Read All About It! (14 page)

“Hey! Got something for you!” said Michael. He reached into
the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a scrap of white paper. “Here. Open
it later. It's about the paper.” He handed it to me.

I looked down but didn't open it. “Okay. Thanks! See you
guys!”

Hailey was waiting for me at the door.

She kept right on talking as if we hadn't been interrupted, the
words tumbling out of her in a great torrent. “What I wanted to say was . . .
I'm
over it. The crush. I'm so sorry. I just . . . I
guess I felt comfortable around him and I was used to checking him out, you know, on
your behalf. It was like I just talked myself into it. But now . . . I mean, this past
week . . . I see how you two are perfect for each other. I mean, you share all these
interests, and he's so in love with you . . . and . . .”

“Wait, wait. Stop. Slow down. Okay. Wait.
What?
”

“Michael Lawrence. I had a crush. It's over. Anyway, he
loves you.”

“He does not!” I said. But I couldn't stop the small
smile that lifted the corners of my mouth. “Do you think?”

“Duh! Stealing your notebook, inviting you over, baking you
cinnamon buns for goodness' sake! And the way he looks at you!”

“Wait, you think he stole my notebook?”

“Totally.”

“Huh.” I hadn't thought of that. But the cinnamon buns
had given me pause.

“Anyway, I still do think he's a really great guy, and I
think you should be a lot nicer to him. He really likes you.”

“Wow. I'd never thought of it that way.
Thanks Hails. You're the best. And . . . and . . . well, I'm sorry if you
liked him too. I guess that was kind of hard.”

Hailey shrugged and hugged me tight and ran off to her next class.
All's Well That Ends Well.

I went to the bathroom, and after I'd washed and dried my hands, I
pulled Michael's note out of my pocket.

“Great column, Pasty,” it said. Awww. Wait. Which column was
he talking about? Our column? Or Know-It-All? Oh my gosh. Did Michael Lawrence
know
?

Oh boy.

After school the staff met at the
Cherry Valley
Voice
office to go over our first edition. Everyone was talking and laughing
and was in a good mood. Everyone at school had been buzzing about the paper, and there
was a rumor that the PTA was going to talk about our article at the next meeting. Holy
cow!

“Silence!” called Mr. Trigg. “Silence, people,
please!”

Everyone settled down.

“First,” said Mr. Trigg,
“I'd like to commend you all on one fabulous first edition of the paper.
Excellent start!”

Everyone started clapping and cheering. “I believe our stalwart
editor in chief, Susannah, would like to address the troops now.”

Susannah stood up. “Well, ditto to what Mr. Trigg said. Plus
I'd like to call out a few special people who did some great work. Jeff
Perry's photos were fantastic.” Everyone clapped. Jeff looked really
happy.

“And Michael Lawrence and Samantha Martone's story really
set the tone for the year. It was great journalism!” I was so proud, but also a
little shy. Michael high-fived me. “It was good teamwork!” he called out. I
knew I was smiling really, really hard. It felt like my face might crack, and I
wasn't even wearing a mud mask!

“And,” said Susannah, “I'd like to thank all the
columnists who also got the year off to such a strong start, including a really great
and thoughtful Know-It-All column, whoever he or she may be. It was kind and good
advice, and I'm sure it helped a lot of people.”

“That's true,” whispered Michael,
leaning in.

“Um . . . what?” I asked.

“That it was a great column,” he whispered back. I looked at
him. Was he just saying that or did he know?

“Yeah,” I said. “It must have been pretty hard to
write.”

“Or be in that situation,” said Michael. “It takes a
really good friend to write something like that.”

“Oh, that too,” I said. Now I was really confused. Boys.
Just when you think you've figured them out.

Susannah was going over assignments for next week with Mr. Trigg. I was
still trying to figure out if Michael knew that I was Know-It-All.

“So what do you say, Pasty?” said Michael.

“Um . . . what?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You and me as a writing team for the
next story? I don't know how we'll top this first one but . . .”

“Oh!” I said. “Oh, sure. Yes! That would be so
great!” Then I stopped and laughed. “You know, Hailey wondered why they
didn't overhaul the lunch menu before the curriculum.” I don't
know why I said that. Maybe I was still thinking of Hailey a
little bit. Plus she was sure helping me out with stories.

“Hey!” said Michael. “That's it! That's
our next story! Why the tuna surprise is not a good surprise! It's going to be
groundbreaking journalism.” He put his arm around me. It felt really, really
nice.

I laughed. I didn't know if he was kidding or not. I just knew
that I really loved him right then and there, even if I didn't know if he felt the
same way. And that the next time he invited me over for a cinnamon bun, I was definitely
accepting.

Journalist Keeps Best Friend, Gains 500 Pounds on
All–Cinnamon-Bun Diet. And Is Still in Love.

RACHEL WISE
loves to give advice. When
she's not editing or writing children's books, which she does full time
at a publisher in New York, she's reading advice columns in newspapers,
magazines, and blogs, and is always sure her advice would be better! Her dream is to
someday have her own talk show, where she could share her wisdom with millions of
people at once; but for now she's happy to dole out advice in small portions
in Dear Know-It-All books.

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Jacket design by Laura L. DiSiena
Jacket illustrated by James
Bernardin
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2012
by Simon &
Schuster, Inc.
Simon Spotlight • Simon & Schuster, New York