Hettie, whose best friend Cally has moved to California, and her brother, Mitchell, have just returned home after visiting a relative. Hettie is unpacking her bag when she notices a surprise from her mom.
1 Unlike Mitchell, who emptied the bag as fast as he could, Hettie always took her time unpacking.... She gently lifted out her old teddy bear, Cookie, and sat him on her bed leaning against a pillow. She took out the three books she was reading. She could never pick just one book, preferring, instead, to have several on the go. Finally she unpacked her school uniform and hung it in the closet.
2 Under her kilt,1 Hettie saw a magazine that she didn't remember packing. She picked it up and read the Post-it note that her mom had stuck to the cover.
3 Page 8! So Cool!
Love, Mom
...
4 Holding the magazine, Hettie hopped onto her bed and snuggled into the pillow, next to Cookie. She pushed her braids out of her face and flipped the magazine open to page eight. There was a huge ad: "DO YOU WANNA BE CALIFORNIA LEE'S BFF? Make a video telling us how much you love her and you could win a day with Pop Teen's rising star CALIFORNIA LEE!"
5 Hettie tried to see the Cally she had known through the makeup, the fancy clothes, and the magazine's airbrushing.Her eyes sparkled the same emerald green as they had in Hettie's backyard when Cally told her the big news.
6 "I got the part!" she sang out as she bounced up and down on the swing while Hettie gently glided back and forth.
7 Hettie had been excited, too.She had seen her best friend in a few plays and in commercials that played between Mitchell's cartoons....
8 Then the movie came out and Cally, now California, was busy all the time. The last time the two girls had seen each other was at Cally's birthday party. Even in her best dress and new shoes, Hettie had felt young and out of place. Half of the people at the party were grownups,and most of the other kids were actors.Big boxes wrapped in extravagant paper with massive bows covered the birthday present table. Overwhelmed and feeling shy, Hettie had taken her small gift bag and spent most of the party in the basement bathroom. No one came to look for her until her dad arrived to pick her up.
9 Cally moved to Los Angeles with her family, and Hettie stayed in Toronto.
...
10 "Bye sweetie, I love you!" her father called out as she closed the car door, her magazine tucked under her arm, her book bag over her shoulder.
11 After assuring herself that no one in the schoolyard was watching, Hettie dropped her bag on the ground, pulled out her phone, and stood in front of the kindergarten area. She was wearing her dress uniform, and she had put her braids up in a ponytail with clips that matched. She held the phone as far as she could from her face and pressed record.
12 "Hi! I'm Hettie, and here's why I'm California Lee's BFF. In kindergarten, I won a chocolate bar for my painting and I split it with you, Cally."
13 She paused the video and went inside the school and upstairs to the library.
14 "I'm your BFF because I know your favorite books are scary ones, even if they make you afraid to sleep, and that's why I bought you a flashlight for your last birthday?
15 Throughout the day, whenever she saw something that reminded her of her bubbly best friend, she added it to the video.She even stopped at the ice-cream parlor while walking Mitchell home.
16 "I'm your BFF because I know that you like Gummy Ripple, but you hate that it turns your tongue blue?
17 Finally, at home by the swing set, Hettie recorded the last part of her video. "I'm your BFF because I'm so happy you got to go to LA and be on TV." She turned off her phone and went back inside.
18 That night, instead of working on her English essay,she edited her video.... [S]he watched it one more time and then sent it to the email address in the magazine. Tired, she brushed her teeth and crawled into bed.She snuggled Cookie and wondered how long it would take before she heard back from Cally.
19 "Mitchell!" she shouted down the stairs, trying to be heard over the TV. "Come and unpack the bag!"
20 "Hey, Hettie! Cally is on TV again!"
21 She ran downstairs so fast she almost stumbled down the last three. Hettle read the words flashing on the screen: California Lee and Pop Teen Contest Winner!
22 The girl with Cally looked at least two years younger than Hettie and was holding a Rock Club CaIly doll. Cally, looking a little bored, patted the girl's arm."It's nice to know I have a big fan like Amanda to be my BFF for the day? She smiled her TV smile.
23 "See?" Mitchell poked his sister.
24 Hettie's chest felt tight and her mind raced. When was the contest announcement? Had it been a month already? She pulled out her phone and checked her email: Message from California Lee. She clicked it eagerly:
25 Hey Superfans!
Thanks for entering my contest. Sorry
there can only be one winner, but
you're all still my BFFs! Make sure to
buy the novelization of Rock Club and
to watch for my concert tour, starting soon!
The events in paragraphs 12-17 help develop the plot by illustrating Hettie's efforts to connect with Cally despite the distance between them. In these paragraphs, Hettie records a video to express her friendship with Cally and reminisce about their shared memories. This directly ties to the theme of longing and connection as she tries to submit her entry for the contest to be Cally’s BFF, thereby emphasizing her feelings of friendship and desire for recognition from Cally.
The best answer is:
C. They include the climax by building suspense about who will win the magazine contest.
This option best reflects the rising tension as Hettie goes through the process of creating and submitting her video in hopes of winning the contest and reconnecting with her best friend.
