Chapter Fourteen

We don’t make it to the soccer field until two forty-five. Our fundraiser is already halfway over!

I spy the Sea Musketeers under a tent on the other side of the field.

I run up to them, panicking and pleading forgiveness.

“I’m sorry! We got stuck in traffic!” I leave out the part about staying too late at the mural. They would definitely not be happy about that.

Mom walks over. “It’s true. We were stuck for over an hour.”

Mariel’s mom says, “That’s awful.”

Kristen’s dad says, “Traffic is the worst.”

However, none of my fellow Sea Musketeers say a single thing.

Mom sits by the rest of the parents on the bleachers nearby while I walk over to our table.

I open my backpack. “But I have everything I promised: the cookies, the tote bags, and the poster.”

I quickly throw everything down. My poster is extra wrinkly from being in my backpack, and a few of my cookies are crushed. It’s not my best work. Then I grab the ten dollars from my pocket.

“Oh, and I have ten dollars from my neighbor Linda.”

I throw it into the cash jar.

Jenny flashes me a kind smile. It makes me feel a little better.

“So what did I miss?” I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Kristen starts, “We’ve come up with a list of things for the city council meeting.”

“My team won the game,” Mariel says, wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead. Then she adds, “And we’ve raised about seventy dollars and had more people sign the pledge online.”

“That’s great. And now we have eighty dollars. Go team!” I reply, trying to sound like a supportive president.

Logan clears his throat. “And we discussed the club.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Everyone looks at the ground except for Kristen. She meets my eyes and says, “It seems like you’re much busier now, and being the president is a lot of work. I brought up the idea of having a copresident. That way, you could share the responsibility.”

Mariel quickly chimes in, “And I nominated Logan because he has great ideas.”

My mouth drops. I feel as if someone has punched me in the stomach.

“But I’m handling it,” I reply. “And it’s not like I have ever missed a meeting before, like Jenny.”

Jenny frowns.

I wince. “I’m sorry, Jenny. I didn’t mean for it to sound bad. I know you love your dance class. I just mean I’m always here.”

Jenny gives me a half smile, but I can still tell I hurt her feelings some.

Mariel puts her hand on my shoulder. “We just want to make it easier for you. The city council meeting is a big deal, and we want to do the best job we can.”

I shake my head. I’m not willing to hear it. I only messed up this one time, and it’s not really my fault. And the other time, when I didn’t finish the tote bags, is not a big deal. I still got them done before the fundraiser.

Kristen nods. “We all voted on the idea of making Logan copresident, and we agreed we’d like to try it.”

“This is wrong.” My voice gets louder. “You wouldn’t have this club without me. I came up with the idea in the first place.”

Stanley walks over to me. “It’s okay, Stella. Nobody is kicking you out. It’s just sharing the load.”

“It’s true. Plus, I only have my chess club,” says Logan. “I just have more time to help. We will be a great team.”

I cross my arms. This is royally unfair. I want to make a big scene, but I get quiet instead. We’re still doing our fundraiser, after all. We sell a few items before the end, including my tote bags. One of the soccer moms pays twenty dollars for the two totes.

“I love it,” she says. “Such a clever design!”

I mutter, “And I’m the one who came up with the idea for the tote bags, too.”

“What did you say, Stella?” asks Kristen. Her face looks like she’s trying to be nice.

I shake my head. I am not ready to talk to these traitors yet.

A few Sea Musketeers try talking to me some more, but I continue to ignore them.

Instead, I plot how I’m going to start a new club without them. Then at three thirty on the dot, I leave silently with Mom.