fanning the air.“What happened? Is everything okay? What smells so badly?”
I shrugged, trying to look innocent. “I made a fire?”
She fiddled with something inside the fireplace. “You forgot to open the flue. How many times do I have to remind you about the flue? Then again, how often do you try to start fires on your own?” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “What’s the occasion?”
“Um, nothing. Just thought it’d be cozy,” I said.
She opened a couple of windows in the living room and a strong fall breeze rushed into the room. So much for cozy, but at least we weren’t getting poisoned by burning plastic. Mom peered into the fireplace again. “What’s
in
there, anyway?”
I couldn’t tell her that it was a pom-pom. She’d call the Environmental Protection Agency to report me. “Oh, just some, um, shredded paper I was using to get it started,” I said. “From the, um, paper shredder.” Fortunately it looked as if the paper with the mean girls’ names had already been incinerated.
“That was very smart of you, recycling something that’s already been used. Thinking of the environment. I like that. Nice job, Madison.” She smiled and then headed back upstairs.
Nice job? That was a close one
, I thought as I collapsed on the sofa. If my eco-mom found out we were tossing pom-poms into the fireplace, she’d probably send me to jail herself. “Well, that’s that. I guess we can put the mean girls out of our minds for a while. Does anyoneelse feel funny? Sort of different?” I asked.
Olivia laughed. “Why would I feel different?”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my arms. “I just got the shivers.”
“That’s because your mom opened the windows. Remember? Let’s close them and get some snacks before the movie starts!” said Taylor.
“And then let’s paint our nails,” said Olivia.
“Okay. First, I’m going to put this away, somewhere safe. I’ll be right back.” I picked up our time capsule box and brought it out to the garage, where we have tons of storage space. I set it on a shelf up high, above the boxes of surplus hair products. Then I grabbed some of our snacks and went back into the living room.
“You always hog the sofa, Olivia. A little
room
, please?” Taylor was saying, pushing at Olivia’s legs.
“What? I do not,” said Olivia, pushing back.
“Move over,” Taylor urged, pushing Olivia.
“Hey.” Olivia glared at her.
“Great, guys.” I sighed. “While you were arguing, we missed the opening. Everyone knows the opening scene is the best one in the whole movie.”
“If you hadn’t taken so long to start the fire, maybe we wouldn’t have missed it,” Taylor said.
“Come on, guys. Lighten up!” said Olivia. “We’re just supposed to be having fun, kicking back.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” I said. “Pass the pickles.”
We started laughing, and suddenly, everything was just fine between us. Better, even. We’d removed the mean girls from our lives. What could be better?
Chapter 8
I didn’t do much over the rest of the weekend. I spent a lot of time designing our Endangered Animals Club T-shirts; maybe nobody would join, but if we could sell shirts to the rest of the school, we could still raise money for the cause.
Mom had put up the money for a hundred blank tees, and we’d gotten iron-on designs and some fabric paint at the fabric store. While Taylor was at a meet in Portland, Olivia and I spent all of Saturday afternoon designing, painting, and ironing. Each shirt would be unique, a one of a kind creation. A collectible, really.
They wouldn’t be pictures of animals. Middle schoolers were way too old to go for that. Instead they were colors, random words, and patterns. They were very artistic, if I do say so myself.
By the end of the afternoon, we’d only finished twenty T-shirts, but we’d worked so hard that when Taylor’s mom called on their way back into town and invited us to meet for pizza, we jumped
I shrugged, trying to look innocent. “I made a fire?”
She fiddled with something inside the fireplace. “You forgot to open the flue. How many times do I have to remind you about the flue? Then again, how often do you try to start fires on your own?” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “What’s the occasion?”
“Um, nothing. Just thought it’d be cozy,” I said.
She opened a couple of windows in the living room and a strong fall breeze rushed into the room. So much for cozy, but at least we weren’t getting poisoned by burning plastic. Mom peered into the fireplace again. “What’s
in
there, anyway?”
I couldn’t tell her that it was a pom-pom. She’d call the Environmental Protection Agency to report me. “Oh, just some, um, shredded paper I was using to get it started,” I said. “From the, um, paper shredder.” Fortunately it looked as if the paper with the mean girls’ names had already been incinerated.
“That was very smart of you, recycling something that’s already been used. Thinking of the environment. I like that. Nice job, Madison.” She smiled and then headed back upstairs.
Nice job? That was a close one
, I thought as I collapsed on the sofa. If my eco-mom found out we were tossing pom-poms into the fireplace, she’d probably send me to jail herself. “Well, that’s that. I guess we can put the mean girls out of our minds for a while. Does anyoneelse feel funny? Sort of different?” I asked.
Olivia laughed. “Why would I feel different?”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my arms. “I just got the shivers.”
“That’s because your mom opened the windows. Remember? Let’s close them and get some snacks before the movie starts!” said Taylor.
“And then let’s paint our nails,” said Olivia.
“Okay. First, I’m going to put this away, somewhere safe. I’ll be right back.” I picked up our time capsule box and brought it out to the garage, where we have tons of storage space. I set it on a shelf up high, above the boxes of surplus hair products. Then I grabbed some of our snacks and went back into the living room.
“You always hog the sofa, Olivia. A little
room
, please?” Taylor was saying, pushing at Olivia’s legs.
“What? I do not,” said Olivia, pushing back.
“Move over,” Taylor urged, pushing Olivia.
“Hey.” Olivia glared at her.
“Great, guys.” I sighed. “While you were arguing, we missed the opening. Everyone knows the opening scene is the best one in the whole movie.”
“If you hadn’t taken so long to start the fire, maybe we wouldn’t have missed it,” Taylor said.
“Come on, guys. Lighten up!” said Olivia. “We’re just supposed to be having fun, kicking back.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” I said. “Pass the pickles.”
We started laughing, and suddenly, everything was just fine between us. Better, even. We’d removed the mean girls from our lives. What could be better?
Chapter 8
I didn’t do much over the rest of the weekend. I spent a lot of time designing our Endangered Animals Club T-shirts; maybe nobody would join, but if we could sell shirts to the rest of the school, we could still raise money for the cause.
Mom had put up the money for a hundred blank tees, and we’d gotten iron-on designs and some fabric paint at the fabric store. While Taylor was at a meet in Portland, Olivia and I spent all of Saturday afternoon designing, painting, and ironing. Each shirt would be unique, a one of a kind creation. A collectible, really.
They wouldn’t be pictures of animals. Middle schoolers were way too old to go for that. Instead they were colors, random words, and patterns. They were very artistic, if I do say so myself.
By the end of the afternoon, we’d only finished twenty T-shirts, but we’d worked so hard that when Taylor’s mom called on their way back into town and invited us to meet for pizza, we jumped
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