Swatch Out!

by Nancy Zhang

  Zoey smiled. “That’s so neat! You know, I might need your help sometime. I’m terrible at taking pictures of my pieces for my clothing site. Marcus used to help me, but he’s been so busy lately—first, with his girlfriend, and now, with the band. Maybe you could help instead!”

  “I’d love to!” Gabe said. “I still owe you for the outfit you made my dog, Mr. Paws.”

  Zoey laughed. She’d almost forgotten the name of Gabe’s dog. She knew Gabe had to be a nice guy if he was willing to admit in public that he’d named his dog Mr. Paws.

  “Well, I’ve got to go meet my dad,” Zoey said. “I’ll see you around!” She waved good-bye to Gabe and headed outside to find her father’s car.

  The next day Zoey was pleased to learn Aunt Lulu had no clients coming to the house, so Zoey would be able to camp out there for the day and avoid the Space Invaders’s never-ending practice sessions. If it went on much longer, she was going to suggest to Marcus they rename the band the Noisy Invaders; the Never-Ending Invaders; or the Nonstop, Noisy, Never-Ending Invaders. She didn’t think Marcus would find it funny, but she no longer found having to avoid her own house all day, every day, very funny, either. As much as she loved and supported her brother, she couldn’t help wishing his band would find somewhere else to practice!

  At Lulu’s, she set up in the dining room, as per usual, and was relieved to find that for once, all the items she’d thought she’d packed seemed to actually be there. There was just one thing she needed to borrow from Lulu.

  “Aunt Lulu?” she said.

  Aunt Lulu was dressed and sitting on the sofa, finishing her coffee and skimming through a clipboard of invoices. “Yes, dear?”

  “Do you, by any chance, have a zipper or two or three I could borrow? The nice kind you use on pillows?”

  Zoey had had an idea for how to make sure the dress she’d nearly completed for Sophie would last a bit longer than just September and October, and she was anxious to get it finished. She wanted to deliver it to Mrs. Flynn as soon as possible.

  “Well, sure, I probably have a few,” said Aunt Lulu. “For Priti’s pillowcases? I thought you’d finished those.”

  Zoey shook her head. “No, actually I’m thinking of adding more fabric blocks to the bottom of Sophie’s dress and having them zip on by hiding the zipper up under the hem of the original bottom panel. That way, if the dress starts to get too short too soon, Mrs. Flynn can zip on another few inches of fabric, and no one will know!”

  Aunt Lulu looked impressed. “Zoey, what a terrific idea! And more panels of fabric will just make it even cuter. I can’t wait to see it! Let me go get you some zippers . . .”

  Lulu hopped up and headed into her office. Zoey heard some rustling, then a phone ringing and being answered, and then a few minutes later, her aunt emerged from the office, looking serious.

  Zoey immediately assumed Lulu had gotten a phone call with bad news from someone. Perhaps an unhappy client?

  “Aunt Lulu, what’s the matter?”

  Lulu came into the dining room, carrying one of her upholstery fabric books instead of a zipper. She placed the book on the table beside Zoey’s work space.

  “What is the book for?” Zoey asked.

  Aunt Lulu looked like she was in pain. “I just got a call from a client, so I had to check for a sample of something I could show her later today, and when I opened up this book to see the sample, I found this.”

  Lulu opened the book to reveal a page with a fabric sample on it, except a large, rough circle of fabric had been cut out of the sample.

  “I hate to even ask you this, Zoey, but did you cut this out and forget to ask me about it first? Because this is one of my newer books and not one I’ve ever cut something from.”

  Zoey was horrified. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Or hearing. “Of course it wasn’t me, Aunt Lulu! I promise. I would never cut something from one of your beautiful books. I know how important they are!”

  Lulu closed the book and sat down, nodding. “Of course, of course. I’m so sorry I even asked, Zoey. It’s just such an odd thing to find. And I need to use this very sample later to show a client. . . .”

  “That’s so weird,” Zoey said. “I mean, I’ve had so many things missing recently, and now you have a random piece cut out from the middle of your book!”

  Aunt Lulu laughed. “If only there were aliens. That would explain everything.”

  “But it really is strange,” Zoey insisted. “I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to figure out where my buttons and swatches and ribbons have been going. I thought I had my own personal fashion burglar, but now you do too!”

  Aunt Lulu shrugged. “I’m sure there’s some reasonable explanation. I lose buttons and things for projects all the time. Probably because I haul things from my house to my car to clients’ houses, and back. Things are bound to go missing. I probably took this book to visit someone last week, and while I was in the restroom, they decided they liked this sample and wanted to keep it.”

  Zoey thought hard. She wished she could be as calm about her missing items. “Aunt Lulu, I almost accused my friend Allie of taking some of my supplies,” Zoey confessed. “That’s how nutty it’s made me.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t!” Aunt Lulu said. “I seriously doubt it was Allie. Just like I doubted you’d done this, and I’m terribly sorry I even asked you. Forgive me?”

  “Of course!” said Zoey. “It sure is strange, though, isn’t it?”

  “Very,” agreed Aunt Lulu. “And now I’m off to the store to get another sample for this client. I’m dying to know how Sophie’s dress turns out. Will you show it to me later?”

  “I’ll e-mail you a picture!” Zoey promised as Aunt Lulu got up to comb her hair and grab her purse.

  The door shut behind Aunt Lulu, and though part of Zoey was sad not to have her aunt’s company for the morning, another part of her breathed in the delicious silence. She wouldn’t need earplugs at Lulu’s house, and her ears were very grateful.

  CHAPTER 10

  Nancy Drew, Where Are You?

  I’ve got a mystery to solve! My “fashion burglar” has grown even more, well, mysterious! My aunt Lulu found a chunk of fabric cut out from one of her sample books. Are there sneaky, magical mice running around, making a dress for Cinderella from all the scraps? I can’t figure it out! If I only I knew a real, live detective . . .

  Marcus’s band continues to practice (and improve, thankfully!), and his big audition is tomorrow. If they’re accepted into camp, the Space Invaders will play ON THE BEACH next weekend! How neat is that? I’m SO hoping they’ll make it (for many reasons), because I sketched this adorable rock ’n’ roll–inspired beach outfit to wear to the performance. Do you like it? I need to hurry up and start sewing to have it ready for next weekend. But first the band needs to rock their audition!

  One of my loyal readers commented the other day and asked if I’d heard back yet from Fashionsista, and I’m sorry to tell you the answer is STILL NO. I’m starting to think I invented the whole thing! Or is Fashionsista yet another mystery I can’t solve?

  Since it was the Space Invaders’ last day of practice before their live audition, Allie came over to watch Marcus and support the band. Zoey was up in her room when Allie arrived, but she could hear Allie and Marcus talking and was pleased by how happy they both sounded to see each other.

  Zoey had finally finished the T-shirts for the members of the band, and she couldn’t wait to show them to everyone. The screen-printed pieces that Zoey had hand-sewn on, slightly askew, over the ­little Space Invaders characters had turned out terrific, and she knew the band would look both modern and retro in their shirts. She hoped it would help them make the perfect impression on the judges.

  She gathered up the shirts and headed downstairs, excited to give the band their gifts. Since it was their last day of practicing in the basement for a while, Zoey was already forgetting the headaches of the past week.

  When she
reached the bottom of the stairs, she placed the neatly folded shirts on a table and motioned to the band to stop playing.

  Marcus obeyed but looked perplexed at why she was cutting them off midsong. “What is it, Zo?” he asked, silencing the cymbal on his drum kit.

  Excitedly, Zoey held up one of the shirts. “Surprise! I made you guys shirts to wear to your audition tomorrow! Come look.”

  Looking pleased, Marcus came over to examine the shirts. As he did, Zoey leaned in close to him and whispered, “I’m so sorry about being a jerk about the letter and my missing stuff. Forgive me?”

  Marcus, who was grinning from ear to ear as he held up his custom Space Invaders T-shirt, just laughed. “Sure, Zoey. And I’m sorry I was kind of a jerk, and that we were so loud all week.”

  Dan, the band’s guitar player, pulled on one of the shirts and said, “Wow, Zoey! I can’t believe you made these! We look so legit now. Thanks!”

  Marcus pulled one over his head as well. “These are awesome! You’re the best, Zoey!”

  Zoey watched as Ralph, the lead singer, pulled on a shirt. They looked terrific all together like that, especially since each shirt’s design and fabrics were a little bit different.

  Thrilled her surprise had been such a hit, Zoey decided to sit and listen to a song before getting back to work. She went over to sit beside Allie, who was parked on the couch knitting something for her accessories line. Zoey expected Allie to look happy that Marcus and his band loved their shirts so much, but instead Allie looked like she was about to cry, and wouldn’t meet Zoey’s eyes.

  The band started to play again, and Zoey nervously turned to Allie. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You don’t like the shirts?”

  Allie shook her head. “No, that’s not it. They look amazing. You know they do. But I haven’t given the leather cuffs to the boys yet, because I wanted to do it tomorrow, right before their audition—for good luck.”

  Zoey was confused. “Okay . . . but I don’t understand. You still can!”

  Allie frowned. “Yeah, but now they’ve already gotten an awesome surprise gift for the auditions, so mine won’t seem as exciting.” Allie sighed. “I’m sorry—I know I sound like such a grump. It’s just that I’ve been feeling so badly about not being here for Marcus all week, and I really wanted to show him how much I support him. And I thought the surprise would do that. But a second surprise is never as good as the first surprise.”

  Zoey understood. She’d felt badly about yelling at Marcus and wanted to make it up to him with the T-shirts, and she knew Allie wanted to make up for missing time with Marcus by giving him the cuffs. It felt good to give someone a special gift you’d planned, and worked hard on, but then to be trumped by another person’s gift just beforehand, on top of already feeling guilty, must be extra tough.

  “I’m so sorry, Allie,” Zoey said. “I just didn’t think! I was so excited about the shirts that I sort of forgot about everything else. I really didn’t mean to upset you or get in the way of your gift.”

  The girls were so busy talking, they hadn’t even noticed the band had stopped playing. Marcus was standing right in front of them.

  “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you two looking so sad? We’re going to make it tomorrow, I know it!”

  Zoey quickly explained the situation, and Marcus caught on. He grabbed Allie’s hand and held it tightly. “Hey, we’re going to love your surprise tomorrow—whatever it is. Two surprises are always better than one! I can’t wait to see what you made for us.”

  After a minute or two more of convincing, Allie finally smiled. Marcus whispered something in her ear and then went back to stand with his band.

  “This song is for you, Allie,” he said into the microphone.

  He picked up his new guitar and started playing acoustically, and singing a very unrock song just to her.

  Zoey noticed Marcus’s band rolling their eyes, smiling, as if wanting to tease Marcus for so obviously adoring his girlfriend. But they didn’t say anything, and neither did Zoey. Maybe a little part of her wanted to groan at how corny it was, but the rest of her was glad Marcus and Allie were happy again. She stayed and listened to the band for a while and took a few pictures of them with her phone to send to her father and Aunt Lulu.

  The next afternoon Zoey got a text and a picture from Marcus of the Space Invaders at the audition. They were wearing the T-shirts and leather cuffs, and they all had huge smiles on their faces. The text read, We made it!

  Zoey texted back, Congrats! U deserve it!!!!

  Judges loved the shirts, he wrote back. Then, Thx, Zo.

  Zoey smiled. Her brother’s band had made it into rock camp. Who knew what amazing things they’d learn there or how far their band would go? And to think, it was really Cody Calloway who helped Marcus end up at rock camp, because that’s the concert Zoey was attending when she saw the flyer!

  She resisted the urge to tell her brother that, and instead wrote back, Anytime, big brother.

  On Monday, with Marcus’s band gone for the day at rock camp, Zoey decided to spend the day working at home instead of at Lulu’s, to finish up the accessories for Priti’s room. At five o’clock, she was still wearing pajama pants and had only eaten a peanut butter sandwich all day. She decided she needed to get out of the house. She wanted to check on Kate, to see how her shoulder was doing, so she threw on a pair of leggings but left her messy T-shirt and ponytail in place. After all, Kate wouldn’t mind, and Zoey only needed to look presentable enough to walk up the block.

  As she was about to leave, she yelled good-bye to her father, who’d come home from work early since the band was no longer practicing at the house.

  “Wait, Zoey, where are you going?” Mr. Webber asked, sounding concerned.

  Zoey had her hand on the front doorknob, puzzled. “Just up to Kate’s for a while. I’ve been home all day. Why?”

  Mr. Webber looked nervous. “Uh, well, I haven’t seen you much lately. Could you stay home and have dinner with me?”

  “I’ll come home for dinner. It’s only five. What’s going on, Dad?”

  Then Marcus came downstairs. He’d just gotten back from rock camp and had immediately hopped in the shower. Now, wearing his band T-shirt, with his damp hair neatly combed, he glanced at his father and at Zoey, who was still standing by the front door.

  “You should go clean yourself up,” Marcus told Zoey. “We can have a nice dinner with Dad tonight.”

  “ ‘Clean myself up’?” she repeated. “Is it someone’s birthday? What am I missing?”

  Marcus shrugged innocently. “Nothing. I just think maybe you should be dressed more like you usually are, in a Sew Zoey outfit or something.”

  “But why?”

  With a groan, Marcus gave up. “All right, all right—jeez. There’s a surprise coming, and I’m not telling you who it is, but you’re going to want to look nice, okay?”

  Zoey’s heart started pounding. A surprise? Who could it be? Her mind went into overdrive. Could it be a visit from Fashionsista? Had she written to Zoey’s dad instead of Zoey? Why else would Marcus tell her to wear a nice outfit?

  Zoey quickly agreed to change and ran up to her room, texting the change of plans to Kate. She dug through a pile of clothes on her chair until she found a cute shirtdress she’d made recently, and a belt to wear with it. There wasn’t time to do much with her hair, other than to brush it out and braid it neatly down one side. She slipped on a Sew Zoey fabric headband to make it a little more interesting. Just as she’d gotten her hair looking decent, the doorbell rang.

  Was it Fashionsista?

  Zoey flew back down the steps, running straight toward the front door.

  “You get it, Zoey,” her father called from the kitchen. Zoey could smell beef and onions cooking on the stove. “Marcus is in the basement.”

  Zoey reached the door and threw it open. Simultaneously, her jaw dropped, her palms started sweating, and her heart began to pound. She couldn’t believe who she was seeing
.

  Cody Calloway was on her front doorstep!

  Cody wore a leather jacket over a T-shirt and jeans. He looked like he’d just stepped out of the pages of one of her teen magazines. His teeth gleamed white, and his smile was a mile wide. His dirty blond hair was thick and pushed over to one side.

  “You must be Zoey,” he said.

  He held out his hand to Zoey, and she shook it numbly. His hand was warm and soft, and it made her knees turn to jelly.

  “Uhh-umm,” she sputtered. “Hiii.”

  He moved toward her slightly. As he did, Zoey saw a girl behind him who looked about her age. And she was wearing a Sew Zoey shirt!

  “What’s going on?” Zoey managed to ask. “How did you get that shirt? And what are you doing here?”

  “Marcus didn’t tell you?” Cody asked, confused.

  “You know my brother?”

  Cody started to laugh, and from behind Zoey, Marcus appeared. “Hey, man,” Marcus said to Cody, slapping him a high-five. “C’mon in.”

  Cody and the girl came inside Zoey’s house, and all Zoey could do was stare. Cody Calloway was in her house, acting like he was friends with her brother. How had this happened?

  Marcus looked delighted by Zoey’s puzzled expression. “Cody’s one of the judges at camp,” he explained. “He came up to us after we played today and told us how much he liked our T-shirts. So I said my sister made them, and that you had a blog et cetera, and then he asked me if you were Sew Zoey!”

  Zoey couldn’t believe her ears. How in the world did Cody Calloway know about her blog?

  Cody grinned. “See, this is my little sister, Dakota. She’s your age, and she’s a huge fan! And I knew she’d love to meet you, and, uh, well . . .” Cody paused, looking embarrassed.

  Marcus filled in the rest. “And I said you’d love to meet Cody. So I texted Dad about inviting them over, and he said he’d make fajitas!”

  Zoey couldn’t believe her ears. She knew she was in the middle of probably one of the most exciting moments of her life, and all she wanted to do was hug her brother and tell him how awesome he was for bringing Cody Calloway to her house, even though at the same time she was mortified that Cody obviously knew she had a huge crush on him.