throw it for her again.

  I knew this game: Banana wanted to distract me from packing. I hesitated, and she nosed at the toy, pushing it toward me.

  I gave in. “I can’t play all day,” I warned her as I flicked the bunny high into the air. “Isabel’s expecting us to come over soon.”

  Banana jumped to catch the toy before it could fall to the ground, and carried it over to my open backpack. She dropped the bunny inside. I laughed, but I also felt a twinge of guilt as I took it back out. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “By ‘us,’ I meant Sadie and me. I can’t bring you to the sleepover. Unfortunately, dogs aren’t invited.”

  We had discussed this already. Isabel’s giant orange tabby cat, Mewsic, doesn’t get along well with other animals, so it wouldn’t be fair to bring Banana into Mewsic’s home. I knew Banana understood that I would include her in the sleepover if I could, but that didn’t stop her ears from drooping with disappointment.

  I squeezed the yellow bunny, hoping its squeaks would cheer her up, and tossed it as hard as I could. Banana watched as the bunny sailed over her head and landed on the other side of the room, but she didn’t even try to chase it.

  “Aw, I’m going to miss you too,” I said. I dropped to my knees and nuzzled my face against her soft fur. “But it’s only for one night. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with lots of stories to tell.”

  Banana’s ears perked back up. She loves a good story.

  “Knock knock,” a voice said. Banana and I looked up to see Mom standing in the open doorway to my room. She was wearing the oversize sweatshirt my brother, Chuck, and I had given her for her last birthday. It was supersoft and had big pockets where she could put her hands if they got cold. Mom’s fingers were always freezing. “You all packed for the sleepover?” she asked. I nodded. “Good. You’ve got just enough time for a quick lunch before Sadie’s dad picks you up. Come on downstairs. Dad’s making grilled cheese.”

  “Cheese!” I cheered, and Banana twirled in a circle, chasing her own tail with excitement. She loves cheese almost as much as she loves stories.

  Banana led the way out of my room, and I raced down the stairs after her. We both knew I would sneak her a small bite of cheese if I got the chance. I wasn’t really supposed to feed her at the table, of course, but Mom and Dad didn’t have to know.

  It would be our little secret.

  Chapter Two

  Cheese, Please

  The grilled cheese sandwiches were delicious. Dad made mine with sliced pickles and mustard, just how I like it, and there was so much cheese, some oozed out the edges. He didn’t even notice when I dropped a bite of cheddar for Banana. She caught it before it reached the floor, then sat at my feet in case I might drop more. Banana is always hopeful, especially about cheese.

  When I’d finished the last bite, I let her lick the extra cheesiness off my fingertips. I squirmed a little as her tongue and whiskers tickled my skin. “Don’t forget that Banana gets two scoops of kibble tonight for dinner,” I told my brother. “And she’ll need walks in the afternoon and before bed.”

  “Right,” Chuck said, rolling his eyes. “Two walks for dinner and a scoop of kibble in bed. Got it.”

  Banana wagged her tail at the joke, but I didn’t think it was funny. I wanted Chuck to take this seriously. “This is Banana’s first night without me,” I reminded him. “You have to promise to take good care of her.”

  I had been to Isabel’s house plenty of times, but this would be my first sleepover there. Usually the sleepovers we had were at my house, and when we spent the night at Sadie’s dad’s house, Banana was invited too. Banana couldn’t go to Sadie’s mom’s place—she had a strict No Pets rule—but we hadn’t had a sleepover there in a while. Not since before I got Banana. Banana had slept in her basket next to my bed, with me in the bed, almost every night of her life. I hoped she wouldn’t be too lonely tonight.

  “Don’t worry, Anna. We’ll take good care of her,” Dad said. “I’m sure Banana will miss you, but we’ll keep her busy and happy while you’re gone.”

  “Yeah. And I’ll try to fart a lot so it will smell like you’re still here,” Chuck teased.

  “Charles,” Mom said in her That’s enough voice. Before I could think of a good comeback, we heard a car horn honk in the driveway.

  “Sadie’s here!” I cried. I slid off my chair, carried my dirty dishes to the sink, and ran upstairs to grab my backpack, sleeping bag, and pillow.

  When I came back down, Sadie was standing inside with a big grin on her face. I smiled back. “Hey!” I said.

  “Hi! Are you ready? It’s sleepover time!” Sadie did a silly little dance that made Banana bark and jump at her feet. I danced around too, as best I could while holding all my sleepover stuff. Soon we were laughing so hard, I had to stop so I wouldn’t fall over. Sadie held out her arms to take my sleeping bag and pillow so I could hug my parents and Banana good-bye.

  “Have fun, kiddo,” Dad said.

  “And be good,” Mom added.

  “I will,” I answered them both. I bent down to pet Banana’s soft ears and kissed her on the forehead. “You too, Banana: Have fun and be good.” Banana looked sad, but she licked me on the nose to agree anyway, and I giggled.

  I followed Sadie out the door and toward her dad’s car in the driveway. “Don’t say anything in front of my dad, but I brought us a secret surprise,” she said.

  The word “secret” lit my brain up like a sparkler. “What is it?” I asked.

  Sadie zipped her lips and opened the car door without answering. The secret would have to wait.

  Chapter Three

  Hurry Up and Wait

  I hoped Sadie would at least give me a hint about the secret on the car ride, but instead, she talked her dad into turning the radio up full blast, and we sang along to the music. One of our favorite games was to pretend we were rock stars, singing into invisible microphones and playing invisible instruments. It was a little bit hard to play imaginary drums with my seat belt strapped on tight, but I still crashed down on the cymbals and twirled my drumstick while Sadie played air guitar. We belted the chorus with her dad singing backup, and by the time we reached Isabel’s str
eet, I was pumped with so much energy, I almost forgot about Sadie’s surprise.

  Isabel ran out to greet us as the car pulled into her driveway, and Sadie and I unbuckled and scrambled out the second we came to a stop. Sadie’s dad laughed at how we were jumping up and down and squealing together in the driveway, but none of us minded. It was sleepover time! My friends were as excited as I was.

  “Good luck with them!” Sadie’s dad called to Abuelita, Isabel’s grandmother, who waved to him from the front steps and welcomed us inside.

  “Let’s go up to my room!” Isabel said after we’d said hello to Abuelita and Isabel’s parents. We followed Isabel up the stairs to the bedroom she shares with her sister Luisa. Isabel and Luisa’s room is across the hall from the bedroom their two oldest sisters, Emma and Maria, share.

  Isabel and Luisa’s room is usually messy on Isabel’s side and neat on Luisa’s side, but today it was neat everywhere. I guessed Isabel’s parents had made her clean up before Sadie and I came over.

  “Luisa’s sleeping in Emma and Maria’s room tonight, so we get the whole place to ourselves,” Isabel said. She plopped down on her bed, and Mewsic, the cat, jumped off it, disappearing underneath.

  Unlike Banana, who wants to greet every visitor the second they walk in the door, Mewsic always takes a while to warm up to people—even people he already knows, like Sadie and me. We weren’t offended, though. We knew he would come out when he was ready.

  We put our backpacks, pillows, and sleeping bags down on the floor next to Isabel’s bed. “Oooh, did you get new nail polish colors?” Sadie asked, looking at the collection of bottles on Isabel’s dresser.

  Isabel shook her head. “Maria let me borrow hers for when we do pedicures later. And I got out all the board games and puzzles for us too.” Isabel waved her hand toward a stack of games on her desk. “What should we do first?”

  Pedicures and games sounded fun, but what I really wanted was to hear about Sadie’s secret. “Is it time for the surprise yet?” I said.

  Isabel looked back and forth between us. “What surprise?” she asked. Sadie grinned.

  Excitement zipped through me like two squirrels playing chase around a tree. I thought of the word of the day our teacher, Ms. Burland, had written on the board last Wednesday: “anticipate.” Anticipate: to look forward to or expect, it had said. It was fun having a surprise to anticipate, and it was twice as fun anticipating it together. Now I was glad Sadie hadn’t told me the secret on the car ride, so I could find out about it at the same time Isabel did.

  Sadie opened her backpack, reached deep inside, and took something out. We couldn’t see what it was yet because she kept it hidden in her palms. Finally, she lifted one hand with a flourish to reveal the secret thing she held. “Ta-da!” she exclaimed.

  Chapter Four

  The Secret Surprise

  Isabel burst out laughing. “Is that . . . a lemon?” she asked, pointing at the object in Sadie’s outstretched hand.

  “Yup!” Sadie said. “Surprise!”

  I laughed too. I was definitely surprised, but also confused. “Um, Sadie? Why did you bring a lemon to the sleepover?” I asked.

  Sadie joined the giggling. “That’s the surprise part!” she said. She wiggled her eyebrows dramatically. Even though she had just shown us the surprise, she was still being secretive about it. “It does something secret.”

  I leaned closer to look. It seemed like a normal lemon, not a plastic one or something else in disguise. “Is it for making lemonade? Or baking lemon bars?” I asked.

  “Or squirting at enemies and intruders?” Isabel guessed. We laughed harder.

  “Nope! It’s for writing secret messages,” Sadie explained. Except, that didn’t actually explain anything. I was still confused.

  Isabel scrunched her eyebrows together and tipped her head to one side, like Banana had done earlier. She clearly didn’t know what Sadie was talking about any more than I did. “You want us to write secret messages on a lemon?” she said.

  “No, silly. We’ll write the messages on paper. We’re going to use the lemon juice as invisible ink. Whatever we write with it will dry to be invisible. No one will even know that the secret messages are there,” Sadie said.

  That sounded neat, but . . . “But how will we see the messages?” I asked.

  Sadie had an answer for that, too. “You hold the paper up to a source of heat, like a lightbulb or a hair dryer, and the heat makes the ink appear,” she told us.

  “Cool! I never knew lemons were magic,” I said.

  Isabel poked the lemon and pulled her finger back quickly, like she expected the fruit to bite. “Have you tried it?” she asked.

  Sadie shook her head. “Nope. I just read about it in a book of science experiments. I was waiting to try it with you guys.”

  “Let’s do it!” Isabel said. We followed her down to the kitchen, where Isabel’s mom agreed to slice the lemon in half for us, even though Isabel wouldn’t tell her what we planned to do with it. “Nothing bad or messy, I promise,” Isabel said. “Just top secret.”

  “Well then, I’ll leave you to it,” her mom said with a smile. She waved away our chorus of thank-yous and left the room.

  Isabel got out a bowl, and we took turns squeezing the lemon halves over it until all the juice was out. I fished the seeds out of the juice with a spoon while Sadie grabbed a dish towel to clean up the drops that had squirted onto the counter and Isabel ran to get paper for us to write on and cotton swabs for dipping into the “ink.”

  “You should carry the bowl up the stairs, Anna,” Isabel said when she’d returned with the supplies. “You’re the steadiest one of us. Remember the balancing game?” Sadie nodded in agreement. Last month we’d done a challenge at recess to see who in our class could stand on one foot the longest, and I’d outlasted everyone except Timothy and Keisha. I felt proud that my friends remembered that.

  I held the bowl in both hands and walked carefully so I wouldn’t spill as we went back upstairs and into Isabel’s bedroom. Isabel put the paper and cotton swabs on the floor, and I set the bowl down next to them. We all sat crisscross applesauce around the supplies. “What kind of secret message should we write?” I asked.

  “Maybe we should each write a secret wish,” Isabel said. “I bet the magic lemon juice will help the wishes come true.”

  “Yeah!” I said.

  Sadie grinned. “It’s science, not magic. But secret wishes are a great idea.”

  I dipped my cotton swab into the lemon juice and looked at the blank page on the floor in front of me, wondering what I should fill it with. I glanced at my friends. Sadie moved her cotton swab slowly over her page, writing neatly. Isabel bent over her page and worked quickly, making wet lines that soaked into the paper and disappeared. It looked like she was drawing her wish, not writing it, which was no surprise. Isabel loves to draw and is really good at it. She’s probably the best artist in our class.

  I couldn’t choose whether to write or draw, so I decided I would do both. But what should my secret wish be?

  I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and looked to see Mewsic poking his nose out from under the bed. He wanted in on the secrets too! “Hey, kitty kitty,” I said, but softly, so as not to scare him. He inched a little closer and his whiskers twitched. I wished he weren’t so shy so I could pet him.

  That gave me an idea. I put the cotton swab against the page and started drawing my favorite thing: Banana. Using invisible ink was harder than I’d expected because the lines I drew kept disappearing, but it was fun to try. I grinned at my friends. I couldn’t wait to find out what secret things they were putting on their papers.

  I dipped the cotton swab back into the ink. Next to where I’d drawn Banana, I drew Mewsic, nose-to-nose with her. Across the top I wrote Banana meets Mewsic! I added speech balloons above their heads, with Banana saying Hi! and Mewsic saying Purrrrr.

  That was my secret wish: that Banana and Mewsic could meet and get along,
so we could all be at sleepovers at Isabel’s house together. I knew it wouldn’t happen—the lemon juice would have to be really magic to cause that—but drawing it made me feel a little like Banana was here with me. I couldn’t wait to see how the wish would look once the ink became visible.

  Isabel’s second-oldest sister, Emma, skipped into the room. The skipping startled Mewsic, who darted back under the bed. “What are you guys doing?” Emma asked. She stood over us and stared down at our papers. I started to cover mine to keep it private, then laughed as I realized it didn’t matter—the ink was invisible! She could look right at it and not see my masterpiece. I couldn’t even see it.

  “Drawing,” Isabel answered, at the same time Sadie said, “Writing secrets!”

  Emma’s face twisted up with confusion. “I don’t see anything,” she said.

  My friends and I grinned at one another. “Exactly!” Isabel said.

  “Mission accomplished,” I added.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Okay then. Have fun with your invisible art.” She turned back around and flounced out of the room. Mewsic ran out the door behind her.

  “I think mine’s done,” Sadie said. “Now it just has to dry.”

  “Mine too,” I said.

  “Mine three!” Isabel said. “What should we do while we wait?”

  “Is it too early for Truth or Dare?” I asked.

  Sadie made a supervillain face. “It’s never too early for Truth or Dare.”

  Chapter Five

  If You Dare

  Isabel stood up. “Let’s play in the living room. We can leave our secret wishes here, since no one can see them anyway.”

  We went downstairs and found Mewsic curled up on one end of the big red couch. I expected him to run away, but instead, he flicked his tail and blinked at us, then went on with his nap. I guessed he was getting used to us being around. I was glad.