Sweet Thirteen

by Annie Bryant

  “So Maeve, where are you having this par-tay?” Anna snipped.

  “Uh . . . well . . . ” Maeve stalled, her face starting to flush. “It’s a surprise.”

  “If you are inviting us all to a party,” Joline said, “don’t you think you should tell us where it’s gonna be?”

  Anna tossed her hair dramatically over her shoulder and said, “Because we might have better things to do that day.”

  Joline flipped her hair the exact same way before the QOM left the scene.

  “Better things, like picking out matching nail polish?” Maeve muttered. “Maybe I should tell my mom that inviting Anna and Joline is going to be my mitzvah project.”

  Avery asked, “Isn’t the mitzvah project something good that you have to do for the world?”

  “Yeah,” Charlotte added. “Remember the Yurtmeister collecting cans for the soup kitchen?”

  “Uh-huh.” Maeve nodded. “Every Bar or Bat Mitzvah has to do something charitable.” She used her acting skills to look like she was really thinking about what she said next. “Do you think the rabbi would sign off on my form if I promise to be nice to the Queens of Mean?”

  The BSG broke into giggles. “Somehow, I don’t think he’ll go for it,” Isabel said with a chuckle.

  Maeve smiled and shrugged. “I guess I have to think of something else, then. Mom wants me to get the project form signed for our work on Project Thread.”

  “Perfect!” Katani exclaimed. “The BSG did a mitzvah project all together.”

  “Okay, guys,” Charlotte broke in. “I have a different kind of project to ask you about.”

  “A Sophie project, right?” Avery hopped up and down on her seat, nearly knocking over Maeve’s juice.

  “Yeah, I wanted to make her a welcome gift.”

  “Coolio! Like what?” Isabel asked, intrigued.

  “Like . . . a story. About Orangina. But it’s not done.” Charlotte rolled up her lunch bag and swung her legs back and forth under the table.

  Maeve shrugged. “You can finish it. No biggie. When’s she coming?”

  “Tonight!” Katani reminded them.

  “Yeah, we’re picking her up this evening,” Charlotte said.

  The table went silent as they all realized Charlotte wouldn’t have time to finish her present.

  Suddenly Isabel’s face broke into a wide smile. “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s meet at my house after school and make cookies! I’m sure it would be okay with my mom.”

  “Chocolate-chip cookies are an American classic,” Avery said, patting her belly.

  “And chocolate is the greatest food of all,” Charlotte said. “You’re a lifesaver, Izzy!”

  “Great idea, but I can’t come,” Katani said apologetically. “On Mondays I take Kelley horseback riding. It’s her favorite day of the week. I can’t let my sister down.”

  Maeve took out her day planner to check her schedule. “Bummer. I’m out too. I have to meet my Hebrew tutor today.” Maeve was dyslexic, which meant she had trouble deciphering letters. English was hard enough. The Hebrew alphabet was completely different, and the words went backward, right to left. Once a week a tutor came to her house to make sure she was pronouncing things right.

  “Charlotte, maybe we could have a party for Sophie in the Tower later tonight?” Katani suggested.

  “Fantabulous!” Maeve cheered.

  “Perfectomundo!” Isabel agreed, and set the plan. “Avery and Charlotte can come over this afternoon to bake. Then we’ll all meet at the Tower later for the big welcome.”

  After lunch Katani took Maeve aside. “Look, I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but I think the QOM have a good point. It’s nearly impossible to throw the kind of party you’re talking about in less than two weeks.”

  “I’m on it,” Maeve promised, reassuring Katani yet again. “Don’t be such a worrywart.”

  Katani crossed her arms and stared Maeve down. “I’m getting the vibe that nothing has really been arranged.”

  “Ummm . . .,” Maeve stalled, and Katani knew she was right.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” she asked. “As your friend?”

  Maeve shrugged. She really did have it all under control, but if Katani wanted to stick her two cents in, well, then . . . “Go ahead,” she said.

  “I think you should show your parents that you’re responsible. They might get on board and help you with the party if you can prove that you’re really taking this whole becoming-a-Bat-Mitzvah thing very seriously.”

  Maeve nodded her head thoughtfully. This was sounding like the idea she’d already had: to be really nice to Sam, be helpful around the house, and earn money babysitting.

  But Katani wasn’t done. “I think you should make a list of places and prices for the party.” Katani put her arm around Maeve. “During study hall I’ll help you look up some possible locations. Then you can show your parents all your research. I bet they’ll be impressed.”

  “Wow, Katani, you’re totally right! I could book a cruise ship and a hotel. . . .”

  “No, don’t make any reservations yet, just a list!” Katani tried to explain, but she wondered if Maeve even heard her. “And remember to keep the cost reasonable,” Katani added, half to herself. Maeve had that look in her eye, the one she got when her mind was spinning a million miles an hour.

  “Stupend-delicious idea, Katani!” Maeve shouted. “Gotta get started!”

  Smelly Dog

  “We’re here,” Charlotte called out as she and Marty let themselves in through Isabel’s front door.

  “In my room with Avery,” Isabel called back.

  “Come on, Marty,” Charlotte said. Normally she wouldn’t bring him on a cookie-making expedition, but he needed a walk, and there was no other time today to take him out!

  Marty bounded into Isabel’s room and dropped his chew toy on the floor by Avery’s feet so the happy face was staring at Avery. “Happy Lucky Thingy!” Avery exclaimed.

  She snatched up the toy and tossed it for Marty to chase. Only Marty didn’t go after his favorite thing. He trotted to the corner of the room and barked at a covered cage hanging near Isabel’s desk.

  “Want to meet Franco?” Isabel asked Marty, scratching him behind one ear. He wagged his tail eagerly. Isabel pulled off the cage cover and inside, a gray parrot shuffled on his perch to peer down at his doggie visitor.

  “Smelly!” the bird squawked. “Smelly dog!”

  “That’s not nice!” Isabel scolded Franco, but the bird didn’t seem to notice. He just jiggled the latch of his cage, like he wanted to come out.

  Marty barked and jumped around, his tongue lolling out.

  “He’s excited to meet Franco!” Avery said with a giggle.

  “Unfortunately Franco doesn’t seem overly excited to meet him,” Charlotte pointed out.

  When Isabel opened the cage, Franco flew out and landed solidly on her shoulder. “Franco love Izzy,” he said, completely ignoring the dog.

  “Want to come cook with us, Franco?” Isabel asked. “I might have some pineapple for you!”

  “Pineapple!” Franco squawked, flapping his wings while Charlotte and Avery cracked up. When they first discovered Franco on a Hawaiian cruise, his love of pineapple nearly got them all in big trouble!

  Isabel carried Franco to the kitchen, with Avery and Charlotte following. Marty snatched up HLT in his teeth and trotted along behind the girls.

  “I printed out a recipe I found online,” Isabel said, putting Franco on the back of a kitchen chair and handing each girl a piece of paper from the counter. “I made copies for all of us!”

  Avery read the list of ingredients that they needed while Isabel got out the mixing bowls. Charlotte’s job was to look in the cabinets for the cookie sheets.

  But Marty was making her job nearly impossible as he darted between her legs, over to Franco’s chair, and then back to Charlotte again, his toenails clicking and clacking on the linoleum floor.

  “That dog is going t
o give himself a heart attack!” Isabel’s older sister, Elena Maria, griped as she entered the kitchen. “And what’s Franco doing in here?”

  “Are they helping us make cookies?” Scott joked. Avery’s brother was also Elena Maria’s boyfriend.

  “Pineapple!” squawked Franco as Marty tried to tug a cookie sheet away from Charlotte.

  “Oookay . . . how about this,” Elena Maria offered, spreading out her hands and backing away from the hyper animals. “While you make the cookies, Scott and I will make a cake. That way you’ll have two desserts for the welcome party!” She picked up the bag of sugar that Isabel had pulled from the pantry and set it down on the kitchen table. “We’ll work over here. Away from your loco cooking zoo.”

  Pineapple Frenzy

  It all started out well enough. Charlotte read the cookie recipe, Avery did the measuring, and Isabel mixed the ingredients. On the other side of the room, Elena Maria and Scott worked on a cake batter. In the middle, Marty and Franco stared at each other.

  “Did we add the vanilla yet?” Charlotte asked, keeping one hand on Marty’s back so he couldn’t jump up on the chair where Franco was perched.

  “No, Scott has it.” Avery waved over to her brother. “Vanilla, por favor?” She held up her hand to catch the bottle, but Scott was staring into Elena Maria’s eyes, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

  “They’ll never finish that cake if they don’t stop making googly eyes at each other,” Isabel whispered to Avery.

  “Seriously!” Avery griped. “I am never falling in love.”

  “Oh, really?” Isabel teased, crossing the room to get a stick of butter from the fridge.

  At the kitchen table, Elena Maria reached over to open the cocoa powder at the same time as Scott, and their hands touched. Isabel’s sister let out a high-pitched giggle as Scott lifted her hand for a quick kiss, pushing the can of cocoa powder to the side—a little too close to the edge of the table.

  “Blech!” complained Avery.

  Isabel opened the fridge, and Franco took off in a flurry of feathers!

  “WANT PINEAPPLE!” The parrot was heading straight for Isabel! Marty ran after him, jumping and barking.

  “Huh . . . ?” Isabel stood with the fridge door open, holding the butter, and watched as chaos broke loose in the kitchen.

  “Ahhh!” Elena Maria screamed at the top of her lungs as Franco’s tail feathers brushed against her head. When she reached up to flail at the bird, she bumped into the table, sending the open cocoa container flying!

  Isabel leaned forward, thinking maybe, just maybe, she could catch it, but it was already too late.

  Crash! The tin slammed onto the floor. Cocoa spilled all over, coating Marty and Isabel with brown powder.

  “Pineapple!” Franco said triumphantly, landing inside the still-open refrigerator and grabbing a small plastic container of pineapple chunks.

  Avery and Charlotte were laughing so hard, their stomachs hurt. Marty was licking the dropped stick of butter, and Scott had his hand on Elena Maria’s back.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “We still need to add cocoa powder!” she wailed. “And we don’t have any more!”

  While Isabel tried to brush herself off, Charlotte scooped up the tiny bit of powder remaining in the container. “Is this enough?” she asked Elena Maria.

  But Marty must have thought Charlotte had a treat for him, and leaped into her legs with such force that she crashed into the counter, knocking a bag of flour onto the floor.

  Poof!

  A cloud of white powder exploded in the air as the bag hit the floor with a solid thud.

  “Woof, woof, woof!” Marty barked at the fallen bag.

  The noise terrified Franco away from his pineapple, and he flew around the room, cawing nervously, “Smelly dog! Smelly dog!”

  “These animals are ruining everything!” Elena Maria hollered.

  “Here, this’ll stop the bird!” Scott soothed his girlfriend. “They go to sleep when it’s dark, right?” He reached for the light switch . . . but hit the ceiling fan switch instead! As the blades whirred in a blur, Marty started barking himself into a frenzy, and Franco swooped around under the fan, whooping and cawing as the spilled flour and dry cocoa swirled into a powdered tornado.

  “Turn it off!” Elena Maria yelped. “Stop that dog! Get that bird!”

  Everyone watched as Avery somehow managed to dodge the swooping bird, hop over the running dog, hurdle the slick flour-cocoa mixture, duck past the flailing Elena Maria, and outflank her unbalanced brother to reach the switch.

  “Got it!” Avery announced as she scored the touchdown and stopped the chaos. The fan’s breeze died down and the powder began to settle. “Whew.”

  “Desert” in the Kitchen

  When it was all over, there was a fine brownish powder covering most everything in the kitchen, from the toaster to the table. A cocoa-flour mist sifted down and settled on the kitchen floor in gentle sand dunes. Mixed into the desert-like terrain were fallen feathers and wisps of dog hair.

  “Well, it’s a good thing your mom isn’t home,” Avery pointed out.

  “What are we going to do now?” Isabel wondered, surveying the mess.

  “You,” Elena Maria directed, “will clean this up!”

  “But what about our cookies?” Charlotte asked.

  “We’ve got to finish our cake first,” Scott said, holding Elena Maria’s hand.

  “I can’t!” she wailed. “Not with that bad bird staring at me!”

  “Bad bird, bad bird!” Franco repeated. He was inside the open fridge again, picking at the plastic lid on the container of pineapple.

  Isabel shook her head at the parrot. “That’s enough, Franco.”

  “Franco love Izzy!” he announced, as Isabel lifted him out, closing the fridge door and taking him back to her room.

  “Marty,” Charlotte called to the dog. “Maybe you should wait in the backyard.”

  When the kitchen was quiet—messy, but quiet—the girls turned back to their mixing bowls. “Where were we?” Charlotte asked.

  “I think we were on the eggs,” Isabel said.

  “Did we already add the vanilla?” Charlotte asked.

  “Let’s skip ahead and add the chocolate chips,” Avery suggested.

  Elena Maria leaned against Scott. “It’s pointless! Every-thing’s ruined,” she said with a moan. Scott gave Avery an apologetic look, and the teenagers left the kitchen, stepping carefully around the drifts of powder.

  “Well, then.” Isabel stared into the bowl of unfinished cake batter. “Shall we pop this in the oven?”

  CHAPTER

  5

  Sophie Shines

  What took you so long?” Katani demanded when the three hapless bakers finally showed up at the Tower.

  “And what . . . in the world . . . is that supposed to be?!” Maeve pointed with one hot-pink fingernail to the cake platter Isabel was carrying. Maeve was decked out in a pink beret, a pink leopard-print shirt, and black skinny-leg jeans. Her pink and black tennis shoes completed the look.

  “Um,” Isabel answered.

  “It’s a cake!” Avery announced, waving one hand over the lopsided mess. “And these are cookies!” She held up a plastic container full of dry, crumbly pieces that only vaguely resembled chocolate-chip cookies.

  Upon hearing the word “cookies,” Marty started barking wildly, his nose high as he searched around for the treat. He found them and was about to attack Avery’s container when Charlotte grabbed him by the collar.

  “Dogs can’t eat chocolate,” Charlotte warned Marty. “It’ll make you sick.” She tugged Marty away from the temptation.

  “Maybe we should give him the cake,” Avery suggested as Maeve leaned down and took a whiff of the desserts.

  “We sort of missed a few ingredients,” Charlotte explained. “All ’cause this little dude couldn’t keep his nose out of things!”

  “Franco wasn’t much help ei
ther,” Isabel apologized.

  Katani stopped taping streamers to come take a look. “The cookies are hopeless,” she surmised after a quick taste. “But the cake can still be rescued . . . with a little TLC.”

  Maeve puckered up like she was going to give the cake a big kiss. “Mmmmm, je t’aime!”

  “Not that kind of TLC, Miss Pink Paris Fashion!” Katani laughed.

  “I wanted to dress special for Sophie,” Maeve declared, striking a modeling pose, one hand on her hip, the other tucked behind her head.

  “Chic!” Avery joked, resisting the impulse to snatch Maeve’s beret and toss it to Isabel in a quick game of keep-away.

  “I’ll need a kitchen knife to save the cake,” Katani told Charlotte. “And maybe some more frosting, if you have any.”

  “Could you also get me some glue?” Isabel requested. “I’m going to add glitter to the welcome sign!” She was spread out on the floor, with a pack of markers and the poster board Katani had brought, hard at work. Right now, she was illuminating a drawing of an eagle with gold shading.

  “I’ll go get it,” Charlotte said. “Any other requests?”

  “Charlotte!” Mr. Ramsey called up before she had even left the room.

  “Yeah, Dad?” Charlotte shouted back, her voice echoing down the stairwell.

  “It’s time to go to the airport.”

  Charlotte’s heart began to race. She looked at her watch for the first time all night. “Wow! I guess we really were late!” she exclaimed, her face flushed. “And I never got to finish my story about Orangina!”

  “You’ll finish the story later this week,” Maeve assured her.

  “That’s right,” Isabel insisted, getting up off the floor. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  “Have fun,” Katani said, handing Charlotte a printed chart. “I meant to go over this with you first, but . . . I made a calendar for Sophie’s visit. It is a day-by-day schedule, including the subway stops and exhibit hours for everything we talked about doing.”

  Charlotte looked down at the list. “Thanks, Katani!” She gave her a quick hug, “These are going to be the best two weeks ever!” With that, Charlotte rushed down to the driveway, where her father was already waiting in the car.