didnât bring up anything about her dad. I figured sheâd talk to me when she was ready.
Nothing much interesting happened until Monday morning, during my first period math class. Mrs. Moore was explaining a problem on the board when suddenly a note fell onto my desk.
I looked up, alarmed. Mrs. Moore is superstrict, and it takes guts to throw a note in her class. I looked around and saw Bella looking at me.
Bella is in the PGC (Popular Girls Club) with Sydney and Maggie and Callie. Sheâs pretty quiet, but everyone knows she loves vampiresâafter all, she changed her named from Brenda to Bella because of that series with the sparkly vampires.She dresses in black a lot and wears pale makeup.
Bella nodded for me to open the note, and I opened it.
Jackson Montano is going bald! Seriously, itâs true!
I gave Bella a strange look. What was that about? But then I saw Mrs. Moore turn away from the board, and I quickly stashed the note in my book.
As Mrs. Moore kept explaining fractions, I suddenly realized what the note was about. Sydney had said that Jackson would be sorry about calling her cheesy, and she meant it.
I showed the note to my friends at lunch, but nobody was surprised.
âThere are these texts going around saying that Jackson has foot fungus,â Alexis reported.
âI heard it in the hallway,â Katie said. âSydney, Bella, and Maggie were telling everyone who would listen.â
âPoor Jackson,â Emma said sympathetically.
âI donât feel sorry for him,â Alexis said. âHe always calls me âcopper topâ and asks if my brains are rusting.â
âAnd George says heâs mean to the younger kids on the football team,â Katie added. George is her friend from elementary school, and Jackson is one grade above us, so I guess he must pick on George.
âStill, nobody deserves the Sydney treatment,â I said.
âWell, nobody actually believes this stuff, do they?â Katie asked. âMaggie told me that he has false teeth. I mean, come on.â
âIt doesnât matter if they believe it or not,â Alexis pointed out. âIt still looks bad for Jackson. Just imagine if Sydney were spreading those rumors about us.â
I shuddered. âThat would be awful. But I guess Jackson brought this on himself. He shouldnât have called her cheesy.â
I still didnât know that I was the one who was causing Jackson so much trouble. But in the meantime, I still had plenty of other things to worry aboutânamely, my Spanish.
I had to tell the truth before the parent-teacher conference. It was the only thing to do. And that wasnât going to make anybody happy.
CHAPTER 12
A Really, Really Bad Day
A s you can probably guess by now, I like to avoid bad situations. There didnât seem to be a time all week that I could talk to my mom. But that weekend I went to my dadâs, and thatâs when it all came out.
It was after dinner on Friday, and I knew I had to bring up the note from Señora Delgado. But as you know, I love to put things off. So I decided to bake a batch of cupcakes first. My dad loves chocolate, so I made a quick, easy batch of chocolate cupcakes. Soon a delicious, chocolaty aroma was wafting through the entire apartment.
âSomething sure smells good, mija ,â Dad said with a smile as he walked past the kitchen.
âTheyâll be ready soon,â I promised.
When Dad walked out of the kitchen, I took the note out of my notebook. For the millionth time, I replayed in my head what I would say and how I would say it. I remembered how proud Dad had been of my Spanish at the tapas bar. He was going to be so disappointed in me. I dreaded giving him this note, and I dreaded telling my mom, too.
As I sat staring forlornly at the note, my dad came running back into the kitchen.
âMia! Donât you smell that?â he shouted. I looked up, confused, and was shocked
Nothing much interesting happened until Monday morning, during my first period math class. Mrs. Moore was explaining a problem on the board when suddenly a note fell onto my desk.
I looked up, alarmed. Mrs. Moore is superstrict, and it takes guts to throw a note in her class. I looked around and saw Bella looking at me.
Bella is in the PGC (Popular Girls Club) with Sydney and Maggie and Callie. Sheâs pretty quiet, but everyone knows she loves vampiresâafter all, she changed her named from Brenda to Bella because of that series with the sparkly vampires.She dresses in black a lot and wears pale makeup.
Bella nodded for me to open the note, and I opened it.
Jackson Montano is going bald! Seriously, itâs true!
I gave Bella a strange look. What was that about? But then I saw Mrs. Moore turn away from the board, and I quickly stashed the note in my book.
As Mrs. Moore kept explaining fractions, I suddenly realized what the note was about. Sydney had said that Jackson would be sorry about calling her cheesy, and she meant it.
I showed the note to my friends at lunch, but nobody was surprised.
âThere are these texts going around saying that Jackson has foot fungus,â Alexis reported.
âI heard it in the hallway,â Katie said. âSydney, Bella, and Maggie were telling everyone who would listen.â
âPoor Jackson,â Emma said sympathetically.
âI donât feel sorry for him,â Alexis said. âHe always calls me âcopper topâ and asks if my brains are rusting.â
âAnd George says heâs mean to the younger kids on the football team,â Katie added. George is her friend from elementary school, and Jackson is one grade above us, so I guess he must pick on George.
âStill, nobody deserves the Sydney treatment,â I said.
âWell, nobody actually believes this stuff, do they?â Katie asked. âMaggie told me that he has false teeth. I mean, come on.â
âIt doesnât matter if they believe it or not,â Alexis pointed out. âIt still looks bad for Jackson. Just imagine if Sydney were spreading those rumors about us.â
I shuddered. âThat would be awful. But I guess Jackson brought this on himself. He shouldnât have called her cheesy.â
I still didnât know that I was the one who was causing Jackson so much trouble. But in the meantime, I still had plenty of other things to worry aboutânamely, my Spanish.
I had to tell the truth before the parent-teacher conference. It was the only thing to do. And that wasnât going to make anybody happy.
CHAPTER 12
A Really, Really Bad Day
A s you can probably guess by now, I like to avoid bad situations. There didnât seem to be a time all week that I could talk to my mom. But that weekend I went to my dadâs, and thatâs when it all came out.
It was after dinner on Friday, and I knew I had to bring up the note from Señora Delgado. But as you know, I love to put things off. So I decided to bake a batch of cupcakes first. My dad loves chocolate, so I made a quick, easy batch of chocolate cupcakes. Soon a delicious, chocolaty aroma was wafting through the entire apartment.
âSomething sure smells good, mija ,â Dad said with a smile as he walked past the kitchen.
âTheyâll be ready soon,â I promised.
When Dad walked out of the kitchen, I took the note out of my notebook. For the millionth time, I replayed in my head what I would say and how I would say it. I remembered how proud Dad had been of my Spanish at the tapas bar. He was going to be so disappointed in me. I dreaded giving him this note, and I dreaded telling my mom, too.
As I sat staring forlornly at the note, my dad came running back into the kitchen.
âMia! Donât you smell that?â he shouted. I looked up, confused, and was shocked
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