by Coco Simon
“You got it, Meg,” Rashid replied as he and Daphne reached for their aprons with the Molly’s logo on them. I caught Daphne smiling at him, and I wondered if Sierra was right—if there was something to this “Raphne” thing after all. I’d have to mention it the next time Sierra and I talked.
Then Mom drove us back to our little house by the beach, and we ate a home-cooked meal of stew and biscuits. It was sort of how things used to be. Well, except Dad wasn’t there.
“Can I have ice cream for dessert?” Tanner asked.
Mom sighed. “Sure, Tanner. I’ve got some vanilla in the fridge.”
I headed into my room on the first floor. It was smaller than the room I’d had in our old house, but there was enough space for my bookshelves, and that was all that mattered, really. Plus, it made for a cozy spot for reading.
Normally with my homework done I would have curled up with a good book, but I still had the Fall Frolic on my mind. I opened up my closet and searched until I found my nicest dress. It had a velvet top and a midnight-blue tulle skirt, with petal sleeves made of the same tulle. I had worn it the previous year, when the whole family had gotten dressed up to see the Sleeping Beauty ballet performed at the Green Park Opera House.
I sat down on my bed and stared at the dress in my lap. We’d gone to the ballet the previous January—not even a year before. First we’d eaten at that fancy Chinese restaurant in Green Park with the white tablecloths, and then we’d all gone to see the ballet. Mom and Dad hadn’t argued at all, and Tanner had fallen asleep on Dad’s arm halfway through. I had been mesmerized by the dancers, the music, and the beautiful costumes.
We’d been a complete family back then, but those days were over. I shook off a twinge of sadness, closed my bedroom door, and tried on the dress.
It still fit, although in January it had fallen halfway down my calf, and now it fell just about an inch below my knee. I knew it wouldn’t work for the Vista Green dance, but I figured I could wear it to the MLK dance, maybe. I’d have to ask Sierra and Tamiko what they thought. I changed out of the dress and found Mom in the kitchen, on her laptop, frowning.
“Paying bills online might be easier, but it’s still paying bills,” she remarked. “What’s up, Allie?”
“Well, I’ve got two dances coming up,” I said. “There’s the Fall Frolic at Vista Green, and Sierra and Tamiko got permission for me to go to the fall dance at MLK.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful, Allie!” she said. Then she paused. “So I guess you need a dress? What about the one you wore to the ballet?”
“I just tried it on, and it’s a little short,” I said. “Any chance I could get a new one?”
Mom looked down at her laptop. “I think we can afford it,” she replied, and she gave me a number. “If you can stick to that budget, that is.”
I hugged her. “Thanks, Mama!” I said.
I ran back into my room and went to the website for the Glimmer boutique. They had photos and prices for their dresses. I looked at the short, shimmery dresses like the one Eloise had shown me, and my mouth fell open. Each one was three times more than the budget that Mom had given me!
“No way,” I said out loud, and I searched the web for the dress shop where I had gotten the dress for the ballet. Right away I saw a bunch of dresses in my price range. I scrolled through the photos, and then stopped at a pink-and-purple dress with a scoop neck, and ruffles on the sleeves and the skirt. It looked modern and old-fashioned at the same time, and I loved it.
I found the photo on my phone and then sent it to Amanda and Eloise.
Would this work for the Vista Green dance?
Too colorful, Amanda texted back.
, Eloise replied. Did you look on the Glimmer site?
I sighed, went back to the Glimmer site, and scrolled through the photos. I finally found a simple silver dress with short sleeves. It just hit the knee of the model and didn’t have thin straps, but I thought it might still work. The dress would show a lot more skin than I usually did, but I figured I could wear a tank top underneath or hide my bare back with my hair, just to make Mom and Dad happy. I sent a photo to Amanda and Eloise.
This one got a better response.
Cute! Amanda replied.
That could work, Eloise texted.
I sighed. It looked like I was going to have to buy the silver dress from Glimmer to fit in at the Fall Frolic. It just seemed so unfair! I mean, the silver dress was okay. I could find a way to make it work. But I didn’t love it immediately the way I loved the pink and purple dress. But the last thing I needed was another excuse for the Mean Team to make comments. Plus, I’d have to come up with a lot more money on top of what Mom was giving me to buy a dress.
Where was that money going to come from? I wondered. I picked up the ceramic piggy bank next to my bed. It was bright blue with funky flowers painted on it, and it had been my mom’s when she was a kid. I’d been putting my earnings from working at Molly’s in it.
Well, most of my earnings. I knew that money had been tight for Mom since she’d opened her business, so I hadn’t been bugging her for allowance and had been using my ice cream money instead. So if I went to the mall with my friends, or out for pizza or something, I paid for it myself. It was actually a pretty good feeling to be able to do that.
As I counted up the bills, quarters, dimes, and nickels, I realized that I hadn’t saved as much as I’d thought. There were two Sundays between now and the Vista Green dance. If business was really good, and people were generous with their tips, I just might make enough to buy the dress from Glimmer.
I’ll have to make enough, I thought. Otherwise, I may never fit in at Vista Green!
CHAPTER THREE
CONES AND CLONES
“Rise and shine, Allie! I made pancakes!”
I slowly opened my eyes, for a second unsure where I was. Then I saw the pale blue ceiling and remembered it was Sunday morning, and I was in my room in Dad’s apartment.
I yawned and looked at the clock. “It’s so early!” I complained. “It’s only seven thirty.”
“I know, but it’s supposed to be a beautiful day, and I was hoping we could go to the park before I bring you to the shop for your shift,” Dad said. “And anyway, you know that Tanner still wakes up at six a.m.”
“I hope he grows out of that soon,” I said, sitting up. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Great, Allie. I’ll keep the pancakes warm,” Dad said, and he closed my bedroom door.
I climbed out of bed, and my feet hit the squishy carpet on the floor. At the beach house my bedroom had a wood floor with a cute, round rag rug right next to the bed. At Dad’s the floor was carpeted. Sometimes I was hazy and confused after I woke up and didn’t know where I was until my feet hit the floor.
I kept most of my stuff at Mom’s house and usually brought a duffel bag with me to Dad’s on the weekends when I stayed with him. Even though it had been a few months since they’d divorced, I still sometimes felt like I was staying at a hotel at Dad’s house. We had to take an elevator up to the apartment; the rooms still didn’t have any homey touches, just basic furniture; and I could hear people playing music and talking loudly in the apartments above us and next to us.
I put on some jeans and my Molly’s T-shirt, then brushed my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. That was how I wore it most of the time, and especially on days when I worked at Mom’s shop. I had to pull it back if I was making ice cream cones, sundaes, and shakes for people all day.
Then I walked into Dad’s kitchen—or was it our kitchen? The kitchen? In my head it felt like the apartment was Dad’s house and the beach house was Mom’s house. Before, when we’d all lived together, it had been just “our house.”
Anyway, Dad had a plate of pancakes and another of bacon on the kitchen table. He and Tanner were already eating.
I sat down and yawned again—I couldn’t help myself.
“So, what did you want to do at the park?” I asked Dad.
Dad had started getting in better shape when he and Mom had gotten divorced. I knew it was probably because he was thinking about dating again, but I kept that thought way, way in the back of my mind.
“A walk sounds good,” I said. Tamiko and Sierra were both on the softball team, and Tamiko also ran cross-country in the fall. They’d tried to get me to play softball with them, but I just wasn’t interested. Sports didn’t do it for me—but a nice walk in the park, well, that was just fine.
After breakfast my weather app told me it was going to be chilly until about eleven a.m., so I put on my new Vista Green hoodie—and slipped a book into the front pocket. I always had a book with me. You never knew when you’d have a chance to read.
But as it turned out, I didn’t need a book that morning. Dad, Tanner, and I walked over to the Maple Grove Community Park, and we walked all the way around the trail there, past the playground, and a big fountain, and the tennis and basketball courts. Tanner ran ahead of Dad and me the whole way.
Then we went to the playground, and I could have curled up on the bench there and read, but Tanner begged me to play Shark with him. It was a game I’d made up when he was a little kid. I was the shark in the water, which was the area around the playground. All of the playground equipment was safe space. Tanner had to run around the playground and try not to be captured—and eaten, of course—by the shark.
“Dad, you be the shark,” Tanner said, but my dad was on his phone.
“In a minute, Tanner,” Dad said, but he had that tone of voice that meant he was busy with work, so I started to chase Tanner.
“You’d better run! I’m awfully hungry!” I said in a deep voice, and Tanner shrieked with glee as he ran away from me.
Forty-five minutes later I was panting, but it was time to head to the ice cream shop. Dad bought us hot dogs at a stand in the park, and we ate them walking back to his car.
“You know, one of these days you’re going to have to feed us vegetables,” I teased.
Dad laughed. “Oh, wow. You’re right, Allie. Maybe tonight I’ll pick us up some big salads from Pino’s Pizza.”
“And pizza, too. Right, Dad?” Tanner asked.
“We’ll see,” Dad replied. “Although, that kind of defeats the point of the salads.”
“Well, if you’re going to Pino’s Pizza, don’t you actually have to get pizza?” I asked.
“Well,” Dad said sheepishly. “If that’s the law.”
Dad dropped me off at Mom’s ice cream shop at twelve fifteen. Tamiko and Sierra didn’t usually show up until twelve forty-five, but I liked to get there early to check in with Mom and get ready for the after-lunch rush. If the shop was slow, I could sneak in some rare one-on-one time with Mom then too. It was still really weird for me to wake up and have only one parent there. I mean, there used to be some mornings when Mom or Dad would leave early for work, but I’d know that they’d both be home at night.
“Hi, Mama,” I said as I went through the door.
Mom was behind the counter, and she looked pretty stressed. Her dark brown hair (the same color as mine) was falling out of the messy bun on top of her head.
She looked up at me. “Allie!” she said. “Are you having a good weekend?”
“Sure,” I replied. “What about you? You look stressed.”
“It’s been so busy!” Mom explained. “Tamiko’s idea to offer coupons to the local sports teams has been really successful—maybe too successful. I’m checking inventory now. We’re totally out of Lemon Blueberry, and Chocolate Salted Caramel.”
I walked over to the menu board, where the flavors were written in colorful chalk, and erased those two flavors.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” I said. “We’ve still got lots of great flavors left.”
Mom sighed. “I’ll have to put in extra hours this week making ice cream,” she said. “I was hoping to experiment with some new flavors, but I won’t have time.”
“Well, Tamiko and Sierra should be here soon,” I said. “We’ll take care of things up here, so you can get other stuff done.”
“Paperwork!” Mom said. “It never ends!”
Mom gave me a hug. “Sorry if I sound crazy-stressed, Allie.” She held me for a second. “I miss seeing you every morning.” Then she took a deep breath. “Being too busy is a good problem to have when you run your own business.”
“Too busy? So the new coupons are working?” Tamiko asked as she and Sierra walked through the door.
“Girls! You’re here early. That’s great. The coupons are fantastic,” Mom replied. “Yesterday I had two girls’ soccer teams in here, and a peewee football team. And the coaches all had coupons.”
“Sweet, Mrs. S.!” Tamiko said. She held up her phone. “Any special flavors you want to plug today? I need to make today’s FacePage post.”
Mom frowned and walked up and down the counter, looking at the flavors. “I’m running out of so many! But there’s a lot of Honey Pistachio. Can you plug that one for me?”
“No problemo,” Tamiko replied. “Is it okay if we make a cone for the photo?”
“Knock yourself out,” Mom said. “And unless you’ve got more questions, I’m going to go get some paperwork done and leave the shop in your capable hands.”
Tamiko saluted her. “Never fear, Captain. We’ve got this.”
I started making a Honey Pistachio ice cream cone for the photo, but I was thinking about Mom saying she missed seeing us in the morning. I missed seeing her. I missed seeing Dad, too, when he was at his house. Dad was always so excited to see us because we stayed with him less. I thought about how he must miss us too, and I felt bad. I knew they both missed us when we weren’t with them. Dad seemed to have a lot of time to do . . . Well, he went to the gym a lot. And he saw a lot of movies. When we weren’t there, Mom was always working at the shop or doing paperwork. She didn’t have a lot of time to just chill. . . . Oops. I realized the ice cream was already starting to drip.
“How do you want to do the photo?” I asked Tamiko.
“Sierra is looking adorbs today as usual,” Tamiko replied as she looked at Sierra. “What do you say, chica?”
Sierra shrugged. “Sure. How’s my hair?”
She had pulled her curly brown hair back into a blue headband that perfectly matched the blue stripes on the chairs in the shop. She did look “adorbs,” as Tamiko liked to say—but then again, Sierra always looked cute.
I handed her the cone.
“Am I supposed to be eating this? Or just looking at it?” she asked.
“Just hold it up and kind of smile at it,” Tamiko said, and Sierra obliged. “Yeah, there you go. Hold on.”
Tamiko snapped a few photos. “Perfect!” she said. “I’ve just got to post this quickly, Allie, and then I can help set up.”
“No problem,” I told her. “We’re pretty much ready to go.”
We all had different jobs at Molly’s. Sierra worked the register; Tamiko took orders and made simple things, like cones; and I made the complicated orders, like shakes, mix-ins, and sundaes. But we basically all pitched in and helped make sure the napkin dispensers were filled, the tables were wiped clean, and the cookies were crushed for mix-ins—stuff like that. Tamiko was also our unofficial social media director, so she also posted when she had extra time.
“What should I do with this ice cream cone?” Sierra asked.
“Eat it!” Tamiko and I said at once, and then we both laughed.
“I will never say no to your mom’s ice cream,” Sierra said, and then she took a lick of the Honey Pistachio. “Mmm, that’s amazing!”
Sierra finished the cone just as the after-lunch rush started. The orders came one after the other. A large cup of vanilla with crushed cookies mixed in. Two banana shakes. One strawberry sundae with vanilla ice cream and lots of strawberries. Four kiddie cones with rainbow sprinkl
es.
“Here’s your sprinkle of happy!” I said as I helped Tamiko hand the cones to their four adorable recipients. I knew it was corny, but I loved saying it, and the customers seemed to like it too.
The stream of orders didn’t stop for an hour, but I didn’t mind. When it was busy, the time went by fast. Plus, I knew that more orders usually meant more tips—which would bring me closer to buying the dress I needed for the Vista Green dance!
I was busy mixing candy into a cup of vanilla ice cream when I heard Tamiko say, “Why don’t you try one of our famous mermaid cones?”
Now, a mermaid cone might sound amazing, but the problem was, we didn’t have a mermaid cone on the menu. I wasn’t surprised, though, because Tamiko was always making up crazy menu items to convince customers to upscale their orders. Thanks to her, we now had a dragon sundae and a unicorn sundae on the menu—so why not a mermaid cone?
I looked and saw that the woman ordering was wearing a T-shirt with a swirly mermaid design on it, which must have inspired Tamiko.
“That sounds awesome,” the woman said. “What’s in it?”
“Well, it’s on our secret menu, so we’ll have to surprise you,” Tamiko replied. Then she looked at me. “One mermaid cone, Allie.”
Because the customer was right there, I had to act like I knew what Tamiko was talking about. After glaring at Tamiko (but not totally meaning it, because coming up with new combinations was actually kind of fun), I stared at the ice cream flavors in the case and the toppings on the counter.
My eyes landed on the Beach Plum ice cream. A beach plum was a fruit that grew only on the East Coast. It didn’t grow in Bayville, but Mom had a supplier who got it for her from Maryland. The color of the ice cream was purply-blue.
“One scoop of Beach Plum ice cream,” I said, scooping it into the cone. “Plus a sprinkle of mermaid magic!”
I covered the ice cream in blue sprinkles. It wasn’t super-fancy, but the mermaid fan looked pretty happy.
“Thanks,” she said as I handed her the cone. “I have to post this!”