Time's Up (6 page)

T
emporarily banned from her bedroom so her older sister Elena Maria could have a major heart-to-heart with a friend from school, Isabel was sitting at the dining room table, attempting to do her homework. But instead of words on paper, there were bits of scrap paper covered with her doodles scattered around in front of her and on the floor.

Isabel's mother and Aunt Lourdes had volunteered to do the dishes so Elena Maria and her friend could have some extra time. Water was running and dishes were banging and Isabel could hear her aunt humming and occasional laughter floating out of the kitchen. The last few days had been good ones for her mother, and Isabel didn't want to ruin any of it on account of the major homework funk she was in.

Isabel looked at the clock. For the last twenty minutes she had been staring at a blank piece of paper and hadn't gotten anywhere. She didn't even know what book she was going to read. There were plenty of books she liked but none she wanted to write five to six pages on.

She looked up at the print of a painting by Frida Kahlo,
framed on her aunt's wall. She loved the bright colors of Frida's paintings. As she stared at the picture, all Isabel felt like doing was drawing and working on her art projects—and she wouldn't mind joining Avery on the rock-climbing team either.

One thing for sure was that she did not want to write a book report. She doodled a cartoon of a bird sitting on the edge of a nest, clearly not ready to make the leap, and wrote, “Did you ever just feel stuck?” Just as she put her head on top of her books on the table, her mother walked in.

“What's wrong,
chiquita
?”

Isabel never wanted her mother to worry about her. She and Elena Maria were supposed to make things easier for their mother. She was about to say, “Nothing, Mama,” when she realized she really needed to talk to her mother.

“Well, the truth is, I can't do my book report for English. I have no clue what book to pick. I hate to write….”

“Shhh,” her mother said, taking a seat next to her and running her hand over Isabel's long, dark hair. “What'd your teacher say? What kind of book are you supposed to read?”

“We're supposed to pick a favorite book to write a five-to-six-page book report on. I can't do that. Book reports have too many words!”

“Why don't you choose one of those myths you love instead?” her mother wisely asked. “And then you could retell the story in a book with your own illustrations.”

“Wow!” Isabel exclaimed. “That is an excellent idea. You're a genius, Mama!”

“Better get your teacher's approval first,” Mrs. Martinez suggested.

“I'll ask tomorrow,” Isabel promised. “I hope she says yes. I know exactly what myth I'll use: Icarus!”

Isabel first read the story of Icarus when she was visiting her grandparents in Mexico City a few years before. Her grandmother had read it in Spanish, and later Isabel read it in English. Isabel imagined herself with wings made of feathers and wax and thread like Icarus had. She could see why Icarus was tempted to fly too close to the sun—it was the most beautiful golden ball hanging in the Mexican sky.

Now pictures started forming inside her head of Icarus soaring too close to the sun, his wings melting, his feathers
starting to fall into the sea. She picked up her pencil. She couldn't wait to get started!

The So-called Date

That night in her room, Charlotte knew she should have been thinking of ideas for the math project before she and Betsy met tomorrow after school. But she would much rather work on her book report. She kept remembering their visit to the Anne of Green Gables house on Prince Edward Island. She and her father had traveled so much since her mother died. As soon as she saw the farmhouse she'd read and dreamed about, it felt like the home Charlotte had wanted for so long. She'd envied Anne living on the farm with Marilla and Matthew, and she had secretly been in love with Gilbert for years.

Downstairs her father was preparing for a writing seminar he was teaching later in the week. He was also in the middle of a piece he had to finish by Friday for a travel magazine. As busy as he was, he did everything he could to make the Victorian house on Corey Hill their home because he knew how much it meant to Charlotte.

She glanced at the clock and thought she had better get going on her book report. She was starting to think that maybe she should reschedule the movie with Nick this weekend. There just wasn't enough time for everything. Sighing, Charlotte pulled out her well-worn copy of
Anne of Green Gables
and started taking notes on her favorite parts of the story. She was rereading the scene where Anne stops talking to Gilbert Blythe because he teases her about her red hair when she had a horrible thought. Would Nick stop talking to her if she said she couldn't go to the Omni show this weekend? Suddenly, she
had
to e-mail Sophie, her best friend in Paris.

Who's Freaked Out?

Katani was sitting on her bed figuring out what it would cost to buy yarn and what she could charge for her scarves when her sister Patrice appeared in her doorway. “Telephone, Katani! And make it quick. I'm expecting a call.” Patrice loved bossing her around whenever she got the chance. “Think fast!” Patrice laughed, tossing the phone to Katani.

Katani miraculously managed to keep from fumbling the phone.

“Nice catch.” Patrice smiled.

Katani leaned back and put the phone to her ear. It was Marky, from High Hopes riding stable.

“I just wanted to check to see if you were going to sign up for Pony Camp this summer,” she said.

“I totally forgot!” Katani had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't believe she'd completely forgotten to fill out the form, even after Claudia had reminded her.

“It's probably not too late,” Marky reassured her.

“I've been so caught up in this contest. The deadline is so soon!”

“It is a really cool contest. I wish I had some business talent, but I don't.” Marky sighed. “Did you know Whitney made three hundred dollars in one day at Myopia?”

“I know,” Katani answered dryly.

“She told me she might enter the contest too.”

I knew it!
Katani fumed. That's all she'd wanted to do from the beginning: enter the contest herself. Her suspicions about Whitney were definitely confirmed. Katani felt her head go hot and she felt dizzy.

“Katani?” Marky asked. “Are you still there?”

“Sorry, I got distracted,” Katani answered. “My sister has to use the phone.”

“Oh. Well, I'll see you at the next lesson. Good luck with the contest!”

“Thanks, Marky.”

As she hung up the phone, Katani felt like hiding in the closet with a blanket and Mr. Bear. First Betsy and now Whitney. Who else was applying to the contest…everyone she knew?

She looked over at the clock. The second hand seemed to be going faster and faster. Katani took a deep breath. She knew she had style and she thought she had the ambition and drive to make things happen. She was just going to have to work even harder on these scarves to make sure Kgirl was the number-one young entrepreneur.

“What are you doing, Katani?” Kelley asked, looking at the papers spread out all over Katani's bed.

“Working on our pinkie swear secret,” Katani said.

“Me too!” Kelley said cheerfully. “I'm drawing outfits for Mr. Bear—you can knit them for us.”

Katani stifled a groan. She wanted to shout,
No way, I have NO time, don't you get it?!
This was only the busiest week of her life! But just then her IM message bar flashed with a new message from the BSG. Katani couldn't wait to tell them all about Whitney and everything. But Kelley was still standing beside her, waiting patiently.

Katani took a manual on learning to knit and purl for beginners from her desk drawer and handed it to Kelley. “I'll teach you to knit—tomorrow, okay? You can look at this for now.”

Smiling, Kelley held the book to her chest. “It's a date, a very important date!”