That’s about the time when Ann stands up, seeming superhappy at the way the first five minutes of the Winner’s Game is going. “I love it when a plan comes together,” she says.
Bree and I both shut up instantly.
“What do you mean?” asks Bree.
“Nothing.”
“So what if we’re a little behind,” I say. “It’s not like you have any points, Ann.”
“Oh really?” She flips open her notepad and quickly flashes a long list of tally marks.
“You didn’t say a single nice thing to either of us!” explodes Bree. “What are you giving yourself points for?”
Batting her eyelashes, she says, “For kindness. Every time you said something nice to me, I said ‘thank you’ back. I was being polite, which is one of the nicest, kindest things you can do.” She takes a long, proud breath, then quips, “We’ve barely even started, and I already know who’s going to win this week. And it’s not either of you.”
Bree and I look at each other, and then at Mom. “Can she get points for saying ‘thank you’?” asks Bree.
“Well…she was being very sweet about it.”
“Fine,” Bree mutters. “But I’m marking a negative point against her for gloating.”
“OK, Sis,” replies Ann in a sugary-sweet voice. “If that’ll make you feel better, I’ll sacrifice a point. But I don’t want to take one away from you in return…because it just wouldn’t be nice.” She smiles happily, then says, “By the way, you guys are both so cute when you fight. I know that’s really nice of me to say, but consider it a freebie.”
“Well, this isn’t going like I’d hoped,” admits Mom. “Cade, Bree, don’t count yourselves out, though. You have the whole rest of the week ahead of you. Just pace yourselves and you can get back in this thing.”
I nod, but somehow I get the feeling Mom is wrong, and that she knows she’s wrong.
Throughout the rest of the day Bree and I keep at it, going back and forth looking for things that the other person says or does that we don’t like.
To be honest, it’s actually very tiring keeping up with her constant mean looks—and even meaner words—but I do my best, right up until I go to bed.
Over breakfast the next morning I mark a point against her for slurping her cereal too loud, which I am positive she is doing on purpose just to annoy me.
After breakfast she takes one point away from me for accidentally splashing water on her while I’m rinsing my bowl.
Then I take a point from her for interrupting me when I’m talking to Mom.
She takes one from me for taking too long in the bathroom.
I subtract another from her for not saying “Excuse me” when she burps.
She subtracts one from me for farting.
And on and on…
By the end of the second day, Bree calls it quits. “It’s not working, Mom,” I hear her say in Mom’s room. “Look at me and Cade,” she continues. “I think we’re fighting even more than we did before. And I’m so far behind Ann that there’s no way I can win this stupid thing.”
“Well, what is Ann doing differently than you two? She’s been totally cheerful since the game started, and she has more reasons than the rest of us not to be.”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, let’s find out. I’m not ready to give up just yet.” A few seconds later Mom comes out of her bedroom dressed in pajamas and calls up the stairs. “Ann! Can you come down here for a second?”
Ann appears in the stairwell a minute later. “What’s up, O kind mother of mine?” she asks with a smile and that same sugary-sweet voice.
Mom smiles, shaking her head. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing. What’s up?”
“I just want to see your scorecard.”
“Why?”
“I want to see how many points you’ve taken away from Cade and Bree.”
Ann smiles again and hands her the notebook. Mom turns to the second page, glances up at her almost immediately, and then a little grin splits her face. “Very interesting.”
“What is?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer me directly. Instead she says, “Cade and Bree, give me your notebooks and have a seat.” She opens them one at a time and tears out the second page, then crumples up the papers and throws them on the floor. Then she motions to Ann. “Care to tell us why you didn’t give your brother or sister any negative points?”
Bree and I share a guilty look before Ann speaks. “I was planning on it, but then I saw how quickly Cade and Bree were losing points, and I saw an opportunity. It was simple math. I figured if I didn’t respond to their unkindness with more unkindness, then they can’t take points away from me, and I’ll always stay in the lead. So far so good.” She still has that goofy grin on her face.