I was too mad to eat so I gave Bear the rest of the hot dog. Then I grabbed the phone, locked myself in the bathroom, and called Tony.
“Oh man,” he said when I told him the bad news. “That sucks raw eggs.”
“I know! It’s so unfair.”
“Maybe you could pay for the extra stuff,” Tony suggested. “Do you have any money?”
Even though I was on the phone, I shook my head. “I only have ten dollars.”
“That’s not enough,” Tony said.
“Nope.”
I thought he might offer to share the money he got from helping at his family’s bakery, but he didn’t.
Neither of us said anything for a minute. I tugged on my lucky rubber band, the one I wore around my ankle. It snapped in half.
“So I guess I’ll let you know how the class goes,” Tony finally said.
Whoomph! That took all the air out of my chest.
“You’re still gonna take it?” I asked. “Without me?”
“Duh,” Tony said.
When I didn’t say anything, Tony went on in a nicer voice. “If I’m gonna be a pastry chef, I gotta get started.”
“I think you’re being selfish,” I told him.
“Well, I think you’re being selfish. Being a pastry chef is my thing.”
“Mine too!” I said. “Well, cake decorating anyway.”
“Since when?”
I could feel the anger rolling around my insides. Why didn’t he think I was serious? I talked about Sweet Caroline’s cake show all the time. He said that’s why he picked me to be his partner on the create-your-own-business project. He told me he could tell I was going be a great cake decorator someday.
I opened my mouth to take a deep breath, but instead of air coming in, something else popped out. “Jerk.”
Tony hung up.
PB without J.
That’s what I was.