“Uncle Scott, I have to catch the bus in twenty minutes!” Alex said, knocking on the bathroom door.
“I just need three more minutes, Alex!” Uncle Scott called through the door. “I’ve got to finish shaving and then use my Neti pot. I need my sinuses clear for this interview!”
Ava walked past Alex’s open door on her way downstairs.
“Neti pot? Is that the thing that looks like a teapot in the downstairs medicine cabinet?” Ava asked.
Alex nodded. “Right. But it’s not a teapot. He uses it to clean out his nostrils.”
“Seriously? That’s gross!” Ava said. “That is almost enough to make me not want to eat breakfast, except that I am so hungry I could eat three breakfasts!” Then she walked off.
Alex sighed and pounded on the bathroom door again. “Why are you in our bathroom, exactly?” she asked.
She heard the sound of running water. It stopped, and then her uncle answered.
“Because your dad was in the shower downstairs when I woke up, and I have an early interview,” Uncle Scott replied. “Can’t you go eat breakfast and then use the bathroom when I’m done?”
Alex frowned. She had her morning routine worked out: She got up and showered before Ava even opened her eyes. Then she got dressed and went back into the bathroom to tame her stray curls with a flat iron. Then breakfast.
She glanced at the clock.
“Fine!” she said, and headed downstairs.
“Alex! You sound like an elephant,” Coach said as Alex continued stomping into the kitchen.
“It’s Uncle Scott,” Alex said. “He’s disturbing my morning routine.”
“Oh boy,” said Tommy, digging into a huge bowl of oatmeal and sliced bananas in front of him. “That’s a criminal offense in Alex’s book. Poor Uncle Scott.”
Mrs. Sackett came in through the back door with Moxy on a leash.
“What about Uncle Scott?” she asked.
“He’s disturbing Alex’s morning routine,” Ava reported.
“Oh, right, the job interview!” Mrs. Sackett said, sounding exceedingly chipper. “Alex, you let your uncle do whatever he needs to do to get ready. Besides, it looks like you’re ready for school anyway.”
Alex grabbed a banana from the basket on the counter. “For your information, I have not tamed this wayward strand of hair,” she said, yanking on it to demonstrate its waywardness. “It constantly gets in my right eye. I won’t be able to concentrate in school all day if I don’t get back up in that bathroom and use my flat iron on it. Is that what you want?”
Just then Uncle Scott came bounding down the stairs. Alex had to admit that he looked job-interview ready. He was freshly shaven, and he’d styled his wavy brown hair with just the right amount of gel. He wore a crisp blue dress shirt with a red tie and dark blue pants.
“Looking good, bro,” Coach said.
“Yes, your nostrils look especially clean,” joked Ava.
“Mock all you want, but that Neti pot keeps me healthy,” Uncle Scott retorted.
“Good luck!” Alex said as she raced past him and back up the stairs to fix her wayward lock.
She was heating up her flat iron when her phone chimed with a text from Emily.
Home with a cold!
Oh no, feel better!
Alex reached for the flat iron—it wasn’t quite hot yet, but she was out of time. Her curl went untamed, and Alex spent the whole day brushing it away from her face. She was still brushing it away as she entered third-period social studies.
Max lifted his head up from his desk as Alex walked past. “What’s up?” he asked. “You look somewhat perturbed.”
That’s an odd way of putting it, Alex thought, but very observant.
“Oh, it’s just . . . families can be challenging, you know?” she asked, thinking of Uncle Scott.
Max nodded. “Tell me about it,” he said, and then he started to put his head back down on his desk again.
“Wait!” Alex said. “We need to meet in the library to do our research for the project. Are you free tomorrow after school?”
“What?” Max looked confused for a minute. “Oh yeah, sure.”
Lindsey walked past Alex and gave her a look that clearly meant, What are you talking to him for? Alex was almost going to say something when Mrs. Bridges walked in and the bell rang.
“All right, everyone open up to page one hundred twenty,” she announced, and Alex forgot about Lindsey’s look as the lesson began.
But as soon as the last bell rang, Lindsey charged up to Alex’s desk. Rosa hung behind her, curious.
“Alex, I heard you talking to Max. Why are you making plans with him when he’ll probably sleep through your study session anyway? Tomorrow is dance practice. I thought you were too busy to dance with us,” she said accusingly.
Alex quickly glanced in Max’s direction. He had just gotten up from his desk, and Alex was sure he had heard Lindsey. She cringed.
“Lindsey, I keep telling you, it’s not just that I’m too busy, it’s also that I can’t dance,” Alex said, trying to be polite.
“That’s just an excuse,” Lindsey said. “Besides, dancing with us is better than working on some lame report with a loser!”
She emphasized the last word, looking at Max as he made his way out the door behind Mrs. Bridges.
That was too much for Alex. She couldn’t keep ignoring Lindsey’s nasty remarks about Max. Not anymore.
“Listen, Lindsey, Max is not a loser,” Alex said.
Lindsey laughed. “Are you serious? He never changes his clothes or even showers, for that matter. He falls asleep all the time. That is super lame!”
“Oh yeah?” Alex shot back, getting angrier and angrier. Why was her friend being so mean? “Well . . . well, maybe I don’t want to be in your dance because I think your whole routine is lame!”
Lindsey’s jaw dropped, and behind her, Rosa gasped.
“If that’s how you feel,” Lindsey said, her voice cold as ice. “Come on, Rosa.”
Alex stood, frozen, as Lindsey and Rosa walked away.
That was not the right way to handle things, she scolded herself. She had worked so hard to become friends with Lindsey, and now everything was ruined!
Well, Lindsey ruined it too, by being so mean to Max, a little voice inside her reminded Alex. But it didn’t help. Because Alex knew that by insulting the dance routine, she had not only insulted Lindsey, but Rosa, Annelise, Charlotte—and Emily.
“Oh no,” Alex groaned. Once Lindsey told everyone what she had said, she wouldn’t have a friend left in Ashland!