I had an orthodontist appointment on Tuesday. Dad drove Mom to work and then skipped his class so he could take me. He was going to have to do that for my Friday appointment, too.
The night before, I offered to bail on the whole braces thing if it was going to be so much trouble getting there; but Mom just said, “Nice try.”
Dad and I were getting ready to leave when Sam came waltzing in. “Can I drive? I’ve got my ID.” He flashed the wallet he’d bought over the weekend. The one with the see-through spot for his learner’s license.
I scowled at him. “I don’t want to ride with you. You run red lights.”
“Just that once,” Sam said like it was no big deal.
“Sure; why not?” Dad told him. “Why don’t you grab the basketball, too? If we get done early, we can shoot some hoops over at the community center.”
For once I hoped my orthodontist appointment ran long. Basketball, or more precisely, waiting on the hot bleachers watching basketball, was boring.
Unfortunately my appointment was just to get some spacers put in and have a mold taken. It didn’t take that long. And the gooey mold stuff was supposed to taste like grape, but it didn’t, so it wasn’t turning out to be a good afternoon.
I balanced on the edge of the burning-hot metal bleachers and watched Dad and Sam join in a pickup game. I wished I had a book or nail polish or something. About twenty minutes into the game, Dad ran over and pulled out his wallet. “Here,” he said, handing me a couple of dollar bills. “Go hit the vending machines. We’ll be done soon, okay?” He was just in time. I was melting.
The cool air inside the community center froze the beads of sweat on my skin. It felt wonderful. Ahhh with a capital A. I bought a bag of cookies and a drink, and decided to walk around for a bit. Dad and Sam wouldn’t miss me.
My feet ended up moving toward the cooking classroom. I hadn’t seen it yet and just wanted to take a peek.
Instead of finding a deserted hallway, though, there was a commotion of sorts. Burly men with big stage lights and a skinny man pushing rolling cameras buzzed in and out of the room. A lady with a clipboard and a headset seemed to be directing everyone.
I moved slowly along the wall to where a guy who looked just a little older than Sam was leaning on a mop sticking out from one of those rolling buckets. “What’s going on?” I asked him.
“Some TV cake lady is doing a show or sump’in,” the guy said.
My heart did the cha-cha inside my chest. “Sweet Caroline is here?” I asked.
“Nah. I think she’s coming tomorrow and doing her show during one of the classes,” the guy answered. “They’re just setting up now ’cuz the TV van had to be somewhere else. That’s what I heard anyways.”
Oh. My heart resumed normal speed.
But still. This was cool news. Tony was going to be on TV!
My first thought was that I had to call him. But my next thought was, Why hadn’t he called me? Maybe he was afraid I’d be jealous. And, well okay, I was a little bit. But I was happy for him, too. Being on TV would look great on his résumé. Maybe it would help him get into a good pastry-chef school.
When I got home, I waited for the phone to ring for about an hour. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and called Tony’s house.
“He’s not here,” his sister said.
“Could you ask him to call Eliza please?” I asked.
“Sure. No problem.”
“Thanks,” I said before I hung up.
It was time to get things settled once and for all.