Caylee sniffled. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “My dad made me go shopping on Rodeo Drive yesterday.”
She’d been shopping on Rodeo Drive and she was crying? “Oh my gosh! I would so die to be taken shopping there.”
Caylee gave her a sour look. “He brought his new you-know-what.”
“Oh.”
“Like I even care about expensive clothes.”
Cleo swallowed. “Yeah.” They were quiet the rest of the way.
Once they got to school, Caylee had more to share. “So, there’s more bad news — I just didn’t want to say it in the car.”
Cleo spotted Tessa crossing the street. She grabbed Caylee’s arm. “Can it wait? Customer — two o’clock.” She raised her eyebrows and motioned with her head in the direction of their friend.
Caylee’s forehead bunched and her eyes got all blinky. Cleo didn’t have time to deliberate. “Tessa!” she shouted, and waved. Were her loose teeth still in her mouth? If so, Cleo was going to offer to pull them, right then and there. Tessa could pay her later, if necessary. Her friend waved back but then stopped to wait for Steffy, who was coming along the sidewalk.
Cole Lewis walked up. “Where were you Saturday? I came at one and you weren’t there.”
“Ohhh.” Cleo stalled. She glanced at Caylee, who stood there looking flustered. What was the big deal? He was just a boy. “I had a little . . . problem. We had to close early.”
“Oh. Okay.” He was about to walk away. She could feel it. “Funny video, though,” he said, turning to leave.
“Wait a second.” She grabbed him. He looked down at her hand squeezing his arm. “Sorry,” she said, laughing a little. She let go.
He brushed off his sleeve with the tops of his fingers.
Cleo regained her composure. “I can do it now. Before school starts.” She looked around the playground for a good spot. A spot where the recess monitor wouldn’t see them. “Behind the portable!” she exclaimed.
Cole looked startled. “Wow. You don’t mess around, do you?”
No, she didn’t. Not when she had a chance to clean up her PR mess. If Big Man of the Classroom Cole Lewis used her service, loads of kids would be lining up to do the same. She’d be back in business for sure!
Caylee pulled her off to the side. “Did you bring the Nerf gun to school?” she whispered urgently.
“It’s okay,” Cleo whispered back. How had she managed to surround herself with such worrywarts? She held up her pointer finger to Cole and mouthed the words, “Just a sec.”
“It’s just one extraction, Jelly. It’ll be super quick. No one will even see us.”
“Cleo, you can’t. You can get in serious trouble.”
Cole had his arms crossed. “Excuse me, are you done with your little meeting?”
Cleo hurried back to her customer. Caylee huffed and walked in the opposite direction. “I won’t be able to video it,” Cleo said.
“I don’t care.”
“Do you have a dollar?”
“Fifty cents.”
“Fifty cents!”
“That’s all I’ve got. Milk money.”
Cleo pursed her lips. “Okay. Fifty cents. And you become my company’s official spokesperson.”
Cole stroked his chin. “You got a deal.” He stuck out his hand and they shook. “The first person I’m going to send your way is my sister. She’s driving my family nuts with all her whining.” He jumped around on his toes, flapping his hands and making his voice go high. “ ‘Ooo, ooo, my tooth! I can’t eat! I can’t brush my teeth!’ ” He put his hands on his cheeks and pulled down, exposing the pink skin inside his lower eyelids. “ ‘It hu-u-u-rts.’ ”
Cleo laughed at his impersonation of Lexie. She was about to suggest they go do business when Tessa and Steffy walked up. “Oh my gosh, Cleo. Are you all right?” Tessa asked.
“You were so sick!” Steffy added.
“I’m fine. Thanks for, uh, asking.” She smiled nervously at Cole, who looked at her suspiciously. “Tessa! Do you still have your canines?”
“Yeah. I was hoping you’d pull them out for me.”
“Perfect! Follow me!” Cleo bounded toward the portable. As soon as they were out of sight of everyone on the playground, she put her pack on the ground, got a missile ready, and loaded her Extractor Extraordinaire!™. “You can pay me later, Tessa,” she told her friend.
Within a matter of minutes, she had sent three teeth flying. Afterward, Cole gave Tessa a fist bump. “You are one tough girl,” he said. She grinned, wads of gauze stuffed in her holes. The whistle blew.
Cole gave Cleo a fist bump too. She held open her hand. “I think you owe me something else as well.”
“I was going to give it to you!” he said, reaching into his pocket. He placed two quarters on her palm.
“Oh! And I have something for you too.” She opened the bag of cookies. “My mom offered them as a gift to my customers.”
Tessa just squinted and said, “No thanks.” Steffy also declined.
“I’ll have one,” Cole said. “I never turn down cookies.” He took a bite. His face contorted and he spit it out. “Don’t give these to your customers. They won’t come back!”
Steffy and Tessa nodded, their faces apologetic.
Cole dropped the cookie on the ground. “Maybe a squirrel or bird will want it. But I doubt it.”
Poor Mom. Back to the drawing board for her.
As soon as they got into their room, Cole started grandstanding about the hole in his mouth. He paraded around, holding up his molar. “Yes, I am a proud client of Cleo’s Quick and Painless Tooth-Pulling —”
“Removal,” Cleo corrected.
“Huh?” Cole looked confused.
“It’s Cleo’s Quick and Painless Tooth Removal Service.”
“Oh. Right. Anyway, it was quick, but it hurt like crazy!” He held his cheek. “It’s still throbbing. Ow.”
Cleo glared at him.
“Just joking. I barely felt a thing!” He chortled. A real comedian, that kid.
“When did you pull his tooth?” Jimmy asked.
Cleo glanced at Caylee. She looked away.
“I thought you’d shut down your business after you lost your lunch on the sidewalk.” Jimmy laughed. Several kids groaned.
Mr. Boring’s duck call quacked. “Okay, okay. That’s enough. So, Cleo, I’ve been wondering all weekend, how’d it go?”
“She had to take a sick day!” Jimmy called out.
“Jimmy . . . ,” Mr. Boring warned.
Cleo lifted her chin. “It’s true. But I’m back in business. Tessa is another of my satisfied customers.”
Tessa grinned, showing off two big gaps. Cleo’s stock was on the rise again.
Cleo had to chase Caylee down at first recess. She found her at the tetherball pole, waiting to play either Tessa or Lexie Lewis, depending on who won. She elbowed Caylee. “I told you it would be okay.” Caylee didn’t return her smile.
Lexie pounded the ball, around and around.
“You’re really good at that!” Cleo shouted above the sounds of the game. Whap! Whizzzz. Clang!
“Thanks, LeSnore!” Whap! Whizzzz. Clang!
Cleo didn’t have time to get mad. She was working Fortune Principle Number Seven: Compliments win customers. She hadn’t forgotten her goal of winning Lexie Lewis’s business. And now she knew for a fact that she did have a loose tooth in that big mouth of hers.
The last of the rope coiled around the pole. “Tether!” Lexie looked at Cleo out of the corner of her eye. “You playing?” It sounded like a challenge.
“Caylee was here first.”
Lexie unwound the ball. Caylee took Tessa’s spot. Lexie served the ball above Caylee’s head and it wrapped around the pole — one — around again — two — Lexie slapped it — three . . . If Caylee didn’t get the ball soon, she would be through. Lexie l
ost her balance, and Caylee whacked it back. Boom! Around again. Boom!
Cleo had never seen her best friend go after a ball like that. Caylee scowled and pounded the ball — Boom! She was like a heavyweight boxer hitting someone she really didn’t like.
“Time out!” Lexie called. She reached down as if she’d dropped something on the ground. Just as she stood, Caylee hammered the ball again — double fisted. The ball smashed right into Lexie’s face!
“Owwww!” Lexie’s hands flew to her face.
“Oh no!” Caylee cried. “I’m so sorry!”
“I have an audition for a TV commercial tomorrow!” Lexie screeched from behind her hands.
“I didn’t mean to —” Caylee rushed over. She reached out but Lexie shrugged her off.
“If you broke my nose, I’ll . . . I’ll have my dad sue your dad!”
Caylee looked at her blankly.
“It’s going to be swollen! I can tell! If I don’t get that part, it’ll be your fault.”
“You should get the part.” Cleo crossed her arms. “Because you sure know how to act.”
“Butt out, LeSnore!”
“She didn’t even hit you that hard.”
Lexie lowered her hands, peering into them. Was she looking for a tooth? Fortune Principle Number Five popped into Cleo’s head: A visionary sees opportunities everywhere — especially in crises. This crisis was a perfect opportunity! “Is your mouth okay?” she asked.
“I think it’s bleeding,” Lexie moaned.
Cleo got closer. “Let me look.”
Lexie eyed her cautiously.
“It’s okay. I know first aid.”
Lexie opened her mouth. Cleo had to stand on her toes to see inside. “There’s some blood around one of your teeth. I think it might be loose.”
Lexie held her cheek and groaned.
“A loose tooth. Hmmm . . .” Cleo tapped her lips with her finger, then held the finger in the air. “I know just the place you could go to have it removed. Tessa has used our service with stunning results. Am I right, Tessa?”
Tessa bared her teeth, revealing her gaps.
“No!” Lexie started toward the building. “I’m not going to use your stupid business.”
Cleo caught up with her. “My business is not stupid. It really works! I’m offering a special — today only. Fifty cents a tooth!”
Lexie kept walking. Cleo stayed with her. “Just give it a try!” She grabbed Lexie’s arm.
“Get your hands off me, you freak.”
“I am not a freak!”
“Why else would your mom give you away?” She tossed the question over her shoulder, lightly, as if she were talking about clothes that had gotten too small.
Her words hit Cleo like a sucker punch to the gut. Anger twisted her insides like a tornado. She lashed out with her fists, not even sure who or what she was hitting. The tornado had control of her arms and legs. She would claw and kick and punch until all of the anger and hurt were gone. But the more she hit, the worse she felt.
Someone screamed. It might have been herself. Or was it Lexie? Maybe it was the blur of kids who had come around. She felt a firm grip on her elbow, heard Mr. Boring’s voice in her ear. “Calm down, Cleo.”
She breathed as hard as if she’d just run laps with Dad’s soccer team. Her knuckles hurt.
Lexie sat on the ground, sobbing, her face in her hands.
Cole crouched at his sister’s side. Another teacher was there, helping her up.
Lexie cried out. “My tooth! It’s gone! She knocked my tooth out!”
Everyone stared. A few kids started looking around on the ground. Micah Mitchell shouted, “Here it is!” and handed the tooth to Lexie. She glared at Cleo as the teacher led her away.
“It was already loose,” Cleo pleaded to Mr. Boring. She needed her teacher to understand. He said they needed to go to the office.
She looked around for Caylee, but Caylee stayed where she was, in a huddle of girls, only once glancing in Cleo’s direction.
“Hey!” Cole trotted up. “I know my sister can be a pain, but you didn’t have to go all MMA on her.”
Cleo tried to say “sorry,” but she was afraid she might cry.
Mr. Boring looked serious. He nudged her forward. “Come on, Cleo. Let’s get inside.”
It suddenly dawned on Cleo. She was in a lot of trouble.
She spent the rest of the morning in the office, first waiting until Lexie had seen the nurse, then sitting in front of Principal Yu, talking about what had happened.
“My dad is a lawyer. He’ll sue you for damages,” Lexie threatened. She had suddenly gained a lisp, as if her tongue didn’t know what to do with the new gap in her mouth.
“Hold on, now.” Principal Yu leaned forward in his chair. “Nurse Bishara said she didn’t see any injuries — just your tooth, which I’ve been told was loose already.”
Thank you, Mr. Boring.
“So. Girls. What happened out there?” Mr. Yu pushed his black-rimmed glasses farther up on his nose.
“She attacked me!”
“Cleo, do New Heights Eagles use hitting to solve problems?” He stared at Cleo, unblinking. Cleo felt herself getting warmer, as if Principal Yu’s gaze had fire-starting power.
“No, Mr. Yu.” She kept her eyes on her lap, wishing he would stop staring at her.
“No, they don’t. New Heights Eagles talk it out. And if it’s too big a problem to resolve on their own, they get an adult.”
Lexie crossed her arms. “She was pestering me to use her tooth-pulling business.” She moved like a bobble-head toy, her head swiveling on her neck as she spoke. “She pulls teeth with a Nerf gun. She did it to my brother before school — behind the portable. She’s obsessed!”
Principal Yu’s eyebrows rose. “A Nerf gun? Behind the portable?”
Meat loaf and McDonald’s.
“Actually . . .” Cleo needed to speak up before Lexie Lewis had her convicted and on her way to jail — or rather, suspension. “It was for a class project — my Passion Project!”
“Your passion is pulling teeth?” Mr. Yu looked at her over the top of his glasses.
“No!” Cleo laughed. Silly Principal Yu. “Starting businesses! I got the idea for a tooth removal service when one of my friends was afraid to pull her own teeth. I have an ad on YouTube if you want to see.” Cleo leaned forward excitedly.
Mr. Yu pushed back his chair. “Maybe later. Please stay here, ladies.” He left his office.
Lexie Lewis smiled smugly.
Cleo drummed her fingers on her thighs. Was she in trouble for the Nerf gun, or not?
A few minutes later, Mr. Yu came back with Mr. Boring. Cleo’s heart sank.
Mr. Boring took the seat next to Cleo. “Cleo, did you bring a Nerf gun to school?” His eyes were kind, but she knew the answer would seriously disappoint him.
She looked at her hands in her lap. “Yes, Mr. Boring.” Her head snapped up. “But I wasn’t playing with it. And I wasn’t hurting anyone. I just” — she glanced at Principal Yu — “pulled a few loose teeth, that’s all.”
Principal Yu sucked in his breath. “I’m sorry, Miss Oliver, but between initiating a fight with Miss Lewis —”
She’s the one who started it! Cleo wanted to shout.
“— and bringing a gun to school —”
“Not a gun, Mr. Yu. My Extractor Extraordinaire (trademark)!”
Lexie scoffed under her breath.
“— and bringing a gun to school, I’m going to have to send you home for the day as a consequence of your poor choices.”
“Mr. Yu,” Mr. Boring spoke, “if I may interject for just a moment, do we know what prompted the, uh, outburst?” He turned to Cleo. “Why did you hit Lexie?”
Cleo’s palms were suddenly clammy. Her heart beat so hard it shook her chest. She needed to get away. To go home.
Principal Yu turned to her. “Miss Oliver?”
Telling Mr. Yu what Lexie had said would be like Barkley exposing his belly. He only did that with family.
“Miss Oliver?”
She couldn’t repeat the words. “She was making fun of me because I’m adopted.”
Principal Yu cleared his throat. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” His blowtorch gaze landed squarely on Lexie. “Miss Lewis, is being adopted something to make fun of?”
Lexie huffed. “I guess not.”
“You guess not?” His face was turning red.
“No, it’s not.”
“Girls, I’ll be talking to your parents and teachers about further actions in light of today’s incident. Now, you need to apologize to each other.”
Apologizing was surely the last thing in the world that Cleo wanted to do, but she knew there was no escaping it. “I’m . . . sorry.” The words came out pinched and tight, like money being pulled from a miserly person’s hand.
Lexie barely glanced at her. “Sorry.” She said it like a knife jab.
Mr. Yu pushed up his glasses again. “Miss Lewis, please return to class.”
Lexie put her hand to her mouth and winced in pain. She gave a little sob, then sulked from the room, an excellent performance.
“Miss Oliver, will one of your parents be able to pick you up?” Mr. Yu asked.
Cleo gasped. “I still have to go home?” She’d thought what she’d told him about Lexie would change his mind.
He nodded once.
“My mom,” she said, avoiding Mr. Boring’s gaze.
“I’ll call now. You may wait in the main office.” He and Mr. Boring exchanged glances. “Thank you, Mr. Boring.”
Mr. Boring’s name suddenly struck Cleo as funny. Coming from Mr. Yu’s serious mouth it was hilarious. Hysterical. Hilaristerical. She couldn’t stop giggling.
Mr. Boring led her to the row of chairs along the front window. He sat next to her. “What’s so funny?”
She looked up at him. “Your name!” She sputtered and laughed some more.
Thankfully, Mr. B was laughing with her. “Your tooth-pulling method is brilliant, by the way.”
“Thanks, Mr. B, but I have a feeling I won’t be using it again anytime soon.” If only she hadn’t gotten so worked up about Lexie’s stupid words, maybe she wouldn’t be unemployed.
Cleo Edison Oliver, Playground Millionaire Page 8