Truth Without the Trimmings

by Diane Muldrow

  “Me neither,” Natasha said. “I should help more,” she admitted. “I’ll start cleaning my room tonight.”

  Her mother smiled and stroked Natasha’s blond hair. “Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate that. And you can have your friends over for the first night of Hanukkah. When you first suggested the idea, all I could think of was that I’d have to clean even more if we were having company. Now that your dad is out of work, I have to do all the cleaning myself. We can’t afford a cleaning lady anymore.” Mrs. Ross sighed. “But it’s not like you invited the president or somebody,” she continued.

  “Mom, the house always looks fine,” Natasha said. She wanted to roll her eyes, but looked at the wall instead. Mom is such a perfectionist, she thought.

  “Maybe I’m too fussy,” Mrs. Ross said, standing. Her eyes darted to the journal lying on the bed. “Is everything all right? Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

  “No. I feel better now. Thanks, Mom,” Natasha said with a smile. Her mother stood up.

  “Why don’t you come downstairs, Natasha? Daddy rented a movie.”

  “I will in a minute, Mom. I just need to finish one thing.”

  Mrs. Ross smiled and left the room, softly closing the door behind her. Natasha closed her journal and stuffed it under her mattress. She always kept it in a very special place, where it couldn’t be found easily. No matter what, she didn’t want anyone to read it.

  Ever.

  chapter 4

  Usually Shawn found it hard to pay attention during her first Monday morning class. She wasn’t quite into the swing of the school week yet. But today she sat forward in her desk, interested in what her science teacher was telling the class.

  “The sixth-grade science fair is an exciting event. Every year, our sixth-grade students just amaze us with the creative, educational projects they design. You can work in a group of two to six other sixth-graders. The group members can be from any science class, as long as they are in the sixth grade. Before you decide who you’ll work with, make sure you find other students with similar science interests. Don’t just work with your buddies. I hope you’ll all do well in this year’s science fair.”

  Angie turned in her seat and smiled at Shawn. She pointed between herself and Shawn. She obviously wanted them to be partners.

  Uh-oh, Shawn thought. Not this again. Ever since she’d become a cheerleader, she felt torn between her new cheerleading friends and her oldest and best friends, Molly and Amanda.

  After class Angie hurried to Shawn’s side. “Do you have any ideas?” she asked.

  Shawn shook her head.

  “Well, we’ll work with some of the other girls on the team. One of them is bound to have an idea.”

  “Ummm…” Shawn began. “I’ll probably be working with Amanda and Molly.”

  Angie folded her arms, swung out her right hip, stepped back, and sneered. “Are we talking about Molly Einstein here?”

  “No. Molly Moore,” Shawn replied, a little confused.

  “I know! I know!” Angie said, flinging one arm into the air. “What I mean is that she’s the same Molly Moore who was practically failing out of sixth grade until she started getting tutored, like, every day! Do you really think that’s a good person to work with, Shawn?”

  Shawn frowned. “She wasn’t failing, Angie. Molly’s really smart. And her grades are good now.”

  “Whatever,” Angie sneered, rolling her eyes. She put her arm around Shawn. “Believe me,” she continued, “you want to do your project with us—not those losers.”

  “They’re not losers,” Shawn argued. And your grades aren’t so good, Shawn wanted to say, but didn’t.

  “It’ll be good for the team if we all work together,” Angie said, ignoring Shawn’s objections. “Come on. Let’s get some lunch.”

  Shawn stuck her head out of the classroom to make sure Molly, Amanda, Natasha, and Peichi weren’t in the hall. She didn’t see them. “Okay,” she told Angie with a sigh. “Let’s go.” For some reason, Shawn felt like she had been really disloyal to the Chef Girls. I stuck up for Molly, she thought. I’m allowed to work in a different group if I want to. I don’t have to do everything with them. In her heart, Shawn knew she would rather be working with Molly and Amanda. But something in Angie’s voice made Shawn feel like she did not want to get on her bad side.

  Molly, Amanda, and Peichi walked home together from school that afternoon. Peichi dragged her heavy backpack along the waist-high stone wall that surrounded Prospect Park. “Hey, isn’t that Shawn up ahead?”

  It was, so the girls ran to catch up. “Why didn’t you wait for us after school?” Molly panted when they reached her.

  Shawn shrugged. “I didn’t see you.”

  “We were right in front!” Amanda said. “Can you come over? We have to start planning our science project.”

  “What project?” Shawn asked, feeling sick inside. She knew exactly what project.

  “Duh! The one for the sixth-grade science fair!” Peichi said with a laugh.

  “Oh, that project,” Shawn said, feeling even sicker. She took a deep breath and then said, “I think I’ll probably be working on that with Angie and some of the other girls from the team.” For a moment, there was a stunned silence.

  “You’re not working with us?” Molly cried in disbelief.

  “You guys should have asked me,” Shawn defended herself. “I would have been in your group, but Angie asked me first.”

  “Oh, come on!” Amanda said. “You’re our best friend. Why should we have to ask you? We just assumed you’d be with us.”

  “Well I didn’t know that!” Shawn insisted. “I’m sorry, but it’s just a science project. Angie asked me first. It would have been really mean for me to say ‘Sorry, Angie, but I don’t want to work with you.’ ”

  “I guess,” Peichi gave in with a small frown.

  The four of them walked the rest of the way home together. They didn’t talk and joke the way they usually did, though. Peichi, Amanda, and Molly all felt the same thing—like Shawn was very far away.

  Shawn turned down her block. “Bye,” she said with a wave.

  “Bye,” the girls replied in dull voices.

  When they approached Peichi’s house, she invited them to come inside.

  “Thanks, but I’ve got too much homework,” Molly declined. “I can’t hang out today.”

  “Same here,” Amanda said. “Let’s just start on our science project tomorrow.” Amanda didn’t even feel like thinking about it anymore.

  “Too bad,” Peichi said. “Mrs. Mink’s leaving Joli at our house for a few hours. She’s so much fun to play with.”

  The girls left Peichi at her house and continued on toward home. “Look who’s walking toward us,” Amanda said. “It’s Ms. Barlow.”

  Brenda Barlow ran the theater department at Windsor Middle School. She was very theatrical. Amanda had performed a small role in the fall musical, My Fair Lady. But the twins had first met Ms. Barlow the previous summer, when they did the cooking for a birthday party she had for her daughter. The only problem was that she forgot to pay them for almost a week!

  “Amanda, darling, how nice to run into you! And hello, Mary dear, how are you?”

  “Hi, Ms. Barlow,” the girls greeted her. Then Molly said, “Um, it’s Molly.”

  “Right you are!” declared Mrs. Barlow. “Amanda, I’ve been hoping to speak to you. But I just never see you since the play ended!”

  “Oh?” Amanda asked.

  “I was wondering if you’re planning to try out for the spring play.”

  Amanda thought acting was the coolest thing in the world. After performing in My Fair Lady, she felt like she had been born to act. “I think I will, yes,” she answered.

  “Oh, you absolutely must!” Ms. Barlow cried. “You were outstanding in the last play and I would simply love to work with you again!”

  A smile crossed Amanda’s face. She’d never realized Ms. Barlow thought she was s
uch a good actress.

  “By the way,” added Ms. Barlow, “I also want to talk to you girls about your little catering business.”

  Amanda and Molly looked at each other. They weren’t exactly sure what Ms. Barlow meant by catering. “It’s actually a cooking business,” Molly explained.

  “But catering is a big part of it,” Amanda jumped in. It seemed very important not to disappoint or disagree with Ms. Barlow, especially when she was thinking of casting Amanda in the spring play. “We enjoy catering. And we’re always looking for more catering jobs.”

  “Fabulous,” Ms. Barlow said, clapping her hands in delight. “I’d love to hire you girls to cater a little holiday party I’m having! The date is Saturday, December sixteenth. Can you do it?” Ms. Barlow asked.

  “Absolutely,” Amanda agreed. “We’d love to.”

  “Wonderful,” Ms. Barlow said. “I’ll be in touch about the details. Bye-bye.”

  “Bye.” Amanda waved as Ms. Barlow walked off down the block.

  “Amanda!” Molly scolded. “Why did you agree to cater her party?”

  “She wants to put me in the spring play!”

  “Don’t you remember how much trouble we had getting paid the last time we made food for her?”

  Amanda shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad, Molls. She just forgot. And she did pay us eventually, remember? Plus, we did the baking for the fall play and we got paid for that.”

  “Fine, but we still don’t even know what catering is!” Molly argued.

  Amanda grinned. “Well, we’ll just have to find out.”

  chapter 5

  Molly stretched out on her bed. She held up a thick gift catalog so that Amanda could see it from her bed. “Do you think Matthew would like this lightsaber thingy?”

  Amanda glanced up from the issue of a glossy teen magazine she’d been reading. “It’s totally him,” she said.

  “Good,” Molly said, making a check mark next to the item. “That’s what he’s getting for Christmas from me. I’m picking all my Christmas gifts from catalogs and then ordering them off the Internet this year.”

  “How will you do that without a credit card?” Amanda questioned.

  “Oh, I already figured that out. Mom said that if I give her my money she’ll let me use her card,” Molly explained. “I’m sure she’ll do it for you, too.”

  Amanda sat up and sighed. “I have no idea what I’m getting anyone. I’ve been so busy—there’s school and Dish and now the science fair and everything. I haven’t even thought about Christmas presents.”

  “You’d better start thinking. Christmas will be here before you know it,” Molly reminded her.

  “What do you want for Christmas?” Amanda asked. Molly thumbed through her catalog. “I want this electric grill. Wouldn’t that be cool to have? We could add grilled vegetables to our menu and do lots of stuff with it. It would be great to have this deluxe food processor, too. Mom’s food processor is so old, the lid doesn’t even fit right!”

  “How about a small wooden cutting board?” Amanda suggested. “That’s about all I’d be able to afford this year—if I’m lucky.”

  “What do you want for Christmas?” Molly asked.

  “Money!”

  “No, really. What?”

  Amanda thumbed through her magazine until she found the page she was searching for. “This!” she said, holding up a picture of a rock star looking awesome in a sparkly halter-top and a flowing skirt.

  Molly chuckled. “Good luck! Do you know how much that probably costs?”

  “Not that exact outfit, but something like it,” Amanda said. “I also saw a madeleine pan at Park Terrace Cookware. I would love to have one of those!”

  “A madeleine pan?” Molly asked.

  “You know, those cookies that look like shells? They’re really buttery and have powdered sugar on them. They’re called madeleines. Mmmm, if I had a madeleine pan I could make some of them right now!”

  “Chill out, Manda! It’s almost dinner time,” Molly said with a laugh. Amanda adored sweets. “What are you getting for Mom?”

  Amanda flopped down on her bed. “I have no idea! Where will I ever get the money for all these presents, anyway? How come you have so much money?

  “Well, for starters, I don’t have your massive collection of clothes, hair things, and nail polish,” Molly pointed out.

  Amanda sighed deeply. “Oh, I’m no good at saving money. I know that. We’d better sell a lot of meals between now and then.”

  “We have that catering job for Ms. Barlow,” Molly said hopefully.

  Amanda sat up again, smiling. “That’s right. I bet catering pays well—whatever it is.”

  “We’d better find out,” Molly said, swinging her legs to the floor. “Let’s go look it up on the Internet.”

  They hurried downstairs and found Matthew playing a computer game starring Japanese anime characters. “We need the computer,” Molly told him.

  “No fair!” Matthew complained.

  “Yes, it is. You’ve been playing since you got home from school. And your eyes are all glazed over. Come on, get off,” Amanda insisted. “Don’t you have to practice the violin or something?”

  “Well, yeah,” admitted Matthew.

  Still grumbling about unfairness, Matthew shut down his game and left.

  “Let’s check our e-mail before we look up catering,” Amanda said. She quickly clicked the mail icon and, sure enough, there was an e-mail waiting for the twins.

  “It’s from Carmen,” Amanda said happily. Carmen Piccolo had been the twins’ cooking teacher. Along with her assistant, Freddie Gonzalez, she had taught a cooking class last summer in the back room of Park Terrace Cookware. Carmen and Freddie were really fun and nice, and the girls had missed them since class had ended. Amanda opened the message.

  To: mooretimes2, happyface, qtpie490, cookincon11, BrooklyNatasha, funnyomy478, wannabe, FredGonz528, HomieTDog

  From: pots-n-pans55

  Date: 12/4, 3:22 PM

  Re: Tis the Season for Gingerbread Houses!

  Hi to all you fabulous young chefs!

  Freddie and I will be offering a class in the fine art of making gingerbread houses. Bring an apron and your wonderful self to the usual spot on Sunday, December 17, at 10:00 A.M. The class will probably last until 4:00 P.M.

  Come for some holiday fun! I hope to see you all soon.

  Carmen

  “Awesome!” Amanda cried. “That’s going to be so cool!”

  Peichi’s screen name appeared on their Buddy List. An IM box popped up on the screen almost instantly.

  happyface: Hello! Did you see the e-mail from Carmen?

  mooretimes2: yup! Sounds 2 kewl. ☺R u going?

  happyface: but of course! R u?

  mooretimes2: Def! Wonder if Shawn will go...

  happyface: Too busy w/cheerleaders? ☹

  mooretimes2: Hope not. Talk to NR today?

  happyface: a little. She seemed happier. ☺

  mooretimes2: did she say what was wrong?

  happyface: ☹. . . no. . .☹ I wonder what the problem is. . .

  The computer voice told them that they had a new e-mail. Amanda clicked on the little mailbox symbol in the corner.

  To: justmac, op87, octoberfaerie, g2mhi, snew67, sk8trboy, Mooretimes2, happyface, qtpie490, BrooklynNatasha, tygrgal, tealsky89, artsiegurl1209, angelbaby00, raptor25, Noonehere289, smileychick97, TheWilliamsFam

  From: Cookincon11

  Date: 12/4, 5:57 PM

  Re: Holiday fun!

  Hey Everyone! Connor here. My family and I are having a tree-trimming and ice-skating party. We hope this’ll become an annual thing. Here’s some info:

  DATE: 12/16

  PLACE: My house! You all know where that is. (Call for directions if you need them.)

  TIME: from about 5:00 p.m. to around 11:00 p.m. We’ll go ice skating first, then come back to my house for decorating the tree and eating lots of food!!!

  BRING:
Ice skates, warm clothes, presents for me (no way, I’m just kiddin, you don’t have to bring me presents)

  We will have all the food and decorations and stuff like that... Music too! It’s gonna be SWEET. Well, call me if you have any questions! Hope to see you there!

  —Connor

  “Oooooh” Amanda squealed. “This’ll be so fun! And…oh my gosh! He’ll be there!”

  Molly looked at her sister and said slowly “I’m guessing that ‘he’ is…Justin?”

  “Who else?” Amanda sighed and dramatically put a hand over her heart. “Look—his screen name is on the invite list.”

  “Uh, Manda, look at the date. Saturday night… December sixteenth?”

  Amanda was too busy to hear Molly. She was imagining herself skating by Justin, wearing a cute little skating skirt, doing a pretty twirl and impressing him…

  “Amanda? Hello?” Molly continued. “Connor’s party is on the same night as Ms. Barlow’s.”

  “Huh? Oh, right,” Amanda finally said. “I’m not worried. We can just drop off the food at Ms. Barlow’s and then head straight over to Connor’s house for the party. Or meet them at the skating rink if we’re a little late.”

  The IM bell rang. Molly tapped the screen. “Peichi! We forgot about her!” “Oops!” Amanda said with a laugh. Amanda clicked over to the IM box. There were five new messages that Peichi had written while the twins where checking out the e-mail from Connor. Amanda turned to Molly and grinned sheepishly.

  happyface: Manda? Molly?

  happyface: hello? nobody home?

  happyface: r u there?

  happyface: Where did you 2 go? hello?