Times Squared

by Julia DeVillers

  “Will somebody please tell me what is going on?” Tess demanded, taking a bite of pretzel.

  “It’s nothing,” Nick said. “I just thought . . . well, I totally misunderstood a situation.” Nick did not look at either of us. He looked—sad.

  Maybe if I talked about the Ferris wheel deal, I could figure out why.

  “So,” I began, “here’s my problem.”

  “If it’s math-related, I can’t help you,” Nick said. He had yellow mustard on his cheek. I did not get the pretzel/mustard combination, but whatever.

  “No,” I sighed. “You’re actually part of the problem. You two know that Payton and I switched places by accident, right?”

  They both nodded. Boy, it was weird to be talking about twin switching with someone other than Payton, but Tess and Nick had told me they’d known we’d traded places right away.

  Which was why Nick had looked so cozy with my twin on the Ferris wheel.

  Wait. Shouldn’t Nick be in a good mood after that ride with Payton?

  “When I accidentally got stuck in Payton’s group, Sydney noticed . . .” my voice trailed off. Sydney noticed what? I had thought Sydney and everybody had noticed Payton and Nick acting like they like liked each other. Like more than just friends.

  But now that Nick was acting weird, what was I going to say? Sydney’s telling people that it was I, Emma, who was flirting with Nick, instead of Payton, and she is going to make sure Ox finds out about it, when really it was Payton and Nick who were so happy on the Ferris wheel together . . .

  But Nick didn’t seem so happy now. This was way too confusing. If this were a math equation, it would be like (N + P) – (N + E) + (E + O) + (S + O) = (E – O) + (P – N).

  “Sydney noticed what?” Tess broke into my overthinking. “That you two switched places! Oh no, is she going to tell on you? Like Jazmine did when she busted you two the first time?”

  “No, that’s not what Sydney’s going to blab . . . ,” I started to say, but got cut off by a shriek from Mrs. Nicely.

  “Children!” she said, jumping up. “We are due at the theater in exactly six minutes! Where did the time go?” She grabbed all her bags and took off at a brisk walk.

  I noticed one of the mathletes (Russ?) check his GPS and announce: “We have eleven blocks to go. That’s one point eight three blocks per minute. Time equals distance divided by rate.”

  “We’ll make it in time if we hurry,” Katelyn(?) said. “Taking into account variables like the traffic signals and taxi aggression.”

  Reality check! Those people already had their math brains churning, while I was once again distracted by personal problems.

  “Let’s go,” I sighed, dropping my wrapper in my backpack until I could properly dispose of it. I had eaten the whole pretzel without even noticing.

  Tess, Nick, and I caught up with the rest of our group and headed full speed toward the theater. By the time we were finally there, I was out of breath—I’m a mathlete, not an athlete—and had put Nick’s grouchy face, Payton’s problems, and all evil nemeses (a.k.a. Sydney and Jazmine) out of my head.

  Ox I’d deal with later.

  Now it was back to the me I should be. Mathlete Emma. Focused Emma. Academma.

  “Hi, Payton!” a drama Gecko said to me as we joined another group at the theater entrance.

  I was too winded to correct her. By the time I’d caught my breath, I was inside the theater and following Mrs. Nicely to our seats.

  “Please turn off all electronic devices,” our chaperone announced, reading from a sign on the wall.

  My cell phone! I’d completely forgotten about it. Quickly I pulled it out of pocket number three and texted Payton. Find me! I punched in the message fourteen times so she would understand the urgency. I shut my phone down and slipped it back into its proper pocket. No one had noticed.

  Whew.

  I flopped down into a theater seat. I looked around for my twin’s group. They weren’t here yet. Good. Then Payton would still be outside and receive my text. Texts.

  Gah. This was just too much drama for an elite mathlete like me. I closed my eyes and began calculating the products of my favorite prime numbers.

  Nine

  OFF-BROADWAY THEATER

  “We are here!” Mrs. James had announced.

  Where was here? I looked up from my phone. We were at a theater! I could see the sign for the play that Burkle’s friend was going to produce!

  “A real Broadway theater!” I said.

  “Off-Broadway,” Mrs. James sniffed. “Off-off-Broadway.”

  Still! It was so cool! It wasn’t that far off Broadway for one thing!

  Brzzzzt! Brzzzzt!

  My cell phone started going crazy and interrupted me. I looked down to see fourteen text messages. Fourteen? I clicked and saw they were all from Emma!

  ?!?!?!

  “Cell phones off!” Mrs. James said to me. “Immediately! No cell phones in the theater.”

  “But—”

  She glared at me until I turned it off. We all filed into the theater. And I forgot about my cell phone.

  “I call front row!” Sydney squealed, and darted down to the front.

  “Group! Be seated,” Mrs. James said. We all followed her to the front row. I tried to go slowly but somehow I ended up stuck between Sydney and Jazmine James.

  But now I would ignore them! I was in a real Broadway theater! And who knew? Maybe I’d be an actress on a stage like that someday!

  My dreams were interrupted by an elbow in my waist.

  “There’s Ox,” Sydney said in a singsong voice.

  I saw our classmates start to enter in groups.

  “There’s Nick! There’s your twin sister,” Sydney said. “All the people in the love triangle. Oh, and you! A love square! Let the drama begin!”

  “Speaking of drama, why do the mathletes have to do this?” Jazmine whined to her mother.

  “Unfortunately, your coach thinks this is a valuable cultural experience, even with your competition tomorrow,” Mrs. James said with a sniff.

  People started sitting in the rows behind us. I tried to turn around to see Nick or Emma or Tess. I spotted Emma.

  She held her hand up in our “twin, check your text” signal. I shook my head and tilted it toward Mrs. James. My twin telepathy worked! She frowned and then shrugged. Emma sat down next to Tess.

  And on the other side of Tess sat Nick. I tried to wave at him, but he was talking to Tess. I wasn’t even sure if he would wave back, anyway.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” I turned back around as Mrs. Burkle came onto the stage. “Dramatic and Mathletic Geckos!”

  Everyone quieted down, except Reilly, who let out a “Wooot!”

  “Welcome to the theater!” Burkle said. “It is quiet now, but soon it will be filled with the sounds of glorious music and theater in the new show: Fairytale Mash-up! And I’m proud to say that this play is produced by my dear friend—Jane!”

  Everyone clapped as a woman with black hair pulled back in a bun came out onstage. She was wearing a black dress over black tights and spiky high heels.

  Glamorous!

  “We are thrilled to have the students of my dahlink Bertha Burkle with us today!” Jane said. “Hello, dah-links!”

  “Bertha?” Sam snorted.

  “Producing my new play, Fairytale Mash-up, is a dream come true!” Jane said. “I remember when I had the seed of the idea: What if the stories of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White were mixed up together?”

  Everyone was like, Ooh! Cool!

  “You will have the privilege of seeing our show premiere tomorrow,” Jane continued. “But we have a special treat for you today.”

  “Treat, shmeet. I can’t believe we have to use our math competition study time for this little play,” Jazmine sniffed, just like her mother.

  “A show this close to Broadway in New York City is not a little play,” Sydney said, leaning over me and putting her hand
on her hip. “This is a big deal.”

  I could actually agree with Sydney for a change.

  “Yeah,” I said to Jasmine. “We get to go behind the scenes and see how the show is made. We might even get to meet the actors!”

  Maybe even the stars!!!

  “And now . . . for a special appearance: introducing the stars of Fairytale Mash-up!”

  We all were like, Yeah!! Woot!

  “That’s so cool!” Sydney squealed. “The stars!”

  “Our leading lady, Zoe-Marguerite!” Jane announced.

  A woman came out onstage and blew kisses to the audience. We clapped and clapped.

  “Our leading man, who will be playing Prince Charming, Rohan!” Jane said.

  “And last, but not least, introducing our ingenue,” Jane said, “a talented young lady who is soon to be a star!”

  We clapped as a girl with blond hair walked out onstage and curtsied. And blew kisses. And—

  Ashlynn . . . Ashlynn? Ashlynn! From my bunk at summer camp? From New York City? She was the star of the show we were seeing? The girl who called me Summer Slave all summer as I did chores in exchange for her clothes? The clothes I was wearing right now?

  Oh no. I scrunched down in my seat. I covered up my face—and my super-cute black T-shirt with the sparkles, which I had gotten after a day of scrubbing Ashlynn’s muddy sneakers.

  She couldn’t see me, right? And even if she did, she couldn’t recognize me, right? Right? I pulled my hair over my face just in case. I crossed my arms over my Summer Slave shirt.

  “What is your issue?” Sydney whispered to me.

  I didn’t respond. I didn’t want any attention called to us. Especially me. I scrunched down even farther in my seat.

  I so could not believe this. Jazmine James on my left. Sydney on my right. And in front of me, onstage, as my classmates cheered her on . . .

  Ashlynn from summer camp.

  Ten

  ANOTHER PART OF THE THEATER

  Ashlynn?

  Ashlynn from summer camp? Ashlynn, who worked on her tan while Payton worked for her in exchange for overpriced, albeit sometimes cute clothing.

  I looked over at Payton to see if she had figured it out yet. Oh yes, there she was. I could see her, but only barely, since she was scrunched down hiding the fact that she was wearing The Star’s hand-me-downs.

  Okay, it’s not funny.

  No, it is funny.

  Ha.

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  HAHAHAHAHA

  Eleven

  STILL IN THE THEATER

  “That Ashlynn is gorgeous,” Sydney sighed. “And look, she’s wearing the new TC Couture skirt that isn’t even in stores yet!”

  “She’s sooo cool,” Sydney breathed next to me.

  “She’s not so cool,” I muttered.

  I was having flashbacks of how cool she wasn’t—at least to me. Ashlynn laughing as I did her bunk chores. Ashlynn naming our bunk “Ashlynn and The Fashlynn’s Plus Payton.” Because, she explained, I couldn’t qualify as a “fashlynn” since I had no “fash.”

  That’s when I started doing chores for her clothes. Oh sure, everyone in my bunk knew I was getting her hand-me-downs. But nobody in my new middle school would know that, and it would be worth the suffering.

  “Hello, hello, children,” Ashlynn said dramatically, while standing in the spotlight on an almost-Broadway stage.

  Children?!! Oh, please. She was my age. In fact, she was two months younger than I was.

  And that’s when I heard a noise coming from the back of the theater.

  GAK! GAK! GAK!

  “Is someone choking?” Mrs. James whispered.

  Everyone started turning around to see what it was. Except me, because I knew what it was. It was Emma laughing. Well, not exactly laughing, but it was the noise she made when she was trying not to laugh. Of course, Emma must have been trying not to laugh because she recognized Ashlynn. Emma always thought it was funny/slightly insane how I let myself be treated by Ashlynn.

  Oh no! Ashlynn! Ashlynn, onstage, stopped talking and started looking out into the audience too.

  Shhhh! Emma! Don’t let Ashlynn spot you!

  Phew, my twin telepathy must have worked because the choke-laughing stopped. I could not believe I was squished between Jazmine on my left, Sydney on my right, with Ashlynn in front of me and my twin making disturbing noises behind me!

  This was an NYC nightmare!

  “As I was saying,” Ashlynn said loudly, “your Drama Club teacher asked me to do an acting exercise with you.”

  “Excuse me!” Jazmine raised her hand. “Excuse me!”

  “Yes?” Ashlynn looked over our way. I scrunched down again.

  “We’re not all Drama Club students,” Jazmine said. “Many of us have an important mathletes competition. Perhaps our time would be better served if we left now to go study.”

  Jazmine started to stand up.

  “Sit down, Ms. James!” Mrs. Burkle’s voice boomed. “This cultural experience is valuable for all Geckos. You will remain.”

  Jazmine sighed and sat back down.

  “Ha-ha,” Sydney sang under her breath.

  “I’ll share a theater exercise I learned in my exclusive acting class with world-renowned acting coach Harriet Greenspan,” Ashlynn said. “Hm, I will need some volunteers to assist me.”

  I could not have slumped down any farther without being under my seat.

  “First, the girl who already volunteered,” Ashlynn said. She pointed at Jazmine.

  “What?” Jazmine sputtered. “I didn’t volunteer.”

  “Jazmine James, go onstage!” Burkle’s voice boomed out.

  Jazmine scowled and went up the aisle to the stage.

  “Me!” Sydney started waving her hand. “Me! Me!”

  Hopefully, Ashlynn would pick Sydney, and then I’d be free of both of them.

  “Definitely the boy in the blue shirt.” Ashlynn smiled. She pointed at Reilly.

  “Ooooooh” Sam and some other guys started making kissy noises. Reilly stood up and flexed his arms.

  “And the boy in the brown.” She pointed at Ox.

  “That’s okay, I’m here with math club, not drama.” He shook his head.

  “Oh, you’re definitely leading-man material,” Ashlynn cooed. “Come on up.”

  Ergh. I sneaked a look back at Emma. She was frowning. Yeah, Ashlynn’s not so funny anymore is she, Emma?

  “She’s picking the hotties,” Sydney grumbled.

  “And I need another girl . . .” Ashlynn looked around.

  “Me!” Sydney waved her hand. “Over here!”

  “Over there . . . ,” Ashlynn said. “Okay, girl in the black shirt.”

  “I’m wearing floral.” Sydney looked confused.

  But I was wearing black. I tried to see if Ashlynn was just randomly calling me, or if she recognized me, while at the same time pretending not to hear her. La la la. Just pick someone else.

  “Girl in the cute black with the rhinestones!” Ashlynn said.

  “Oh, ick, she means you,” Sydney said to me.

  “Go up instead of me,” I muttered. “Go ahead. Now’s your chance.”

  “If you say so.” Sydney shrugged. She got up and stepped over me into the aisle. Unfortunately, the aisle was blocked by Mrs. Burkle.

  “Payton!” Mrs. Burkle said. “Your time to shine! Go on up on that stage and show your stuff!”

  This had potential to be a disaster. I turned around to catch Emma’s eye. She gave me a look. My twin telepathy could tell she was sending me sympathy thoughts fo
r the embarrassment and humilation that was to come.

  I went up onstage. Stay calm, Payton. Stay calm.

  “Hey,” I said as I walked past Ashlynn.

  “Hello,” she said.

  She didn’t recognize me! She didn’t recognize me! It must be because I look so much different now. At summer camp I was tanner and, well, the showers were gross so I often wore a ponytail.

  Wheeeewwww!

  I quickly went to the end of the line of people, as far away from Ashlynn as possible. That left me next to Ox, who looked really uncomfortable.

  “You don’t look too happy about this,” I whispered to Ox. “Me either.”

  “But you like acting,” he whispered back. “Hopefully she’ll just ask me a challenging math question and I’ll be done.”

  I looked out into the crowd. Everyone was looking at me, Ox, Reilly, and Jazmine onstage. Well, probably everyone was looking at Ashlynn. Especially the guys.

  “Time for some improv!” Ashlynn announced. “I’ll assign each of my actors a role and a scene. And when I say go, you will interact with each other based on the role.”

  “You, girl in the yellow?” Ashlynn said. “You are a witch.”

  “Excuse me?” Jazmine glared at her.

  “The Evil Witch,” Ashlynn said. “Don’t take it personally. Remember? It’s a fairy-tale mash-up. Zoe-Marguerite, our star, plays the witch.”

  Jazmine looked slightly less mad. But still suspicious.

  “You could be one of the three little pigs,” Ashlynn said. Everyone cracked up.

  “Witch is fine.” Jazmine gave her the death glare again. I thought that was a good look for her character.

  Reilly was Prince Charming.

  Ashlynn told Ox he was the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast.

  “Not that you’re beastly,” she pointed out. “But you’re big and strong.”

  Good thing I couldn’t see Emma’s face for that one!

  “And you.” Ashlynn came over and stood in front of me. “You are a servant girl.”

  Hey. And wait. A servant girl? I looked closely at Ashlynn, but she smiled back kindly.

  “In the play, the servant girl turns into Cinderella,” Ashlynn told the audience.