Peppermint Cocoa Crushes

by Laney Nielson

  “Wow. Thanks.”

  After I paid, I sat back down with Mira and Anna.

  “Fancy.” Mira dipped her finger into the whipped cream rising up from my mug. “Crushed candy canes. Nice touch.” She licked her finger. “I told you we should’ve ordered it,” she said to Anna. “But nooo, you didn’t want to try something new. Only basic hot chocolate for you.”

  I laughed. Sometimes the two of them reminded me more of squabbling siblings than the best friends they were. Then I took a sip.

  Yum.

  The peppermint and the chocolate were perfect together.

  “Sash, you need to help me decide what to do for the Holidaze Spectacular. Because she’s been zero help.” Anna pointed at Mira and stuck out her tongue.

  “What?” I asked. “I thought you were going to dance.”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking … with you, Kevin, and Karly dancing, I might stand out more if I did something else.”

  “You should play the piano,” I said. Truth was, Anna was a great dancer, but she was an even better pianist.

  “That’s what I said.” Mira leaned back in her chair.

  “Yeah.” Anna turned toward Mira. “That’s what you said after you told me to juggle, do stand-up comedy, and perform a cheer routine.”

  “No cheer routine.” I shook my head, my ponytail swinging behind me. “Play the piano. You’ll be awesome. But not too awesome, I hope,” I said, smiling, and then drinking more of the sweet cocoa. My toes started to warm up.

  “Mira’s doing a new spoken word poem.”

  “That’s great.” I turned toward Mira, who gave me an exaggerated thumbs-up.

  “We’re not expecting to win,” Anna said. “We just want to have fun.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Mira swatted Anna’s hand. “How’s your routine coming, Sasha?”

  “Pretty good. We just started working on it.”

  “Hey.” Mira leaned forward. “What do you think about Karly’s crush?”

  “She told you?” What happened to Karly being all secretive about it?

  “Yeah, she called me. She wanted to know if she should text him ‘Happy Thanksgiving.’”

  “She called you?” She’d only texted me.

  “Yeah, I guess she wanted to talk to someone with experience.”

  “Seriously?” Anna rolled her eyes. “Going out with Ben for two days in sixth grade doesn’t exactly qualify you as a relationship expert.”

  “Whatever.” Mira turned toward me. “They’d make a cute couple, don’t you think?”

  “I guess.” I took another sip.

  “Anywho.” Anna smiled at me. “Who do you like?”

  “Uh.” I put the mug down and shook my head.

  “You’re keeping it secret, aren’t you?” She smiled. “Good idea.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mira said. “Sasha doesn’t have time for boys.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I crunched on a piece of candy cane. I was not going to share my thoughts about Kevin. Not yet.

  Just then Mira’s cell phone rang, playing “Jingle Bells.” Anna grabbed hers too—they were always changing their ringtones to be the same tune.

  With a spoon, I swiped the whipped cream off the top of my cocoa. Mira talked to her mom on the phone, and Anna checked her texts.

  “Gotta go.” Mira stood up. “My cousins don’t leave until tomorrow. And Mom says they’re climbing the walls without me to play with. I can’t believe I used to beg my parents to have another kid.” She zipped up her coat. “It’s only been four days, and I’m so over it.”

  “I’ve got to go, too.” Anna slipped her phone into her coat pocket. “Last family dinner before my grandmother leaves.”

  The bells on the door jangled as Mira and Anna left the store. I took another sip and then picked up my phone. There was a snap from Kevin—a photo of his half-eaten dinner. I took a photo of the inside of my mug—an inch of cocoa left with a few specks of crushed candy canes. If the Halls were already eating dinner, it meant I should get going.

  After I grabbed a quart of milk from the case, I headed over to Mr. Sugarman, who stood behind his old-fashioned cash register. “How’s life treating you, Sasha?” He punched a few of the rounded keys.

  “Pretty good.” I zipped up my coat.

  Mr. Sugarman handed me the bagged milk. “Stay warm out there.”

  “Thanks!” I headed toward the door.

  “Wait up!” Pete called.

  When I turned around, he was walking over to me, holding my mittens.

  “Here you go.” He handed them to me. “They were on the table.”

  “Thanks,” I said, putting them on. “It’s cold out there.”

  “Yeah. They’re predicting a really cold December.” Pete started to turn away from me.

  “Hey, the Community Service Club is organizing a hat and mitten drive for the holidays. You could help. I mean, uh, if you want to. We could use help,” I said, suddenly feeling very warm.

  He wiped his hands on his apron. “Sure.”

  “Great!” I said, then started babbling. “Of course, I’m even more excited for the Holidaze Spectacular, which is going to be awesome. The first meeting for that is tomorrow.” I pulled at the collar of my coat. “You should come, if you’re interested.”

  “Performing’s not really my thing.” He shuffled his feet. A dusting of flour, or maybe it was powdered sugar, coated his sneakers.

  “There’s other stuff involved besides just performing.” I unzipped my coat. “Tech. Backstage help …”

  “Okay, maybe. I need to check my game schedule.” He looked down, then up at me. “Have you studied for the math quiz?”

  “Is that tomorrow?” I was surprised. I never forgot tests or assignments. My color-coded weekly planner pretty much guaranteed I stayed on top of everything.

  “Mrs. Giberga postponed it a few times, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s tomorrow.”

  “It’s all the geometry terms from chapter ten, right?”

  “Yup.” He looked down at his apron again. “I made some flashcards on QuizTime. If you want, you could use them to study.”

  “That would be great, actually. Thanks!” I turned toward the door. “Tests the first day back after vacation should be against the law or something. Don’t you think?”

  Pete laughed. I opened the door, making the bells jangle. I smiled.

  Chapter Four

  THE CLUES

  “Thanks for picking up the milk,” Mom said as I hung up my coat. She sat at the dining room table, the same place she’d been when I left. Only one thing had changed: Her stacks of books and papers had multiplied. “Did you have fun?”

  “It was good. We worked on our routine.” I put the milk in the fridge and opened the freezer. “What’s for dinner?” I asked, checking out our selection of frozen entrees: veggie pizza, mac and cheese, and corn dogs. Hmm …

  “How about French toast?” Mom stood up, stretching her arms over her head and clasping her hands. “I think there’s some bacon in the fridge, too.” She leaned to one side and then the other.

  I shut the freezer. “Breakfast for dinner. My fav!” I was glad we were taking a break from frozen food. The corn dogs looked like they had freezer burn anyway.

  After we ate, I headed to my room to study for the math quiz (thank you, Pete Sugarman). Usually I studied at the dining room table, but I didn’t want Mom to launch into a lecture about how important it was for me to keep my math grade up. I knew she was worried my ninety-four would slip and that would lower my chance of getting into Tech Magnet.

  I did a couple of rounds of the QuizTime flash cards. Then I took the practice quiz. I scored a one hundred. Bam. Perfect.

  So when Kevin texted me, I stopped studying. He sent me a photo of Karly reading, and we texted back and forth about costume ideas. I was getting into the idea of like liking him. But how could I figure out if he like liked me? That was the next step, right?

  I needed advice
. But I couldn’t exactly call my BFFs. Kevin was out for obvious reasons. As for Karly, I knew that she was currently trying to do the same thing—figure out if Ahmed liked her—but if I asked her, it would just turn into her wanting to know who I liked, and me liking her brother might seem too weird. I didn’t want to go there until I knew he liked me too.

  Plus, I could use someone with experience—more experience than Mira and her sixth-grade, forty-eight-hour “boyfriend.”

  I needed Claire.

  “What’s up, Sash?” Claire said on the other end of the phone. She was back in her dorm room in California, having survived the bus ride from Dad’s—no impersonators on the return trip.

  “I think I … I like Kevin.” It was the first time I’d said the words out loud. And to be honest, they sounded more than a little weird.

  “Of course you like Kevin. He’s your best friend.”

  “No. I like like him.”

  “Oh,” Claire said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I just never imagined you and Kevin as anything more than friends.”

  “Whatever.” Her comment annoyed me. I’d forgotten the downside of having an older sister—her know-it-all, slightly superior attitude. But I ignored it. I needed her help.

  “How will I know if he like likes me back?”

  “You’ll know.”

  Sometimes Claire could be so unhelpful. “But how?”

  “There’ll be clues.”

  Clues? What was Claire talking about? What was this—the Nancy Drew guide to crushes?

  “Like what? What kind of clues?”

  I heard another voice in the background on Claire’s end of the phone. Then Claire said, “Sorry, Sash. I’ve got to go. Elena’s home.” Elena was her roommate.

  Hearing my sister call her dorm room “home” made me feel sort of sad. Claire had already found a new place where she belonged, while I still didn’t feel like the apartment was home.

  “Bye,” I said, but she was already gone.

  Claire had been less helpful than I’d hoped. So I Googled: “How do you know if a boy likes you?”

  I was relieved when tons of quizzes and articles popped up. It always made me feel more normal when the thing I was searching was something other people also wanted to know.

  I grabbed a pad and pen and jotted down notes as I read through a few sites. If it had misspellings or typos, I went to the next site. I needed credible sources. Or at least, people who could spell. (Our school librarian had done a lesson on fake news. Spelling errors were definitely a red flag.) I found a quiz called “Are You a Perfect Match?” But I gave up after the third question: Do your knees wobble when he stands near you?

  Uh, no.

  This was Kevin we were talking about, not some movie star. Plus, I was pretty sure people’s knees didn’t wobble, not in real life.

  The best article I found was on a teen fashion magazine site:

  How Do You Know If He/She Likes You?

  I wrote down a bunch of points. Then I closed all the tabs and looked over my notes. Within five minutes, I created a Google doc:

  The Clues

  He calls or texts you.

  He tries to make you laugh.

  He stares at you.

  He teases you.

  He compliments you.

  He tries to impress you.

  As I typed the last clue, my phone rang.

  It was Kevin. I glanced up at my list—the first clue: He calls or texts you. Uh, check.

  “Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “Hey,” he said. “You know we have a math quiz tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.” I felt bad that I hadn’t reminded him when Pete first reminded me. Kevin bombed the last quiz, and I knew he wanted to get his math grade back up. “Pete Sugarman made some flash cards on QuizTime. You could use them to study.”

  “I would, but Karly is forcing me to make flash cards. You know, the paper kind. She says the only way to get the terms in my brain is to draw them.”

  I laughed.

  He cleared his throat, then said, “Umm, when did you see Pete?”

  Why was Kevin asking? Could he be jealous? One of the websites had mentioned jealousy could be a sign of interest. “At Sugarman’s. I ran into Mira and Anna there, too.”

  “Did Anna tell you she’s going to play piano at the Holidaze Spectacular?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “She’ll be great.”

  “Yup, but not as great as us. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, Sash. I should go. I need to find some index cards. How many terms are there anyway?”

  “Like twenty-five.”

  “Seriously? Ouch. If I end up hospitalized with a hand-cramp, please tell me you’ll come visit.”

  “Of course I will,” I said, and then laughed.

  After the call ended, I opened my Google doc and looked over my list of clues.

  He calls you. Check.

  He tries to make you laugh. Definitely. Check.

  So far, not bad. I’d been tracking clues for less than five minutes and I’d already checked off two out of the six, but I needed six out of six. I wouldn’t take the next step (whatever that was) until I was one hundred percent sure.

  Brushing my teeth, I thought about school the next day. It might’ve been a slow Thanksgiving break, but I knew everything was about to speed up, and I was glad. I’d much rather be busy than bored.

  There was the math quiz first period, then the organizational meeting for the Holidaze Spectacular at lunch. After school, I had ballet at JayJay’s (my dance bag was already packed) but before I left school, I needed to check in with Mr. Thomas about where the Community Service Club could set up for the mitten and hat drive. I’d found a neon pink tree in the theater room that I wanted to use to hang the donations. It would definitely get people’s attention!

  Then later, Karly, Kevin, and I were going to choreograph our routine. If we had a shot at winning the Summer Academy scholarships, we needed to stick to my rehearsal schedule: three hours a day, five days a week. Plus, I had homework and end of the semester tests. Like always, I was shooting for straight A’s. And then there was the Kevin project—I wanted to ace that too!

  Chapter Five

  FIFTY-FIFTY

  “Isn’t that awesome about Karly?” Anna asked.

  “What?” I sat down in my usual seat next to Anna in math class. It was first period and my toes were still cold from walking to school. “What’s going on?”

  “Awkward.” Anna paused. “I thought she would’ve told you first.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “It’s her news. She should tell you.”

  Annoyed, I turned to face Kevin who was sitting on my other side. “What’s up with Karly?”

  “I’ll tell you later.” Kevin didn’t look up at me. He was flipping through his flash cards.

  “Come on.” I tapped the side of his desk. “What is it?”

  Then Mrs. Giberga cleared her throat. “Good morning, class.”

  “Later,” Kevin whispered as he wrapped the index cards with a rubber band and dropped them into his backpack.

  Right then I wasn’t thinking about Kevin and my checklist of whether he liked me or not. I was thinking about what Karly’s good news could be and why she hadn’t told me first. Besides Kevin, I was the person she told stuff to. Not Anna. Not Mira. Me. When she didn’t make the Quiz Bowl A team back in September, she’d told me right away, and I was pretty sure I was the first to know about her crush on Ahmed. Maybe that was it? Maybe Ahmed had asked her out? But there was no way Karly would tell Anna before she told me. Then I remembered Karly called Mira over Thanksgiving break for advice. My stomach dropped. Maybe I was wrong.

  “Nothing says ‘Vacation’s over’ like a test.” Mrs. Giberga stood at the top of my row and handed Pete, who sat in the front, a stack of tests. A couple of kids groaned. When Pete turned around to hand the tests to the kid sitting behind h
im, he glanced back at me. I mouthed “Thank you.”

  After class, Kevin and I walked down the hall together like we always did. He had social studies next and I had science, but we were headed in the same direction.

  “So what’s the big news?” I asked.

  “Karly got on the A team.”

  “For Quiz Bowl?”

  “Yup. She’s going to the televised tournament.”

  “That’s awesome. But I thought—”

  “Sara Burke, you know … the cocaptain? She couldn’t go. Her grandparents are having a big fiftieth anniversary party out of state somewhere on the same day. So the team voted on who to take from the B team, and Karly was chosen.”

  “That’s great. She must be so psyched!” I paused outside the door to Kevin’s social studies classroom. “But why didn’t she tell me?”

  “Well.” He hesitated. “It’s just …”

  “It’s just what?”

  “Gotta go.” He stepped into the classroom.

  There was definitely something Kevin didn’t want to tell me. “Don’t forget the meeting in Ms. Kumar’s room,” I called after him. “At lunch.”

  “Got it.” He waved.

  I ran-walked the rest of the way to science, thinking about Karly. I was happy for her, but I was hurt she hadn’t texted or called to tell me. Entering the science lab, I slowed down as I headed over to Mira and Karly, who were setting out the materials we needed for the lab.

  “Hey.” I put my binder down on the table.

  “Hey Sasha,” Mira said. “Did you hear Karly’s going to be a TV star?”

  I turned toward Karly. She was looking down at the beaker in her hand. Her face reddened.

  “Yeah.” I wanted to sound normal, but I sounded angry. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you freaking out.” She put the beaker down and looked up at me.

  “Why would I freak out?”

  “Because it’s in two weeks, five days before the Holidaze Spectacular.”

  “Oh.” Karly was right—inside, I started freaking out.

  “The next couple of weeks are going to be really intense. I have to practice every day with the team and study a lot.” She glanced up at Ms. Stone, who was making her way toward us. “The tournament is going to be live streamed and on the local station.”