Chapter 4
The next morning, Shawn picked up the twins before school so the three of them could walk together. She was hoping they wouldn’t bring up the hang-up calls. Fortunately, Amanda couldn’t stop talking about the ski trip.
“So, Evan called me last night, and I asked him lots of questions about when he went on the ski trip last year,” Amanda said. “Our bunk is all set—that is, if Natasha’s parents let her go on the trip. I mean, I’m sure they will. But Evan told me that getting on the right bus is almost as important as the bunk.”
“The right bus?” Molly asked blankly. “What does that mean?”
“Well,” Amanda explained importantly. “There are three buses and we have to sign up for the one we want to ride on. So, it’s really important to sign up for the right one—the one with all your friends and the cool kids. Otherwise, you could get stuck on the loser bus.”
Molly and Shawn stared at Amanda.
“What?” Amanda asked, confused.
“The ‘loser’ bus?” Molly asked, raising her eyebrows.
Amanda flushed. “You guys know what I mean! All I’m saying is that we should sign up for the same bus. So we can sit together. It’s a seven-hour drive, you know.”
Shawn changed the subject. “Do you think Natasha’s parents are going to the meeting about the ski trip tonight?”
“I think so,” answered Molly. “Our mom called Mrs. Ross last night. Mom said, ‘We want to get more information about the trip, too.’ ”
As the girls walked into the main hall of Windsor Middle School, they noticed a large crowd of students at the end of the corridor.
“What’s going on down there?” Molly asked.
“Maybe they put up the bus lists!” Amanda said excitedly.
“Down at the end of the hall? I don’t think so,” Shawn replied. “Maybe there was a fight or something.”
The girls walked down the hall, toward the crowd. Suddenly, Shawn stopped and frowned. “It looks like they’re in front of my locker.”
As Shawn began to walk faster, the twins exchanged a glance. They were doing the “twin thing” again, thinking, Why are there so many people in front of Shawn’s locker?
Shawn pushed her way through the crowd, then gasped when she saw her locker. It was smeared with bright red paint, the dripping letters reading SHAWN JORDAN IS A LOSER!
The crowd grew quiet as everyone stared at Shawn. Amanda quickly put her arm around her friend. “Let’s get out of here,” she murmured. The twins led Shawn down the hall and into the main office.
Miss Hinkle, the secretary, looked up when they entered. “Good morning, girls!” she sang out cheerfully.
Away from the staring eyes of the crowd, Shawn burst into tears.
“Oh my goodness, oh, dear, what’s the matter?” Miss Hinkle asked, coming out from behind her desk with a box of tissues.
“Shawn’s locker is covered in graffiti!” Molly said angrily. “Big red letters that say ‘Shawn Jordan is a loser!’ ”
Miss Hinkle shook her head. “Dreadful. Just dreadful.” She patted Shawn on the shoulder and went to the phone. “Mrs. Wagner? Do you have a moment? There seems to have been some vandalism to a student’s locker. She’s here now...yes, very upset...thank you.” Miss Hinkle hung up the phone and turned to Shawn with a sympathetic smile. “Principal Wagner will be right out,” she said kindly.
A few minutes later, Principal Wagner appeared. “Hello, Shawn,” she said. “Why don’t you come in to my office. Molly and Amanda, you can come, too.”
Shawn and the twins stood automatically and followed Principal Wagner.
Molly looked at Amanda as if to say, How did she know our names? Amanda just shrugged, as if to say, Principal Wagner is one of those people who knows everything!
Principal Wagner gestured to two chairs in front of her desk, then pulled up a third. As Molly, Amanda, and Shawn sat, Principal Wagner asked, “What happened?”
Shawn took a deep breath. “When we got to school, we saw this big crowd in front of my locker,” she began. “We thought maybe there had been a fight. But when we got closer, I saw that there was writing on my locker. It said, ‘Shawn Jordan is a loser!’ ” Shawn looked at the floor. In the distance, the girls heard the bell for homeroom ring.
“I see,” Principal Wagner said seriously. “So the graffiti was already there when you got to school. Do you have any idea who might have done this?”
Shawn looked up. “No,” she said. “I have no idea.”
Principal Wagner looked at Shawn for a moment, then nodded her head. “All right. We’ll have the janitor remove the paint at once. Shawn, if anything like this happens again, I want you to come tell me right away. Okay?”
“Thanks, Principal Wagner,” Shawn said, trying to smile.
“I’ll have Miss Hinkle write you passes to go to homeroom,” Principal Wagner said. She walked Shawn, Molly, and Amanda to the door.
Out in the hall, Amanda turned to Shawn. “Why didn’t you tell her about Angie?”
Shawn shrugged. “There’s no proof it was Angie. All that would happen is Principal Wagner would talk to Angie and tell her not to do it again—if she did do it. If I tell on Angie, she’ll just hate me even more.”
“But Shawn—” Molly began.
“Anyway, I don’t care,” Shawn interrupted, her voice growing louder. “The janitor will fix my locker. We can forget about it. See you guys at lunch, okay?” Shawn gave the twins a little wave and hurried off to homeroom.
The twins exchanged a glance.
“Whoa. Why’s she mad at us?” Amanda asked quietly.
“She’s not,” Molly replied. “She’s upset and she’s trying to pretend it never happened.”
“Well, that’s not gonna be easy,” Amanda said darkly. “Everyone is going to be talking about this.”
“What I want to know is how Principal Wagner knew our names,” Molly said thoughtfully.
“I think she knows everything,” Amanda replied. “Did you see the way she looked at Shawn when Shawn said she didn’t know who did the graffiti? It was like she could tell Shawn wasn’t being totally honest. I still think Shawn should have told her about Angie.”
“Well, it’s Shawn’s choice,” Molly replied. “I just hope Angie gets tired of picking on her soon.”
“Me, too,” said Amanda. “But I don’t think she will.”
Mooretimes2: hey chef grrrlzzz! s’up?
BrooklynNatasha: not much. Just chillin, listening 2 some CDs.
Qtpie490: kewl. I’m e-mailing grandma ruthie.
Mooretimes2: are anybody’s parents back yet?
Happyface: nope.
Qtpie490: ditto.
BrooklynNatasha: same here.
Mooretimes2: guess the ski trip meeting is still going on. It’s a long one! Hey, this is Amanda. After school, the bus lists were posted outside the main office! I signed us all up for Bus #1.
Happyface: sweet! Thx.
BrooklynNatasha: even me?
Mooretimes2: of course! U are so coming on this trip.
BrooklynNatasha: I hope so!!! Oh hang on—I think my parents r home. Eeeeek! I’m totally nervous. What if they say no again?
Mooretimes2: they won’t! we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Happyface: me 2.
Qtpie490: me 3!
BrooklynNatasha: u guys are seriously the best. See u tomorrow @ school.
Natasha quickly logged off the Internet and went downstairs. Her parents were in the kitchen, making tea and talking quietly. “Hey, Mom and Dad,” Natasha began.
“Um, how was the meeting?”
“It was very...informative,” Mrs. Ross said, adding some sugar to her peppermint tea. “Your father and I haven’t reached a decision yet.”
“That’s okay,” Natasha said. “I didn’t want to bug you guys about it. It just seemed like a long meeting.” Mr. Ross nodded. “It was. But that’s because the teachers were giving us so much information.”
“I must say, Principal Wagner and Mr. Degregorio have done an excellent job planning the trip,” Mrs. Ross said thoughtfully. Then she turned to Natasha. “Daddy and I will discuss everything tonight, sweetheart,” she said. “We’ll give you an answer tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Natasha said. She kissed her mother on the cheek, then gave her father a hug. “Good night.”
“Good night, Natasha,” replied her parents.
As Natasha got ready for bed, she thought, Wow! It sounds like the meeting went really well! Mom definitely seems open to the idea. Maybe Dad can convince her. Maybe he’s convincing her right now! Oh, I hope I get to go. I hope, I hope, I hope...
The next morning, Natasha woke before her alarm clock rang. It took her a minute to realize why she felt so anxious—and then she remembered. Today, her parents would tell her if she could go on the ski trip.
Natasha hurried downstairs to see if her parents were up. Her father was making coffee. “Good morning, princess,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
“Morning, Dad,” replied Natasha. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s still upstairs,” Mr. Ross said. “We were up pretty late last night. We did a lot of talking...” He grinned at Natasha as he took a sip of his coffee.
“And?” Natasha asked, biting her lip nervously.
“You can go!” Mrs. Ross said as she walked into the kitchen. She looked older than usual—her eyes were tired and she wasn’t wearing any makeup—but a smile spread across her face.
“Really? Really?!” Natasha squealed. “Oh, thank you! Oh, this is fantastic! I can’t wait to tell the Chef Girls!”
“There are two conditions, though,” Mrs. Ross said. “You’ve got to be completely prepared for your bat mitzvah before the trip. And Daddy and I are going to be chaperones. We both feel more comfortable with you going away if we’re nearby.”
“Okay,” Natasha said quickly. “That’s fine. Oh, I can’t wait! Thanks so much, Mom and Dad!”
Natasha couldn’t stop smiling as she got ready for school. She decided to wear her favorite outfit—a purple corduroy skirt with a white sweater—and pulled her hair back with hand-painted barrettes Shawn had made for her birthday. Fifteen minutes later, she met Elizabeth on the front walk of the house.
“Guess what?” Natasha shrieked. “I can go on the trip!”
Elizabeth jumped up and down and gave Natasha a hug. “Ohmigosh! That’s so awesome!” she squealed. “How’d you convince your parents?”
“Actually, it was the informational meeting last night that convinced them,” Natasha explained. “And they decided they would chaperone, too.”
Elizabeth frowned and put her hand on Natasha’s arm. “Yuck,” she said. “That’s too bad.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Natasha asked. Then her eyes grew wide. “You’re so right. It’s totally lame for my parents to come on the trip, isn’t it?”
Elizabeth shrugged and tried to make Natasha feel better. “Look at the bright side—at least you get to go!” she said cheerfully. “It’ll be okay.”
“No—it’s going to be totally embarrassing!” Natasha moaned. “My parents aren’t exactly cool. What if they try to spend, like, the entire trip with me? What if they’re really strict with everybody?”
“Don’t worry so much, Natasha,” replied Elizabeth. “You’re coming on the trip! Yay!”
Natasha returned Elizabeth’s smile, but she felt a lot less excited than she had a few minutes ago.
After school, Natasha and Molly went to a meeting for the school newspaper, the Post. They found two seats together near the window and chatted while they waited for Liza Pederson, the editor, to start the meeting.
“Hey, Molly, what’s up? Hi, Natasha.” Justin McElroy dropped his backpack on the seat in front of Molly and sat down.
“Not much, Justin. What’s up with you?”
Justin shrugged. “Same old, same old. School, Post, all that stuff. Are you going out for softball again?”
Molly nodded. “Definitely. I had a blast last year!”
“And you were one of the best players on the team,” Justin said, his brown eyes lighting up. “We should do a profile on you for the Post. Molly Moore, softball star!”
Molly could tell that Natasha was trying not to laugh. Justin sounded so goofy—it was a little annoying. Annoying, but also flattering.
When Molly had first found out that Justin liked her as more than a friend, she’d been shocked—and worried. Amanda had been crushing on Justin for more than a year! Molly was afraid that Amanda would never forgive her, even though Molly hadn’t meant for Justin to start liking her. It had been difficult for Amanda to deal with the fact that her crush liked her sister, but, over time, Amanda had realized that she and Justin didn’t have that much in common. She was finally over him. But Molly’s feelings were mixed. She wasn’t sure if she liked Justin or not—and wasn’t sure how to act around him.
Fortunately, Natasha jumped into the conversation. “Justin, do you ski?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Justin said excitedly. “My whole family goes skiing every winter.”
“I’ve never been,” Natasha admitted.
“You’ll love it! I mean, everyone in my family is a ski nut, but you can still have a great time on the bunny slopes,” Justin said.
“Bunny slopes?”
“Yeah, those are little hills for beginners. Nice and easy. My parents are such ski fanatics that as soon as they found out about the trip, they volunteered to chaperone.”
“Really?” Natasha exclaimed. “My parents are chaperoning, too! But I don’t think they’re that crazy about skiing.”
Justin smiled his slow, easy grin. “Bet they will be after the trip!”
Just then, Liza called the meeting to order. As she began discussing feature articles for the next issue of the Post, Natasha couldn’t help smiling. Justin’s cool...if his parents are chaperoning, it can’t be totally lame for my mom and dad to come on the trip!
