Charlie Brown is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special.

—Chris Rock

Monday, October 27, 11:12 p.m.

Can’t sleep

Just when I thought things were going to get better at home, Mom and Dad were arguing again. The good news is a woman who owns a major clothing store in Atlanta read the article about Mom that ran in the Faraway News. She set up a meeting with Mom at the end of November to see her clothes and said if she likes them, she might carry her line in her store.

The bad news (at least from Dad’s perspective) is that Mom wants to sew a new collection made from high-end fabrics, which means she’ll be spending (a) a lot of time sewing and (b) a lot of money on more fabric.

“We just spent a fortune getting the store opened. We can’t afford to spend more,” said Dad.

“We can’t afford not to,” said Mom. They went around and around on that point for a long time. Then Mom told Dad she was doing it. “The next few weeks are going to be very busy,” she told him.

I didn’t wait to hear Dad’s response. I already know how this is going down.

Tuesday, October 28, 8:52 a.m.

School nurse’s office

I forgot to set my alarm last night so I woke up late this morning. Then, when I was getting dressed, I remembered that today is the last day to bring in a check to Ms. Baumann for the dance costumes for the show. She’d gone on record saying that if you don’t have a check by practice today, you can’t dance in the show. So I threw on clothes, skipped makeup entirely, and was in the kitchen trying to quickly explain to Mom why I needed a check for $122.19 on the spot when June walked in in her pajamas.

“Why aren’t you dressed?” asked Mom.

“I’m not going to school,” said June as she sat down at the table.

“Do you feel sick?” Mom went over to June and put a hand on her forehead. “You don’t have a fever.” June crossed her arms across her chest.

I cleared my throat. “Um, Mom, I need a check now or I’m going to be late.”

Mom gave me a blank look like she’d forgotten what we’d been discussing. She turned her attention back to my sister. “You have to go to school.”

June shook her head. “I’m not going. Cole Martin is mean to me. And so are Sam Chen and Evan Walker.”

I blew out a breath. “Mom, I need a check. Now.”

“How are they mean?” she asked in response.

“They make fun of me because I bring soy milk in my lunch.”

“Tell them you’re allergic to dairy,” said Mom.

June shook her head like that wouldn’t work. “They’ll say I’m weird. That’s what they say every day.” Mom sat down at the table and took a sip of coffee, like that was going to give her some insight as to how to handle the situation.

I looked at the clock. I was seriously going to be late for homeroom. “Tell them they’re all big baby losers and you’ll beat them up if they make fun of you again,” I said.

“April!” Mom said my name sharply.

“Mom!” I said shoving her checkbook in front of her. “I’m really late.” So she wrote the check, but not until she told me I need to be more responsible and let her know in advance when I need money for something. It stressed me out and made me wonder if she didn’t want to write the check because we don’t have the money, but it also made me have to run to school. I literally ran all the way. When I got to Mrs. Monteleone’s room, she was just finishing taking the role. Beads of sweat were running down my forehead.

“I’m going to have to give you an unexcused tardy,” she said as I entered her classroom. I’m not sure what the consequences of having an unexcused tardy are, but shockingly, Mrs. Monteleone changed her mind. She said she wasn’t giving me the tardy because I looked feverish, then she sent me to the nurse’s office.

The nurse took my temperature, then gave me some juice and a paper towel and told me I could sit out first period while I cool down.

The only problem is I sweated so much, now I have body odor.

I’d much rather have the unexcused tardy.

Wednesday, October 29, 7:32 p.m.

In my room

Mom asked me if I could stop by the store after dance practice and help her set up a Flora’s Fashions Facebook page. I thought she could have figured it out without me, but I didn’t think it was a good time to say no. When I’d asked if I could go to Mark Miller’s Halloween party with Harry and Sophie, she and Dad had reluctantly agreed. I didn’t want her to change her mind.

Once we had her Facebook page set up, she had some paperwork to do before we left, so I went next door to see if Leo was there. He was busy slicing meat, but he took a break. “I’m glad you came,” he said. “I was going to call you tonight.”

“You really don’t text, do you?”

Leo shook his head. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “So why were you going to call me?” I asked.

“I wondered if you would like to go trick-or-treating with me on Halloween.”

I sighed. The idea of trick-or-treating with him was appealing, but I’d already made plans. “I can’t,” I said.

Leo shook his head like not going was a mistake. “Trick-or-treating will be retro and fun. We’ll get to eat loads of candy.”

“It sounds like fun, but I already told my cousins Harry and Sophie that I’d go with them to a party.” I shrugged. “I mean, I think the party will be fun.”

“April, high school parties are not fun for 98 percent of the kids who attend them.”

I laughed. “Is that a fact?”

Leo shook his head. “Nope. Just a theory.”

Thursday, October 30, 6:46 p.m.

Home from dance

As we were leaving dance, Brynn asked what I’m doing for Halloween, so I told her I’m going to Mark Miller’s party. She wrinkled her nose when I said it. “Who are you going with?”

Everyone knew about his party and that mostly upperclassmen were invited. I’m sure she was wondering how I got invited. “Harry,” I said. “And Sophie.” I debated telling Brynn that part. There hadn’t been any issues with her and Sophie since I’d talked to Brynn about it, and I’d like to keep it that way. But still, I didn’t want to lie about who I was going with.

Brynn winced. “Do you think it’ll be fun, you know, since there won’t be many freshmen there?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. If it were me, it seems like it would be weird.”

I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely concerned, or upset that she wasn’t invited, or jealous I was going to be with Sophie on Halloween. I wanted to change the subject. “What are you doing?” I asked.

She smiled. “Billy and I are staying in.” She emphasized the words as she said them, then looked at me. “Know what I mean?”

“Yeah,” I said, though I wasn’t completely sure I did. I didn’t like thinking about what it meant that Brynn and Billy were staying in together on Halloween.

I’m also not sure I liked her response about the party. At first, it didn’t really bother me, but I thought about it all the way home. It feels like, by saying I wouldn’t have fun, she was putting some kind of Halloween hex on me.

Well, everyone knows there’s no such thing as hexes.

Are there?