by Annie Bryant
“I could totally manage that!” Scott grinned as he threw a foam ball at his sister’s head.
“Well,” Avery said with a smug smile as she dodged the ball, “I am sort of a genius.”
“I’m gonna start by making her my double-chocolate nut cupcakes…I mean, you like those, right? And you’re a girl.”
Avery shook her head. “Maybe you should start a little smaller, okay? Try hanging out with her. Call her. IM her. Not too much all at once. Like save the cupcakes for week two. Then when she realizes that you are paying more attention to her than her own boyfriend, the work will be practically done for you.”
“Ave, you really are a genius,” Scott said, nodding seriously as he processed Avery’s advice. “Game on. Thanks, shortie.”
Avery gave him a thumbs-up. “No prob, Bob.” She felt a little weird giving advice to her older brother—especially about all that lovey-dovey stuff—but it was also kind of cool to be able to help him out.
Scott opened the door and then, turning back added, “Oh, do me a favor? Don’t, um, mention this to your friends, okay?”
Avery placed her hand on her chest. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my soccer ball.”
“Nice rhyme.”
Avery shrugged. “I couldn’t live without my soccer ball. That’s how you know your secret’s safe.”
CHAPTER 13
Enough Already
Isabel adjusted the microscope and squeezed her right eye shut. “There,” she murmured. “Whoa…” She could not believe how many times she’d gone to ponds and icked her way around the green matter that floated at the top. “To think[ ]…all this time there were beautiful pictures hidden in that slime….” She sighed and turned her attention to the sketchbook and colored pencils on her desk.
She’d already filled up six full pages with her detailed sketches. Contained in the microscopic algae were incredible shapes and patterns—everything from delicate shells that reminded her of lace to balls that looked like they were made of Lifesavers to little half moons, all revealed under the microscope. Isabel was mesmerized by Mother Nature’s ability to showcase her secret artistic streak in something as vital to the planet as these phytoplankton. And they had all kinds of strange names, some of which Isabel couldn’t even pronounce. Diatoms, coccolithophores, dinoflagellates, desmids, prymnesiophytes, prochlorophyte…who knew?
She carefully dismantled the microscope, which Emily Sullivan had been generous enough to lend her when Aunt Lourdes took her to visit Emily’s lab at MIT earlier that afternoon. “Sorry guys—you can pose for me again tomorrow!” she signed off to her slides.
“Hey Iz, who’re you talking to?” asked Elena Maria, suddenly appearing in the frame of their bedroom door.
“Oh! Um, no one…just myself,” Isabel fibbed, feeling slightly ridiculous being caught talking to microscopic pond scum. “Why? What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just baked some empanadas. You want?” Elena Maria walked over holding a plate of steamy, sticky pastries shaped like half-moons. The aroma of baked apple and cinnamon filled Isabel’s nose.
“Ooh…yes, please!” Isabel took a huge bite, and goo dribbled out of the empanada and onto her chin. “Hot!” she cried.
“I just took them out of the oven, silly. Here.” Elena Maria thrust a paper towel at her little sister, and watched, slightly disgusted, as Isabel spat out the half-chewed food.
“Sorry,” Isabel squeaked. “It was really good, though!”
Elena Maria’s brow wrinkled and she looked down sadly.
“Elena, did you hear me? I said they were really good! Just, you know, a little hot.” Isabel smiled, but her sister still looked sad. Elena Maria wiped a tiny tear out of the corner of her eye. “Hey…” Isabel put her arm around Elena Maria’s shoulder. “I said sorry…”
Elena Maria sighed. “It’s not the empanadas, Iz. I’ve just had a terrible week…and weird.”
“You want to talk about it?” asked Isabel. She blew on her empanada and took a second bite, this time relishing the sweet, apple gooiness.
“No, that’s okay,” Elena Maria muttered.
Isabel rolled her eyes. “Come on, Elena. Don’t tell me that you came into the room with a plate of deliciousness just because you thought I was hungry. Please…I’m your sister. I know you better than that!”
Elena broke into half a smile and rested her shoulder against Isabel’s. “Fine. Long story short—Jimmy and I had another fight.”
“How about long story long?”
Elena Maria shrugged. “Ugh, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess it all started with the Snack Club.”
Isabel raised her eyebrows. “Is that like the BSG of the ninth grade or something?”
Elena Maria shook her head. “No, no. Not at all. The Snack Club is this thing that the boys’ indoor lacrosse team started. Ron Kylie—he’s the captain—told all the guys on the team to get their girlfriends to show up at all the practices with snacks, for moral support or something.”
“That’s so lame,” Isabel remarked. “As if girlfriends don’t have their own things to do in the afternoon!”
“I know. You’re so right, Izzie!”
“Hey, isn’t Jimmy the co-captain?” Isabel inquired.
“Yes. Don’t remind me. He definitely had something to do with the Club. And it gets worse,” Elena Maria griped. “Ron and Jimmy made up the Snack Club’s first rule…every practice they basically assign snack duty to two of the girlfriends—on game days, it’s three girlfriends. We’re supposed to bring enough food for the whole team and the coaches.”
Isabel forced down the gulp of empanada that was in her mouth. “But that’s practically impossible! Every one of those guys eats enough for twelve people!”
“I know. And get this—Jimmy volunteered me to be the president because I’m soooo good at cooking.”
“Don’t tell me you actually went along with this ridiculousness…” Isabel couldn’t imagine that her fun-loving big sister would allow her life to revolve around Jimmy’s lacrosse schedule and the monster appetites of a bunch of guys.
“Well, at first it was kind of fun. I mean, it was like a chance for me to test out my recipes. And everybody really liked what I brought. I did my famous four cheese pizza—the one with the basil and mozzarella.”
“Mmm!” Isabel exclaimed.
“Then I made double chocolate cookies with cream cheese frosting.”
“Ooh!” Isabel was practically drooling at the yummiliciousness of it all.
Elena Maria nodded. “I even brought them spicy chicken wings.”
Isabel stopped her. “Not the wings! Elena, I can’t believe you were making all that awesome food, and not sharing any with me! And by the way, who was paying for all of this?”
“Oh, all the guys chipped in, and the person who cooked didn’t have to bring the napkins or anything. Then all of a sudden the basketball team wanted me to provide snacks for them, and Cammy was going to be the business manager, and we were going to do afternoon snacks for kids in detention—the whole thing got so out of control.” Elena Maria sighed. “I love cooking, but making food for everyone was taking up way too much time in the afternoons. And there was this great cooking class I wanted to take—Scott Madden told me about it. When I told Jimmy I signed up, he seemed excited for me—then he just kind of changed. He was like, ‘Well, I hope you’ll still have time to make snacks for the games.’”
Isabel’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“I know—you don’t have to say a word.” Elena Maria just shook her head like she couldn’t even believe what she was saying. “Soooo anyway, I skipped the first class tonight, because it’s the big game against Needham. And when I asked some of the other girls and guys to help, no one could. I spent the whole afternoon rolling empanada dough. These were the leftovers.” Elena Maria’s voice started to break and she swallowed back her tears. “Scott just called me to ask where I was. I—I felt so stupid telling him about the Sn
ack Club. I told him I wasn’t feeling well.” Elena Maria unfolded the quilt from Isabel’s bed and wrapped it around herself. “It’s not even a lie, Iz. I feel awful…just awful.”
Isabel rubbed her sister’s back. “Do you feel awful ’cause Jimmy’s taking advantage of you…or awful because you secretly have a crush on Scott?”
Elena Maria sat up with a start. “First of all, Jimmy’s not really taking advantage of me. I wanted to do Snack Club, and I totally love it when people love my food. Everyone on the team and the other girls think I am like a famous chef already. Kyla Perkins told me my food was so good I should have my own TV show. And everybody, even goofy Tony Grimsby, says thank you…it’s just that it’s way too much. I mean I have schoolwork to do, and now I’m too tired.”
Isabel bit her lip as Elena Maria went on. “Second of all, I do not have a crush on Scott. He’s my friend. We have a lot in common. Girls are allowed to be just friends with guys, you know.”
“Yeah…I know. Um, so other than the Snack Club, are things okay between you and Jimmy?”
Elena Maria nodded, then slowly the nod transformed into a head shake. “Actually, to tell you the truth, I don’t think I really like Jimmy. He never calls me when he says he’s going to. A few weeks ago he promised me that he’d take me out for dinner, then he made me meet him at Village Fare Pizza. When I got there he was waiting outside with three of his friends. And they all just talked about sports all night.”
Isabel gaped. “No way.”
“Way. And it gets worse. He said he left his wallet at home.”
“Noooo waaaaay!” Isabel cried.
“Yup. And…so did his friends. Jimmy hasn’t even paid me back yet, even after one of his friends who did pay me back got on his case.”
Isabel jumped off the bed and twirled around. “Elena Maria, does the word ‘user/loser’ mean anything to you? Where is your brain, chica?”
“I just got so caught up with everybody telling me that I was the greatest cook…then everything got so messed up. And Jimmy was so cute and popular. And Jimmy just doesn’t like Scott, and I have more fun hanging out with Scott, because he’s funny and he really is a great cook. I mean, I couldn’t tell Scott this, because I have my pride and all, but Scott’s chili is better than mine. And anyway…” Elena Maria paused. “I just don’t want a boyfriend right now,” she admitted.
“Uh-huh,” Isabel said. “That makes sense considering that Jimmy is such a crummy boyfriend. It’s like you need to take a breather.”
“Exactly,” her sister agreed. “I mean, Scott’s awesome. He’s a nice kid, he’s…my friend. I love hanging out with him. We have so many things in common besides food. And he even said he would teach me to snowboard. Something Jimmy said he would do and never did.”
Isabel smiled mischievously. “Loooove for Scott?”
Elena Maria lightly threw a pillow at her sister. “No. You know what I mean.” She sighed. “I’ve been with Jimmy for a few months now, Iz. Maybe that’s just how things get after a while. The whole boyfriend thing loses its…sparkle. Or something.”
“Well, if you want my advice I’d take a little break from Jimmy, the user/loser,” Isabel suggested, “’cause it sounds to me like your real dreamboat is waiting in the wings…or in the kitchen!”
Elena Maria blew her nose into a tissue and laughed. Charlotte made up a word for that: sniggle. Isabel thought that was perfect. “You know, Izzie, I promise you, Jimmy and I are finito!”
“Maybe I can have a chat with the BSG and see if Avery knows anything about Scott?” Isabel offered.
“Please, Iz, this isn’t second grade! If something’s going on between me and Scott—which it isn’t—I want to figure it out myself,” Elena Maria said decidedly.
Isabel flipped open her cartoon notebook. “Fine. Listen, I have a deadline coming up, so I have to start working on my cartoon…”
Elena Maria stood, stretched, and muttered, “I should get started on my homework too.” She started towards the door, but froze halfway there. “Actually, Izzy…on the off chance that Avery does mention something about Scott…well, you can let me know.”
“Got it.” Isabel smirked. She threw her pillow at Elena Maria and added, “Sorry—I owed you one.”
“Ouch!” Elena Maria laughed. “Thanks, sis. I needed that!”
CHAPTER 14
Ready, Aim, Pop!
What’s in the bag, Ave?” asked Charlotte. She and Isabel were standing by Charlotte’s locker, discussing their contributions to the Sentinel that week, when they’d spotted Avery hauling a gigantic duffel through the hallway of Abigail Adams Junior High.
“You’ll see,” Avery replied with a snarky smirk.
“Come on,” urged Isabel. “Just give us a teensy little clue.”
Avery looked right and then left to make sure none of her enemies was listening and then motioned for Charlotte and Isabel to huddle in closer. “This bag,” she began in a soft but important voice, “contains my greatest invention yet.”
“A soccer ball that never deflates?” guessed Charlotte.
“A hair ribbon destroyer?” Isabel joked.
Avery groaned. “No and no. For your information, Isabel, hair ribbon destroyers are impossible…but I wish. Actually, it’s five pounds of original, homemade Avery Madden chewing gum. It’s stickier, tastier, and way better for you than that Tru Blu stuff Kiki’s been giving out. Check. It. Out.” She reached into her duffel and produced a small drawstring bag. “Contained in this bio bag is the best gum you’ve ever tasted!” she announced, and then dramatically pulled out a long roll of gum with indentations along it.
“That’s gum?” Isabel asked suspiciously, staring at the gum roll in Avery’s hand.
“I’m not chewing that!” Charlotte said decidedly. “It looks kind of sketchy, Ave.”
Avery rolled her eyes. “You guys, it’s supposed to look that way—the design cuts down on wasted wrappers, which saves garbage and the manufacturing of all that paper, which takes tons of water. And it comes in its own totally, completely biodegradable bag. This gum, my friends, is my way to help save the planet—and I think it’s pretty ingenious, if I do say so myself. See?” She broke off a piece of the gum roll and held it out. “Come on, Char—you trust me, right? Izzy? Try a piece?”
Isabel grimaced and shook her head.
Avery gave a frustrated sigh. “Ugh. I expect more from my BSG. You girls are chickens.”
“Hey!” cried Isabel. “I resent that.” She grabbed the gum from Avery’s outstretched hand, broke off a piece, and stuffed it in her mouth. Gradually her skeptical scowl became a broad grin. “Hey, Char, you gotta try this stuff. Wriff riff rerry grrrd.”
“What?” asked Charlotte.
Isabel folded the gum under her tongue and repeated, “I said, this is really good. It tastes like berries but…you know[ ]…tangy like!”
Avery was glowing. “Yeah? Nice! It took me eight hours last night to get the recipe right.”
“Eight hours?” Charlotte balked. “You must have gotten like, no sleep!”
“Don’t need sleep,” Avery said, slapping her bag. “Got sugar! Pure cane sugar, actually.”
“Hey, girls. What’s in the giant duffel?” asked Katani. She strode over with an uncharacteristically serious-looking Maeve by her side.
“Well…so far, Avery made enough gum to last till 2012, and she’s eaten enough sugar to keep her awake till next Thursday,” Isabel explained.
“What’s with all the gum?” asked Maeve.
“It’s part of my master plan to take over the world…one gum wad at a time…wah, hah, hah!” Avery did her fake evil laugh.
“No, seriously,” said Katani. “What’s going on?”
“Wellllll…my master plan has four points of genius. One, the packaging for this gum is biodegradable, so when you are done enjoying its record-breaking awesomeness, you don’t have to worry about it filling dumps for all eternity. And it comes in this nifty roll, which
cuts down on even more packaging. It’s like buying juice in a big bottle instead of a lot of little boxes—way better for the environment. Tru Blu Goo comes with every little piece wrapped up in its own paper wrapper! So not enviro-friendly.
“Two, this gum, Avery Madden Gum, is all natural. None of that nasty artificial sweetener stuff. I mean, ‘aspartame’? Who even knows what that is? Three! Big gum factories like the one Kiki’s dad is promoting use an artificial gum base that comes from petroleum. It’s basically all wax and rubber and other chemically things…talk about ewwww. My gum gets most of it its sticky-wicky-deliciousness from chicle.”
“Uh, what’s that?” Isabel asked a little nervously, shifting the huge wad of Avery’s gum to one side of her mouth so she could talk.
“Tree sap!” Avery exclaimed with a huge grin. Isabel looked pale. “But it’s totally okay for you to chew it, Iz,” Avery reassured her quickly. “It comes from these trees called sapodillas that grow in Central America. Like in the rain forest.”
Isabel was looking less convinced by the second, so world-traveler and history buff Charlotte jumped in. “I’ve heard of that. I think I read somewhere that the Mayans used to chew chicle,” she told Isabel encouragingly.
“Yep!” Avery agreed. “And that’s not even the best part about chicle. Using it helps save the rain forest, because people harvest the sap from the trees over and over again. It doesn’t hurt the trees at all and it gives people a good reason to not cut them down. And we need those rain forests, because more than a third of the species in the whole world live there, and all those trees and crazy-looking, giant plants absorb tons of carbon dioxide!”
“Ooo, Ife been weading abowt cawbon dioxide!” Isabel exclaimed. When the girls turned to her with confused looks, she tucked her huge wad of gum into her cheek and tried again. “Sorry! I said, I’ve been reading about carbon dioxide. It’s one of those greenhouse gases, right? When there’s too much of it in the atmosphere it can make the weather go crazy all over the world.”