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hang out.”
    â€œOkay,” Zoey said, trying to figure out if he was just saying it to be nice. “You know, I’m just not sure I want to rock the boat with the organizers, anyway. I’d have to ask permission to sell the paintings, and they barely admitted me as it is.”
    â€œI’ll send you some photos of the paintings I’d want to display, just in case you decide to call them,” Ezra said.
    â€œOkay,” Zoey agreed.
    Now what? she thought. Doing the gift fair was becoming more complicated by the minute!

    At lunch the next day, she asked her friends what they would do.
    â€œIt’s not that I don’t like his paintings,” she explained, having received Ezra’s photos by e-mail before school. “I really do. It’s just . . . they’re not exactly . . . Sew Zoey-ish, if you know what I mean. And if I’m going to take a risk by spending all this money to rent a booth, I want it to look like the Sew Zoey blog came to life.”
    â€œHold on!” Priti exclaimed. “Why wouldn’t you let your crush display his paintings? It’ll give you the perfect excuse to hang out!”
    â€œThat’s what I thought at first,” Zoey said. “It turns out he thought he was just going to leave them there and let me do all the work—until I mentioned hanging out, and then he said he would, and yeah, it would be fun. But I don’t want him to feel like he’s forced into it.”
    â€œI think you should stick to your original vision,” Kate said. “If he’s really into you, he’ll come visit, anyway.”
    â€œOkay, so one for and one against,” Zoey said. “What do you think, Libby?”
    Libby, who’d been crunching on carrot sticks during the discussion, swallowed and shrugged.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “Maybe it would be cool to let Ezra show his paintings and spend time together. But I can see how you’re laying out all the money for the booth and want it to look perfect. So, basically, I’m no help.”
    â€œWhen do you have to decide?” Kate asked.
    â€œSoon!” Zoey said. “Like, today, since I needto get permission, and the gift fair is a week from Friday! Plus, I still haven’t decided exactly what to do for accessories. I’ve made some that I’ll sell, but I don’t like them as much as the bracelets, and I don’t think there’s enough variety.”
    â€œYou will figure it all out,” Libby said. “You always do.”
    It was true. Zoey did find ways to make things work. But there was always a first time for disaster, and Zoey was worried.

    â€œWhy are you so grumpy faced?” Marcus asked when Zoey walked in after school. “Cheer up, little sister!”
    â€œI can’t,” Zoey complained. “I’m stressing out about the gift fair. I don’t know what to do.”
    â€œWhat’s the problem?” Marcus asked. “I thought you got a booth? And you just have to make some accessories, right? Piece of cake.”
    â€œI know.” Zoey sighed. “But the only accessories I’ve made lately that I really like are those fabric bracelets.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with those?” Marcus asked.“Didn’t you say your friends loved them and wear them every day?”
    â€œYeah,” Zoey replied. “But they’re copies, basically. I’m going in circles trying to decide if I’m okay with selling them. Anyway, the real problem is that when I told Ezra all this, he suggested I sell his paintings in the booth as gifts, instead. And I’m not sure if I want to. But I don’t want to hurt his feelings, either.”
    â€œ Awkward. Trouble in paradise already,” Marcus joked. Then, seeing that Zoey really wasn’t in the mood for humor, he asked, “So what are the pros and cons?”
    Zoey filled him in on the good and