Mia Measures Up

by Coco Simon

  “Alexis is right,” Katie said. “You need to tell your mom and dad about this.”

  “Tell them what?” Eddie had walked into the kitchen, just home from work.

  “Nothing,” I said quickly.

  Eddie gave me a look. “Mia, if there’s something happening, your parents should know about it.”

  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to wiggle out of this one. “After we’re done baking? Please?” I asked, and Eddie nodded, because he is a pretty reasonable guy. He left the kitchen.

  “Sorry, Mia,” Katie said.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t know what my mom will do, though. Probably flip out.”

  “Well, I hope somebody can find this Sarrah Sleepz and stop her,” Alexis said. “This is one of the worst things about social media. People feel that because they can be anonymous, they can type things onto a screen that they would never say to you in person.”

  “Definitely,” Emma agreed.

  I really wanted to stop thinking about Sarrah Sleepz. “Hey, let’s make some cupcakes, okay? Eddie needs the kitchen by six to start dinner.”

  “On it!” Katie said, and she started to pull the mixing bowls out of our cabinet.

  Twenty minutes later, Katie’s cupcakes were in the oven, and Alexis and Emma had made a frosting flavored with vanilla and more of the cream soda. While the cupcakes baked and cooled, we cleaned up the kitchen.

  The cupcakes were ready to frost by five thirty, when Mom got home.

  “Something smells good,” she said with a smile.

  “Cream soda cupcakes,” Katie said, holding out a frosted one. “Want to try one?”

  Mom held up her hands. “No, thank you. Maybe after dinner if you have some extra.”

  Alexis cut a finished cupcake into four pieces. “Time for a taste test.”

  Eddie popped in. “Did somebody say ‘taste test’?”

  Katie handed him a cupcake. “Let us know if this tastes like cream soda.”

  Eddie took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully for a minute.

  “You’re keeping us in suspense!” Katie chided.

  Eddie grinned. “I think you’ve got it. Tastes like cream soda to me.”

  Katie pumped her fist. “Yes! Gladys will be so happy!”

  “Who’s Gladys?” Eddie asked.

  “She’s turning one hundred, and she likes cream soda,” I explained.

  “Lucky her,” Eddie said.

  Katie looked at her phone. “My mom will be here in five minutes. Let’s tidy up.”

  We worked quickly to get the dishes put away, and then Mrs. Brown came to drive Katie, Emma, and Alexis home. Then Eddie and Mom came into the kitchen.

  “Mia, Eddie says there’s something you need to talk to us about,” she said. She and Eddie sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for me to do the same.

  I felt superuncomfortable. “It’s no big deal,” I said. “There’s this girl on PicPop who’s been insulting my selfies.”

  Mom frowned. “Insulting them how?”

  “Just, like, saying stupid things,” I replied.

  Mom held out her hand. “Can you show me?”

  “Well, she’s not my PicPop pal anymore because I blocked her,” I said. “Maybe I can call it up on Emma’s page.”

  I tapped my screen until I came to the scarf photo, and then I handed the phone to Mom. Her eyes got wide as she read the comments.

  “Mia, this is awful!” she said. “I thought PicPop was a safe site.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess they just monitor for bad language and inappropriate photos and stuff.”

  “But this is bad language,” Mom said. She handed the photo to Eddie. “Look at this!”

  Eddie read the screen, and he looked sad when he was finished. “Oh, Mia, why would anyone say things like this about you? Who is this Sarrah Sleepz?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I friended her a couple of weeks ago because I thought she was from my school, and then she said something mean about this other photo I posted on Monday. So I blocked her.”

  “Wait one minute,” Mom said. “You mean you made friends with someone online who you don’t already know?”

  “I thought I knew her,” I said. “I just told you that.”

  Mom shook her head. “Mia, you know the rules about being online. You can’t connect with anybody you don’t know. That’s a very big safety rule.”

  “I know, but she was friends with girls from my school,” I said. “Like Callie.”

  “But you didn’t know her,” Mom pointed out. “And I’ll bet Callie doesn’t know her either. She’s obviously using a fake name.”

  “Lots of people do,” I countered.

  Mom took the phone from Eddie. “I’m sorry, Mia, but this is serious,” she said. She handed the phone back to me. “I want to see you delete your PicPop account. Right now. In front of me.”

  I couldn’t believe it. “What? Are you serious? I did not do anything wrong here! I’m not posting anything I shouldn’t!”

  “I didn’t say you did,” Mom said. “The problem is that you weren’t careful about who you friended, and now you’ve become a target of cyberbullying. So please delete it. Now.”

  Mom’s dark eyes were burning through me like lasers. “Fine,” I mumbled. “But it’s so not fair.”

  “Then hand me the phone when you’re done,” she said.

  I obeyed. Mom shut off the phone. “Here’s what’s going to happen: You are going off-line.”

  “What?” I asked. I was hoping I’d heard her wrong.

  “No more Internet,” Mom said. “If you go somewhere where I’ll need to get in touch with you, you can have your phone back. But only then.”

  “Mom!” I wailed.

  “And I’m confiscating your laptop,” she said. “You’re not going online on your computer either.”

  “But that’s not fair!” I cried. “I need the Internet for homework! And for Cupcake research and stuff like that!”

  “When you’ve got homework to do, you can use your laptop, but only then,” Mom amended.

  I looked at Eddie. “This makes no sense! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

  “Sorry, Mia,” Eddie said softly.

  My eyes were burning hot with tears. “Fine! Take the stupid laptop!”

  I stomped upstairs, got my laptop, then stomped back down and shoved it into her hands.

  “Here!” I yelled.

  Then I ran upstairs and fell facedown on my bed, crying.

  I had figured that Mom would flip out when she found out about Sarrah Sleepz. I thought maybe she’d call the school or something, to try to find out who Sarrah was. I didn’t in a million years think she would end up punishing me.

  It was so unfair!

  CHAPTER 7

  Things Get Even Worse!

  It’s so unfair,” I told Katie on the bus the next morning (in a loud whisper, because I didn’t want anyone else to hear me). “Why would she take away my phone? I’m not the one harassing people!”

  Katie shook her head sympathetically. “That makes no sense,” she replied. “Unless she’s trying to protect you or something.”

  “I don’t need protecting,” I told her. “It’s just some mean comments. I can deal with that.”

  “I know, but they were starting to get, like, really mean,” Katie said.

  I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to let it get to me, no matter what.

  Then Katie’s eyes got wide. “Hey, does this mean you can’t sleep over tonight?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know. Mom didn’t say I was grounded, just that I couldn’t use my phone or laptop. I would text to her to ask, but I don’t have my phone!”

  Katie took out hers. “I’ll text my mom and ask her to text your mom.” She started typing quickly.

  I shook my head. “Do you see how ridiculous this is? If I had my phone, I could just ask her.”

  Katie looked up from her phone. “Mom says she’ll
ask.”

  “Great,” I said flatly. “How am I supposed to get through the day without my phone?”

  Katie turned hers off. “Well, we can’t use them during class, anyway,” she pointed out. “Don’t worry. The day will go really fast.”

  Luckily, Katie was right. During class I didn’t think about my phone, and at lunchtime, Katie turned on her phone and smiled as she read her messages.

  “Your mom says you can still sleep over,” she reported.

  That made me feel better. At least I had something fun to look forward to.

  After school I packed my overnight bag as quickly as I could. Dan knocked on my door.

  “Sara says I’m supposed to drive you to Katie’s right now,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”

  Sara is my mom’s name, so that’s what Dan calls her, just like I call his father Eddie. But it still sounds weird to me to hear Dan call my mom by her first name. For the first time, I wondered if hearing me call his dad Eddie made him feel weird too.

  “Thanks!” I called out. “I’m almost done packing.”

  I was relieved that Dan was the one driving me, and not Mom or Eddie. I was still pretty mad at both of them.

  “I heard about your phone,” Dan said, and I felt uncomfortable. Was he going to rub it in my face?

  “That’s pretty unfair,” he continued, surprising me. “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks,” I said, nodding gratefully.

  And that’s all we said about it, but that was enough for me. His car was an old one of Eddie’s, and it had a CD player in it. Dan slipped in a disc. I braced myself for heavy metal music, but instead, La Vida Pasa blared out of the speakers. It was the first song on their latest album, Cuando ella me mira, which means “when she looks at me.”

  I smiled at Dan. “Thanks,” I said. I know he was mostly playing it because I was in the car.

  “It’s a good song,” he said.

  The music was blaring when we pulled up in front of Katie’s house. She ran out to meet me.

  “Is this that band you like?” she yelled over the music.

  I nodded and then turned to Dan. “Thanks!”

  Dan waved and drove off, and Katie hugged me. “Yay! Sleepover!” she cheered. “Come on inside.”

  I followed her in, and she was talking a mile a minute. “Mom’s not home yet, but she said we could order anything we wanted for dinner. So I have menus for Thai, Chinese, Italian, subs, and Indian. I’m not sure what I’m in the mood for.”

  “Well, I—” I began, but Katie kept talking.

  “Mom also said we could rent a movie after dinner, but I’m not sure what we should watch. I kind of want to see Sky Zone again, but that new movie about the food truck owners who fall in love is out.”

  “I actually like—” I began again.

  “And I almost forgot! We got stuff for ice-cream sundaes!” Katie interrupted me as we walked up to her room. “Including the hot fudge you put in the microwave. Although I was thinking maybe caramel. Or I guess we could combine both. That would be good.”

  She stopped and looked at me. “What’s so funny? You’ve got a big grin on your face.”

  “You!” I said. I picked up a purple pillow from her floor and bopped her with it. “Excited, much?”

  Katie grabbed the pillow from me and bopped me back. “Sorry! We almost never get to do a sleepover. I’m so excited that I could sing.”

  She picked up a hairbrush from her dresser and started to sing the tune to “Cuando ella me mira.” Except she didn’t really know the words.

  “Wando aya mermaid!” she sang.

  I shook my head, laughing. “It’s ‘cuanda ella me mira,’ ” I corrected her.

  Katie picked up her phone. “How do you spell the band’s name again?”

  I told her, and she brought up the video for the song and started to blast it. Soon, we were jumping up and down and dancing like crazy. When the song ended, Katie collapsed on the bed.

  “That was awesome!” she said. “I get it now. You don’t have to know the words to like the song. But I understood some of it. It’s about some girl. And he feels crazy.”

  I nodded. “The song’s not too complicated. He feels crazy when the girl looks at him, and he sings about it. Most of the songs are like that.”

  Katie picked up her phone again and showed me a picture of the band. “Okay, so tell me who they are.”

  “Okay, so the one with the long hair is Mateo. He sings lead,” I said. “Then there’s David and Ian and Gabriel. David sometimes plays guitar, but mostly, they all sing. I think Mateo’s the cutest.”

  Katie pointed to Ian. “I think I like him best. He has big eyes.”

  She started scrolling through the screen. “Let me find another song.”

  Pop! Pop!

  “Is that PicPop?” I asked, curious.

  Katie nodded. “I posted a photo of all the take-out menus earlier.”

  She opened the app. “Everyone’s voting for us to get Indian food,” she said, and then her face clouded.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Katie sighed. “I friended Sarrah Sleepz because I wanted to make sure she wasn’t still being mean to you. But she is.”

  “Let me see!” I said quickly—which made me wonder why I was so curious to see what Sarrah Sleepz had done next. But I was! I couldn’t help it.

  Sarrah had posted a photo of me at school that day.

  “Oh no!” I cried. “Is she secretly taking photos of me now?”

  I was feeling angry that morning so I wore a red sweater with a short black skirt and red tights, and my new boots. I thought I looked angry and cute at the same time.

  She looks like a checkerboard! Sarrah Sleepz had written.

  Olivia had been the first to chime in. Red is a bad color for her. But so is every color!

  The next comment was from Maggie. It was an emoji of a smiley face with swirly eyes. Hurts to look at! she wrote.

  “Maggie?” I said. She was one of the nicer girls in the BFC. I expected it from Olivia, and I didn’t care about the people I didn’t even know. But I thought I was cool with Maggie.

  Katie put her hand on my shoulder. “This stinks, Mia! I’m going to write something.” She reached for the phone.

  “No!” I cried, holding the phone out of her reach. “I mean, that’s nice of you to want to help. But you can’t get into it with them. It won’t solve anything. And then they’ll start attacking you too.”

  Katie frowned. “I guess you’re right. Besides, I don’t even think I could think up mean things to say.”

  I handed her the phone. “Forget them. They’re just being dumb. So what did you say about Indian food?”

  Katie jumped up. “I’ll get the menu!” she cried. “You know, one of the food trucks in that movie is an Indian food truck, so we could have a theme night. This is perfect! I’ll be right back.”

  Katie raced off, excited about the sleepover again. And the rest of the night was awesome. I discovered that I love tandoori chicken. I remembered how sweet romantic comedies are. I tasted the great combination of hot fudge and caramel.

  When Katie and I finally drifted off to sleep that night, I realized I hadn’t thought about Sarrah Sleepz once the whole time. I was almost grateful that Mom had taken away my phone—almost.

  CHAPTER 8

  I Can’t Take It Anymore!

  Do you really think I would lie about having homework just to get my laptop back?”

  It was Saturday afternoon, and the glow of the awesome sleepover with Katie had faded. I was back home, arguing with Mom again about electronics.

  “I just want to see your assignments, Mia,” Mom said. “I have a right to ask.”

  “Well, good luck with that. I need to get on the school website to show you,” I snapped. Yes, I know I wasn’t being nice, but honestly, Mom was going too far with the whole security thing!

  Mom didn’t respond to my snippiness. She walked out of the kitchen and came back a
minute later with my laptop. She set it down in front of me.

  “Okay. Show me.”

  I logged in and went to the Park Street Middle School website.

  “See?” I showed Mom. “I’ve got to go to the math website and do two work sheets, print out the vocabulary work sheet, and I have to find five sources for my report on the Civil War.”

  Mom looked over my shoulder. “Okay. But I don’t want you visiting other sites, okay?”

  “What about fashion sites? And cupcake sites?” I asked. “Everything I need to do is on the Internet, Mom. That’s just how it is these days.”

  Mom sighed. “I’ll tell you what: You get four hours of laptop time today and four hours tomorrow. Use them wisely. Don’t give me a reason not to trust you.”

  “I never did,” I mumbled, and luckily, Mom didn’t jump on me for that. I closed up my laptop and went upstairs to my room.

  I got to work on my math, and after about an hour, I stopped for a break to stretch and get some water. When I got back to the computer, I noticed the PicPop icon still up on my screen from when I’d last opened it. It was tempting to click on it.

  I paused. Mom was downstairs in her office. My bedroom door was closed. How would she know?

  I quickly opened the PicPop site on my computer. I didn’t have a profile anymore, so I just scrolled through the feed, looking at my friends’ photos.

  I saw a photo of Callie with Olivia, Maggie, and Bella. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know if they were still talking trash about me with Sarrah Sleepz. I typed in Callie’s name so I could look at her pics.

  Sarrah hadn’t put up any new photos of me, but there were lots of comments on the ones of me in my red shirt and tights.

  Not-so-super girl!

  A tomato with legs!

  Then Sarrah had added: Can’t wait 2 c what Misfit Mia will do next!

  I quickly clicked out of the app like I was backing away from a poisonous snake. My face was hot with anger. This whole thing was really starting to get to me! But I could never tell Mom now, or she’d know that I’d peeked.

  Think, Mia, I told myself. There’s got to be a way to stop this. Sarrah will keep making fun of everything you wear. Unless . . .