Mixed Messages

by Tina Wells

  Missy,

  OMG! My mother is completely losing it!! She left me stranded after rehearsal today! Can u believe it??!! I don’t think I’m ready 2 have twins.

  Please send me some good advice.

  Zee

  Chapter 12

  Games

  When Zee woke up on Thursday, her heart pounded as though she’d just sprinted around the block. Then a moment from her dream flashed through her mind. Zee opened her laptop and began typing.

  * * *

  Hello, Blog,

  OMG! I just had a dream about Jasper! It was really strange totally bizarro. We held hands!!! And I liked it. It wasn’t weird at all. I mean, in my dream it wasn’t weird. In real life, it would be really weird. Right?

  I have to find out. I have to see if I like Jasper like that for real.

  Sleepy Zee

  * * *

  More than ever, Zee wanted to get to the bottom of how she felt about Jasper. But how? Zee knew the answer—she had to see Jasper. School started in an hour. She’d see him in first period as usual.

  Unless, Zee thought, I can come up with a reason to see him before.

  As Zee’s eyes fell on her computer, the excuse was obvious. That was it! Bluetopia! She’d had an idea for Jasper to add some games to the site so buds could play one another. This was the perfect time to talk to him about it. Zee texted him.

  >Cn my dad pick u up this AM 4 skool? I need 2 talk 2 u.

  Jasper’s answer came right away.

  >Is everything OK?

  >Yes. I just have an idea.

  >What?

  Zee realized that Jasper might not think it was as urgent for them to get together as she did.

  >I’ll tell u later.

  As Zee sent the message, Ally woke up. “What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You have a look on your face like you’re planning something.”

  “Oh . . . uh . . . no,” Zee said. “Not really. I’m just going to have Dad pick up Jasper on the way to school.”

  “But school is that way,” Ally said, pointing in the direction of the Carmichaels’ front yard. “And Jasper lives that way,” she finished, pointing the opposite direction.

  Zee moved across her bedroom to her closet and began searching for her black high-top Converse. She had covered them in black sequins. “Yeah, we’ll have to leave a little earlier than usual.”

  “Is everything all right?” Ally asked.

  “Perfect!” Zee assured her. “It’s just with all of the practicing for Brookdale Day, I’m not sure when I’ll get to talk to him about my latest idea for Bluetopia.”

  “How about at lunch?” Ally asked.

  Zee shook her head and thought fast. “I don’t want everyone listening in. What if he doesn’t like the idea?”

  “What is it, anyway?”

  “Uh . . . I think Bluetopia’s creator should hear it first,” Zee told her.

  “Still, I don’t understand why you can’t just tell him at school,” Ally said.

  Zee knew she couldn’t say, “Because I have to find out if I like Jasper,” so she just said, “We have to hurry up and get ready so we can pick up Jasper and get to school on time.”

  “Well, I’m taking a shower,” Ally told her.

  “Hurry!”

  As Ally shut the bathroom door behind her, Zee sat down at her computer again.

  * * *

  Hi, Blogary,

  Ally is my BFF. I always tell her about my crushes. All of them. So why not Jasper? What’s the big deal?

  Here are my theories:

  1. I feel bad about having a crush on Jasper, because I’m worried it could make my other friendships weird. Ally, Chloe, Jasper, and I are a group of four. What will happen if Jasper and I are a couple? Will that break up the group?

  2. I’m not really sure if I have a crush on Jasper. Maybe I just want to be certain.

  3. If Jasper doesn’t like me back, I’d be majorly embarrassed if anyone else knew. Even Ally.

  * * *

  When Zee heard the shower water stop running, she logged off and scrambled to put on her school uniform.

  “Your vest is on backward,” Ally told Zee as she walked out of the bathroom, her head wrapped up in a towel.

  Zee felt as though she had been caught doing something wrong. She pulled her arms back through the holes and twisted the vest around. “I guess I’m just trying to get ready really fast.” She grabbed a pair of footless tights with black-and-white cartoon faces out of her top drawer and rushed to pull them on.

  “Do you like these?” Zee asked, modeling the tights for Ally.

  “Yeah,” Ally said. “They’re cool.”

  Zee pulled a pair of knee-high gray and blue socks out of the drawer. “Are these better?”

  “What you have on is fine,” Ally pointed out.

  “I know, but I need my outfit to be more than fine.” Zee looked at Ally, who was wearing a jean jacket with cargo pants and a fitted white T-shirt. “I feel like a Fashion Don’t in this awful uniform.”

  “The tights you have on are fabulous. And with your Converse, you’ll look great.”

  Zee smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Now let’s go get some breakfast,” Ally said, heading out the bedroom door.

  Mr. Carmichael came into the kitchen, poured some coffee into his travel mug, and screwed the top on. “Let’s go, girls,” he said, looking at his watch. “I’ve got a meeting this morning.”

  “Okay, Dad,” Zee said, grabbing her bowl, then picking up Ally’s, which still had oatmeal in it.

  “Hey!” Ally protested. “I’m not finished.”

  “My dad says we have to go,” Zee explained. She loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, then turned around, looking on all the countertops for her lunch. “Where are our lunches?” she asked her mother, who was sitting on a stool at the island reading a book called What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

  Mrs. Carmichael kept reading. “I didn’t make you one.”

  “What?” Zee asked. “Why not?”

  Zee’s mother looked up and smiled. “Sweetie, you always buy hot lunch on Fridays,” she said.

  “Mom?” Zee began. “It’s Thursday.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Carmichael apologized. “I keep mixing things up. I guess my head hasn’t been screwed on straight lately.”

  “The Carmichael train is leaving the station!” Zee’s father announced.

  “I’ll make you lunch and take you to school this morning,” Mrs. Carmichael said.

  Zee could tell her mother felt bad and wanted to make up for her mistakes, but Zee had her morning planned already. “No, I promised Jasper we’d pick him up,” she explained. “We don’t really have time. We’ll just buy lunch today.”

  The girls grabbed their backpacks, kissed Mrs. Carmichael good-bye, and headed toward the garage.

  Zee started to climb into the backseat of her father’s black SUV.

  “You don’t want to sit up front with me, Zee?” Mr. Carmichael asked.

  Zee figured “I’d rather sit in back with Jasper” probably wasn’t the best answer, so she said, “It’ll be easier to talk to Jasper if I sit back here.”

  “I’ll ride shotgun, J.P.,” Ally said, opening the passenger door. After she fastened her seat belt, she pulled out a hairbrush and began fixing her hair.

  Oh, no! Zee had been in such a hurry, she’d forgotten to brush her own red bob. She frantically began to comb it with her fingers.

  “Why did Jasper need a ride this morning?” Mr. Carmichael asked Zee as they pulled out of the driveway. “Is everything okay with his parents?”

  “Everything is fine,” Zee assured him, pulling and twisting the strands that wouldn’t cooperate. “I just needed to . . . uh . . . meet with him.”

  A smile spread across Mr. Carmichael’s face. “Like a business meeting?”

  “That’s it!” Zee said, a little too enthusiastica
lly. “I need to talk to him about Bluetopia.”

  “Oh yes. Adam said you and your friends had created a really great site,” Mr. Carmichael said.

  “Adam said it was ‘really great’?” Zee asked.

  “I believe his exact word was ‘awesome’! How’s that going?”

  “Incredible!” Ally said. “Zee is finally meeting my amazing new French friends. Right, Zee?” She looked back at Zee and smiled.

  “Yeah, the site is so cool,” Zee said, dodging Ally’s question. “Jasper did a really great job.”

  “Zee had lots of fantastic ideas, too,” Ally explained.

  “I think it’s nice that you and Jasper are working together on it,” Mr. Carmichael said. As the SUV pulled into the Chapmans’ driveway, Jasper came out of the house.

  Zee’s heart pounded. “It is.”

  When Jasper climbed into the car, he greeted everyone. “Hi, guys.”

  “Hi, Jasper,” Zee said.

  “Thank you for driving me this morning, Mr. Carmichael,” Jasper said.

  “Not a problem,” Mr. Carmichael told him.

  “It kind of was a problem for me,” Ally said.

  “Hey!” Zee joked, playfully kicking the back of the passenger seat.

  “Your text on my mobile seemed rather important,” Jasper said.

  Zee looked his way. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed how incredibly brown Jasper’s eyes are, she thought.

  “Zee?” Jasper asked.

  “Huh?”

  “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Oh my god! How long have I been staring at him? “You should put some games on Bluetopia so that buds can play against one another.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea!” Jasper said. “I’ll start working on it during study hall today.”

  Zee smiled. “Great!”

  “That’s it?” Ally protested.

  “Yes,” Zee told her.

  “The meeting’s over?”

  Zee nodded. “Yup.”

  “I practically had to swallow my breakfast in one gulp. I didn’t get a chance to blow-dry my hair. I—”

  “If you forgive Zee for rushing you this morning,” Jasper interrupted, “I’ll forgive you for inviting Missy to join Bluetopia and overloading the site.”

  “Deal!” Ally agreed quickly. She turned around in her seat and didn’t complain about getting up early again.

  Chapter 13

  Some Gum

  Zee did a double take as she, Jasper, Chloe, and Ally walked through the main doors of Brookdale Academy on Friday morning. “Hey, look!” She stared straight ahead at a girl with short black hair putting books into a locker. “A new student.”

  Chloe squinted her eyes. “Isn’t that the same teddy bear backpack as Missy’s?”

  “And that’s Missy’s locker,” Ally pointed out. “That’s Missy!” She rushed ahead toward Missy, and the others hurried to catch up. “Oh my gosh! I love your hair so much,” Ally told Missy when she got to the locker.

  Pools of tears formed in the corners of Missy’s eyes. “I don’t like it at all.”

  Thud. Missy closed her locker hard, but because it was made of wheat board it didn’t make much noise.

  “Why did you get it cut?” Zee asked.

  “My brothers put gum in my hair,” Missy explained.

  Chloe gasped. “On purpose?”

  Missy nodded.

  “Couldn’t you just cut the gum out?” Zee asked.

  “It was right at the top of my head,” Missy said. “My father tried to cut it out, but my hair looked horrible.”

  “Ugh!” Ally said. “How long do you think it’ll take to grow back?”

  “I have no idea,” Missy told her. “I’ve had long hair practically my whole life.”

  Ally and Missy walked slightly ahead of Zee, Chloe, and Jasper toward their first-period classroom. “I’m glad I don’t have little siblings,” Ally said.

  “You should be,” Missy assured her.

  A shudder ran up Zee’s back as she touched her hair. Would her new siblings do horrible things to her? With two against one and Adam away at college, she wouldn’t stand a chance. Luckily, Zee could forget her worries during first period. “One, two, three, four!” Zee counted off the beat for one of the songs the band would play at Brookdale Day. The Beans followed her lead and started out strong. As she sang, Zee decided to have a little fun. She weaved her way across the stage, leaning in with her guitar to play along with Marcus and Jen. Then she walked over to Missy and Kathi and sang into their microphone.

  Next she moved between Landon and Conrad. Landon flashed Zee a big smile. She smiled back, but she noticed that she didn’t feel any different than when Conrad took his sax out of his mouth and did the same.

  When Chloe and Ally had a short duet, Zee stood beside them in a ta-da pose. It all came so naturally. Zee felt like a real rock star.

  The most fun came when Zee and Jasper spontaneously broke away from Ms. Vardolis’s arrangement. Zee sidled up to Jasper and strummed the melody on the guitar. Jasper looked her in the eyes and thumped out a response on his bass.

  And when the song was over, everyone cheered. “I don’t see any reason to rehearse that one again,” Ms. Vardolis told them. “Play it just like that on Saturday, and it will be perfect.”

  “Go, Zee!” Ally cheered and the others joined in—except Kathi, who stood with her arms crossed.

  Jasper beamed at Zee. Suddenly, the easiness she had felt when she was singing disappeared. She looked at her feet to hide the red rising to her face.

  “Ally, are you sure you have to go back to France?” Ms. Vardolis joked. “You’re definitely one of The Beans.”

  Ally smiled and looked down at her casual clothes. “Except for the uniform.”

  Everyone laughed. Then Ms. Vardolis slapped her hand across her mouth. “We haven’t even talked about what to wear tomorrow.”

  “I think—” Jasper began.

  “Don’t you dare suggest we wear our school uniforms!” Conrad interrupted him. “You’re the only one who likes them.”

  Everyone laughed—even Jasper. “I was actually thinking we should all wear blue jeans and T-shirts,” Jasper continued. “Everyone could pick a different color.”

  “All right, Jasper!” Ally cheered. “I didn’t know you were into fashion. You should join the Fashionista Club.”

  “I don’t think I’m quite ready for that,” Jasper said.

  “I like it,” Ms. Vardolis said. “But let’s see what the rest of the band thinks.”

  Kathi spoke up right away. “I saw some great jackets at a boutique. We could each buy one to wear. They were only like two hundred dollars.”

  Chloe gasped. “I don’t think my parents will buy me a two-hundred-dollar jacket.”

  “Maybe Brookdale Academy would pay for them,” Kathi suggested. She looked hopefully at Ms. Vardolis.

  “There are too many other things the music department needs more than jackets,” Ms. Vardolis said to Kathi. “Let’s hear what the others think of Jasper’s idea.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Marcus said. Landon nodded.

  “Me too,” Conrad put in.

  Missy pulled on the ends of her hair. “I’m kind of worried that I’ll end up looking just like the boys in a T-shirt and blue jeans.”

  “I have an idea!” Zee blurted out. “Anybody who wants to can come to my house after school. We can decorate the T-shirts with jewels and sparkles.”

  “Uh . . . no thanks,” Marcus said. “I’m not the sparkly type.”

  Zee giggled. “Yours can be plain.”

  “Why don’t we put each band member’s name on the back,” Chloe suggested. “Like a soccer jersey.”

  “Brilliant!” Jasper said.

  “I think it’s a great way to show The Beans’ spirit of teamwork,” Ms. Vardolis agreed.

  Kathi rolled her eyes. “Jen and I already have something to do after school,” she said. “Right, Jen?”
<
br />   Jen gave the others a “sorry” face and nodded.

  Ms. Vardolis called to Kathi. “Can you please come see me this afternoon before you leave for the day?” she asked. “I’d like to talk to you about something.”

  Kathi flicked her head so that her long brown hair moved off her face. “What?” she asked.

  “I have a couple of ideas about how you can make your part in the final piece sound a little more rock-and-roll.”

  Zee was surprised. Kathi hadn’t been happy when she found out she couldn’t sing lead, but she had been working hard anyway. Zee thought she sounded just as good as Missy.

  “I can’t, Roxy,” Kathi told her. “Mom wants me to come home after school.”

  “I already talked to Aunt Roni, and she says it’s fine for a little while,” Ms. Vardolis explained.

  “Then I guess I’ll see you after school.” Kathi closed her violin case.

  Mr. P entered the room. “Hello, Beans. I just stopped by to let you know that there’s going to be a big surprise for you at Brookdale Day tomorrow,” he said.

  “I love surprises!” Jen cheered. “What is it?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Mr. P told her.

  “I’m cool with that,” Marcus said. “You can tell me.”

  “You’ll have to be cool with not knowing until tomorrow,” Mr. P said. “Too late now, anyway,” Mr. P added, “the bell is about to ring. First period is just about over.”

  “I feel like there’s a new surprise every day,” Zee told Ally and Chloe as they put their instruments away. “First Ally shows up in Brookdale, then my mom is pregnant, then Ms. Vardolis joins our class, and we’re performing at Brookdale Day . . . ,” she ticked off.

  “What do you think the next one’s going to be?” Chloe asked, bouncing with excitement.

  “I’ve given up on even trying to figure it out,” Zee said. “I just hope it’s good.”