by Chloe Taylor
“No way,” Kate said, clasping her hand over her mouth.
“Must be a coincidence,” Libby added. “It is the coolest bracelet!”
“And I saw her slipping something shiny into her desk drawer when she thought I wasn’t looking. . . . Could it have been the bracelet?” Zoey wondered. “I don’t remember her wearing a bracelet at lunch later that day.”
“Are you sure?” Libby asked.
“Pretty sure,” Zoey said. And then she remembered something else about lunch. “Oh! And after lunch she was reapplying her lip gloss, and she had the exact same brand of ‘lucky lip gloss’ that Fashionsista sent me before I appeared on Fashion Showdown. How much of a coincidence is that?!”
“I think it’s too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence,” Kate said.
“Could Daphne and Fashionsista be the same person?” Zoey asked. “How cool would it be if my fashion idol and my fashion fairy godmother were both Daphne Shaw? It would be the perfect ending for my perfect summer.”
“A fashion fairy tale ending!” Kate giggled. “But Daphne is even better than a prince.”
Zoey giggled too. “Well, a prince would be pretty nice too.”
“I . . . well, I don’t want to burst your bubble,” Libby chimed in. “But couldn’t Daphne and Zoey just have the same bracelet and lip gloss? Daphne could have read about it on your blog or a magazine. I bet she has dozens of lip glosses and bracelets, like my aunt. People who work in fashion get a lot of freebies.”
“But why would she take off the bracelet when I got to the office?” Zoey asked.
“I don’t know,” Libby said. “Maybe she was allergic to it. My mom gets itchy from some kinds of jewelry.”
“I guess that’s possible,” Zoey said.
“And why would she go to so much trouble to keep it all a secret?” Libby continued. “I just don’t get it.”
Zoey shrugged. “I have no idea, but—” She was interrupted by the jingle of the bell on the salon door.
“Oh, look, Priti’s here!” Kate said.
“Hi, Priti!” Libby said. “Welcome back!”
But Priti looked awful; her face was pale and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, as if she’d been doing a lot of crying.
“Is everything okay?” Zoey asked.
“No,” Priti said, her eyes filling with tears. “Everything isn’t okay. It might never be okay again. The whole summer at camp was a waste. My parents are getting a . . . a divorce!”
“Oh no!” Kate said.
“Priti, I’m so sorry,” Libby said. “I . . . don’t what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say,” Priti said. “I feel so silly. I honestly thought they had fallen in love again. But we had a family meeting today, and they said they’d decided to split up. They arranged everything already, so there’s no going back. Dad’s moving out tomorrow. My life is over.”
Zoey felt awful that the Holbrookes were getting divorced. Priti’s life was going to change in ways none of them could imagine quite yet. But Zoey knew that as bad as things seemed, Priti’s life wasn’t totally over. They had to try to help Priti find her “glass half full” side. Since Priti’s glass was usually either filled to the brim or overflowing, it was hard for her friends to see her feeling so down.
“I know it feels like it’s over, Priti,” Zoey said. “And I guess the part where the Holbrooke family all lives together in the same house will be over. But your life isn’t over. It’s just going to be . . . different.”
“That’s true,” Kate said. “Lots of kids at school have parents who are divorced, and they’re okay. They just . . . you know, have visitation schedules and spend one vacation with their dad and the other with their mom and get extra presents on their birthday.”
“Maybe it’s like when you move to a totally new place, like I did,” Libby said. “You have to find your new normal.”
“But I don’t want a new normal,” Priti wailed. “I like my old normal.”
Zoey, Libby, and Kate exchanged worried glances.
“I guess things will change, but not completely. Your parents might not be together, but they love you as much as always. That won’t ever change,” Zoey reminded her friend.
“And we’ll be here for you, too, always. That won’t change either,” Libby said, handing Priti some tissues to dry her eyes.
“Hey, I have an idea!” Kate said, going to pick out a different nail polish: a sparkly silver color. “Let’s all get our toes painted in this color. Maybe when you see it, it’ll remind you to hang on to your Priti sparkliness until things get better.”
Priti wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and nodded.
“You know, you are Priti sparkly,” Zoey said. “Get it? Pretty sparkly?”
Kate and Libby laughed, and Priti gave them a watery smile. “Yeah,” Priti said. “But even if I can’t feel sparkly all the time, I know I have the best besties around to help me get through this.”
The girls all stood up and hugged Priti tightly in a group hug, and Priti took a few deep breaths and began to calm down. She plopped down in a pedicure chair next to her friends, and they all had their toes painted with silver sparkles—a nail polish that looked like Priti’s usual personality in a bottle.
Zoey thought back to some of her sewing challenges over the past few months. None of them seemed as big or as difficult as what Priti was going through.
If only making Priti feel better was as easy sewing up a ripped seam, Zoey thought.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t like that. There weren’t always the fairy tale endings that Priti, Zoey, Kate, and Libby hoped for. But at least the four best friends had one another. And that was knot too shabby.
All’s well that mends well! Turn the page for a sneak peek at the next book in the Sew Zoey series:
SWATCH
OUT!
It’s a Mystery!
You have NO idea how excited I am to be blogging again! After six weeks away at camp, being able to just pick up my laptop and blog whenever I want to feels AMAZING!
School’s starting pretty soon, but there’s enough summer left for a few small adventures, right? And even though my top priority is to be a good friend to one of my besties who really needs me at the moment, I’ve also got a mystery to solve. A fashion mystery. That’s right! I think I’ve figured out the identity of my longtime “mysterious benefactor,” Fashionsista. I’m still not sure how I feel about finding out for SURE who she is. After all, there’s something pretty awesome about having a secret friend who sends you amazing gifts! But I think it’s time. So, Fashionsista, if you’re reading this, check your mailbox for a letter from me. I’ll be mailing it to you just as soon as I get the courage to put it in the mailbox. . . . At least, I think it’ll be to you!
And in honor of the potential unmasking of my secret friend, I’ve posted a sketch of a masquerade outfit. . . . isn’t it dramatic? Probably too much for the first day of school, though, right?
Zoey Webber was having a blast. It had been way too long since she’d spent a lazy afternoon at the community pool with friends, and she’d even been lucky enough to get a ride there from her older brother, Marcus, who was working as a lifeguard for the summer.
Zoey and her friends Priti Holbrooke and Libby Flynn had found three lounge chairs near the diving well, and they were stretched out chatting. Libby was filling Priti and Zoey in on the details of her ballet camp after Priti and Zoey shared stories from their six weeks at sleepaway camp. The only thing that could have made the afternoon better was if their other friend, Kate Mackey, could have been there too. But she was at preseason swim camp for another week.
“Guys, I have to tell you something,” Zoey whispered. The girls leaned in closer, sensing a secret coming. “My brother is seriously losing it.”
Priti and Libby both swiveled their eyes toward Marcus, who was perched on the lifeguard stand by the lap lanes. He wore sunglasses and a visor, and he appeared to be watching some young kids in the shallow end.
Priti squinted. “He looks fine to me, Zoey. What do you mean?”
Zoey blew out a breath that made her bangs fly up in the air. “I mean, he’s in total la-la land over my friend Allie. They’ve been dating all summer, and he’s completely spacey all the time! I asked him to put my pool bag in the car this morning, when we were leaving, and instead of putting it in the car, he put it back up in my room. I was in the kitchen, so I didn’t notice, and then halfway to the pool I realized it wasn’t in the backseat! So now I don’t have clothes to wear to meet Kate for ice cream later.”
“Ah-HA! So that’s why you texted me to bring an extra towel.” Priti laughed loudly. “I figured you’d been sketching and just forgot to pack your stuff.”
Zoey laughed too. “Well, I’m not saying that would never happen, but it didn’t today. Allie called him right as we were leaving, and he got all distracted. And he’s making my dad nuts because he’s always texting with Allie during dinner.”
“My parents hate that,” Libby said. “I have to leave my phone up in my room during dinner. They like meals to be for family conversation only.”
At the word “family,” Zoey noticed a shadow cross Priti’s face. Priti’s parents had just recently decided to divorce, and Zoey knew how hard Priti was taking it.
“You okay, Priti?” Zoey asked. Priti was normally the life of any party, louder and more cheerful and zanier than anyone else. But since she’d gotten the news from her parents, she’d been subdued.
Priti nodded, but her shoulders wiggled up and down too, so it was more of a shrug than a nod, and seemed to mean, Sorta, but not really.
“It’s just so weird,” Priti said. “I came home from camp, and my dad moved out, and now it’s just me and Mom and my sisters at home. It was so fast! Like, blink—no more Dad.”
Priti was sitting in the middle of the three girls, and without a word, Libby and Zoey leaned toward her and squashed her with a hug. It was a Priti sandwich, and after a few seconds, Priti had to burst out laughing.
Zoey pulled back and smiled. “We knew that was in there somewhere! Should we sandwich you again?”
Priti held up a hand. “No, please! Just change the subject. I’m fine as long as you guys keep talking.” She turned to Libby and patted her leg. “What’s new with you, Libs? Tell me everything. Pirouettes, pliés?”
Libby—who was normally the sweet, easygoing one—surprised the girls by saying, “Well, actually, my little sister is driving me bonkers.”
“You mean Sophie?” Zoey cocked her head, curiously. Sophie was little, only about six years old, and the girls hardly ever saw her. With the age difference, and Sophie still being in elementary school, their schedules just didn’t intersect.
Libby nodded guiltily. “I feel terrible even saying it. But Sophie’s really sensitive—like me, but even more so—and she cries all the time. I try to be understanding and help her, but she gets upset about literally everything. And we’ve been home together so much this summer!”
Priti grabbed Libby’s hand sympathetically. “Just because you’re sisters doesn’t mean you have to like each other all the time! My older sisters drive me bonkers, too, and they’re way past the crying phase. I think that’s just how siblings are.”
Zoey wanted to chime in too, but Marcus didn’t really drive Zoey bonkers. He was a pretty great brother, actually. Although he had been pretty dopey for putting her pool bag back up in her room. But since he’d also given her a ride, and had been nice enough to agree to take her to meet Kate later, she decided it was a draw. He was still a good brother.
Libby sighed. “I know this sounds crazy, but I’m pretty excited for school to start in a few weeks, so I won’t be home as much. Even homework seems better than calming Sophie down from yet another tantrum!”
The girls laughed, and Priti nodded. “I’m ready for school too. I need to get out of my house and stop thinking about my family problems!”
“Do you know what I’m looking forward to?” Zoey added. “Tomorrow night’s Cody Calloway concert . . .”
CHLOE TAYLOR learned to sew when she was a little girl. She loved watching her grandmother Louise turn a scrap of blue fabric into a simple-but-fabulous dress, nightgown, or even a bathing suit in an instant. It was magical! Now that she’s grown up, she still loves fashion: it’s like art that you can wear. This is her first middle grade series. She lives, writes, and window-shops in New York City.
NANCY ZHANG is an illustrator and an art and fashion lover with a passion for all beautiful things. She has published her work in the art books L’Oiseau Rouge and Street Impressions and in various fashion magazines and on websites. Visit her at her blog: www.xiaoxizhang.com. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
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SIMON SPOTLIGHT
Simon & Schuster, New York
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authors.simonandschuster.com/Nancy-Zhang
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2014 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Text by Sarah Darer Littman
Designed by Laura Roode
Jacket design by Laura Roode
Jacket illustrations by Simon and Schuster, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-4814-1398-5 (pb)
ISBN 978-1-4814-1399-2 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-1400-5 (eBook)
The Library of Congress has catalogued this title.