I bit my lip. I guessed it had been a while since we’d hung out. “Yeah,” I agreed. “I’ve been really busy trying to find my place in the new school. But there’s no time like the present, right?”
“The present is my favorite time.” Joeys smiled mischievously. “Think your dad wants to play Settlers of Catan?”
“I hope so,” I said, carefully stepping over a patch of ice on my walkway, leading Joey back to my front door. “It would be a nice change of pace from the whole ‘School Is the Most Important Thing’ talk he keeps giving me.”
“Is he getting on your case about the ABC already?” Joey asked, following me up the steps. “That doesn’t start for two weeks.”
Every year, the seventh graders at Austen Middle School had to write a business plan and put it into action. The ABC, or Austen Business Challenge, was a big deal. Students actually sold goods and services to other students and staff. All the money went to charity, and the student with the best business got to go to a Future Entrepreneurs conference in Chicago.
“No, thank goodness.” I paused with my hand on the front door. “He hasn’t mentioned it yet. So don’t bring it up, okay?”
Joey held up three fingers. “He won’t hear about it from me. Scout’s honor.”
Then Joey paused on the bottom step of my front porch and looked at me as I started to open the front door. “Just out of curiosity, what kind of business were you thinking of?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten any ideas yet.”
He scrunched up his lips, thinking. “If you wanted, I’d let you see my business plan from last year. I did pretty okay on it.”
“Pretty okay?” I laughed. “I heard you won.”
Joey twitched his lips like it was no big deal, but the truth was, I wasn’t trying to win. I just wanted to do well enough that Papi didn’t freak out and decide he was even more disappointed with me. My main priority was finally having friends. No, not just having friends. Being popular. My whole life, I was a popular girl stuck inside a loser. That was finally starting to change.
“Thanks for the offer,” I told Joey, “but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
Joey shrugged. “That’s cool. The offer’s open if you change your mind. What’s that?” Joey pointed up at my roof, and when I looked, I felt a spray of snow blast the back of my neck and shoulders
“Joey!” I shrieked, brushing the powdery flakes away with my fingers. “No fair!”
Joey sped past me into the house before I could retaliate.
“Sorry,” he said, turning around and waggling his eyebrows at me. “But you’re the snowball-fight nemesis I always wanted.”
I looked around the cafeteria as I carried my lunch sack to my seat. It was the first day of second semester, and I still couldn’t believe that I was sitting at one of the center tables, the tables that let everyone in the school know that I was one of the people to be seen, and not one of the kids who wished they could disappear. I made sure to keep my shoulders back as I walked, and keep my steps light and smooth. I noticed a group of girls from my gym class watching me as I passed, and I smiled. Not at them, though. I smiled like I was thinking about how my life was cool and amazing and perfect.
Today I had worn my new green ballet flats again, even though Papi said I was an idiota and it would be my own fault when my toes fell off from cold. But the green shoes looked the best with the new stretchy jeans that I got for Christmas. Papi also said I was an idiota for wanting jeans that cost as much as a car. But every year he let me choose one of my presents for myself, and they didn’t really cost as much as a car.
I sat down at the corner of the table in between Emily and Alivia and started to unpack my lunch. Danielle and Kacy sat on the other two sides of the square cafeteria table. They were the other two girls in our group. They both played field hockey and soccer with Alivia.
“Which cookies would you rather buy?” Alivia spread four plates of cookies in front of us. We had to inch our lunches out of the way. I could tell from the way she made her voice a bit louder than it needed to be that she was hoping kids at other tables would notice.
I uncapped my thermos of last night’s albondigas soup and took a big spoonful. I still wasn’t sure how much Alivia liked me. She hadn’t really spoken much to me until the fourth week of school, when I did her Spanish homework for her one day when she forgot it. It was no big deal. I know Spanish as well as I know English.
“Oh my gosh,” Emily gushed. “Those smell so good.” She scooted over to make a little more room for me between her and Alivia. There wasn’t quite enough space for all five of us. “Are those for your ABC project? I can’t believe that starts so soon.”
“Yeah.” Alivia pulled out her laptop. “I’m doing a pastry shop, and I thought I’d take a survey to see which treats are the most popular.”
Alivia had made four kinds of cookies. Chocolate chip. Rainbow confetti. A black-and-white swirly cookie. And one that definitely looked like it had oatmeal in it.
“You’re so organized. I can’t believe you have this all ready to go on the Monday we’re back from break,” Danielle said.
Alivia shrugged one shoulder like it was no big deal. “You have to be prepared if you want to win. And I want to win.” She pointed to the cookies again. “Which one?”
Danielle broke off a little piece of each kind of cookie and took a taste. “I like the rainbow cookie.”
“It looks so good.” Emily nodded and picked up a cookie, but put it back on the plate when Alivia bulged her eyes.
I didn’t really believe in diets. I thought people were supposed to come in all shapes and sizes, but I guessed a whole cookie was a lot for anyone. Alivia had made really big cookies. I picked up the confetti cookie and broke it in half. I took a bite from one half and gave the other one to Emily.
“I like the oatmeal M&M.” Kacy grabbed an entire cookie and took a giant bite.
“Yeah, those look good too,” Emily agreed.
Alivia recorded everyone’s choices on her laptop. “What about you, Clara?”
“I’d buy the confetti cookie,” I said, taking another bite.
Alivia nodded, then swept all the cookies back into a plastic container. Everyone moved their lunches forward on the table to eat normally again.
“Does everyone else know what they want to do for ABC?” Danielle asked. “I can’t think of any ideas.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Emily said. “I’ll never be able to run a business by myself.”
Alivia zipped a padded case around her laptop, put it in her backpack, and then pulled out her lunch. “You don’t have to do it by yourself, you know,” she said as she unwrapped a package of sushi and opened a bottle of sparkling water. “You’re allowed to have business partners.”
Emily’s eyes lit up. “Do you want help? I’d totally do a baking business with you.”
Alivia’s eyes darted from side to side, and she chewed on her lip. “Oh, I’m sorry, but Kacy and I were talking about working together, right, Kace?”
Kacy made a big show of swallowing the chunk of bagel she’d been chewing. “I’m doing a one-on-one soccer coaching business. I think you meant Danielle.”
Alivia smacked her palm against her forehead. “I’m so stupid, that’s right. I mean Danielle and I were talking about working together, right, Dan?”
“Absolutely!” Danielle nodded, and I watched Emily’s neck break out in red splotches as she blinked real fast a bunch of times and tried to pretend like she believed their conversation.
“I’m sorry, Em,” Alivia said, a bit of pink coloring her cheeks too.
“Oh. No problem,” Emily said, shaking her head. Her honey-blond curls shimmered under the cafeteria lights. “I bet you guys will have the best business this year. Those cookies are awesome. I’ll definitely buy one. Probably more than one.”
“Thanks,” Alivia said. “I’m sure your business will be great too.”
“You can work with me, Emily.” I tilted my thermos to get the last bite of soup. “I don’t have a partner yet.”
Emily’s smile was so big I couldn’t decide if I should feel happy or sad for her. Alivia gave me confused look. It made the skin on the back of my neck prickle. I thought she’d be glad I was working with Emily. That way she wouldn’t need to feel guilty. Now a part of me wished I could take my offer back.
Emily turned to me, peeling her banana and taking a bite. “I’ll help any way you need,” she said, chewing. “What kind of business are you doing?”
I twisted the cap on my thermos and dropped it into my lunch bag. Then I bit my bottom lip. It was definitely too late to take my offer back. Besides, I needed the help. “I don’t know yet,” I told her. “I’m open to suggestions if you have any.”
Emily nodded seriously. “I don’t have any ideas right now, but I promise I won’t stop think—uh, I won’t—”
Suddenly Emily’s jaw dropped and her neck got even splotchier. The redness crept up her face and into her round, dimpled cheeks.
I turned to see what she was gawking at and watched Evan Cho, one of Joey’s friends from Mathletes, walk past our table.
“Seriously?” Alivia unwrapped a straw, stuck it in her water bottle, and took a sip. “Do you like him?”
Emily’s eyes dropped to her lap, and she started to pick the blue polish off her thumbnail. “I don’t know. We take karate together. He’s really nice and smart and … I mean, what do you guys think of him?”
Kacy shrugged. “Don’t know him. He’s in eighth grade, right?”
“Doesn’t he do that math contest thing?” Danielle asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Is he wearing a math T-shirt?” Alivia said.
“Oh. Um. I don’t know.” Emily began to peel the polish off her index finger. I looked at Evan. His shirt definitely had math symbols on it.
Dating a math geek seemed like exactly the kind of difference that Alivia had been talking about. I hated to admit it, but Evan was probably not the best guy for Emily to choose if she wanted to stay in the popular group, which she did. Otherwise why would she still be hanging out with us? And I wanted her here too. Without Emily, I didn’t know if I would still be part of the group. And being in this group, even though it wasn’t perfect, was way better than being a gigantic loser. I knew from experience.
So, if Emily didn’t want to be a gigantic loser too, it was basically my duty to help her out. And help myself out.
“I bet I could find the perfect guy for you,” I told her, patting her knee.
Emily looked up at me, her eyes wide and blinking. “The perfect guy?”
I nodded. “Just like at the mall. It would be fun, playing Cupid for you.” And since I’d be finding her match, I could be sure to be practical and not get swept away by romance. Not only would I help Emily find a popular-group-worthy guy, I’d be saving her a lot of heartbreak too.
Kacy crumpled her napkin and tossed it at me. “Hello? We’re in middle school. It’s not like she’s going to meet the love of her life or anything.” She burst out laughing.
Danielle tilted her head thoughtfully. “It’s not common, but people definitely can marry someone they dated in middle school.”
“No,” I said. I didn’t want them getting the wrong idea. This was just for fun. Nothing serious. “It wouldn’t be like that. Look …” I pointed to the red-and-white sign hanging by the door of the cafeteria, then turned to Emily. “The Hot Chocolate Social is in six weeks. Didn’t you tell me that everyone is always freaking out about the slow dance? I could help you figure out who to dance with and get him to ask you.”
Kacy stopped laughing. The Hot Chocolate Social usually only had one slow dance, and every girl at Austen wanted a dance partner, but Emily told me there weren’t usually very many couples on the dance floor.
“You could do that?” asked Danielle. “Could you find a guy for me?”
“I’ll take one, too,” Kacy said. “But he has to be tall. I feel weird dancing with someone shorter than me.”
The right side of Emily’s mouth tugged up in a half smile. “I’m sure she could. You should see her at the mall. She picks two random strangers, and before you know it, they’re a couple.” Emily turned to me. “You should be a professional Cupid when you grow up.”
I thought about Emily’s words for a second, and a little tingle danced up my spine. “What if I was a professional Cupid now? I mean, what if that was our business for the ABC? A matchmaking business.”
“I’d sign up!” said Danielle.
“Me too,” agreed Kacy.
“I love that idea,” Emily said enthusiastically. “We could even call it … Cupid Clara!”
I smiled, blushing a little. “Well … I don’t know about that,” I said. But I couldn’t deny that I now actually felt excited for the ABC. If everyone else was as excited as Danielle and Kacy, it might actually be the kind of business that helped me stay popular. Plus I did find matchmaking sort of easy: It was just a matter of seeing who had things in common, and then putting them together. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Cupid Clara—the name was kind of growing on me—would be a perfect business.
“All right!” I said. “I’ll make Emily my test case, and then Danielle and Kacy can be my first customers.”
Kacy and Danielle cheered.
Emily sat back in her chair and hugged herself. “I’m so nervous. What if you can’t find a guy for me?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll definitely be able to find you a guy. You too, Alivia. If you want.”
Alivia had been silent this whole time. Now she shook her head and smiled a twinkly eye smile. “Nope,” she said. “I already know who I want to dance with.”
“Who?” Danielle said.
“You didn’t tell us you liked someone.” Kacy playfully pushed Alivia’s shoulder.
“Do you want me to help fix you up with him?” I asked.
Alivia looked at the ceiling, then burst into giggles. “I think he might like me back already,” she said. “But I don’t want to talk about it. I really like him. Every time I talk about it, it makes it feel like I might jinx it.” Alivia clutched her stomach. “Now I feel totally nauseous.”
Danielle patted Alivia’s shoulder. “I think you might be in love.”
I looked at Alivia and started to feel a little uneasy. If she liked a boy that much, I couldn’t help worry she was headed for heartbreak. It was why I was never going to like anyone myself.
“Can’t you give us a clue?” Kacy asked.
Alivia carefully screwed the cap back onto her water bottle and stared at all the garbage from her lunch stacked into a tidy little pile. “Nope.”
“Don’t worry,” Emily said. “You don’t have to tell us. We understand.”
“Oh my gosh,” Danielle said. “I just realized how fun the dance is going to be if we have boys to dance with. Clara, you are the best!”
Half of Danielle’s words made me feel awesome. This business might be the perfect thing to help me get closer to the rest of the group. But what if I didn’t want to dance with a boy? How much fun would the dance be for me if I were the odd girl out?
I dipped the wooden spoon in the pan to take a taste of my rice and beans. Perfect. I liked them really spicy. I left the food on the stove with the heat turned all the way down and set the table for two. Whether he was working downtown or in his office at home, Papi always liked for us to eat dinner together at seven thirty. When I was younger, my babysitters would get dinner ready. But I didn’t need a sitter every day anymore, so Papi and I shared the job of cooking.
I set out place mats and water glasses, then glanced at the clock. I only had a few minutes left until Papi came home, so I packed up my math book from the kitchen counter and put it away in my backpack.
My dad always wanted me to finish my homework right away after school, but now that I was popular-ish, I had lots of other stuff to do first. I had
to help Alivia with her Spanish homework and sometimes her English homework too. And then I needed to check my emails and text with Emily … my homework was often an afterthought.
I gently squeezed all the avocados on the counter, and when I found one with the perfect amount of give, I cut it, peeled and sliced it, and set it on a plate with a sprinkle of salt. I was just spooning the rice and beans onto our plates when Papi walked into the kitchen. His hair was mussed and his tie was loose. He looked tired and worn down.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him.
“Sí. Smells delicious, Clara,” he said, giving me a kiss on my cheek. My father was the only one who pronounced my name Clah-ra, to rhyme with star-a. Not Clair-a, like most people.
I set our plates on the table, and we both sat down.
“So,” my father said, spreading his napkin on his lap, “how was school today?”
“Good. I thought of an idea for my ABC project,” I said.
“¡Fantástico!” Papi finished chewing and set down his fork. “What’s your idea?”
“I’m going to run a matchmaking service for the middle school. I really think the other kids will like my business a lot. Emily, Danielle, and Kacy already want to be my customers!” The more I talked the more excited I got. “Everyone is going to be coming to me to find the perfect match. My business could really help me click with people at Austen. If it goes well, I think I’ll finally be totally accepted.”
Papi wiped his mouth with his napkin and laid it next to his plate. He stared at me for a few seconds, then dragged both hands slowly down the front of his face.
“I don’t know, Clara.” He shook his head. “This doesn’t sound too good.”
“Um.” I felt like someone had shoved me hard in the chest. My lungs got too tight to breathe properly. I thought my dad would love my business idea. “Wait. What?”
“At your age, you need to be concentrating on school, not boys.” My father picked up his water glass and took a big drink. He exhaled a long noisy sigh. “I think your mother might have been right.”
Playing Cupid Page 2