by Coco Simon
Stop talking about the DJ! I scolded myself. But Colin just stood there, nodding and smiling, like I wasn’t babbling on like a weirdo.
Suddenly I felt very shy. But why? Because of Colin? My palms started to sweat again.
“I was going to get a cookie. Do you want one?” Colin asked me.
“Sure,” I said, even though my stomach felt fluttery.
Colin left to get the cookies, and then Amanda leaned in to me. “He liiikes you!” she teased in a singsongy voice. I blushed.
“We’re just friends,” I said, shrugging. But I wasn’t 100 percent sure I believed that. And that felt nice and weird at the same time.
Colin came back with the cookies, and we talked some more—not about the DJ, thank goodness. And then the four of us went out on the dance floor and started dancing. Twirling around on the dance floor, I definitely saw a few others who were not dressed like clones.
Potential friends? I wondered. Why not?
The beat picked up, and Eloise started jumping up and down.
“I love this song!”
“Me too!” Amanda and I said at the same time.
I took out my phone and motioned for Colin to get closer. “Come on, guys. We need a selfie!”
I snapped the photo and then, while I was dancing, sent it to Sierra and Tamiko.
Having fun! Wish u were here!
, Sierra replied.
Go, Allie! Tamiko texted back. C u 2 morrow on Sprinkle Sunday!
Thinking about Sprinkle Sunday reminded me of our ice cream sandwich special. Yes, being the ice cream in the middle was pretty sweet. I mean, that was the best part of the sandwich. And it held it all together. But the cookies on either side were delicious too. It wasn’t bad being part of two different worlds. It could get a little messy sometimes, sure, but life could be a little messy.
“Allie, put down that phone and dance with us!” Eloise cried.
I slipped the phone back into my purse and joined my friends.
The next day was Sprinkle Sunday, but that night I still had some dancing to do! Just then a haiku came into my head that actually made me smile:
New things all around
The ice cream in the middle
Change is sometimes good.
Then I hit the dance floor.
Keep reading for a preview of
Sprinkles Before Sweethearts
by
Coco Simon
“Lunch is gross today,” I said, lifting a piece of limp iceberg lettuce and letting it drop to my plate. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.
“Why so cranky?” asked my bestie Sierra as she chomped on some dry-looking carrot sticks.
I sighed. “I stayed up too late last night watching the World Series. My team wasn’t in it, but I love postseason baseball, so my mom let me stay up. . . . Oh, oh, OH . . .” I yawned hugely, remembering to cover my mouth at the last second. “But then I couldn’t wake up this morning.”
“That’s why you were late to class?” asked MacKenzie, my newer bestie. “Because of baseball ?” Her bright red hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and it swung from side to side as she shook her head and faked her disapproval of me.
“Oh, shush!” I laughed and swatted at MacKenzie, who shrieked and ducked away from me. “The worst part is that I was rushing, so I forgot all this stuff I needed: my cross-country shorts, my idea notebook, my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. What a hassle!”
“You must have been in a rush if you forgot your idea notebook!” agreed Sierra. She tossed her curly brown hair over her shoulder and smiled at someone behind me. “Hey, girls!” she said.
I turned around to see Margie and Emilia, two girls from our grade, bearing down on our table. I liked them fine—we were in art and science together—but they weren’t my BFFs or anything.
“Mind if we join you?” asked Margie.
“Go for it,” I said, sweeping my arm at the empty seats at the table.
“Thanks,” said Margie, setting down her tray with a smile of satisfaction.
“What’s new?” asked Sierra.
“Oh, just brainstorming about the midterm project we need to make for science,” said Margie, looking at Emilia. Emilia nodded, but it seemed like there was something they weren’t saying.
Sierra put her head into her hands. “Projects are the worst! I’m all thumbs. I hate making them.”
I cleared my throat. “I love making them!” I said. It was true. I was all about crafts and DIY and would waaaay rather create a project than write a paper about something.
“What is your class’s assignment?” asked Sierra. We were in different science sections, with different teachers.
“We have to make something that shows a concept or principle in physics. Mr. Franklin said our projects can’t just look good—they have to be meaningful and actually work. We have to submit our topics next week.”
Margie looked at me. “What are you going to do for yours?”
I shrugged. My fingers itched to start sketching in my idea notebook, but I didn’t have it today, of course. “I dunno. I’m not sure yet.” I wouldn’t have given out my ideas anyway, but I hadn’t actually had any inspiration.
Margie nodded like she was perfectly satisfied with my nonanswer, and then she leaned in close. “Well, we actually sat with you today, Tamiko, because we wanted your advice about something. Right, Emilia?”
Emilia nodded, looking down at her plate of yucky food.
“If it’s something about art class, I cannot help you there. Mr. Rivera—ugh! That man is a robot! I have no idea what he is looking for—” I began.
But Margie was shaking her head. “No. Actually, it’s about Carlo. Right, Meels?”
Emilia blushed dark red.
“Do you want me to explain?” Margie asked her. Emilia nodded shyly.
At this point I was getting annoyed. These two had sat down and taken over my conversation with my two pals, and then one of them couldn’t even speak for herself.
“What’s going on?” I pushed.
“Well,” said Margie, pausing dramatically and relishing the moment. “Emilia really likes Carlo. They danced together at the dance last weekend. And it wasn’t just a fast dance. They slow danced, too! Then Carlo asked for her SuperSnap, but he hasn’t sent her a single message since then. So we’re not really sure if he likes her or not.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Sierra said. “Why do you like Carlo?”
Emilia didn’t respond, so Margie elbowed her teasingly. “It’s his dark hair, beautiful eyes, and dazzling smile, right? Anyway, what do you think? What should we do, Tamiko?”
I looked up, surprised. “What? Me? I don’t have a clue. I barely know the guy. Why would he tell me if he had a crush on someone?”
Margie shook her head vehemently. “No, but what do you think? Like, what should Emilia do?”
I shrugged. This was so weird. What am I, Dear Abby? “Um, ask him if he likes her?”
“Eeek!” Emilia squealed, blushing an even darker shade of red.
“No!” cried Margie. “You can’t just ask someone straight up like that. That’s way too direct. And what if he says yes just because he’s embarrassed? He’s kind of shy. Then that would set her off on the wrong course.”
I sighed. “I think if you want an answer from someone, you need to ask them a direct question. Why all the playing around?”
Emilia looked down and shook her head.
No one would mistake this girl for someone pushy, so I wasn’t sure what she was worried about.
Margie shook her head. “Never mind. We just thought you’d have some good advice, Tamiko, since you seem to be in the know.”
“In the know about what?” See, Margie? Ask a direct question if you want an answer from someone, I thought.
“You know . . . boy stuff,” Margie answered. “You’re cool and you have guy friends and you’re always wearing cute clothes, so I thought you’d know stuff about crushes.”
In
the know? About guys? I had some good guy friends from the cross-country team, but I didn’t have a crush on any of them. And it was true that I loved dressing fashionably, but that’s always been for me—I wasn’t dressing to impress anyone.
I blew my bangs up from my forehead in exasperation. “Just because I have fashion sense and can talk to anyone doesn’t mean I know anything about crushes.”
“Oh well,” Margie said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Carlo sends her a SuperSnap. Or gives some other sign that he likes Emilia.”
“Good luck,” said MacKenzie.
Emilia nodded. “Thanks for listening,” she added shyly.
We wrapped up lunch, and then Margie and Emilia left to go track down poor Carlo somewhere near the lockers.
MacKenzie, Sierra, and I stood and went to clear our trays.
“That was weird,” I said, still puzzled.
“Beautiful eyes? Dazzling smile? Carlo?” Sierra said, and giggled.
“Wasn’t it funny how it’s Emilia who has the crush, but Margie did all the talking?” said MacKenzie.
Sierra nodded. “Emilia’s obviously really shy, though. Poor girl. It takes a lot of courage to admit you like someone.”
Even so, I couldn’t imagine being in such a state that my friends would have to do all the talking for me. I was no love expert, but I knew that it was better to speak for yourself in any situation, thank you very much!
I was excited to get home after school and grab my idea notebook. I always had an idea notebook going—there was a whole shelf in my craft room filled to bursting with my used notebooks. I packed them with sketches of projects or crafts I was working on; pictures ripped from catalogs, magazines, or newspapers; ideas for ways to customize things I already had, like clothing or furniture; inspiration for my part-time job at my bestie Allie’s mom’s ice cream parlor, Molly’s Ice Cream; basically anything creative in my life. It’s where I really let myself go. Being without it today had been like missing a limb.
I pounced on it in my room and slipped the clipped pen off the cover to chew on. I had to pen-chew when I thought. It drove my mom crazy because she always thought I was going to chip my tooth. Hadn’t happened yet!
The science project was what had my wheels turning. It had to illustrate some simple physics concepts, like force, motion, and velocity. My mom had recently brought home a bunch of spools of colorful wire from one of the labs at the college where she works, and I’d been dying to use them. Now I thought I could put them to use for this project. But how? With my idea due next week, I had time to come up with something really cool.
I put my pen to paper and let it roam freely while I thought about other stuff. I doodled hearts as I wondered why everyone was suddenly talking about crushes. I mean, come on, we were only in seventh grade!
Continue Reading…
Sprinkles Before Sweethearts
Coco Simon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From cupcakes to ice cream! Having written more than thirty books about middle-school girls and cupcakes, COCO SIMON decided it was time for a change, so she’s switched her focus from cupcakes to her second-favorite sweet treat—ice cream. When she’s not daydreaming about yummy snacks, Coco edits children’s books and has written close to one hundred books for children, tweens, and young adults, which is a lot fewer than the number of cupcakes and ice cream cones she’s eaten. Sprinkle Sundays is the first time Coco has mixed her love of ice cream with writing.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
Simon & Schuster, New York
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
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This Simon Spotlight edition October 2018
Copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Text by Tracey West
Series designed by Hannah Frece
Jacket designed by Alisa Coburn and Hannah Frece
Jacket illustrations by Alisa Coburn
The text of this book was set in Bembo Std.
ISBN 978-1-5344-2449-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-5344-2448-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-5344-2450-0 (eBook)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2018948332