Old Story, New Twist Read online

  “Would you?” I asked desperately, as if that hadn’t been my goal all along.

  Allie made an aggravated sound like she had something caught in her throat. “Fine!” she said, but she tossed her hair, which is what she does when she feels proud, so I knew there was something else going on in that mind of hers.

  “When? I mean, I know you’re really busy,” I said humbly.

  Allie narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. Maybe I was laying it on too thick.

  “I am free Saturday morning from ten to twelve,” she said, scrolling through her phone’s calendar. That girl is totally wired. Nothing happens if it’s not on her phone.

  Maybe Hailey could make that, I thought. If she ever answers my IMs.

  “Great!” I said with a big smile. “Thanks, Allie! You’ll be a major help to me.”

  “Humph,” said Allie.

  Knowing I was ahead, I left. Although I did have a creeping feeling that Allie’s help might not be exactly what I’d bargained for.

  Back in my room, I decided to IM Hailey one more time.

  Hey-lo Hail-o! Where r u? Allie coming Sat 10-12. Plz come!!!!

  Then I sat and drummed my fingers on the desk. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

  Finally, I sighed and opened up the document on my computer where I was transcribing my notes from my interviews with the eighth graders. Cintra’s interview was all copied down, and I had some good quotes, and Jimmy’s too, where I had some great quotes. I had an interview tomorrow morning during a free period with a popular girl named Toni Fox, and then another one at lunch, with a kind of nerdy kid named Walter something. I still hadn’t scheduled Danny Burke yet. I knew I needed to, but I couldn’t bring myself to contact him. And then there was the other person I couldn’t bear to contact. Unrelated to the article, of course. The person who was leaving a major hole in my life.

  Michael.

  I knew what I needed to do, and I was trying to psych myself up. Maybe the best thing to do was just do it, like they say in the Nike ads. Fine! I tossed my hair, Allie-style, and dashed off a quick IM to Michael.

  Hey stranger. I want to learn how to make yr amazing cinnamon buns. Baking lesson?

  Then I pushed send before I could chicken out.

  My heart pounded hard and my cheeks flushed deep red. I couldn’t believe I’d done it! I tapped my foot anxiously while I waited to see if he’d reply. He was usually pretty fast at this time of night, since he was almost always at his computer. I went on CNN.com to distract myself so I wouldn’t get upset if I didn’t hear from him right away. But rather quickly, I heard a beep. It was a message back!

  My stomach lurched like I was on a roller coaster, and I clicked over to the message window with shaking hands. And there was his reply.

  Recipe on sugar box.

  Wait, what?

  My palms went all clammy and I felt faint. Had Michael Lawrence just rejected me? I couldn’t believe it! Was it really over, whatever we had, if we had actually ever had anything at all? OMG! In a panic, thoughts flashed through my head. Did he think I like Jimmy Becker? Had I ever even stood a chance with Michael? Was it really all business all along? I was mortified.

  And Hailey still hadn’t replied.

  No friend, no boyfriend, no nothing. Right then all I wished was that I was an eighth grader who was graduating too. Like, immediately.

  Writer Puts Past Behind Her, Sets Out on World Reporting Gig.

  The next day at lunch, while I sat interviewing Walter Saunders about the chess club and that hilarious time in the lab when Tom Quinson accidentally spilled sulfur powder all over himself, I saw Michael arrive with Austin Carey. The two of them had their lunch trays and were looking around for a seat. The next thing I knew, they were sitting with Hailey and Kristen Durkin (!) and yukking it up, all of them having the time of their lives.

  Humph! See if Kristen Durkin likes your cinnamon buns, mister! I wanted to yell. Instead, I steamed in silence.

  Walter Saunders was perfectly nice, but it killed me to sit here with Walter while life went on at Michael’s table without me. Walter was telling me how he wished he’d known there was an after-school robotics program, because he would have signed up for it in sixth grade, when suddenly he interrupted himself.

  “I’m sorry. Is this really boring?” he asked after he’d caught me staring at Michael and his group for the third time.

  “What? No.” I felt terrible and I decided to come clean. “I’m sorry I’m being rude, Walter. It’s just . . . I’m in a fight with a friend of mine. Actually, my two . . . best friends. And I’m feeling really left out.”

  Walter was really great about it, and surprisingly enough, he had a much more mature take on middle school social life than most kids our age. He turned in his chair to see where I’d been looking. “Michael Lawrence?” he asked. I nodded miserably. “And who else?”

  “Hailey Jones.”

  He thought for a minute, then he said, “You should just go over there. You know, so much in life gets made into a big deal because people don’t do something immediately. You just can’t let things continue to grow. It’s like mold in the lab. The first day, it’s little. The second day, still manageable. You can put a lid on it and it still seems fine. But by the third day, it is out of control, you know? And then it starts to smell.”

  I must’ve had a horrified look on my face because he laughed and apologized.

  “All I mean is that you shouldn’t let bad stuff grow. Clean it up fast, before it gets out of control and starts to ruin other stuff.”

  “Thanks. That’s good advice. Nifty analogy, too,” I said with a smile. Walter was a good guy.

  I finished up the interview and decided to take Walter’s advice. With my heart pounding, I crossed the room to Michael and Hailey’s table.

  “Hey,” I said nervously.

  “Hey, Sam!” said Kristen.

  Hailey waved, but it wasn’t exactly a warm greeting. I couldn’t tell what it meant.

  “Yo, Pasty,” said Michael. Of course.

  There was an empty seat, so I pulled it out and joined them.

  “You know Austin, right?” asked Michael.

  “Hi,” we said to each other.

  There was an awkward silence.

  Oh no! I knew this was a terrible idea. I never should have come over here. Now I was mad at Walter. Why, oh why, was I taking advice from a nerd like him, anyway?!

  “How’s the article going?” I asked Michael and Austin.

  They looked at each other. “Pretty good,” they agreed, shrugging.

  Hmm. Interesting that they didn’t say “great.” I wondered if it was easy work or if writing about finance wasn’t turning out to be so exciting after all.

  Then Michael reached into his backpack under the table and came up with a sheet of paper that he handed to me.

  “Here,” he said awkwardly. “I made a copy of the recipe for you.”

  I looked down at the paper in my hand. Sweet Sweet Sinnamon Rolls, it said.

  “Thanks. I’m not sure mine will turn out as well as yours, though.” I knew there was an opportunity here, but I didn’t have the nerve to try again.

  “You idiot!” interrupted Hailey. “Why don’t you just show her how to make them?” she said to Michael. I loved Hailey right then. But I couldn’t turn and smile at her to show my thanks.

  Michael looked at me in surprise. “What? Why?”

  “Maybe you have the best technique?” I said, thinking fast but shrugging to play it cool. “Maybe there are baking tricks you use that you don’t realize?”

  Michael looked dumbfounded. “Uh, okay. I could show you how . . . ”

  Bingo!

  “ . . . that is, if you’re not too busy with Jimmy Becker,” he continued.

  “What?” Infuriatingly, I turned bright red.

  “See!” said Michael, wagging a finger at me. But he didn’t look pleased. “I heard you two had something going on!”

  “Absolutely not! I
can’t believe it. I can’t even interview somebody for the school paper without being the target of gossip.”

  “Trust me, Lawrence,” said Hailey. “She does not like that guy. I can guarantee it.”

  Thank you, Hailey, thank you, Hailey. I sent her my strongest ESP messages.

  “Hmm. I don’t know . . . ,” Michael teased in a singsong voice.

  “Please,” I said, looking at him with my most level glare.

  “Okay, fine. I believe you. I think,” he said.

  “Look, just teach me how to make the cinnamon buns, okay?” I said. I didn’t want to lose the opportunity before we’d firmed up a plan.

  “Okay, when?” said Michael.

  And then, “Hello, people!” We were interrupted by Mr. Annoying himself: Danny Burke.

  I looked at Hailey and saw that she had turned bright red. And so had Kristen! What was it with this guy? I felt Michael look at me, so I turned and looked at him, and when our eyes met, I rolled mine and shook my head a little. He looked relieved. Maybe he thought that I liked Danny too.

  I turned back to hear what Danny was saying. “So I’ll meet you there? For the three o’clock show, okay?”

  And Hailey was nodding and beaming, ecstatic.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Kristen said, “Oh, Hailey, you are so lucky! I can’t believe he asked you out!”

  “Well, it’s not really asking me out. We’re just meeting at the movies,” she said modestly, but I could tell she was thrilled. She looked at me, smiling, and I could do nothing but smile back. Great.

  “Hails, uh . . . about that guy?” said Michael.

  I whipped my head to look at Michael. Would he dare to discourage her? Did he have the nerve to do what I couldn’t? It would be perfect if he did it, because if I did it, Hailey would think it was only because I was jealous.

  “Yeah, he’s great, isn’t he? So funny,” she said.

  Michael looked pained. “Yeah. Right. Um, just . . . sometimes things aren’t really what they seem, is all. Just . . . keep your eyes open, you know?”

  Hailey fluffed her hair. “Whatever that means, Lawrence,” she said, looking away to the side.

  “I’m just looking out for you,” he said, and I knew he was.

  “I can look out for myself,” said Hailey, staring him down.

  That was mean. “Michael is just trying to be nice, Hails,” I said.

  She glared at me.

  “Danny’s nice!” Kristen piped up.

  “Yeah, to a lot of people,” said Michael, with heavy emphasis on “a lot.”

  “And . . . ,” I said, not sure what to add.

  Hailey started to stand up. “Yeah, well, maybe if people focused on their own love lives around here, they wouldn’t be so busy meddling with other people’s.” She glared at me and Michael. I was embarrassed but tried to play it cool.

  As Hailey stood there, I said in what I hoped was a neutral voice, “Maybe this isn’t the time to discuss these sorts of things.”

  “I’ve gotta run,” said Austin, picking up his tray to leave.

  “Me too,” agreed Kristen. “I’ll walk with you.”

  As soon as they were far enough away, I said, “I guess those two are taking your advice, focusing on their own love lives.” And the three of us wound up laughing for a happy moment. We’d reached an uneasy truce, for now, though I still didn’t have a real baking date with Michael.

  Baking Plans Fall Flat, Journalist Miserable.

  Chapter 9

  ROOKIE IMPRESSES THE PRO!

  Michael had to run, and luckily, Hailey reminded him about our baking date one last time before he left. He promised to IM me later, and that was good enough for now.

  As Hailey and I walked toward our fifth-period classes, we apologized to each other for being jerks, and then Hailey dropped the bombshell that Kristen wasn’t even planning on trying out for the gymnastics team this year. She didn’t think she was good enough and she wanted to keep taking gymnastics classes for one more year before going for it.

  I couldn’t believe this news. Kristen was certainly better than me, so if she wasn’t trying out, why was I? Hmm. It looked like Kristen would also benefit from my reply to Jenna’s Know-It-All letter. I’d write that tonight when I got home. The Cherry Valley Voice couldn’t come out soon enough!

  There was one more thing that needed addressing. “Hails, listen. Just be careful with Danny. I don’t want to see you get your heart broken,” I said before we parted ways outside the classroom doors.

  “Why would you assume he’d break mine and not the other way around?” she asked.

  “Have you seen his Buddybook page?” I asked.

  “Yeah. So? He has a lot of friends,” she said, shrugging.

  All girls, I thought grimly.

  “Right. Well, see you later,” I said. “Are you coming to gymnastics tomorrow morning with me? Ally’s coming, from ten to twelve.”

  “Maybe,” said Hailey. “I’ll try.”

  I couldn’t imagine what else she had going on, especially if her date wasn’t until three. “Okay, bye,” I said.

  “Bye,” Hailey called over her shoulder.

  “And good luck,” I whispered under my breath.

  Friend Ignores Repeated Warnings, Proceeds at Own Risk, I thought.

  There was no word from Michael that night. I actually cried a little when I was going to sleep. I mean, this whole thing was so humiliating. Does he like me or not? I didn’t know what to do. I slept fitfully, waking twice to check my computer for his IM, but no luck.

  Ally and I were up early Saturday morning, and after she did her homework, we rode our bikes to my school to the open practice session in the gymnastics room. Still no word from Michael.

  From the moment we walked in, of course, Coach Lunetta was fawning over Allie, making a huge deal of her, introducing her to the new junior coach as “our star,” and all this other stuff that made me want to gag. But Allie was eating it up. The younger girls were glancing at her shyly, and some were openly staring at her, like she was a celebrity and they couldn’t decide if they had the nerve to ask for her autograph. Needless to say, it was a little while before we got down to business.

  “Okay, show me what you’ve got,” said Allie.

  I started on the uneven bars because I wanted Allie to take me seriously. I knew if I started on one of my weaker areas, she’d be condescending and bossy and I wouldn’t be able to shake her bad attitude.

  After I did my sample routine, I stuck the finish and Allie clapped. I knew she was surprised and impressed. I flushed with pride.

  “Wow. I’m not sure why you need me here,” she said. “That was pretty sweet. I had no idea you knew how to do that.”

  Rookie Impresses the Pro!

  I shrugged modestly. “Well, the uneven bars have always been my strongest suit.”

  “Nice. I have some critiques, of course . . . ”

  Of course, I thought.

  “ . . . but let’s save them all until the end so we don’t lose momentum.”

  “Okay. So, vault, then.”

  We went through the different apparatuses one by one. My floor routine was very weak (I stink at all those handsprings and somersaults and stuff, not to mention my clumsy feet), and when we finally got to the beam, the balance of power had definitely shifted. Allie was back to her usual queen-bee bossiness and had decided not to hold back her critiques—there were simply too many to keep track of, she told me, and she’d never remember them all, so she’d just have to call it as she saw it.

  Right as she was about to light into me about my balance beam routine, Hailey appeared, thank goodness.

  “Hey, Allie!” she said.

  “Hailey! What’s up?” They greeted each other happily, and I rolled my eyes.

  While they filled each other in, I noticed that Kristen and Jenna had both arrived. Kristen was working on the vault while Jenna stood by the sidelines. Yay! Maybe this meant they were still thinking about t
rying out!

  I turned to Allie. “Check this out,” I said. “See the girl in the red leotard? Watch how good she is.” We all three stood and watched as Kristen sailed though her vault, nailing a roundoff into a somersault as she flew over the table.

  “Wow,” said Allie. “She’s like me in the olden days.”

  I felt a twinge of jealousy right then, knowing it was true and wishing Allie had said it about me instead. But I went for the clincher. “But get this. She doesn’t think she’s good enough to try out!”

  Hailey nodded solemnly at Allie’s shock.

  “And see the girl in the yellow sweats hanging around by the door? She wants to try out too, but she’s too scared.”

  Hailey looked at me in confusion. “She does? How do you know that?”

  Secret Agent Blows Cover, Nearly Spoils Mission!

  “Oh. What?” I stuttered. I tried to think fast to come up with a reason. “Oh, just . . . you know. From around.”

  “Because I heard her saying she’s just a fan,” Hailey said. “That she has no interest in trying out.”

  “Oh, well. Um, sometimes people say one thing and mean another. You know, like what was that thing Michael said? Things aren’t always what they seem.”

  Hailey gave me a hard look and turned back to Allie.

  “So what are you up to this weekend?” asked Allie.

  Hailey blushed. “Actually . . . I have a date,” she said shyly.

  Allie exploded. “Hailey! That’s awesome! Wow! Who’s the lucky dude? Where are you going?”

  Hailey explained everything while I stood there, biting my tongue and wishing we could just work on my routine. This whole Danny Burke thing was awkward for me.

  “So what are you going to wear?” asked Allie, getting down to brass tacks.

  Hailey looked at Allie hopefully. “Uh, that’s kind of why I came this morning. I wanted some advice.”

  Oh, so that’s why she came. Why is everyone in my life so aggravating? It’s time for some new friends, I thought spitefully.

  “You know what, guys? I’m just going to go talk to Jenna for a minute.” I crossed the room and found Jenna chatting with Coach Lunetta, using all sorts of technical terms. See, Hailey? I wanted to yell. She does want it!