Katie Sprinkles and Surprises (3 page)

“Don't worry, Katie,” Mia said. “I have a feeling it will go just fine.”

“I hope so,” I said, but the more I thought about it, the more the meeting with Jeff felt like a big deal.

T
he day of the big “meet and greet,” I started to clean my room like crazy. I don't think in the history of my life I have ever cleaned up my room without my mom telling me to, but I guess I was nervous or something. So that's why I was hanging upside down over my bed, pulling out dirty socks covered with dust bunnies from underneath.

“Gross!” I squealed, removing a sock so covered with dust that I couldn't tell what color it was originally. I tossed it into my laundry basket, shuddering.

After I got all my dirty clothes off the floor, I glanced at the clock: 5:50. Ten more minutes until Jeff showed up. This was more suspenseful than on those reality shows, when they make you wait until
after the commercial to tell you who gets voted off. I was still really nervous, so I sent a text to Mia, Emma, and Alexis:

Jeff will be here in 10! Freaking out!

Mia replied first.

Don't freak. Go to ur happy place.

My happy place is an imaginary room filled with shelves of delicious cupcakes, comfy beanbag chairs shaped like cupcakes, and cupcake recipe books to read while you're eating. I closed my eyes and tried to go there, but then my phone made a twinkly noise. I had another text.

He will be nice
, Emma texted.
I can feel it.

And there was a text from Alexis, too.

Be calm. Nothing big will happen 2nite.

Alexis had a point. This was just a meeting.

Tx guys!
I texted back.

Full report when you're done
, Alexis typed.

K
, I replied.

I closed my eyes again, so I could try to go to my happy place, but then the doorbell rang downstairs. I didn't move, though. I sat very still on my bed, listening to the muffled voices coming from the front door. Then Mom yelled, “Katie!”

I took a deep breath. For a split second I considered climbing out my window, but I knew that was ridiculous. How bad could this guy be, anyway?

I slowly made my way down the stairs. The voices were coming from the kitchen now, and I could hear Mom laughing.

Jeff must make her really happy,
I thought, not for the first time. So the least I could do was try to like him, right?

I slowly peeked into the kitchen. Mom was at the stove, stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce, and Jeff was sitting at the kitchen table, although I couldn't see him yet. I kind of had to take in the whole scene for a minute. I couldn't help wondering: If Mom married Jeff, is this what it would be like? The two of them together, laughing and talking, while I watched from the sidelines? It was a depressing thought.

Then Mom's mom-radar kicked in, and she looked up and saw me by the door.

“Oh, there you are, Katie!” she said. “Come meet Jeff.”

I stepped into the kitchen and walked up to the kitchen table. Sitting there was . . . Mr. Green! The
math
teacher! For a second I was confused.

“Mr. Green?” I asked. Had Mom hired him to tutor me in math or something?

Mr. Green laughed. “You can call me Jeff when we're out of school, Katie,” he said. “Nice to meet you officially.  Your mom has told me all about you.”

Then it really, actually hit me. Mr. Green and Jeff were the same person! My mom was dating Mr. Green, the math teacher at school who everyone liked! Not only that, but he said
Your mom has told me all about you
. Which means, when he came up to our table the other day, he knew who I was, but I didn't know who
he
was. That didn't seem fair at all. I felt pretty mad at my mom at that point, but I tried not to show it.

“Um, that's nice,” I said.

“Katie, can you please set the table for us?” Mom asked.

“Sure,” I replied. Our house is kind of small, so we don't have a dining room, like at Mia's house. We eat in the kitchen, which can be pretty
cozy. Although right then it was feeling a little bit crowded.

I opened the cabinet to take out the plates, and Mr. Green–Jeff jumped right up.

“Let me help you with that, Katie,” he said.

“No, it's all right,” I told him. I didn't like the idea of him setting the table, like he was part of the house—part of the family. So I quickly set the table by myself, and soon we were all seated while Mom passed around the salad bowl.

“Mmm, this looks great, Sharon,” Jeff said. “Lots of veggies!” And then he and my mom both said, at the same time, “Five a day!” and then laughed.

It was like they had known each other for a million years. I stayed quiet at first, mostly because I wanted to watch the two of them together, but also because Jeff didn't ask me a bunch of dumb questions about how I liked school and stuff, like most adults do when they meet you for the first time. Then Jeff started talking about this family of geese that lives at the park in town. I know about them because Mom and I see them when we go running together.

“So I was running by myself the other morning,” Jeff said, “and then I heard a noise behind me, and the mother goose was chasing me! And then all
her little goslings started following her!”

“Did they catch up to you?” I asked.

“I lost them on the blue trail,” Jeff replied. “And it's a good thing, too, because that mom looked like she wanted to feed me to her babies!”

I laughed. “She gets very upset if you run too close,” I said, and then I noticed a pleased look on Mom's face, like she was happy Jeff and I were talking. Which for some reason just made me want to get quiet again, so I did.

The rest of the dinner was pretty much okay. Mom had made her spaghetti Bolognese, which has this delicious meat sauce on it, and Jeff was funny and easy to talk to. I could understand why everyone thought he was a great teacher, and also why Mom liked him.

When we were done eating, Jeff insisted on clearing off the table. “I want to make room for your secret weapon, Katie,” he said. “The cupcakes! I've been saving room for days.”

I looked at my mom, and then at Jeff, and then it clicked. “Oh, I get it,” I said. “That's why yesterday in the lunchroom you said you knew all about the Cupcake Club.”

“Well, a lot of the other teachers talk about your cupcakes,” Jeff informed me. “But I did get
the full story from your mom.”

I wanted to say,
Gee, it's nice that
somebody
around here got the full story
, but I kept my mouth shut. Mom really hates when I'm sarcastic, and besides, I didn't want to ruin things for her. Even though I was mad at Mom for telling him all about me and not telling me anything, it was hard not to like Jeff.

So instead I said, “I'll get the cupcakes,” and then I fetched them from the pantry. Jeff looked really happy when I put the plate on the table.

“Oh, yeah, these are the ones you had yesterday,” he said. “Awesome! I love sprinkles.”

He took a bite of one. “Wow, these are even better than they look!” he said. “You are a cupcake wizard, Katie.”

“Thanks,” I replied. He might have been saying that just to be nice, but then again he did eat three whole cupcakes, all by himself. So I think he meant it.

“Katie, would it be okay if I took one home for my daughter?” he asked.

My ears perked up a little. Mom did say Jeff had a daughter.

“Sure,” I said. “What's her name?”

“Emily,” Jeff replied. “She's two years younger
than you are. She likes to read, and she also likes to run with me.”

“You have a lot in common!” Mom interjected, beaming.

I had to try really hard not to roll my eyes. Reading and running are just two things. I wouldn't call that a
lot
in common. But I kept that thought to myself.

As I packed up two cupcakes for Emily (one extra, to be nice), I thought about what it might be like to have a little sister around. I have this weird thing with kids. I'm really good at playing with them and stuff, but I have to warm up to it. I've been an only child for so long that sometimes being around kids stresses me out.

Then I thought about my friends. Emma has a younger brother, Jake, who is adorable, but Emma says he can be a pain a lot of the time. Alexis has an older sister, Dylan, who is totally rude to her most of the time, but every once in a while she helps Alexis with stuff. But Emily is not a teenager, and she's not a little kid, like Jake. So maybe having a little sister Emily's age would be all right.

I handed Jeff a little box with the cupcakes in it, thinking he was leaving. But then Mom said, “I thought we could all watch that movie about the
girl who saved those dolphins. It's just out on cable.”

By “all,” Mom obviously meant to include Jeff. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Usually when Mom and I watch a movie together at night, we change into our pajamas, but no way was I going to do that with Jeff there. Me in my pajamas in front of Mr. Green? That would be too weird.

“Um, okay,” I said, and Mom grinned.

“Great! I'll make popcorn.”

The good thing about watching the movie was we didn't have to talk to one another. The bad thing was that I sat in the blue armchair, which is my favorite, and Mom sat on the couch with Jeff, and halfway through the movie I looked over and saw they were holding hands. Ew!

So I was relieved when the movie ended and Jeff got up and stretched and said, “I should be going. It's late. Thank you both for a lovely time.”

“Good night,” I said, and then I went upstairs as Mom walked Jeff to his car. I'm sure they kissed each other good night, but I did not want to be around to witness that.

While I was brushing my teeth, Mom opened the bathroom door.

“So what do you think of Jeff?” she asked. I could tell she'd been waiting all night to ask me.

I was so tired, and I didn't really feel like talking about it. “He's nice, Mom,” I said. “But I already knew that from school.”

I knew Mom was waiting for me to bring up the fact that Jeff was also Mr. Green, the math teacher, and she was dying to talk about it. But I didn't give her a chance.

“I'm really tired, Mom,” I said, and then I gave her a kiss on the cheek and went into my room. Mom didn't push it.

When I got into bed I saw that my cell phone was lighting up with texts.

So what happened? Is he nice?
Mia asked, and Emma and Alexis basically wrote the same thing.

I didn't want to ignore my friends, but I didn't feel like breaking the big news about Mr. Green just yet, either. So I shut off the phone and closed my eyes.

As I drifted off to sleep, crazy thoughts started popping into my head. Mom and Jeff seemed like a great couple. What if they got married? Would I have to share my room with Emily? That would be hard, because my room is pretty small.

Then I had another thought: Maybe Jeff had a
bigger house, and he would want us to live with him. Mia and her mom moved in with Eddie, so it was entirely possible. I looked around my room, and even in the dark I could make out the lightning bolt–shaped crack in my ceiling and saw the soft glow of the star stickers on my unicorn poster. I loved my room. I didn't want to leave.

Change stinks,
I thought, and then I tossed and turned until I finally fell asleep.

W
hen I woke up the next morning there was a text from Mia.

Dying for details.

Somehow I still couldn't break the news that Jeff and Mr. Green were the same person—not even to my best friend.

L8r. At the cc mtg
, I typed back.

Aaargh! Suspense!
Mia replied, but she didn't push it after that, and I was grateful.