“We always get here before Shawn,” Molly told Amanda. “Did you ever notice that?” She pulled her long brown hair into a high ponytail.
“That’s cause Shawn just lives over there,” said Amanda, pointing to a tall apartment building. “So she always leaves at the last minute. Amanda held up her hand and inspected her glittery lavender fingernails. ”You should try this color, Molls. Your nails look terrible. Are you biting them again?“
Molly blushed. “I guess I am.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. She was the fashion conscious sister. Amanda loved clothes, jewelry, nail polish, lip gloss...it seemed that every week. she was trying a new nail polish color or hairstyle. Molly, on the other hand, loved a comfortable old pair of jeans and boys’ canvas sneakers. She spent her allowance on CDs and hardly ever bought anything like lip gloss or hair accessories. “What’s the point?” she would tell Amanda, whenever Amanda begged her to buy something girly. “You already have all that stuff. I’m not wasting my money.”
The twins were different in other ways. too.
Amanda was cautious. Molly loved doing things on the spur of the moment, and always had a big idea she wanted to try out. Cooking had been her idea one boring day earlier in the summer. The twins were tired of all the take-out food their parents had been bringing home lately.
“Let’s cook dinner!” Molly had suggested. Despite Amanda’s protests, they did, and it tasted great! That led to their summer adventures—taking cooking classes in the neighborhood, getting to know Peichi better, and...starting their own cooking business—Dish! None of that would have happened if Molly hadn’t decided to take a risk.
“Here she comes,” said Molly, as she watched Shawn walk under some trees that bordered the lake.
Shawn was wearing denim shorts, running shoes, and her new candy-striped peasant top. Her bright green “cat glasses” looked so great against her coffee-colored skin. They were the same color as one of the stripes in her top. Shawn always looked—and acted—and dressed—so cool. Who else could pull off wearing really out-there eyeglasses? Or stay calm in the most bizarre situations?
Only Shawn. Amanda wanted to dress like her, and Molly wanted to act like her. But they never really could. Shawn was one-of-a-kind.
“Hi, Molls,” said Shawn. “Hi, Manda.”
“Hi,” said the twins. “What’s up, Shawn?” they both asked at the same time, and then giggled. They did that all the time—“the twin thing”—when they said the same thing at the same time.
“Did you see any turtles yet?” asked Shawn, ignoring the question. She stared at the water. “My dad and I did, yesterday.”
“Okay, Shawn, give it up,” said Molly. “Tell us what’s going on.
Shawn sighed and sat down on the grass in front of the bench so that she could look at the twins.
“Um, okay. Here it is. Remember that long business trip my dad’s been talking about? Well, he’s going on it after all. He’s going to Australia and New Zealand.” She looked down at the ground. “Wherever that is!” she said with a little laugh. “No, I know where it is. On the other side of the world!”
“I had a feeling this was happening,” said Molly. “How long is he going to be away?”
“A month.”
“Whoa!” exclaimed Molly. “That’s a long time!”
“I was bummin’ when he told me,” said Shawn, shaking her head.
“That is a bummer,” said Amanda. “So, like, what are you going to do?”
“I know!” Molly broke in. “You can live with us! It would be so cool—like a month-long slumber party!”
Shawn smiled a little smile. “Thanks,” she said. “But, um—I’m gonna go back down to South Carolina and stay with Grandma Ruthie. For the rest of the summer.” She looked at Molly, then her eyes flicked over to Amanda.
“What!” cried the twins.
“But you just got back from there,” said Molly. “You were there at the beginning of the summer, and it seemed like you were gone forever. You just got home!”
“I’ve been back for a while,” said Shawn softly.
“But Shawn, we’re all having such a great time,” declared Amanda. “This summer is awesome. We’re just getting Dish going. And we’re writing our cookbook. Why do you want to leave?”
“I don’t really wantto leave,” replied Shawn with a shrug. “But what else can I do?”
Molly stared at Shawn. So did Amanda. Then the twins glanced at each other, and realized that they were both wondering the same thing: Does Shawn even care that she’s leaving?
Molly forced a smile as she turned to Shawn. “Well, why can’t Grandma Ruthie come here?”
“Grandma Ruthie doesn’t want to be up here that long,” said Shawn. “I already asked her. And, well, I’m not gonna lie to you guys. I like it down there. I love going to Myrtle Beach with my cousins. I’ve been having a lot of fun here, too. You know that, right? But...”
A large dark cloud passed over the sun, and the air suddenly felt cold. Molly shivered.
“But it’s just better this way,” continued Shawn. “Okay? Anyway, I’ll be leaving in a few days. It’s just for a month, guys.”
Neither Molly nor Amanda knew what to say.
Shawn was acting weird. A little too cool.
Suddenly it seemed to the twins that Shawn had already checked out. And gone.
chapter 3
That night, when Mrs. Moore came home from work, she found the twins in the garden. “Hi!” she said. She kissed them and asked, “Do you want to eat dinner out here tonight?”
“Okay,” replied Molly.
“Sure,” Amanda mumbled.
“Something’s up with you two,” stated Mrs. Moore. “What’s going on? You seem so glum.”
“What does ‘glum’ mean?” asked Amanda.
“If it means bummed out, then we’re glum all right,” said Molly. “We’re ‘glummed out.’” She snickered at her little joke.
Mom set down her heavy bag. “What’s up?” she asked.
The twins told Mom all about their talk with Shawn.
“I see,” said Mom. “I’m sorry you’re going to be missing Shawn all over again.”
“And it doesn’t sound as if shell miss us,” Molly blurted out.
“Oh, that’s not true,” Mrs. Moore assured the girls. “But try to remember that other than her dad, Shawn doesn’t have any family here in New York. Sometimes it’s just good to be with your family. That seems to be what Shawn needs right now. And she likes it down in South Carolina, so it’s not sad for her to go there.”
Mrs. Moore smiled at her daughters. “That doesn’t mean she won’t miss you, and all the fun you’re having,” she went on. “But growing up is about accepting things that you can’t change, and making choices that are right for yourself. And Shawn’s doing pretty well in that area. Losing her mother has forced her to grow up. Try to see it her way. And try not to make it harder for her, okay?”
The twins didn’t say anything for a while. They were thinking about everything Mom had said. It was a lot to take in. But it did seem to make sense.
“Well,” said Molly slowly, “I guess I haven’t really looked at this the way Shawn would.”
“Me, either,” said Amanda. She sighed. “Okay, Mom. She’s here for a few more days, so Molly and I will—”
“Just act normal and not make her feel guilty!” interrupted Molly.
Mom smiled again. “Shawn’s lucky to have you two as her best friends.”
“Cha-ching! Cha-ching!” cried Molly, the next afternoon. The friends had just dropped off their latest cooking job at Mrs. Jamison’s house.
“Peichi, well divide the money at your house,” Amanda said, pocketing the wad of bills Mrs. Jamison had just given them.
“You know what’s really fun?” asked Peichi. “When we open up the boxes and show the customer what we made for them—”
“And their eyes bug out and they say how good it all looks!” interrupted Ama
nda.
“Mrs. Jamison looked so surprised when she saw how young we are,” commented Shawn. “Everybody’s like that at first. And then they see what we did, and they’re so impressed. That’s, like, just as good as getting paid.”
“Mrs. Jamison wouldn’t have been so impressed if she’d seen us outside her door, right after we rang the bell,” said Molly. “I’m still shaking!”
“I still can’t believe you and Peichi almost spilled that whole platter of mini-pizzas,” Amanda reminded them. “What a mess that would’ve been!”
“You’re telling me!” Peichi said with a giggle. “Come on, let’s walk faster! I can’t wait to show you my new room!”
“You’ve been saying that all day,” Molly teased her.
Amanda stopped to fix the strap of her sandal that had slipped down. “I have to get another hole in this strap. It’s too loose,” she said.
“Come on! Come on!” Peichi said impatiently. “You can fix your shoe at my house.”
The girls knew Peichi was excited, so they hurried the rest of the way to her house.
“Everybody close your eyes!” said Peichi as she led the friends upstairs to her room. “I mean, after you get upstairs.”
She opened her door. “Ta-da!” she cried.
“Oooh!” squealed the girls.
Mrs. Cheng had painted the room ivory. A large cotton chenille rug, also in ivory, made the room look cozy. Sheer ivory drapes hung from the tall windows. In one corner was a new white wooden desk, with cute little cubbies and drawers, and a matching white chair with an aqua velvet cushion. In another corner was an overstuffed armchair, upholstered in aqua velvet. A dresser matched the desk. On the floor were four gigantic velvet pillows for sitting on—in aqua leopard print!
But the best thing was Peichi’s queen-sized wooden sleigh bed.
“It’s my parents’ old bed,” explained Peichi. “They got a new bed. This is so huge, I feel like I’m in a boat!”
“We could all have a sleepover right here!” Molly joked, plopping on the bed.
Peichi had picked out the bedding herself. Her friends loved the aqua puffy quilt. It was bordered in velvet, in a very pale aqua. Two matching pillow shams completed the look.
There were fun touches, too—a groovy pink Lava Lamp. Transparent yellow plastic towers for CDs. Even a string of white lights with pink plastic flower-shaped covers.
There was also a traditional touch. Under glass, hanging on a wall, was a woman’s black Chinese silk jacket with colorful embroidery. It had belonged to Peichi’s grandmother, Ah-mah.
“Wow! Your parents went all out!”
“I love your bed!”
“I love how bright everything is. Can I move in?”
Shawn ran her hand over the quilt’s silky fabric as she gazed around the room. “I love it, Peichi,” she said. “Now I want to do my room over, too! Mine’s so babyish. Yours looks grown-up. Hey, what happened to your posters? Did your mom make you throw them out?”
Peichi smiled and got up to close her door. On the back of the door were two posters of Peichi’s favorite bands. “I don’t think Mom knows they’re here!” she said, opening the door. Everybody laughed, and the girls made themselves comfortable on the big cushions.
Peichi sank into her big velvet chair. “Aaaaahh!” she sighed. “You guys have to try this!”
Amanda reached into her pocket. “Here’s our money!” she said, waving a wad of bills. “I think Mrs. Jamison even put a tip in.” She put the pile of cash on the floor.
“Money, money, money!” said Molly, throwing up a bunch of bills and watching them float to the floor. “I’ll divide it up. One dollar for you, Peichi, one dollar for you, Amanda, one for Shawn, five dollars for me...,” she joked.
“Maybe we should have a treasurer, like real clubs have,” suggested Shawn. “Now that we have a real business, and we’ve made a little money.”
“What does a treasurer do?” asked Molly.
“A treasurer takes care of all the money,” Peichi explained.
“She writes down how much money comes in, divides it up, and keeps track of how it’s spent,” added Shawn.
Peichi looked around at her friends. “Can I do it?” she asked. “Or do you want to be the treasurer. Shawn?”
Shawn shook her head. “No, thanks,” she said. She hadn’t yet told Peichi that she would be leaving soon.
The girls looked at each other.
“Does anyone else want to be treasurer?” asked Molly. “Actually, I think I do. We’ll have to take a vote.”
“I’m definitely not voting for you, Molls, chuckled Amanda.
“Why not?” asked Molly with a pout.
Amanda giggled and told the friends, “One time Molly had a hole in her pocket and she lost all her allowance! And another time, she paid for an ice-cream cone with a ten-dollar bill and forgot to wait for her change, and the kid behind the counter had to chase her up the street to give it to her—”
“That was a long time ago, Manda,” said Molly, rolling her eyes.
“If you call the beginning of the summer a long time ago,” teased Amanda. She poked Molly in the ribs. “Plus, your money is always ending up in the wash.”
“Well, at least it’s clean!” Molly giggled. “Okay, so I won’t be treasurer! Who wants Peichi to be treasurer?”
Everyone raised her hand.
“Then it’s—what’s that word?” asked Molly, handing the pile of bills over to Peichi. “When everyone votes for the same person?”
“Unanimous!” said Peichi. “Great! Thanks, guys! I’ll start right now!” She reached for a pad of paper. Cooking job for the Jamisons. . .” She began to write. Then she took all the bills and divided the money equally among the friends.
“Hooray, I’m rich!” cried Molly. “Let’s go to the movies! Let’s buy some candy! Let’s—”
“Hi. girls,” called a gentle voice. The girls looked up. It was Mrs. Cheng, standing in the doorway. She looked like a model with her sleek black bobbed hair, flared jeans, and black sleeveless top.
“Oh, hi, Mom!” called Peichi. “You sneaked up on us.”
“Moms are good at that,” said Mrs. Cheng with a soft laugh. “You’re all holding what looks like lots of money. Now don’t spend it all in one place!”
“We won’t,” said Peichi. “Guess what? I’m treasurer of Dish!”
Mrs. Cheng came into the room and sat on the floor with the girls.
“Are you going to invest some money in Dish?” asked Mrs. Cheng. “I hope so.”
“What does ‘invest’ mean?” asked Amanda.
Mrs. Cheng thought for a moment. “Well, it means to put some of the money you earned from Dish back into Dish. To buy things your business needs. For instance, I used some of the money I made from designing the logo for the Brooklyn Bank to buy a more powerful computer, and a better chair.”
“We invested in the fridge, and it’s paid off already,” said Amanda. “Luckily, it was only forty-five dollars!”
“Great!” said Mrs. Cheng. “What does your business need now? Spices? Sugar? Flour?”
Molly and Amanda nodded as they looked at each other.
“We’ve just been using a lot of ingredients that Mom had,” said Amanda.
“But we should buy our own stuff,” added Molly, “so that Mom doesn’t have to keep replacing what we take.”
“And maybe we should buy your mom some supplies to pay her back for what we’ve already used,” said Peichi.
Mrs. Cheng smiled. “You have the idea,” she said.
“And we need to make flyers to advertise our business, and pay for an ad to put in the newspaper,” Peichi added. “The ad will cost money.”
“Maybe we don’t even need an ad,” said Shawn. “I mean, we’re getting a lot of business already, and we might get more than we can handle.”
Molly and Amanda flashed each other a look. Shawn was right. Once Shawn left, they’d be down to just themselves and Peichi.
Mrs. Cheng stood up to go. “I’ll be happy to design a flyer if you girls want one,” she offered. “And you don’t have to pay me! Now come on down to the pool. It’s too nice a day to be cooped up inside!”
“Okay,” said the girls.
Peichi turned to her friends after Mrs. Cheng left. “We do need supplies. So, the best thing to do is for each of us to put back some of our money—let’s say ten dollars. That’ll give us forty dollars to start with.”
Everyone gave Peichi ten dollars.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll put this in an envelope and we’ll take it shopping when we get our next job. And each time we get paid for a job, we should put in ten more dollars.”
“Oh, well, I guess we’re not rich anymore,” said Molly.
“But we still have enough for an extra-large pizza and a movie tonight!” Peichi pointed out.
Molly and Amanda headed straight into the pool, but Shawn and Peichi sat at the little table near the pool and drank their sodas. That’s when Shawn told Peichi that she would be leaving.
“Why?” exclaimed Peichi. “What about Dish? And all the fun we’ve been having? I wish—”
“It’s just for a month,” Shawn told her. It seemed like she’d said that a million times already.
“Oh, well,” said Peichi with a shrug. “I’ll miss you! I promise to send you lots of e-mails!”
“That would be great,” said Shawn with a smile. “I’ll miss you too.”
Amanda stopped swimming and poked her head out of the water. She saw Shawn smiling as she spoke to Peichi. Amanda knew she should try to see things Shawn’s way, as Mom had said, but it really didn’t seem like Shawn was going to miss them. Shawn looked too happy. Way too happy.
Boiling Point Page 2