“So, did you talk to him?” Cha Cha asked Jasmine, as the three of us headed back upstairs to our classroom. Lucas trailed a few feet behind.
“Franklin?” said Jasmine dreamily.
“No! Calhoun, duh,” said Cha Cha. She looked over at me and rolled her eyes. Jasmine’s case of Franklin-on-the-brain was starting to drive us both nuts.
“Oh, right,” Jasmine replied, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind an ear. “Yeah.”
“So what did he say?”
“He’s interested. Especially when I told him that my brother was sure to try for one of the prizes too.”
Jasmine had told us that even though they’re best friends, her brother and Calhoun are super competitive.
“The worm is on the hook!” crowed Cha Cha.
Now all we had to do was get the worm to the bookstore, where we’d unleash the second part of our plan.
The four of us were hoping to cut a deal with Calhoun. Private dance lessons with Cha Cha—and a shot at winning one of the prizes—in exchange for getting us into the college library.
Would he go for it? Would he even stay put long enough to listen to our offer? Calhoun was bound to be mad when he found out we’d tricked him.
Lucas had bravely volunteered as bait for our trap. Jasmine’s job was to cut Calhoun out of the herd after school, which mostly meant separating him from Scooter. Cha Cha and Lucas and I would run on ahead to Main Street, where I’d make sure the coast was clear at the bookstore while Cha Cha covered the door. Lucas would wait outside, hiding behind the mailbox in front of Lou’s Diner with an arsenal of snowballs. Calhoun always walked down Main Street to get home, and we figured once Lucas stepped out and fired off a snowball at him, Calhoun wouldn’t be able to resist chasing him down.
It was like dangling a red scarf in front of a bull.
At least we hoped so.
If everything went as planned, Lucas would duck inside the bookstore, Calhoun would come after him just like he and Scooter did before, and bingo, we’d have him cornered. Easy peasy lemon squeezie, right? Of course, there was the risk that Calhoun would break Lucas into tiny pieces when he found out we’d tricked him, but probably not with Aunt True onsite as backup.
First, though, I had to get through math.
“Pop quiz!” Ms. Ivey announced as we took our seats, and everybody groaned.
I glanced down at the sheet of paper she set in front of me. Word problems! My nemesis.
“When you’re finished, I’d like you to swap your test with the person next to you, and then we’ll all grade them together,” said Ms. Ivey.
Ten minutes later, our time was up. I handed my quiz to Cha Cha and she gave me hers. Our teacher put the answer to the first problem on the board. Dang! Cha Cha had gotten it right, but I hadn’t. A lot of my other answers were correct, though, which gave me hope that the end result would be enough to convince my father to let me try out for swim team.
Final score: 76 percent.
“Much better, Truly,” said Ms. Ivey, patting me on the shoulder as she came by to collect our papers. “Looks like that tutoring is paying off.”
I smiled at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scooter slouched down in his seat at the back of the room. He didn’t look so happy with his grade. That’s what you get for stomping on your dancing partner’s feet, I thought smugly.
After class, as I went to my locker to get my jacket, I texted the quiz results to my father.
ONLY 24% MORE TO 100%! he texted back.
I looked at his message, deflated. Lieutenant Colonel Jericho T. Lovejoy was not easy to please.
“Are you ready?” Cha Cha whispered, nodding toward Jasmine and Scooter, who were over by their lockers arguing.
“Mom didn’t say anything this morning about another orthodontist appointment!” Scooter protested.
“You weren’t listening, that’s all,” Jasmine told him. “She’s meeting you in the parking lot in ten minutes. She won’t be happy if you’re a no-show.”
Scooter’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry, dude,” he muttered to Calhoun, who was waiting for him. “Maybe we can hang out later.”
Jasmine slipped a hand behind her back. She made a shooing motion at Cha Cha and Lucas and me, and the three of us hurried past her. Mrs. Sanchez was nowhere near School Street, but Scooter didn’t know that, and by the time he found out, we’d be long gone.
Outside, it was snowing yet again. My friends and I jogged through the flurries toward town, and five minutes later we were in place.
“Don’t let your mother see you,” I warned Lucas, who was crouched down between the mailbox and the curb outside the diner. “Cha Cha is right over there by the door, in case anything goes wrong. She’s got your six.”
“My what?”
“Sorry—military-speak. Your back.” I trotted over to Cha Cha. “Any sign of Calhoun?”
“Nope.”
“Okay. Keep your eyes peeled.”
I doubled back and made a brief stop at the diner, then ducked into the bookstore. Now that inventory was finished, Lovejoy’s Books was officially open again, but business wasn’t exactly bustling. The only one inside the bookshop was Aunt True.
“Truly! What are you doing here?” she said, looking at me in surprise. “You’re early for tutoring. Your dad’s not back from his physical therapy session yet.”
“I know. I brought you a Winter Elixir.” My aunt’s eyes lit up, and I felt a pang of guilt. The steaming cup came with a side of ulterior motive. I was buttering Aunt True up.
“How thoughtful of you,” she said. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Aunt True had gotten hooked on Lou’s Winter Elixirs. They’re the diner’s most popular seasonal drink, a piping-hot blend of ginger tea, apple cider, and cranberry juice. I waited until she took a sip, then said, “Remember Lucas and Cha Cha?”
She nodded.
“They’re here again today.”
She looked around, frowning. “Where?”
“Outside,” I replied. “Waiting.”
I had to get this next bit just right. “Um, for a boy.”
“Ohhhhhhh,” said Aunt True, her eyebrows arching skyward. “A boy.” She said the word like it had half a dozen syllables.
“You know the Winter Festival dance? Well, Cha Cha wants to—”
Aunt True held up her hand. “Say no more! I’ve got the picture. I’ll make myself scarce when they come in, shall I?”
I nodded. “Thanks, Aunt True.”
She was quickly becoming my favorite aunt.
Two minutes later, the front door flew open and Cha Cha and Lucas ran in. Our plan had gone off like clockwork, and Calhoun was right on their heels with a snowball.
“Excuse me, young man,” called Aunt True. “This is a snowball-free zone.”
Calhoun froze.
“Don’t make me sic Miss Marple on you!”
Over on her dog bed, Miss Marple heard her name. The snoring whuffled to a stop and she cracked open an eye, sizing up the situation. Fortunately, Calhoun wasn’t familiar with my aunt’s sense of humor or with Miss Marple. He eyed the dog warily, then dropped his arm.
“That’s more like it,” said Aunt True briskly. She held out her hand for the snowball. Calhoun gave it to her, and she opened the door and tossed it in the gutter. Closing the door again, my aunt regarded us thoughtfully. “If I leave the four of you alone while I go rustle up some snacks, will you promise not to kill each other?”
Cha Cha and Lucas and I nodded. Calhoun hesitated, then he shrugged and nodded too.
“Good,” said Aunt True, and she disappeared into the office.
We stood there awkwardly for a couple of moments. Then the bell over the door jangled and Jasmine came in, breathless from running. She broke into a big grin when she saw Calhoun. “Hey, it really worked!”
“What worked?” Calhoun glanced from her over to Cha Cha and Lucas and me. His eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, you did this on purpose?”
Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re the world’s worst dance partner,” she told him. “People are making fun of us behind our backs.”
Calhoun’s face went from angry red to embarrassed red.
“But we can fix that for you,” Cha Cha added. “And we can make it so you have a shot at beating Scooter for a prize.”
Calhoun snorted.
“Really, we can.” Cha Cha explained what we wanted from him.
Calhoun looked baffled. “You want me to get you into the college library?”
We all nodded.
“There isn’t one,” I told him.
“So what’s so important about the library?”
“None of your business,” said Cha Cha. “Are you in?”
He hesitated. “I’ll think about it.”
Aunt True returned just then with a tray of pumpkin whoopie pies. “You’ve multiplied!” she said, looking over at Jasmine.
“Oh hey, Aunt True, this is my friend Jasmine Sanchez,” I told her. “And you’ve already met Calhoun.”
“Greetings and salutations!” said Aunt True. “Welcome one and all to Lovejoy’s Books. Would you like one of our signature treats?” She held out the tray and we each took one of the silver-dollar-size whoopie pies.
“Take more than that,” she urged. “Please. Unless we get a rush of customers”—she looked around at the empty store and sighed—“these will just go to waste.”
“I’m going to walk my friends down to Lou’s,” I told her. “If Dad gets here before I get back, tell him I’ll only be a minute, okay?”
“You bet.” She winked at me as I walked past her. “Cute guy,” she whispered.
My mouth fell open.
Aunt True was supposed to think that Cha Cha had a crush on Calhoun, not me!