by Nancy Zhang
“I love fajitas,” Zoey squeaked. She took a deep breath so she wouldn’t faint.
Nervously, Dakota stepped forward to shake Zoey’s hand also. “I’m so thrilled to meet you,” she said. “I love your blog and your Etsy site. I buy all of your stuff!”
Suddenly, the name clicked. Dakota. “Wait, are you Dakota Brown?” Zoey asked. “You’re my biggest fan!”
Dakota nodded, pleased that Zoey knew her. “That’s me!”
Zoey looked from Dakota to Cody and back. She noticed Dakota had the same thick dirty blond hair as Cody, though hers hung well below her shoulders. She also had the same dark eyebrows as her brother. “But why do you guys have different last names?”
Cody shrugged. “My name is really Cody Brown, but my parents and the record label decided I should use a stage name, so I can still have some anonymity, because I started so young. Calloway is my mom’s maiden name, so I use that.”
“Oh right,” Zoey said. “That makes perfect sense.” She looked from Cody to Dakota to Cody again. She couldn’t believe both her music star crush and biggest fan were standing in front of her and were brother and sister!
“Come in!” Zoey said quickly. “I can’t believe we’re still standing in the front door. I’m so sorry. This is just, well, very, very exciting!”
Mr. Webber came up to the door to meet everyone and then ushered them into the kitchen to sit down. He’d put guacamole and chips and sodas on the table, so they could munch on something while Mr. Webber finished making the fajitas.
“I like that you eat in your kitchen,” Cody said. “My mom always makes us have family dinners in the dining room! It’s too stuffy, I think.”
Mr. Webber laughed. “Zoey uses the dining room as her office, and we’ve all gotten so used to it, we don’t even think about it anymore!”
The whole group laughed and started in on the snacks. Zoey really couldn’t believe she was sitting at her own kitchen table, eating chips with Cody Calloway. What would she tell her friends?
“So, Zoey,” Cody said. “I mean, Sew Zoey. Do you think you could make a shirt like Marcus’s for me?”
Zoey nearly passed out. Make a shirt for Cody? Was he serious? She’d make him a thousand!
“Well, sure,” she managed to answer, almost calmly. “What do you want it to look like?”
Cody described it, using his band’s logo as the basis and offering to sketch it out for her. Zoey told him that wouldn’t be necessary; she knew it by heart. He laughed and gently punched her on the shoulder, which helped to put her at ease. Cody may have been a superstar, but underneath he was just a boy, like her brother, who liked fajitas and music and cool T-shirts.
“I’ll start on the shirt right away,” she promised him. “But how can I send it to you?”
“That’s easy,” Dakota said. “Just bring it to the concert on Sunday and give it to him then.” Then she slapped her hand over her mouth, and looked guiltily at her brother. “Oh my gosh, Cody!” she gushed. “I’m so sorry! They didn’t know you’re the guest performer!”
Cody rolled his eyes and groaned. “They didn’t until now, no. Thanks, Dakota.”
Zoey couldn’t believe it. Cody would be performing at the rock camp’s final concert! She would actually get to see him play again!
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Cody said. “It’s supposed to be a secret, but my sister isn’t so good with secrets. . . . And please don’t tell anyone we were here tonight for dinner, either. If word gets out, then people might guess about the concert, and the promoters will get really upset.”
“Of course we won’t,” Marcus assured him. “We won’t tell anyone.”
Zoey nodded fervently, pledging her silence, but on the inside, she felt like she might burst with the news. The biggest thing that had ever happened to her in her whole life, and she couldn’t tell her best friends. It would be torture!
Cody nudged Dakota with his shoulder. “Little sisters—you can’t take ’em anywhere,” he joked.
“That’s for sure,” Marcus agreed. Then he gestured at the T-shirt Zoey had made for him. “But they’re all right sometimes.”
Zoey thought about Sophie and Libby and how much Libby loved Sophie, even though Sophie drove her nuts. Zoey wondered if she drove Marcus nuts the same way. Probably. But one thing was for sure, they all loved each other. And that mattered much, much more.
After all, it was Zoey’s older brother who had delivered Cody Calloway to her very own kitchen. If that wasn’t love, what was?
CHAPTER 11
No One Will EVER Believe Me . . .
OMG! I met a very famous “someone” the other day, AND also met one of my biggest Sew Zoey supporters, but I’m SWORN to secrecy and can’t say who they are. It’s pretty much rocked my world! (That’s a clue, but I can’t tell you why!) So I guess I need to stop blogging about it. But I’ll just say this: WOW.
This week I’m finally finishing up my very first interior design project (Priti’s new bedroom), and my outfit for Sophie, AND the band T-shirts for Marcus are done. So what on Earth will I do with all my time? Oh, that’s right—school starts soon! I guess I’ll be doing homework. And speaking of homework . . . What do you think of this sketch for a possible first-day-of-school outfit? Is the belt too much?
Nah, I didn’t think so, either! Good minds think alike!
Finally, it was time to set up Priti’s new room. Mr. Holbrooke had been secretly assembling the new furniture while Priti was at her mother’s house, and Zoey and Aunt Lulu were headed over to his apartment with all of the accessories, pillows, pictures, and duvet. When they were done, it would be perfectly Priti!
They spent the morning arranging and rearranging every piece until Lulu and Zoey both felt it was perfect. Zoey didn’t want to let down her best friend. When the room was finally ready, Mr. Holbrooke called Mrs. Holbrooke and told her to bring Priti over.
Priti arrived and insisted on being blindfolded. When Zoey guided her into the room and removed the blindfold, Priti covered her mouth with both hands and shrieked.
“I can’t believe it!” she said. “It’s the most beautiful room I’ve ever, ever, ever seen!”
She walked around the room in a circle, stopping to admire each piece, from the night table to the pillows, to the framed pictures of her and her sisters and friends on the walls. Zoey had hand painted a frame with a picture of her, Priti, Kate, and Libby, and Priti touched it lovingly with one finger.
“I can hardly believe I get to sleep here! And hang out! And do homework!” She looked at her dad. “And all the new furniture, Dad! Thank you!”
Mr. Holbrooke looked delighted by Priti’s reaction. It was obvious how much he wanted her to be happy.
Then, out of nowhere, Priti’s eyes filled up with tears. Sad tears. And she started to cry.
“I’m sorry everyone,” she said. “It’s just . . . this is my dream room, but the situation is not so dreamy.”
Mr. Holbrooke rushed over to his daughter and hugged her tight. Aunt Lulu and Zoey looked on sympathetically.
“I love you, honey, and I know this isn’t easy,” Mr. Holbrooke said. “I don’t expect a pretty bedroom to suddenly make it okay that your mother and I have separated. I just wanted to make the best of a tough situation and to give you a space you’ll be happy to come to when you’re here with me. I’m still getting used to calling this place ‘home’ too, you know!”
Priti hugged her father back, hard. “Thank you for saying that. And thank you for this amazing room! I know it’s going to get easier. And I really do love it.”
Aunt Lulu and Zoey took turns giving Priti hugs too. Zoey kept an arm around her friend and said, “You know, everyone thinks families have to look a certain way to be ‘happy,’ but that’s not really true. After all, Lulu’s my aunt, but in a lot of ways, she’s like my surrogate mom. Maybe it’s not normal for everyone, but it works for us!”
Priti nodded and smiled, her tears quickly drying up. “You’re right
, Zoey. I wouldn’t trade my mom and dad for anyone else’s in the world, even if we’re not all in the same place anymore.”
After hanging out with the Holbrookes for a while, Aunt Lulu dropped Zoey off at home. Zoey was eating lunch when she heard her phone ding, and checked it, to see if it was a message from Priti.
It wasn’t. It was from Daphne Shaw.
Zoey’s heart started pounding as she opened the e-mail and began to read.
Dear Zoey,
Hello! I’ve just returned from two weeks in Italy, where I was sourcing fabrics for my line. Imagine my surprise when I finally reached the bottom of my snail mail pile this morning and found your letter! It had been sitting here waiting for me all this time. Yes, I am Fashionsista! I use my real name online for business, and different pseudonyms for personal things. Also, I confess, while I really enjoyed being your secret fashion “fairy godmother” for a while, I’m glad that you now know it’s me. I even thought about telling you when you came to visit in June, but I just wasn’t ready to let go of my fun little secret. Maybe one day you’ll return the favor to another talented young designer!
Xoxo, Daphne
Zoey swallowed hard. It was true. Daphne Shaw was Fashionsista! It was both wonderful and a bit sad to finally know the truth for sure. The mystery had been such fun. But Daphne was right—maybe it would be Zoey’s turn next to be someone else’s fashion fairy godmother! And in the meantime, Zoey had to think of just the right way to say thank you to Daphne for all the support and inspiration she’d given her. She vowed to make the perfect thank-you gift.
On Saturday Mr. Webber dropped Zoey and one very carefully ironed dress off at the Flynn house. Zoey had worked extra hard to make every last stitch perfect, and she couldn’t wait for Sophie to try on the finished product.
As Mrs. Flynn helped Sophie into the dress, Zoey couldn’t help feeling nervous. Would Sophie love it?
Luckily, Sophie was beaming from the moment she saw it. Then she tried it on. She looked at herself in the mirror and did twirl after twirl.
“It fits her perfectly!” Mrs. Flynn exclaimed. “Thank you, Zoey. I can’t believe how darling it turned out. I know she’s going to wear it all the time.”
Zoey smiled, relieved. “Great—I’m so glad to hear it. And I’ve got a little surprise for you as well. . . .” Zoey reached into her bag and pulled out carefully folded extra bands of fabric in varying patterns to zip on to the bottom of the dress.
Sophie walked over to Zoey, and Zoey demonstrated how easily Mrs. Flynn could zip on an extra few inches of fabric whenever the dress started looking a little short.
“See?” said Zoey. “The zipper is hidden underneath, so you won’t see that it’s not part of the original dress! Hopefully, this will be one outfit she won’t outgrow in the next five minutes!”
Mrs. Flynn looked absolutely bowled over. She threw her arms around Zoey and hugged her tight. “You’re a real designer, Miss Zoey. Only you could have come up with something so perfect for my Sophie! We just love it. Thank you, thank you!”
Zoey beamed, almost as brightly as Sophie.
Then Sophie turned to her and said, “You’re the best, Zoey! And I have a surprise for you, too! Come up to my room, okay?”
Zoey looked at Mrs. Flynn, who shrugged and didn’t seem to know what Sophie meant either. They both followed Sophie up to her bedroom and watched as she stood beside her dollhouse, which was covered with a sheet.
“Surprise!” Sophie yelled, yanking the sheet off the dollhouse and pointing to it. “I made a creative project out of swatches too, just like you and your aunt!”
Confused, Zoey squinted at the dollhouse. She couldn’t believe what she saw. In its dining room was a chandelier made from the dangly earring Mrs. Flynn couldn’t find the other day. One of Zoey’s mirrored buttons hung on the wall like a real mirror, and a round rug in the little living room was clearly the swatch that had been cut out of Aunt Lulu’s fabric book! There was a pillow swatch used as a comforter, and in that same bedroom Zoey’s missing ribbon had been cut in half and tacked up one either side of the window like drapes. Zoey saw missing piece after missing piece from her sewing supplies, all repurposed in Sophie’s dollhouse!
“What do you think?” Sophie asked, bursting with pride.
Zoey was flabbergasted. She didn’t know what to say. Zoey did have a fashion burglar, but she was only six years old!
Mrs. Flynn’s face was a bright, tomato red. “Sophie Flynn! Did you take all those things? That’s stealing!”
Sophie immediately looked panicked, not to mention disappointed that no one was telling her how beautiful her “project” was.
“I didn’t steal anything!” Sophie protested. “Zoey said swatches are free for people who are designing houses and clothes! And that’s what I did! It’s just that mine is a dollhouse and not a real house.”
“Oh, Sophie, you misunderstood, honey,” Mrs. Flynn said, still obviously embarrassed. “Those things all belonged to Zoey and her aunt. Except for the earring—that was mine. And you didn’t ask any of us first—which is what you should do next time, okay?”
Zoey was trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Sophie had been wrong to do what she did, but Zoey completely understood how Sophie had misunderstood the rules about swatches. She’d thought she was designing! And in light of what Daphne Shaw had said to Zoey about being a mentor to another future designer, Zoey didn’t want to say anything to crush Sophie’s budding talent.
“You know Sophie, you really did a great job,” Zoey said. “You chose beautiful colors, and I love the way you arranged everything. You might really have a future in design!”
Sophie seemed to grow taller with each word of praise.
“Maybe you should take a sewing class or an art class,” Zoey suggested gently. “And I’m sure Aunt Lulu would be happy to give you some old fabric books to use for your dollhouse interior designs.”
Mrs. Flynn looked incredibly grateful to Zoey for her kind words. “We can definitely sign you up for some art classes,” she said to Sophie. “But there will be absolutely no more taking things without asking!”
Sophie quickly agreed. “Okay. I didn’t mean to, anyway. I just love beautiful things. . . .”
Zoey smiled and gave Sophie a warm hug. She understood perfectly, because she too loved beautiful things. Including Sophie Flynn.
When Zoey got home, still laughing to herself about her missing button hanging as a mirror over the “fireplace” in Sophie’s dollhouse, she saw a package on her doorstep. It was from Daphne Shaw, and it was large. She quickly ripped it open, excited to see what her not-so-secret mentor was now sending her.
It was a bolt of personalized fabric, printed with some of Zoey’s sketches! Daphne included a note that explained how she’d had the fabric made in one of the mills in Italy while she was there, using the sketches from Zoey’s blog. Zoey truly couldn’t believe it. The different sketches, all in black and white, made a beautiful graphic print, and she couldn’t wait to put the fabric to good use and create something amazing with it!
Zoey unfolded a yard of the fabric, running her fingertips over her own sketches, rendered so beautifully on the cloth. She thought about Priti, and how down she’d been lately about her parents splitting up, and how Zoey herself could feel down sometimes about her mother not being with her anymore. But over the years Zoey had learned how lucky she really was and that it wasn’t worth focusing on the person she didn’t have around, because the people she did have were all so wonderful! She knew it wasn’t something Priti could learn overnight, but Zoey would be there to help her every step of the way. And in the meantime, the fabric from Daphne Shaw gave Zoey an idea for something nice she could do for each of her friends, including her new ones—Sophie and Dakota—to remind them all how lucky they were to have one another.
CHAPTER 12
Sayonara, Summer!
I can’t believe it’s really the end of summer, and we get to celebrate it by g
oing to my brother’s camp concert with a special guest band! (Not that I have ANY idea who that might be . . . none at all ). What a summer this has been—a trip to New York, sleepaway camp, my first interior design project, learning to screen print, the unveiling of Fashionsista. Yes, that’s right! My fairy godmother has finally confirmed her identity! I’ve decided not to announce her name publicly and to just keep the secret between the two of us. It seems more special that way. But I would like to say publicly (bloggingly?), THANK YOU, FASHIONSISTA, for the many wonderful things you have done for me!
Here’s a sketch of something I’m currently working on as a surprise gift for someone. It’s a circle skirt, with plenty of flounce to it, and it wraps around the waist, so it’s totally adjustable. This is very important, since I can’t exactly ask for measurements from someone I’m planning to surprise! What’s really going to make it pop is the fabric I plan to use (it’s not actually a floral print) . . . and that shall remain a secret for now! SEW LONG!
Zoey couldn’t believe it—she really, really couldn’t. She was at the Camp of Rock’s big finale concert at the beach, and her brother’s band had just played (looking extremely cool in their T-shirts from Zoey and leather cuffs from Allie), and she was surrounded by practically everyone she knew. Her dad, Aunt Lulu and her boyfriend, Zoey’s three best friends, along with Mrs. Flynn and Sophie. Zoey had even seen her friend Gabe in the crowd. It seemed like everyone had turned out for the concert to find out who the special guest act would be.
The bands from camp had all played, and there was a brief intermission while the crew set up for the main event. Zoey’s dad had offered to go get everyone sodas, and Zoey was happily catching up with Kate, Libby, and Priti, when out of nowhere, Shannon came up to them.