by Nancy Zhang
Lulu nodded. “Good. I like that plan, Zoey. And I have terrific news to share: I talked to Mr. Holbrooke yesterday, and he agreed to order all the new furniture pieces I selected, as well as some picture frames, lamps, and a mirror! The new pieces will really make your pillows and duvet and fabric-covered bulletin board pop.”
Zoey clapped. “Aunt Lulu! That’s great! Priti thinks we’ll just be dressing up some old bed frame and dresser from the attic in her mom’s house. I know new furniture will make her so happy. She gets so many hand-me-downs from her older sisters!”
Aunt Lulu chuckled. “That’s what I thought. Mr. Holbrooke is anxious to make Priti feel happy and comfortable in his new apartment.”
“Maybe it’s a good time for Priti to ask for a new laptop then, too,” Zoey quipped.
“Maybe it is,” Aunt Lulu said.
Lulu’s cell phone rang, and she answered it right away, mumbling “Helllllo” and taking the phone into her office for privacy. Zoey knew “helllllo” meant she was talking to John and that things must still be going very, very well between them.
Zoey smiled to herself, glad her aunt was happy and that so far, it hadn’t affected Zoey’s special relationship with her.
Alone, with heaps of work to do, Zoey got down to business. She started pulling accessories out of her bag and lining them up on the table. When she pulled out the sparkly ribbon she’d earmarked as piping for one of Priti’s pillows, she decided to go ahead and tack it around the edge of the pillow fabric with straight pins, so she’d be ready to sew it when the duvet was done. She did the tacking roughly, not bothering to measure and line it up perfectly, but even so, the ribbon barely made it around the third side of the pillow.
Zoey studied the ribbon, unpinned it, and tried it again. It made no sense—it was still too short! She could have sworn she’d bought too much ribbon, because she’d been so sure Priti would love its sparkle and want to use it in several places. And now she didn’t have enough for one pillow? Had she cut it and left the other half at home?
Zoey tried to retrace her steps. She’d had the ribbon at the beach, at home, and at Lulu’s. She did not remember cutting it or starting to use it or doing something with the extra.
“I know I’m not the most organized person ever,” Zoey muttered to herself, “but this is ridiculous. All of my things are disappearing! The button, the pillow fabric swatch, this ribbon. It’s like I have my own personal cat burglar!”
At the word “cat,” an idea struck Zoey. She didn’t have a cat, but Aunt Lulu did have a dog, appropriately named Buttons. Was it possible Buttons was the thief? She had seen him eat live bugs outside, not to mention chew on Aunt Lulu’s shoes and, once, one of her favorite purses.
Zoey went to look for Buttons, who she found curled up on his dog bed in the kitchen, contentedly chewing a dog bone. He didn’t look guilty, but as she watched him methodically chew through the bone, she started to wonder.
Aunt Lulu came out of her office, pink-faced and smiling from her phone call. “Where were we?” she asked Zoey, who had returned to her sewing table and was sitting and staring at her things.
“Aunt Lulu,” Zoey said, “is it possible Buttons could be eating my supplies? I’m missing a button and some ribbon, a swatch, and who knows what else. But I’m positive about how much stuff I bought, and now some of it is missing!”
Aunt Lulu frowned. “Hmm,” she said. “I don’t think so, but let’s go look at him.”
Lulu and Zoey went to the kitchen where Buttons had stopped chewing the bone and had fallen asleep with it between his front paws.
“Well, Zoey,” Lulu said, “I think he looks too happy and comfortable to be the culprit. I’m not saying he definitely didn’t eat your things, because he is a dog, but if he’d ingested ribbon and a button and a swatch, he’d been in pain, and his tummy would be hurting. I can keep an eye on him if you like, and I’ll certainly make sure to check his . . . his business . . . to see if anything comes out. But I doubt it.”
Zoey sighed. She really seemed to be blaming everyone lately for what was probably her own carelessness. Allie, Marcus, Buttons. Who would be next? Her father? The mailman? She knew she shouldn’t be pointing fingers all the time. It wasn’t right. And if she thought about things logically, the most likely reason things were missing was that she herself had misplaced them.
Maybe what she needed to do was just hurry up and finish her projects, before she lost anything else!
That evening Zoey dressed carefully for her screen-printing class. She knew printing might be messy, but she wanted to look nice, since some of the students could be young designers like herself. So she chose a pair of skinny camo pants and paired them with a printed cotton blouse, with differently colored polka dots that reminded her of a painter’s palette. She loved the two patterns together—camo and polka dots. She carefully braided her long hair into a fishtail side braid and then added barrettes that had been her mother’s at the top. Her father had offered to drive her back and forth to class the first night and said he and Marcus would split the driving the other nights.
Zoey was slightly nervous walking into the room, because, ordinarily, when she went somewhere new, especially somewhere like a class, she had a friend with her. Even at sleepaway camp she’d been with Priti. But she wouldn’t know anyone at screen printing, and it was possible she’d be the youngest person there as well. She’d asked Kate if she’d want to come along for fun, but Kate declined, since her sling meant she wouldn’t be able to participate fully.
It took Zoey a while to find the studio, but she managed to sneak in just as the teacher was closing the door. He was young, probably in his twenties, and looked like he might be a graduate student. From his paint-spattered clothes, blue-tinted fingertips, and long, messy ponytail, Zoey got the feeling he was someone who lived to make art and that he’d probably be a lot of fun in class.
The room was nearly full, mostly with high school kids and college students, but Zoey spotted one empty seat on the left side of the art studio, near the back. She headed toward it and plopped her bag down onto the floor. She climbed onto the stool and folded her hands on the table in front of her. She was eager and excited to get started. She’d polished her design for the Space Invaders T-shirt until she felt it was perfect, and now she was anxious to see it on a shirt.
The teacher introduced himself and started talking. The person next to Zoey took a handout from a stack of papers being passed around, and gave one to her.
“Here, Zoey,” she whispered.
Startled, Zoey looked over at the person, wondering how they knew her name. It was Shannon Chang!
“Hi, Shannon,” Zoey said automatically. She bit her lip. For the past year or so, it had been hard to know which Shannon she was talking to at any given time. There was Old Shannon, who had been Zoey’s friend in elementary school, and New Shannon, who hung around with mean girls Ivy and Bree at school and watched silently as they spat insults at Zoey and her friends.
Zoey didn’t like to be around mean people, but she couldn’t bring herself to be rude in return by ignoring them. She just wasn’t made like that. She was friendly, and she was herself.
“So what are you doing at screen-printing class?” she asked Shannon, as if they saw each other all the time and got along perfectly well.
“I’ve been taking it for a few weeks,” Shannon said. “I really got into art last year, and my parents thought I should try a few different mediums to see what I liked.”
Zoey wanted to ask where Ivy and Bree were, but didn’t. There was no need to mention them if Shannon was going to be friendly. Zoey and Shannon weren’t at school, anyway. They were on neutral territory.
“Are you here to work on those T-shirts for Marcus?” Shannon asked. “I was wondering if you’d find this class.”
“How’d you know about that?” Zoey asked, alarmed.
Shannon blushed. “I read your blog sometimes, and I guessed the ‘family member’ was your broth
er. I like your blog—your sketches are so neat. I really love it when you post an early sketch of something, and then the final sketch later, after you’ve changed the design. It’s so cool to see the process.”
Zoey couldn’t help feeling flattered. It was always nice to hear that someone liked her work and read about it.
“Thank you,” said Zoey, pulling out her sketch for the band shirts. “This is the design I made for Marcus, and I’ve got to make four or five really good shirts by this weekend! Do you think I can do it?”
Shannon looked impressed by the design. “I love it! And, yes, you can do it. I’ll help you. I’ve made a bunch of stuff already, so I sort of know what I’m doing. Don’t worry—we’ll get them done in time.”
Zoey smiled gratefully at Shannon, and Shannon smiled back.
Zoey was very, very glad she’d decided to sign up for screen-printing class.
CHAPTER 9
Coming Out of the Cocoon . . .
Wow, just WOW. I went to a screen-printing class last night and felt SEW inspired being around all those awesome people bringing their beautiful designs to life! I sketched this tunic shirt because the shape reminded me of a butterfly. Doesn’t it look pretty? I have to figure out how much material it will take, though. I’d like to find a great, colorful fabric that reminds me of butterfly wings, and all the yardage will probably be expensive. So if any of you are thinking of buying something from my Etsy site, now would be a good time!
It’s funny how butterflies start off as caterpillars, and they look like furry worms, but then they go into their cocoons and come out looking completely different and are able to fly! So even when something (or someONE, and I’m thinking of a certain person here . . .) looks or acts one way on the outside, they can be something completely different on the inside.
In other news, I’ve been losing sewing supplies. It’s the weirdest thing—it seems like every time I sit down to work, I notice a swatch or button is missing from my bag. I’ve decided I have a personal fashion burglar! Either that, or I’m continually losing things because I carry around so much stuff! But even with all the missing stuff, I’m still having a blast finishing up the design for Priti’s room and making my secret project for my family member (shh!). Tackling new types of design work and using different mediums has turned out to be so much fun! I can’t wait to wake up every morning and figure out what I’m going to be doing. Maybe I’m learning to fly, just like a butterfly!!
Zoey went down to breakfast on Tuesday to find a small pharmacy bag at her spot at the kitchen table. Someone had written “Zoey” on the bag in marker.
“A present?” Zoey said to herself. “For me?”
Her father came into the kitchen with his travel coffee mug, ready to fill it up and head out to work. “What’s that, Zoey?” he asked.
“Did you leave this bag?” Zoey asked him.
Her father bit his lip to conceal a smile and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. It’s from Marcus, and I got one as well. Don’t get your hopes up too high that it’s something you’re really going to like.”
Zoey furrowed her brow, unsure of what could possibly be in the bag. When she opened it, she found a pair of earplugs, with a note from Marcus that read:
Sorry. Just four more days until the audition Saturday!
Zoey sighed. “I guess that means they’ll be practicing all day today, too?”
Her father nodded. “Yep. At least you’ll be at Lulu’s, right? I might be staying late at work.”
Zoey frowned. She’d been planning to sew at home that day, because Aunt Lulu had a client coming to her house for an appointment, and Zoey didn’t like to be underfoot when her aunt had someone there.
Marcus strolled into the kitchen and grabbed a bagel to put in the toaster. “I see you got your gift, Zoey,” he teased. “Want me to put in a bagel for you?”
“Yes, please,” said Zoey. “And, yes, I got my gift. I’m beginning to wish I’d never given you that flyer about band camp.”
Marcus grinned. “C’mon now, loving sister. You don’t mean that!”
Zoey scowled but couldn’t hold it, and the scowl slid into a smile. Marcus’s grin was just too big for her to really be mad. She was proud of Marcus, and she could tell how much the band was improving from all the practice.
The toaster dinged, and Marcus spread cream cheese on both bagels. He placed them on the kitchen table and then sat down across from Zoey.
“Thanks for the bagel,” she said. “I guess I can listen to your band for a few more days.”
“Thanks, Zo.” Marcus chewed for a moment. Then he said, “You know, with all the practicing we’ve been doing, I’ve hardly been able to see Allie at all. I keep asking her to come over and watch us, but she’s so busy finishing up pieces for her Etsy site. She can never come over. Do you know if something’s going on with her?”
Zoey could hear the sadness in Marcus’s voice. He wanted Allie there to support him, and so he could see her, but at the same time, they were both so busy.
“Don’t worry, Marcus—there’s nothing going on that I know about. I’m sure she’ll come by soon. And it’s not like you can really hang out with her when you’re practicing, anyway! Just call her later and tell her you miss her. I’m sure she’d like to hear that. And tell her you hope all her projects are going well.”
“You think so?” said Marcus. “That’s all it is?”
“I know so,” said Zoey. “Just call her.”
“Okay, okay.”
There was a knock on the front door.
“That’s the band,” Marcus said, jumping up to answer the door. “Time to put in the earplugs, Zo!”
Zoey sighed. “Okay. Yeesh.”
The earplugs helped slightly, but not much. Zoey ended up dragging her sewing machine from the dining room up to her bedroom. With her door shut and her bathrobe rolled up as extra soundproofing along the bottom of the doorframe, the room was somewhat quieter.
Before she got down to work, Zoey picked up her phone and called Allie.
Allie answered right away. “Hi, Zoey!” she said cheerily, obviously happy to hear from her. “How are all your projects going?”
“Pretty well,” Zoey said. “I’m busy, though. I started a screen-printing class, and I really love it.”
“Oh wow!” said Allie. “I’ve always wanted to do that. Maybe I can go with you sometime!”
“That’d be great!” said Zoey. “I’m making something special for Marcus there—T-shirts for his band to wear to the audition.”
“Oooh, that’s awesome—he’s going to love them,” Allie said. “I finally came up with an idea for the band, too. I’m in the middle of making them leather cuffs to wear, so they’ll look really rock ’n’ roll.”
Zoey loved the idea and loved Allie even more for doing something so nice for her brother. “That’s great, Allie! I know Marcus will like them.”
“Oh good—phew.” Allie sounded pleased. “He’s been sort of upset with me that I haven’t been able to come over, but I’m working on two new items for my site, and now I’m making the cuffs, and I’m thinking of adding them as an item on my site too. I just haven’t been able to come over this week!”
As Allie talked about her projects and Marcus, Zoey began to realize how silly she had been to ever think Allie would have borrowed supplies from her without asking. She was her friend and her brother’s girlfriend. It just seemed completely out of character for her to take another designer’s supplies, especially when she knew how important they were! It was much more likely, Zoey thought, that she herself had been careless and was losing stuff because she was overwhelmed by too many things to do. She was glad she’d never said anything directly to Allie and risked their friendship.
The girls talked a bit longer about their different projects, and when they were done, Zoey asked Allie to please come over as soon as possible.
“Not just to visit Marcus, but to visit me too!” Zoey said. “I miss you.”
“Me too,” said Allie. “And don’t worry, I’ll see you very soon!”
Zoey got off the phone, made sure her earplugs were firmly in place, and turned on her sewing machine.
Zoey continued to go to screen-printing class, and by the third night, she’d made some real progress on the shirts. She was happy with the stencil she’d created, and to make each shirt slightly different, she was using different inks for each person in the band. Her plan was to make a bunch of shirts and choose the best ones to give to the band. When the shirts were all printed, she planned to give them a special Sew Zoey twist: She was going to cut out duplicate images of the little characters on the shirts and then sew them on top of the images on each shirt, to give the designs texture and to make them stand out. She couldn’t wait to see what they’d look like when she was finished.
As she was coming out of class one night, her arms full of the shirts that were finished and dry, she ran smack into her friend Gabe Monaco from school.
“Gabe, what are you doing here?” Zoey exclaimed.
Gabe grinned. “Hi, Zoey! I’m taking a photography class. What are you doing? Laundry?”
“Ha-ha.” Zoey laughed, and explained about the screen-printing class and making the shirts for her brother’s band.
“Wow—that’s so cool. I heard about the concert they’re having for the end of the Camp of Rock week,” Gabe said. “It’s supposed to have an awesome guest rock band!”
Zoey nodded. “That’s what I heard. I just hope my brother’s band will be there too!”
“I’m sure he will be. I’ve already got tickets for the show.”
“How’s your photography class?” Zoey asked. She didn’t know much about photography, but she’d always found it interesting. Maybe one day she’d take a class herself.
“Oh man, it’s awesome. I’m learning so much stuff! If you ever need someone with crazy-good photography skills, call me. I’m really getting into it, and my parents said if I keep it up, they might get me a nice camera for Christmas.”