Time's Up (7 page)

Maeve dumped her book bag out on her oh-so-pink bedspread and flopped back on her luscious pink heart pillows.
Thank goodness for all this delicious pink!
she thought, yawning. It was times like this when Maeve wished that all her learning problems would just float away in a giant pink balloon never to be seen again. Of course, one day she'd be famous and none of this school stuff would matter, she told herself as she let out a sigh the size of Texas. Unfortunately, she needed major 411 now.
She couldn't believe that her tutor, totally adorable Boston College student extraordinaire Matt Kierney, would choose this week of all weeks to be out of town. But if the BSG were too busy to help, who could she turn to?

She sat up and started flipping through the papers on her bed, trying to remember what other homework she had. She'd been so stressed out since English class, she hadn't even remembered to fill out her daily planner. Suddenly, she noticed a bright yellow piece of paper on the floor, half hidden under the bed. “Super Test and Term Paper Prep with Bets: B or Better or Your Money Back. Contact: Betsy Fitzgerald, Honor Student.”

A
s soon as she arrived home from school the next day, Maeve pulled out a pint of strawberry swirl ice cream and a jar of Fluff and mixed them together until she had her favorite perfect pink concoction—Maevelicious Pink Pluff.

“That's so gross.” Sam made a face. At the kitchen table, her eight-year-old brother was reading a book on the Civil War and eating a banana covered in peanut butter.

“
That
is disgusting,” Maeve said, pointing at his mushy snack, which was smeared on the corners of his mouth.

“Maeve,” her mother called from the dining room. “What are you two eating?”

“Just a little Pluff and banana gob. I need some energy to work on my English paper, and Sam is just being disgusting,” she said in a syrupy sweet voice.

“Well, please keep it down in there. I have a lot of work to do this afternoon,” her mom ordered.

“Okay, Mom.” Maeve stuck her tongue out at Sam.

“Which was the first war to use submarines?” he asked with his mouth stuffed with banana.

“Yuck,” Maeve said. “You shouldn't talk with your mouth full. That's gross.”

“You don't know?” Sam asked. “Make a guess. If you guess, it I'll give you some gob!”

“Maeve and Sam,” their mother called.

While Sam went back to reading, Maeve took her dish and book bag and headed for her bedroom. She couldn't stop thinking about what Dillon had told her on the walk home. Betsy had really helped him with his music paper on Beethoven. Now that Ms. Rodriguez had told her she could go ahead with her
Romeo and Juliet
idea, Maeve wanted Betsy to help her, too, but she was afraid that Katani would be totally offended. Dillon even said that Betsy was keeping files of all her “business” tutoring sessions to use as part of her submission package for the contest. Typical Betsy. It would be on record that Maeve had hired Katani's competition.
How could I do that to the Kgirl?

Maeve glanced up at the photo of the BSG in the “Best Friends” frame on her night table. Dressed in black striped pajamas for Pajama Day at school, the girls had gone as jailbirds, ball and chained together. It had been so much fun! Maeve grabbed a pencil and began chewing on it. “Idea, come to me!” she intoned. Nothing! Maeve jumped up from her bed and ran to her guinea pigs' cage as visions of giant F's danced in her brain. She really didn't have any other option—she would have to call Betsy Fitzgerald, Tutor to the Desperate. First, though, she had to make sure it was fine with her mother, since she would be paying. “What can I do? Cleo and Caesar, I need help!” she wailed to her guinea pigs as she shoved aside a fleeting picture of a wounded Katani.

Pink Revelation

As Katani walked into Think Pink! she realized that Razzberry Pink's store displayed every shade of pink under the sky. The store always reminded Katani of something out of a fairytale. As she breathed in the sweet strawberry scent of the store, a lightbulb went off in her head.

Ms. Pink just had to say yes! But first, Katani had to wait until the store owner was finished helping a customer choose a pink suede handbag in the shape of a heart.

“My little niece is going to adore this,” the woman gushed. “Ava loves pink more than anyone.”

Except Maeve
. Katani smiled as she sorted through the Think Pink! scarves. There were plenty of silk scarves in various pink patterns but only a single knitted one in plain wool. Her heart beat even faster. She could hardly wait for Ms. Pink to finish ringing up the lady's heart handbag, pink lizard earrings, a book called
We Are All Pink Inside
, and a jar of some kind of neon pink jam.

After the lady waved good-bye, Katani nervously approached the register. “Do you have a minute, Ms. Pink?”

“Of course.” The young woman with the magenta pink hair smiled at Katani. She looked so chic in her marbled pink framed glasses, magenta pink polka dot T-shirt, tight glittery pink jeans, and pale pink leopard clogs.
Only Ms. Pink could carry that outfit off,
marveled Katani.

Katani decided to cut right to the chase. After all, she thought, businesswomen have to take risks. “I noticed that you didn't have a lot of winter scarves. I was wondering…umm…thinking, actually…”
Pull yourself together right now, Katani Summers,
an embarrassed Katani scolded herself. “I mean, I made a line of mohair scarves in various shades of pink. Like this one.” She unwound the scarf around her neck and handed it to
Ms. Pink.
Now we're talking.
Katani felt in control again. “But with a beaded motif at the end. Do you think maybe you could you sell something like that?”

Ms. Pink fingered Katani's soft scarf. “Well, I think I could, Katani. We do need more winter scarves, and I love these…they're so…” She smiled. “…deliciously pink. If you could bring in twenty of these by the weekend for Breast Cancer Awareness Week, I'll feature them at my fund-raiser for breast cancer research,” she explained, and pointed to the poster behind the register.

Katani's mouth opened, but it took a few seconds for her to respond, “I think…I mean, I know I could do that.”

“Think Pink! is a proud supporter of social causes. I want a portion of all our proceeds to go back into helping the community.”

Katani nodded excitedly. This was perfect for the contest! Everything was falling into place.

“My grandmother Lulu died of breast cancer when I was just a girl,” Ms. Pink went on, looking past Katani into the already darkening afternoon sky. “She loved pink too. You can't believe how happy it makes me that pink is the breast cancer research color.”

Her gaze returned to Katani and she said, “I think your scarves will be a big hit.”

There was one more important thing Katani had to ask. She summoned all her courage and blurted out, “Do you think you can give me a down payment on the order so I can buy the yarn?” Then she held her breath and crossed her fingers.

Ms. Pink glanced at the cash register. After what seemed like a long pause, she answered, “I will, but you'll have to get the scarves to me on time. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“I'm having the fund-raiser on Sunday afternoon, so I'll need the scarves that day.”

“All right.” Katani could feel her fingers start trembling. As excited as she was, the reality was just beginning to set in. Twenty scarves by Sunday! She'd get them done no matter what, she told herself. As she looked at her watch, she realized that she better get to the yarn store right away.

Space Cake

Katani practically danced around JB's Bead, Yarn, and Craft store, filling her shopping basket with all the different shades of pink mohair yarn she needed. The way Ms. Pink had treated her like a real businesswoman gave Katani confidence and completely re-energized her about the contest.

As she picked up a skein of pale pink yarn, Katani heard the door open. She looked up to see, of all people, Whitney! What was she doing here? Katani ducked her head, pretending to stare intently at some sparkly beads. Whitney was absolutely the last person Katani wanted to see right now. When Whitney had disappeared into another part of the store, Katani hurried to the register to pay for her yarn and make an escape. But when she turned around, a shopping bag in each hand, Whitney was walking directly to her!

“Hi, Katani,” she said matter-of-factly. “Mom, this is Katani, the girl from riding I was telling you about. The one who's entering the contest.”

Tall and blond, Whitney's mom looked just like her daughter—cool, collected, and rich. Whitney's mom smiled to reveal perfectly white teeth. “Oh, yes, nice to meet you, Katani. You're just like Whitney—doing everything!”

Just like Whitney?
Katani winced, then managed to put
on a small smile. “Nice to meet you. I thought you were Whitney's sister at first.” People sometimes said this to Katani's mother, so she figured it would be the polite thing to say.

“Well, thank you very much! Whitney, I love your new friend!” She laughed. “Now, we need to get those beads you ordered. Do they have them behind the register?”

“They should. Thanks, Mom.”

As soon as Whitney's mother was out of earshot, Katani blurted, “You're not entering the contest, are you?”

“You don't think I should?”

“It's not really fair.”

As soon as Katani said this, Whitney looked wounded. Katani immediately felt guilty. She hadn't meant to sound so harsh.

“What do you mean, ‘not fair'?” Whitney asked.

But before Katani could answer, Whitney's mother called, “Honey, could you take a look at these?”

“Okay, Mom, I'm coming.” Whitney spun around and started walking away.

“Wait, Whitney—” Katani started.

“I'll see you at High Hopes,” Whitney called icily over her shoulder.

Great,
Katani thought. She hadn't meant to hurt Whitney's feelings…it just came rushing out. She stepped into the cold air outside the store, convincing herself that she had to say what she did to Whitney. Business was business, right? As Katani swung her two large bags of yarn toward home, she tried to shake off the feeling of Whitney's hurt eyes still on her.

Katani reminded herself that she should be happy. After all, everything was miraculously coming together. She had most of her business proposal drafted. Now she just had to figure out how she could knit those twenty scarves by the
weekend. She was a super-fast knitter. She'd just have to work faster than she ever had before. She'd stay up all night if she had to. Candice said she sometimes pulled all-nighters at college. It couldn't be that bad.

Then, all of a sudden, Katani's hands went clammy.
Uh-oh.
Math Boy! She was supposed to meet Reggie after school to talk about their Egyptian math project!

Breaking into a run, Katani sprinted until she couldn't breathe. When she reached the entrance to school, she slowed to a walk so she could catch her breath.
Who knew yarn could be so heavy?
she thought as she flew down the hall to the school library, only to find the door closed. About to collapse, she leaned over, dropping her two big bags of pink yarn on the floor beside her, and tried to catch her breath. Her legs and feet were aching. Katani tried to swallow the lump in her throat. What should she do now? She'd made a terrible mistake.

She stood up at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

Arms crossed over his chest, Math Boy glared at her. “I can't believe you blew me off.”

“Reggie, I'm really sorry, I—” Katani started.

“I was pretty psyched about this project, but it doesn't seem to matter that much to you.” Math Boy's voice rose. “You know, I used to think you were serious about math and school and stuff. I mean, like you were up for a challenge, like me.”

Katani opened her mouth to apologize again, but Reggie put his hands in his pockets and scowled at her. “You really let me down. I know our project could have been the best in the class. Not anymore.”

Reggie turned his back to Katani and began walking
down the hall. Close to tears, Katani watched as Reggie's footsteps got softer and softer and silence filled the hallway. Just a few minutes ago she was on top of the world. Now, Math Boy thought she was a complete loser.

Knit One, Purl One

Isabel was waiting with Avery in the school lobby after basketball practice when she saw Katani. Katani was looking down as she walked and didn't even notice her friends until she almost crashed into them.

“You okay, Katani?” Isabel asked.

Katani looked up, startled.

“Earth to Katani!” Avery laughed. “What are you still doing here?”

Katani put on a brave face for her friends. She hated it when people knew she was upset. “I was checking to see if I could catch a ride home with my grandmother.”

“There's my mom. We'll give you a ride,” Avery said. “Come on!”

“You sure you're okay?” Isabel asked as they walked into the cold afternoon air.

Katani nodded. “I just stayed up way too late last night.”

“Ugh, me too.” Avery opened the front door of her mother's SUV. “Hi, Mom. Can we give Katani a ride home, too?”

“Of course.” Mrs. Madden turned to say hello to Katani and Isabel.

Avery was bouncing on the front seat. “I can't stop thinking about the exhibition game. It's in two days! Coach Porter announces the final team tomorrow. I'm so rocked. There's just too much going on this week!”

“I told Avery it's not going to help to worry,” Mrs.
Madden said as they drove away from the school. “If you girls are working too hard, you should have a time-out. We should stop at J. P. Licks or something like that.”

“Sounds great!” Katani started, then thought better of it. An ice-cream break did sound perfect, but she really needed to get to work on those scarves. “But I should get home,” she finished, in a disappointed voice.

“Same. I should help with supper,” Isabel added glumly.

“All right, but remember,” Mrs. Madden told the girls, “keep things in perspective and don't take too much on, or even small things can seem overwhelming.”

Avery and Isabel started telling Mrs. Madden about basketball practice. It wasn't until they were driving down her street that Isabel noticed Katani hadn't said a single word since they'd left the school. Isabel was about to ask Katani how all her work was going when Katani's face became suddenly animated.

“I almost forgot, Izzy!” she exclaimed. “I need to get back those knitting needles you borrowed, if that's all right. I'll just need them for a few days, then you can have them again. I may have a few scarves going at the same time, you know, for the contest.”

“Sure, no problem. Come in with me. You can say hi to my mother while I get them,” Isabel said as they pulled up in front of Aunt Lourdes's house.