“Olivia told me that …” I didn’t understand when she said it, but now it was clear. “He wanted me to be jealous! Oh, Marley! JJ wanted me to go ask to be his partner for the project!” I couldn’t believe it. “JJ had a crush on me in fourth grade.”
Marley nodded and laughed. “Smarter than you look.”
I didn’t feel very smart, but still, I was figuring things out.
When Olivia said it “was science fair all over again” she didn’t mean he was planning to do another project without me.
No.
She meant: JJ liked me!
Chapter Eighteen
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS
It’s here! It’s Monday, February 14! It’s Valentine’s Day!!!
“If this mess ends up on the Internet, I might die,” I told Marley. First period was coming to an end and we had a box full of cards that hadn’t been sorted for fourth period delivery.
“You won’t die,” Marley said, standing over me. Her hair blocked the lights in the hall. “No one ever died from embarrassment.”
“I’ll be the first.” I was lying on the ground, staring at the ceiling. “What are we going to do?” I moaned.
There was no way to get all those cards delivered. When JJ quit, so did his team of helpers. We tried to replace everyone, but the entire soccer team left with JJ. Without more volunteers, we were doomed.
We’d planned to sell even more cards at lunch. If we couldn’t deliver the ones we already had sorted, how could we add more to the pile? As it was, we’d already been up past midnight trying to get it all done. When parents came to my house to pick up kids, we agreed to meet early. So without much sleep, here we were!
“We sold too many cards. I knew this would happen.” I closed my eyes and imagined all the cards neatly sorted and organized.
When I opened them again, the piles of red hearts and candy sticks were still there, all jumbled up!
This was a disaster.
Maybe I just wouldn’t come to school the rest of the week. That wouldn’t solve anything, but at least I wouldn’t be there when everyone was demanding their money back.
“I’m here to save the day,” Rotem said, marching into the large classroom that the student council had taken over as Candy Cards headquarters.
“No one can save us now.” I moped.
“I brought troops,” Rotem said, opening the door. JJ was standing in the hall.
“Can we volunteer?” JJ asked, stepping aside to show the soccer players behind him.
New, not-quick-to-anger Suki had a fight with old, mad, and scrappy Suki in my head. New Suki won. “What are you doing here?” I asked in a calm voice. But I couldn’t help muttering, “You quit and took all your big ideas with you. It’s your fault that this disaster will be a meme by tonight.”
“I’m here now,” JJ told me. “We’re going to sort the old cards fast and get ready to sell new ones at lunch.” He moved into the room with his friends, pushing me aside.
I stalked after him. “We can’t sell any more cards,” I said. “Seriously. We’ve maxed out.”
“Don’t be such a bummer, Suki,” JJ teased me. “More sales means more money for the shelter.”
His friends mixed in with the few council members in the room. Hearts and blobs were practically flying across the room from the unsorted piles into their designated classroom boxes.
“I’m not a bummer—” I began, when the door to the sorting room opened.
It was Principal Hollis. He was a big guy, built like a truck, with eyes like darts.
“Who’s in trouble?” Rotem asked softly.
“Must be JJ for letting all these soccer players skip class,” I said.
“I have permission,” JJ reminded me.
The principal’s eyes met mine and locked. “Ah shoot, it’s me!” I said. “I wonder what I did.”
Once he’d found me, the principal marched over with determined steps. Behind him, I saw two people. One with a microphone and one with a camera.
“It’s Channel Five News!” Marley told me. “Check my hair.” She was panicking. “Does it look okay?”
It was a trick question that I couldn’t answer. It looked like it always did. Gigantic and fluffy.
“Pretty,” Rotem said, and JJ and I spun around to look at him.
“What?” he said. “It’s pretty.” He glanced at his shoes.
I wondered how many Cupid Cards Marley would get from Rotem today. I hoped a lot. Over the past couple days, I had realized that a boyfriend didn’t necessarily mean the end of a friendship. I was rooting for them to figure that out, too.
“I’m Veronica Sanchez,” the woman with the microphone said, pushing past our principal to get to our table first. She was shorter than she seemed on TV. She was wearing TV clothes: a short skirt and a blazer. Perfect lipstick. “I’m from the local news.”
“We know!” Marley said so loudly I thought I heard an echo. “My mom watches you all the time!”
“I’m flattered,” Veronica Sanchez replied. She glanced around at each of us. “I saw online that you have sold more than a thousand Cupid Cards. We think that’s a local school record.”
I looked over at Rotem. I had no idea what he’d uploaded, but it was clearly his talent that got us here. He tipped his head at JJ and I realized what happened.
JJ was the one with the idea to contact the news. He’d said he had a big idea to share at the meeting, but then we both got in trouble about Sandy, and we know how that went. But JJ still did what he’d said. He and Rotem got us—and the shelter—some really awesome publicity.
Veronica nodded to her camera guy. “Gus and I want to interview you for tonight’s broadcast,” she told us. We all said that was okay, and she held up a microphone. “What are you planning to do with the money you earned?” she asked, then pointed the microphone at me, saying, “A live band for your dance? Balloon arches?”
I shook my head, nervous to be on TV. Luckily, JJ helped me out.
He stood right next to me and leaned in. “It was all Suki’s idea,” he said, and looked at me encouragingly.
“We’re raising money for the animal shelter,” I said. “We’re still having a regular dance, but we’re donating all the extra money we make to the shelter.”
JJ added, “The mayor is going help, too. She’s announcing our fund-raiser in email blast to the city.”
That was a great idea! I don’t know how he’d done it, but he’d not only come to help, he’d also gotten his mom on board.
I couldn’t help myself. JJ was a better guy than I’d given him credit for. In fact, he was a really great guy.
“I don’t know how you got un-grounded, but I’m glad you did,” I said. I leaned forward and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. Right there on TV. I could feel my cheeks burning, but I felt good. As I pulled away, I saw the other students, the camera, and the reporter all staring at us.
“This is good TV,” Veronica told Gus. “You’re the mayor’s son, right?”
“Yep.” JJ smiled and touched his cheek, which was a little flushed. He looked up, over the reporter’s head at the clock and said, “We gotta go. There’s a lot of work to do if we are going to save the shelter.”
Veronica glanced at Marley and Rotem and then at me and JJ and asked, “Can we watch this process in action?”
“Only if I can tell you about the shelter while we work,” I said, feeling a lot less nervous and much more calm now.
“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll see what I can do to help, too. Gus adopted a bunny from there last week.”
I laughed so hard I snorted. “I wondered who took the bunny!”
“Fluffy Face,” Gus said, checking the settings on his camera. “That’s his name.”
“It fits,” I said, smiling.
JJ leaned over to me and said, “I already have some ideas on how to sell even more cards next year!”
I looked around the room, which was slowly getting in shape for delivery.
“Like what?” I asked. “How can we ever beat this year?”
“I was thinking about a day where if you buy a card, you can pet Sandy,” he said with a laugh.
“She is the cutest,” I agreed. “Maybe that would wo—”
“We’re filming in three …” Veronica interrupted, and Gus raised his camera.
Later that evening, I was getting ready to watch the news with my mom and dad. It had been the best day.
“Hang on,” I told them. “Don’t pause it. I’ll be back in time.”
I ran next door and rang the bell. Luna barked.
Olivia opened the door. Her eyes were wide, surprised to see me there. Last time we’d talked one-on-one had been weird, but what she’d said had been the spark that made me really think about everything.
“Come over and watch the news with my family,” I invited her. “Please.”
Even though things were kind of tense between us, she’d been at school early to help sort cards before class, and she came to help deliver boxes to classrooms in fourth period. Olivia was the kind of friend I wanted to be. She stuck by JJ after science fair, but she was never mean to me and Marley (except when she was frustrated by us being mean to her). She didn’t get mad and hold a grudge. She wasn’t perfect, but still, she seemed darned close.
I decided to totally clear the air. I told her, “I am so sorry for the past three years! I really want us all to be besties again.”
“What?” She seemed a little confused. “Is this just because I told you I was never really dating JJ?”
“No, of course not!” I said. “That was so, so long ago. I just got so swept up in being super competitive with him that I ignored everything else.” I sighed. “I really regret it all.” I reached out my hand, like a peace offering. “Come over. Let’s restart our old friendship.”
She considered my hand, and just when I thought Olivia might leave me hanging, she took my hand in hers.
“Finally,” she said. She looked at me and smiled.
We ran to my house and got there just in time. The news was starting.
“We’re raising money for the animal shelter,” I was saying into the camera.
On the screen, Marley popped her head into the frame behind me and said, “Yeah!”
Rotem, JJ, and Olivia all gathered around, too, and JJ gave the newscaster a tour of the room, showing off how many hearts we had to deliver.
“We’re selling more at lunch!” Marley blurted out, sticking her head back in the frame.
They showed a little clip of us selling cards after that. Since they couldn’t stay for lunch, I sat at the table and Rotem pretended to buy a few hearts and a blob.
Then, it cut to the shelter, where Mrs. Ryan gave a quick tour.
“Hey!” I shouted, when Bowzer came onto the screen. “Look at who’s a TV star!” The last of the puppies had been moved to the cage next to him and were yipping for attention. He just looked annoyed, which I thought was adorable.
When it was over, my parents were beaming with pride.
“Ice cream sundaes for everyone!” Dad said.
“I’ll get the fudge sauce,” Mom said, heading out of the living room and into the kitchen. Mom never ate dessert, but it was a special night and we were going to celebrate.
Before Dad left the room, he whispered to me, “You’re growing up so fast, my Pumpkin.” I thought I saw his eyes well up, but he turned away too quickly for me to be sure.
I clicked off the TV and started to search my phone to see if someone had uploaded the news clip to the Internet yet. I was sure Rotem was on that.
My phone dinged with a text.
Did you get a Cupid Card from JJ?
It was Marley. I’d been expecting her to ask. We’d just been so busy with cleanup and the TV interview and everything that I’d been able to avoid her long looks and shoulder raises.
She couldn’t come over because she’d promised to watch the TV broadcast with her grandma at the retirement home. But I couldn’t wait to tell her who did come over. Olivia and I took a selfie and sent it to her, and I was pretty sure I could hear her cheering from all the way across town.
Then, I replied:
No card. But that’s ok. We were on TV!
I added a whole lot of smiling face emojis after that.
I’d actually gotten a lot of cards. I hadn’t taken a good look at them yet, but I’d flipped through earlier to see if one was from JJ. There wasn’t.
I had a huge math assignment to do, but first things first. As I signed off with Marley, I took out the bag I’d put the cards in and started to go through them more carefully.
One from Rotem.
One from Marley.
One from my math teacher.
One from each kid on student council.
And a special one from Mrs. Choi.
I’d gotten many hearts, and a few blobs. A lot of them thanked me for helping raise money for the shelter. They all made me feel good! I’d sent out a bunch of cards, too—I hoped everyone felt happy when they got them.
I thought I’d opened all my Cupid Cards. I knew they’d all been delivered, so I was totally surprised to find one had been slipped into my locker the next morning. It was a blob-shaped card and on it, in carefully printed letters, the message said:
Meet me at the park after school.
JJ
Chapter Nineteen
CARDS AND GIFTS
Tuesday, February 15
The last bell rang and I ran out of school. The first person I found in the park was Marley. I couldn’t believe it!
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Marley laughed. “I came to find out if JJ admits to sending you the Valentine’s Day card last week!” Marley glanced over at the biggest tree in the park. I saw movement there.
“Is Rotem here, too?” I asked.
“Duh,” she said, rolling her eyes at me. “He wouldn’t miss this. We have to know what happens.”
“I’d have texted …”
“Texting takes too long,” Marley said, throwing her sweatshirt hood over her hair, as if that would disguise her.
She walked toward Rotem’s hiding spot. I should never have told her about JJ’s card.
I tried to look busy as I waited, scrolling through videos on my phone, but my heart raced every time I heard the rustle of grass. I’d casually look up and wave to whoever was passing by, as if it was totally normal for me to be in the park, alone, on a chilly afternoon. I’d decided to sit on the bench where it all started. The place I’d first seen Cinnamon Bun. It was cold enough out that my butt was freezing and I had to keep shifting to move my jacket to put a buffer between me and the seat.
I was thinking I should probably go inside somewhere, when I heard the barking.
This time, my heart practically stopped when I saw Sandy running toward me. She was off her leash and heading straight toward the bench.
“Sandy!” I called as she came dashing up. I put up a hand, the symbol for “Sit,” and didn’t even have to give a verbal command. She sat right away, panting with that cute tongue and looking up at me with happy eyes. What a good dog!
“I’m glad to see you,” I gushed, bending down to her level to give her a hug,
“She’s happy to see you, too,” JJ told me. Then, he added, “Me, too.”
I smiled. I was happy to see him, too. I had definitely stopped hating him!
He had a box in his hand. “I know it’s a day late, but I got you something for Valentine’s Day.” He held the small green box toward me.
“Oh,” I said, flustered. I’d meant to send him a Cupid Card last week, but then he got all mad at me, and I decided not to put it in with the others. Then I forgot to put it back yesterday when we were okay again. I felt bad. “I—”
“No stress,” JJ said. “I’m just so glad we’re friends now.”
I thought about that. It was true. Somewhere in the middle of all the Cupid Chaos and the Dog-Sitting Disaster, we’d be
come friends. Good friends. And maybe, just maybe, there was a spark of something more. It wasn’t like fourth grade. This was something different. All I knew was that I liked how I felt around JJ.
He pointed at the Valentine’s Day gift, which was now sitting beside me on the bench. “Open it,” JJ said.
The box wasn’t wrapped, so I slipped off the lid and peeked inside.
“A leash?” I declared, untangling a long lead and shaking it out. “But I don’t have a dog.”
“I’m hoping you can help me with Sandy, and hang out with both of us more,” JJ said, just as Sandy rolled over in the grass.
“I’d love to!” I said. Then I thought about it for a moment and added, laughing, “I think I better ask my parents first, though.” I put the leash back in the box and stuck it into my backpack.
JJ laughed, too. “Yeah,” he agreed. “If I go out of town, ask them, but any other time, just come over …”
“I will!” I imagined drinking a cup of Cinnamon Bun Swirl while walking in the park with Sandy … and maybe JJ, too. “Thanks,” I told him. “I may never get a dog of my own, but this is really close.”
“That reminds me,” JJ said. “You never did tell me who Cinnamon Bun is. That day, at my apartment, you said your dog was in my yard, but now I know you don’t have one.”
“I—” Yikes. I really didn’t want to explain.
And lucky for me, I didn’t have to, because Sandy started barking at the trees where Marley and Rotem were hiding. She was pulling on her leash and making such a huge racket that Marley and Rotem slowly came out into the open.
Sandy seemed proud to have found them.
“Did you know they were there the whole time?” JJ asked me.
I replied simply, “No matter what I do, I can’t shake them.”
JJ rolled his eyes and said, “Hey,” to Marley and Rotem. “Do you often hang out in bushes spying on people?”
“Sometimes,” Rotem confessed.
At that, JJ looked worried.
“I’m joking,” Rotem told him.
We all laughed.
“Marley wants to know about this.” From my jeans’ back pocket, I pulled out the anonymous Buddy Blob that had fallen from my locker. “Did you give it to me?”
Cinnamon Bun Besties Page 12
