Cinnamon Bun Besties

by Stacia Deutsch

  Near the end of class, Alexandra explained crate training.

  “Giving your puppy his own personal bedroom will make him feel secure,” she said. “And it’s the best way to potty-train. When the dog isn’t with you, he’s in the crate.” She talked while I handed out brochures. “There’s no playtime without going outside first. And when you can’t supervise the dog, he or she always goes back in the crate.” I’d never crate trained a dog myself, but by the time Alexandra was done talking, I felt like I could. Maybe I could’ve tried to if I’d gotten Cinnamon Bun instead of dumb JJ. I bet he was even letting her sleep in his bed.

  When the class ended, Alexandra told me, “You did great today!”

  Pride swept over me. It pushed back some of my harder feelings.

  I was even happier when Alexandra asked, “Can you come to all the classes to help out?”

  Did I answer? I think I did, but maybe I just whooped and jumped around a bit.

  Olivia was still there, getting Luna’s things together for the walk home. I was in such a good mood, I went up to her and asked, “How’s it going?”

  “Luna did okay,” Olivia said. But then, Luna jumped up on me. “She needs more classes.” Olivia shrugged and pulled her down, then said, firmly, “Luna, sit!” Luna just stared up at her, not sitting. I slipped Olivia one of the treats I had in my pocket and she tried again. This time, Luna sat!

  “Thanks, Suki,” she said, beaming at her dog.

  I rubbed Luna’s head. “You’re a good dog,” I cooed. Luna happily pushed her head into my hand, begging to be scratched more.

  I walked with Olivia and Luna to the shelter door even though I wasn’t leaving yet. I had work to do, feeding the dogs and cleaning up poop. Plus, I wanted to visit Bowzer and see how he was doing.

  “Can I tell you something?” Olivia said as we stood at the main door.

  “Sure,” I said. Through the glass, I noticed JJ outside on the sidewalk. He must have come to walk her home. He didn’t have Cinn—I mean, Sandy—with him.

  She glanced at JJ and waved, but didn’t open the door to the shelter.

  “The cards stuff is not going very well,” she admitted. “We cut a bunch of red paper hearts yesterday.” Olivia held up her rough and red fingers. I didn’t tell her that I’d already noticed how bad they were.

  “Cutting those hearts was a lot of work.” She sighed. “JJ’s my best friend, but I don’t know if this is going to work. He wants to sell more cards than ever, but we didn’t make even close to a thousand. And even though we worked really late last night, we ran out of time to tape the candy on them. How are we going to sell cards if we can’t make them?”

  Wow. Never expected that. Not in a million years. I held back a smug smile.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, curious. I reminded myself silently that this was what JJ did to me. He took my ideas. So why not dig a little and see what I could get in return?

  “I don’t know …” Olivia replied, her voice a little sad. “But sales start tomorrow.”

  My sales were starting tomorrow, too, but unlike Olivia and JJ, I was prepared. I mean, I also didn’t have a thousand cut cards, but I wasn’t going to need that many on the first day.

  Marley and Rotem had said they’d come help me cut the cards today, but both canceled at the last minute. To make up for it, Marley said she’d make me a box for the cards to go in. I’d also texted everyone from student council to help, but everyone had an excuse. I hoped no one was at JJ’s, because that would be so wrong! So it looked like I had to do it myself, even if it meant staying up late.

  I set myself up for success by using my really good scissors to protect my fingers, and by taking stretching breaks. My left hand felt better, too, and that gave me confidence.

  To pass the time while I cut hearts, I started watching the Dog-Talker training videos as I worked, even though I’d already seen them over and over. Doug, a.k.a. the Dog-Talker, was tall and built like a bodybuilder. He talked in short, direct clips with military-like commands.

  Since I’d now had some real contact with dogs, I understood the lessons differently. I liked how Doug was clearly in control, but I could also see something else this time through: those dogs in the videos were definitely trained already! I couldn’t believe I didn’t know that before. They should have had a disclaimer at the beginning, like, “You can try this, but don’t expect it to work right away. These dogs have been professionally trained. So … good luck!”

  I was feeling annoyed when the second video came on. This was on crate training, and again, the dogs did it so easily. Now, even though I hadn’t tried it myself on a real dog, I knew that was not the way it worked. Training dogs was hard. And it took time and energy. You couldn’t do it in a twenty-minute video.

  With new perspective, I watched the rest of Seasons 1-2 while my fingers moved pretty much on their own. By the time I was done with the videos, I had hundreds of hearts and some really good ideas of things I could try with Bowzer. I wasn’t ready to give up on him like everyone else seemed to be. He was already trained like the dogs in the video, but he’d just forgotten how to behave. Thanks to the Dog-Talker, I was excited to try a new approach.

  I slept really well and woke up ready for an awesome day.

  Chapter Twelve

  CRAZY COMPETITION

  Monday, February 7

  I got to school early to put my plan into action.

  But JJ beat me there. He was sitting outside school trying to sell his version of Cupid Cards. Trying, meaning there was no line and no buyers. I wondered if any of the volunteers he’d gotten at lunch on Friday had gone to his house yesterday to help cut out hearts. I guessed not.

  “Get your Cupid Cards!” JJ called out to anyone passing by. “One dollar. We’ll deliver them to your friends and teachers on Valentine’s Day.”

  I’ll admit the table decoration was really cute. There was a red tablecloth, hand-painted with pink hearts. He had a few examples of the hearts set out on the table, and a box marked PRIVATE to put them into with a slit in the top and a big padlock, as if no one would see the message you wrote to whoever you bought one for. The reality was that whoever was delivering them could see the message on the heart—it wasn’t like they were in an envelope or anything.

  Last year, we never told people the cards would be private. If you wanted them to be kept a secret, the deal was, don’t sign your name.

  I didn’t walk all the way to the table, but got close enough to look. I couldn’t help myself.

  “Suki!” JJ shouted. “Buy some cards for your friends!”

  “Negative.”

  “How about one for a secret crush?” He said that way too loudly. I blushed even though I didn’t have a crush, secret or not.

  I refused again and prepared to walk away. That was when I really noticed the paper hearts that were laying on the table.

  “Huh?” I walked over and picked one up. It was not actually heart-shaped. More like a circle with a slit on top. “Are you selling Cupid Planets?” I joked. “Cupid Blobs?”

  JJ frowned. He grabbed a better-looking one from a box under the table and snatched the one I was holding. “There were some scissor issues.”

  “Kid scissors?” I asked, though I already knew from seeing Olivia’s hands that that was his problem. “You needed sharp adult ones.”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at the heart. “I mean, these kind of look like real hearts. The ones in people’s chests.” It was a sad joke.

  “Where’s the candy?” I asked.

  “Sandy ate it,” he said as if that was normal. “I’m going back to the store tonight.”

  I hoped Sandy was okay. Dogs shouldn’t eat people food, especially not a bunch of candy.

  “Too bad,” I said. “Now, watch and learn how it’s done.” Behind me, Marley and Rotem had arrived and were setting up my table. JJ was on one side of the steps leading up to the school, and I would be on the other.

  My table wasn�
��t as cutely decorated as JJ’s, but my hearts were beautiful. And I actually had candy.

  Once it was all set up, Marley and Rotem had to go. I wasn’t sure where JJ’s team, a.k.a. Olivia, was, but right now, it was just me versus him. May the best salesperson win.

  I shouted to the nearest group of kids being dropped off, “Get your authentic Cupid Cards here. Perfect hearts and candy!”

  JJ went for the same sale. “Cupid Blobs here. Don’t be traditional this year. Show your friends you stand out from the pack!”

  “Blobs?” I yelled across the broad cement steps. “Stealing my idea again?”

  He shrugged. “Not like you had a trademark on it!”

  My shoulders got all tight. I had to sell more. I had to show him hearts were better than blobs. That I was better than him.

  The next kid who walked by was a girl I knew. Her mom was also Japanese and we’d met at a cultural event.

  “Annie!” I waved a perfect heart toward her. “Send your favorite teacher a heart to show you love class.”

  “Oh, good idea!” she said. Yay! She bought them for all her teachers. She wrote her messages. She picked out her lollipops, and I taped them on and took her money.

  “Thanks,” I said while I gently set her hearts into the designated box Marley had made for me. She had turned the dog-catching cage that Rotem had made onto its side, and covered it with cute heart-covered fabric.

  When Annie walked away, I was feeling good. Then I noticed JJ had a small group around his table.

  “Hmmm,” I muttered. “What is he up to?” I stood up, but couldn’t hear what he was telling the growing crowd around him.

  Instead of trying to stop the next group of students entering school, I marched over to JJ’s table and elbowed my way through about ten students, my hands on my hips. “Are you promising that no one has to go to school ever again if they buy blobs from you, or something?”

  “No,” he said, proudly handing me a small slip of paper.

  I looked down. It was a free pizza coupon.

  “Buy five blobs and get a pizza for free,” JJ announced.

  “Where did you get these?” I waved the coupon in his face.

  “They’re from the move-in packets that the city gives to new residents,” JJ told me, while selling a handful of weird-looking cards to an eighth grader. “Occasionally, it pays to have your mom as the mayor.” He smiled. “I know where the key to the cabinet is.”

  I couldn’t believe it! The best I could do was some passes to a yoga class, if my mom would even go for that. Which I doubted.

  “Ugh!” I exclaimed, racing back to my own table, where three girls were looking at my cards.

  “These are so pretty,” one of the girls gushed. “But what do we get if we buy them from you?” She glanced over her shoulder at JJ.

  “Uh.” I considered that. “Nice-looking hearts, with a lollipop, delivered on time to your friends?”

  She tossed down the card on the table. “The ugly ones come with pizza,” she declared and dragged her friends away.

  When the bell rang for class, I knew that I’d sold a fraction of what JJ had managed to sell.

  I was going to have to up my game.

  I got the student council on my side. Well, some of them. I ran around grabbing anyone that I could find, and at the beginning of the next class period, I asked them to make an announcement about Cupid Cards sales. By lunch, I had a good line at my table and brought in some great cash.

  JJ didn’t have a table in the lunchroom. Marley heard from someone (who heard from Olivia) that JJ didn’t think lunch sales were important, and that he was gearing up for getting students as they left school.

  Ha! That was a mistake.

  I caught his eye across the lunchroom and could see he realized his error.

  That was when my phone buzzed. There were no phones allowed at school except at lunch. Everyone in the entire lunchroom looked at their phone at the same time. We’d all gotten the text.

  It read:

  Buddy Blobs for sale after school. Not just lollipops. We have chocolate!

  He’d changed the name to go with what he had! That was annoyingly smart. Also, how did he text the whole school at once? And how had he managed to get chocolate candies to school between this morning and now?

  There was a second text an instant later:

  Allergies? No problem. Come find JJ.

  If Marley hadn’t been by my side at that moment, I’d have tossed my phone across the lunchroom at JJ’s head. I had to admit, he was right to have an option for kids with allergies, though. I was just starting to speculate what that might be when a sparkling bouncy ball rolled by my feet. I picked it up.

  JJ waved at me from near the trash cans.

  I stuck out my tongue at him.

  “Remember that whole immature baby thing?” Marley told me. “You’re heading there fast.”

  I stuck out my tongue at her and blew a raspberry.

  “He thinks he’s so clever.” I groaned. Teachers were going to hate it when little balls were bouncing all over the classrooms. But still, it was a good alternative to candy. I wished I’d thought of it.

  I had to admit, JJ was pretty good at this Cupid Cards stuff. It didn’t make me like him, and I’d never tell him that, but still …

  The lunch bell rang and I still had a pretty good-sized box of hearts to sell, but I was determined to sell them all, and more. Maybe I could get Marley and the band to come help me make more tonight. Mom and Dad could cut hearts, too.

  We had student council after school, but I’d already told Mrs. Choi I’d be late because of the sales. She suggested that the entire council could come outside and help us, meaning me and JJ.

  It was clear that Mrs. Choi still didn’t know JJ and I were having competitive blob/card sales, and I didn’t think she’d be happy when she found out. So it was even more important that I showed her what I could do and get the entire council to be on my side. I had to do more to sell more!

  Before class started after lunch, I was standing by my locker trying to think of ideas. I didn’t have chocolates. Or a new name for the cards. Or pizza.

  Hmmm … My head hurt from thinking.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A FRESH IDEA

  After school, the same day

  As it turned out, there was only one Cupid Cards table outside after school. It was mine. All the student council members who were there to help were helping me. I kept looking over at the spot where JJ was supposed to be with his Buddy Blobs. Where was he?

  His texts had worked, and brought kids outside to the table. When everyone saw he wasn’t there, they bought the cards I had instead. I sold out what I’d made. I was really excited to share my good news with Mrs. Choi.

  Still, there was this small part of me that wondered: What happened to JJ?

  On my way to find Mrs. Choi, I stopped to put the cards we’d sold into my locker.

  While I was there, the weirdest thing happened.

  A red piece of paper fluttered out of my locker and onto the floor. It was a Buddy Blob. The note side landed up and was easy to read. In thick block letters it said:

  Will You Be My Valentine?

  The card wasn’t signed.

  I bent down to pick it up just as Marley walked up. “You weren’t at the meeting so I thought maybe you needed help cleaning …” she said. Then she saw the blob in my hands. “What’s that?”

  I shook my head to clear it. “I have no idea.” With a shrug, I showed it to her.

  “Well, well, well,” she said with a laugh. “It’s not even Valentine’s Day yet, and Suki got a Valentine.” She sang out, “Suki has a secret admirer.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said, trying to shut her down. “Probably just a joke, or someone got the wrong locker, or something.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said in a singsong voice. “I bet it’s from JJ.”

  “You’re insane!” I said, blushing. There was no wa
y it was from him. And even if it was, why not just deliver it with the other blobs on Valentine’s Day?

  Marley chuckled. “I’ll bet you ten dollars he’s your secret admirer.”

  “You’re on,” I said. That was the easiest ten dollars I’d ever make.

  I put the card in my locker with the ones I’d sold and followed her down the hall to the meeting room.

  Before we got to the classroom, Marley put out a hand to stop me. “I almost forgot,” she said. “Did you hear what happened?”

  “No,” I said.

  “JJ got busted,” Marley told me.

  “What?”

  “Those pizza coupons he was handing out—” she started.

  “Yeah?”

  “They were only supposed to be for new city residents, not for hungry students!”

  “What?” I started laughing. JJ wasn’t so clever after all! “Where is he?” I asked as I peeked through the little window into the room where the student council meeting was held. “Is he here?” A knot was forming in my belly. Sure, I sold a lot of cards, but … this didn’t feel so good. It was competitive, but still, I didn’t want him to get in trouble over it.

  Marley said, “Last period, Mrs. Choi pulled him out of class for a ‘talk.’ I’m guessing it was brutal.”

  That explained why he wasn’t selling blobs at the end of the day.

  JJ was sitting in the corner of the room. He was acting like everything was fine, but there was a shadow over him.

  It just got worse when Mrs. Choi announced, “JJ will no longer be on the Cupid Cards project.” She looked to me. “Suki will be in charge from here on out.”

  JJ didn’t say a word.

  I’d won! The Cupid Cards were mine. This was bigger than winning science fair, or any of the other times we’d competed. I’d gotten exactly what I wanted. I hadn’t even had to try that hard to get rid of him.