TBH, You Know What I Mean Read online

GABRIELLE

  I am crying rn bc my bat mitzvah will be so lame compared 2 everyone’s

  My parents don’t have that much $$

  CECILY

  Gabs, stop

  GABRIELLE

  No 4 real

  GABRIELLE

  & it’s the last one so everyone will be so over them by then

  I hate my December bday & being the youngest

  PRIANKA

  Wait hold on

  Still catching up

  Stop texting LOL

  Ok caught up

  Omg her bat mitz will be fanciest one yet

  I mean she’s only turning 13

  What’s gonna happen with her sweet 16 & HS graduation or her wedding or whatevssssss

  PRIANKA

  This is nuts

  CECILY

  Ya

  I agree

  I mean it’s a big moment but still

  Gabs, is she inviting the whole grade

  GABRIELLE

  IDK

  Prob no

  Annie Goldfarb is the only one who has done that

  Not that there have been so many yet LOL

  CECILY

  True

  VICTORIA

  Omg I really want 2 be invited

  CECILY

  Same

  PRIANKA

  Guys don’t freak out

  It’s ok

  Gabrielle, Miriam

  GABRIELLE

  Mir?

  MIRIAM

  Yeah?

  GABRIELLE

  Do u know if everyone is going 2 be invited to Hannah F’s bat mitz?

  MIRIAM

  Ummmm

  What do u mean everyone

  GABRIELLE

  Whole grade

  Specifically Pri, Cece, Vic

  MIRIAM

  Ummm

  I doubt whole grade

  She has a huge family

  And tons of friends from school and camp and Hebrew school and dance team

  GABRIELLE

  Oh hmm

  MIRIAM

  IDK about Cece & Vic

  She thinks Pri is hilarious btw so pos

  GABRIELLE

  Ok

  MIRIAM

  R u stressing

  GABRIELLE

  Kinda yeah

  They’re all talking about it

  MIRIAM

  Oh IDK

  Sorry

  Just ask her

  GABRIELLE

  I feel awk

  MIRIAM

  IKWYM

  4 mine I def can’t invite whole grade

  GABRIELLE

  Same

  MIRIAM

  At least we have a while

  GABRIELLE

  Yeah def

  Helllloooooooo, Nickie & Kimmie!!!! (Remember when I used to call you that?!)

  Sending hugs from beautiful Yorkville. I miss you guys!!! Are you doing an International Women’s Day celebration at your school? My friend is trying to start one here. So great, right? How cute are the puppies on this postcard? I found it at the grocery store.

  LOVE YOU! Victoria

  TO:

  Nic and Kim

  c/o Landenor Family

  ADDRESS:

  54 Clearview Circle

  Philadelphia, PA 19107

  Mara, Cecily

  MARA

  I am sooooo excited about this IWD idea

  Go you for thinking of it!!!

  CECILY

  Yeah so cool right?

  Thank you!

  MARA

  I was thinking we could maybe bring in speakers, too

  Like Yorkville mayor

  She’s friends with my mom

  CECILY

  Oh Mayor Baac

  MARA

  Yeah

  They grew up together & still do yoga together once a week lol

  CECILY

  That’s cool

  I’m in

  Just need approval from Mr. A

  MARA

  K please lmk

  CECILY

  Obv

  From: Mr. Akiyama

  To: Cecily Anderson

  Subject: RE: International Women’s Day

  Dear Cecily,

  What a fabulous idea! I discussed it with Mr. C and the administration and we all think it’s great. Please stop by my office after school to discuss particulars. We only have a few days to get this going but we want to make it happen.

  See you later,

  Mr. A

  ***sent from my handheld device, please excuse any typos

  IWD!

  CECILY

  Guys we r making this happen

  I just met with Mr. A & he said yes

  He loves bake sale fundraiser idea

  PRIANKA

  Wooooooo

  My mom will bake

  VICTORIA

  Actually my dad has this new cookie recipe

  PRIANKA

  Woo

  VICTORIA

  This is so awesome

  GABRIELLE

  What do we need to do

  CECILY

  Bring in posters + pictures of important women in ur life

  & throughout history

  & we’re gonna hang them all over school

  PRIANKA

  Wow

  CECILY

  Mayor Baac is coming 2 speak

  PRIANKA

  That is so cool

  CECILY

  & we r going to have an assembly with an open mic & people can come up 2 talk about women role models

  PRIANKA

  I am in love with this

  Go, CECE

  I’d say u’ll be 1st women pres but I don’t want to bc we better have a woman pres before u r old enough

  VICTORIA

  Um duh

  CECILY

  Thx, guys

  I am so happy we could make this happen in only a few days

  PRIANKA

  CECE CAN RULE THE WORLD

  CECILY

  Lol ok stop

  PRIANKA

  4 real tho

  So proud of u

  GABRIELLE

  Same same same

  VICTORIA

  U r amazing, Cece

  CECILY

  Guys sooooo much pressure when u say this stuff

  Stopppp

  Love u guys

  Ack!! Used emojis by accident!

  Sage, Prianka

  SAGE

  Omg why didn’t we realize April was poetry month

  PRIANKA

  Ummm

  I think I knew that

  Maybe

  SAGE

  Oh ok

  PRIANKA

  Do they do a thing @ school 4 it

  SAGE

  IDK

  SAGE

  Let’s ask Ms. Marburn 2morrow since she’s the head of the whole English dept

  PRIANKA

  Sounds good

  Ooooh end of the year poetry jam competition

  SAGE

  U r so competitive

  PRIANKA

  Not really

  SAGE

  Ok

  PRIANKA

  But end of yr poetry jam could be so fun

  SAGE

  Yeah true

  SAGE

  Like house setup

  PRIANKA

  LOL kids drinking coffee

  SAGE

  No soda & fruit punch but YKWIM

  PRIANKA

  Yeah def hahaha

  Cece has totally inspired me to just start stuff

  Did I tell u she started this International Women’s Day thing @ school

  It’s happening fri

  SAGE

  OMG NO but wowwwwww

  PRIANKA

  She just makes things happen ya know???

  PRIANKA

  Let’s do this

  SAGE

  K see u tomorrow

  Miriam, Gabrielle

  MIRIAM

&n
bsp; Ok I spoke to Hannah

  She’s not inviting whole grade

  & of ur friends she’s only inviting u & Pri

  I mean u r Hannah’s close friend now, too

  YKWIM

  GABRIELLE

  Yeah

  What should I do

  Should I tell my friends ahead of time

  MIRIAM

  No

  Wait until invites go out

  GABRIELLE

  I feel so bad

  MIRIAM

  I do 2 but it’s how it is

  She really doesn’t know Cece & Vic

  She’s not in any classes with them

  GABRIELLE

  Well Cece is in all honors classes

  MIRIAM

  So she’ll def be invited to Hannah P’s then

  GABRIELLE

  Haha true

  They’re both brainiacs

  MIRIAM

  LOL

  K gotta finish hw

  GABRIELLE

  Bye

  Dear Cecily,

  Would you like to give some opening remarks at IWD? Please stop by my office so we can discuss.

  Mr. A

  IWD! Woo!

  VICTORIA

  Did u see all the pictures already up

  I have study hall in the comp lab & Mr. Surrey let us print pictures

  VICTORIA

  He never lets us do that

  CECILY

  Whoa that is so cool

  I saw a lot already up

  I hope more people hang stuff

  Mr. A said we can leave them up all next week

  VICTORIA

  I love this

  CECILY

  & Mr. A said I can give opening remarks

  PRIANKA

  Wowwwieeeeeeeeee

  CECILY

  Ya

  CECILY

  Gtg work on that

  Bye

  PRIANKA

  Mwaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

  Gabrielle, Cecily

  GABRIELLE

  Cece?

  CECILY

  Ya

  GABRIELLE

  Just wanted to thank u for coming over

  GABRIELLE

  I know you’re so busy with IWD & it was late but you helped me sooooooo much with that math hw

  TBH you teach better than our actual teachers LOL

  CECILY

  IDK about that but you’re welcome!!

  GABRIELLE

  Love you, Cece

  CECILY

  Mwah!!!!!!

  Draft—Opening remarks for International

  Women’s Day

  Cecily Anderson

  Hi, everyone! Welcome, students, faculty, and community members, to Yorkville Middle School’s first-ever International Women’s Day celebration. I am so excited that we are all here.

  My name is Cecily Anderson. International Women’s Day sort of snuck up on me this year, so we had to throw this celebration together on short notice. I’m so grateful to Mr. Akiyama and Mr. Carransey for helping pull this off.

  Our hallways are covered with photos of inspiring women and it looks incredible. We are also so fortunate to have Yorkville’s amazing mayor, Esme Baac, with us.

  I’ll keep my remarks short so we can start the program. I just wanted to say that women are out there in this world every single day doing important, meaningful things and very often they go unnoticed. We need to make sure we’re celebrating women and encouraging girls to be all they can be and change the world. We can do this.

  I kept hearing things in the hallway that really got me angry and fired up. In a way, I’m glad, though, because it inspired this celebration of women!

  After Mayor Baac speaks, we’ll have an open mic opportunity for students to come up and speak about women heroes and role models. Please keep it brief but passionate.

  Thanks everyone! Happy International Women’s Day!

  Hiiiiiiii

  ELOISE

  Guess what

  MIRIAM

  ELOISE

  U know how my aunt is a producer @ the today show

  HANNAH F

  Haha yessssss

  U have told us a billion times LOL

  ELOISE

  K stop

  ELOISE

  Anyway i told her about international women’s day celebration @ school

  ELOISE

  And how it all came together super quickly

  And how all the admin people were into the idea

  & she’s coming to produce a spot on it for the show!

  MIRIAM

  OMG

  R we all gonna be on TV

  ELOISE

  Maybeee!!!!!!!

  GABRIELLE

  Did u tell Cece

  She started this whole thing and it was all her idea and she is so so into it

  ELOISE

  Oh really

  ELOISE

  I didn’t know that

  Can u tell her

  I don’t really know her

  GABRIELLE

  Let’s tell her in person tomorrow morning

  Too confusing 2 text

  ELOISE

  K

  HANNAH P

  That is so so so so cool, El!

  ELOISE

  I’m so excited

  HANNAH P

  U should be

  I can tell Cecily, too

  HANNAH P

  We have all classes together this year

  MIRIAM

  Love all of this

  GABRIELLE

  Me too

  Dear Journal,

  It’s 3 a.m. and I can’t fall asleep. I really need to, though. Tomorrow is our big International Women’s Day event and it was all my idea and I’m making opening remarks and I want to be well rested. But I can’t sleep! Wahhhhh!!! I am just so excited that they listened to me and took my idea and it’s really happening. I don’t know what else to say really.

  I also really want to be invited to Hannah F’s bat mitzvah. It’s going to be so amazing. I heard she’s giving out hoodies. Like real nice ones with our names on them. I don’t understand how her parents have so much money. Mine are just regular people and we’re fine but not rich. Sometimes it seems like everyone else is so rich. And the people at school who aren’t just don’t say anything. It’s like we all just pretend everyone’s family can afford to do all this big stuff. We should discuss it more. I am so nervous I won’t be invited and everyone else will. I am trying to stay calm about it but I really want to go. I keep picturing how fancy it will be.

  Okay, I am going to try and go to bed again.

  Love, Cecily

  Dearest Cecily,

  I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished with International Women’s Day. I want you to know that I adore you just the way you are and think you’re extraordinary. You follow your passions and you work hard and you’re kind. I am so grateful that I get to be your mother.

  I love you, Mom

  Mara, Cecily

  MARA

  OMG

  Do u know about our moms

  CECILY

  What?

  Walking out the door 2 the bus rn

  R u already there

  MARA

  Yeah early as usual LOL

  CECILY

  K I can walk & text

  MARA

  Be careful

  CECILY

  K but what about our moms

  MARA

  Ummm this is so awk & embarrassing

  CECILY

  Tell me rn

  I am nervous

  MARA

  They knew about us

  CECILY

  WDYM

  MARA

  Like how we kinda liked each other but how we are just friends now

  CECILY

  OMG

  They did

  CECILY

  How???

  MARA

  No idea

  Mom intuition I guess

  CECILY


  Did u tell ur mom

  MARA

  Nooooooo

  I’d never discuss personal stuff w/ her

  CECILY

  I didn’t, either

  My mom did leave me a super gushy note today

  MARA

  ??

  CECILY

  Like how she’s so proud of me & how I should always stay true to myself

  MARA

  Omg

  CECILY

  I KNOW

  Ewwww I don’t like moms knowing about love stuff

  MARA

  This is love stuff?????

  CECILY

  YKWIM

  MARA

  I know . . . crushes etc

  CECILY

  Right

  MARA

  But we r just friends now

  CECILY

  Duh I know

  MARA

  Ok ha

  CECILY

  Hahahahahahahahahah

  MARA

  I see u walking here

  CECILY

  LOL k bye

  Cece, I lost my voice & I can’t talk at all. I don’t know what happened! I feel fine, though. Anyway, Eloise’s aunt works for the Today show & they’re coming to do a piece on IWD!!! She told me last night. She’s going to tell u in person today but I wanted to tell u first. OMG RIGHT?

  Xoxoxoxoxxoxo love, Gabs

  For real? This is so amazing. She cleared it with Mr. A & Mr. C and everyone?

  I think so!

  Wowwwwwwwwwwww I am sooooooo excited but also sooooo nervous now, too.

  Me too! What if we become famous?

  We’ll be amazing! We already are!

  AHHHHHH!!!!!!

  Dear Students & Parents:

  A film crew from the Today show will be at Yorkville Middle School recording the International Women’s Day events tomorrow. Please e-sign below and then email back the form if you would like to allow your child to appear on television.

  Thank you,

  Yorkville Middle School Administration

  I, __________________________, allow my child, ____________________, to appear on the Today show in connection with Yorkville Middle School’s International Women’s Day event.

  Signed,

  ___________________________________________

  (Parent/guardian signature)

  Hi, guys—Do you guys realize how few pages we have left in shared notebook?!? Like, fewer than 10. OMG. So . . .hiiiii!!!! So proud of Cece & just want u guys to know I love you! I may read a poem @ the open mic part. Maybe. Xoxo Pri

  Oooh, that’s such a good idea, Pri! I don’t know if I’ll do anything. Luv, VM

  I can’t do anything because I lost my voice! Today of all days. How crazy? Wahhhh!!! Smooches, Gabs