call their parents so they can lay down the law. Sure, you could do it yourself, but having their mom and dad back you up is so much more effective. Plus, this way you get them to go to bed without looking like the bad guy.
agree to let them stay up an extra half hour, but the TV goes off. You’ll spend that time reading them a bedtime story instead. You’re betting they’ll both be out like lights before you even get to the fifth page.
let them stay up. Nine o’clock isn’t that late, and the movie is almost over anyway. Besides, you’d rather not deal with one of their infamous tantrums.
5. You and a boy from school have plans to see the new Iron Man movie together. At the last minute, he cancels to go to a baseball game with the guys instead. You:
tell him he can forget about going anywhere with you ever again. He clearly cares more about his friends than he does you. What a jerk!
let him have it! Your time is valuable too, and he shouldn’t get into the habit of just blowing you off like that. If he wants you to keep hanging out with him, then he’d better shape up and start being more considerate.
tell him it’s okay for him to cancel on the movie. You don’t want to start a big fight right then. But a couple of days later, you tell him that bailing on you was kind of lame and you were really, really disappointed. Hopefully he’ll understand and won’t do it again.
act like you aren’t mad at all (even though you totally are), but until you get over it, you do little passive-aggressive things to let him know you aren’t happy with his behavior, like not returning his phone call that night and giving him the silent treatment during lunch the next day. That’ll show him!
Give yourself 1 point for every time you answered A, 2 points for every B, 3 points for every C, and 4 points for every D.
—If you scored between 5 and 12, go to chapter 12
—If you scored between 13 and 20, go to chapter 13
From Chapter 4: You are the definition of “selfless.” Not only do you put the needs of others before your own, but you are glad to do so. Clearly Mother Teresa is one of your role models. Just be careful that you aren’t always sacrificing your own happiness for the sake of others. Sometimes you should get what you want too.
From Chapter 5: The good news is that you are not some egomaniac who always thinks she’s the best one for the job. The bad news is that you don’t ever seem to think you can do it. Have a little confidence. It’s one thing to be humble; it’s quite another to let insecurity prevent you from trying. Believe in yourself a bit more and you might find that you’re a lot more capable than you think.
You’re here with your friends—and Jimmy—at Johnny Rockets, but your mind has been a million miles away for several minutes now. “All right, campers,” Lena finally says, clapping her hands and breaking the awkward silence, “all this sitting around and staring at the straw dispenser is fun, but we really need to get moving.”
Thank God for Lena. Otherwise you might have just stayed in that booth, hoping a hole would open up in the floor so that you could crawl in. It’s definitely time to snap out of it! Yes, it would have been great to be a model, but it wasn’t in the cards. And as for Jimmy, you would have loved to be the Beyoncé to his Jay-Z, the Ashlee Simpson to his Pete Wentz, the Juliet to his Romeo—without all the crazy poison-drinking at the end—but that wasn’t meant to be either. You doubt he would have been into you anyway if he likes someone like Mona. And the bottom line is he has a date to the party already. A model date, no less. How are you supposed to compete with that? True, you had a chance to be a model too, but that was just as a fill-in. Maybe Jimmy’s artistic side is drawn to Gisele Bundchen look-alikes who learned to strike a pose before they even came out of the womb. What. Ever.
Besides, looking over at Jessie and seeing her freckled face light up when Lena mentions getting a move on, you realize she’s just been biding her time for your sake. She wanted to give you and Jimmy a chance to talk, but inside she’s been dying to continue the hunt for Shawna and the golden tickets. What a good friend.
So now it’s time for you to be a good friend back and focus on scoring a pass to the party. You can cry in your room later.
After Jimmy settles the bill, the four of you head out into the hallway, which is still brimming with your classmates, who are scattering in every direction. There re Megan Dunn and her cheerleading crew, heading into Bath & Body. Over by the water fountain are Anthony Tartelli and Dan Miner, lifting up potted plants, as if Shawna might actually be hiding under there. And walking right by you is Charlie, with his color-coded map of the mall.
“Charlie!” Jessie calls out to him. “How’s it going out there?”
Charlie walks over to your group, calmly ignoring the other kids running around like ants. “Well, I think I’m closing in on her,” Charlie confides in a low voice.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
He looks left, then right, clearly not wanting to share his info with the rest of the school. He motions for you to follow him to a nearby counter, where he lays his map flat and pulls out a bright red marker. The four of you crowd in around him and lean over the map.
“I’ve been tracking Shawna’s movements,” Charlie begins. “First she was sighted here at approximately ten fifteen.” He marks a big red X over the Sephora store. “Then she was here at ten thirty-five, where she gave a ticket to C. J. Flannigan.”
“C.J. got a ticket?” Jessie interrupts. “What question did he have to answer?”
“He got a dare,” Charlie said. “He had to eat ten jalapeño peppers in a row.”
“Ouch!” you cry. “I hope I don’t get something like that. I can’t even handle buffalo wings.”
“You would so be voted off the island on Survivor,” Jessie cracks. The two of you start giggling.
“Hey, focus, people, focus!” Lena says, snapping her fingers in your face. “We’re running out of time, remember?”
You look at Charlie, who is waiting impatiently.
“Ahem …” You wipe the smile off your face, silently noting how quickly Lena tried to bring the attention back to Charlie. Aww … “Right. Sorry, Charlie. Go on.”
Charlie leans back over the map. “As I was saying … she was here at ten thirty-five.” He crosses out the GameStop. “Then, at eleven twelve …”
He goes on to cross out Things Remembered, CVS, Hallmark, and Payless ShoeSource. “As you can see,” Charlie says, pointing with his long brown index finger to each of his neat red marks, “she’s moving in a sort of circular pattern. She must have mall security helping her out, because she seems to be using the employee exits and hallways to get from store to store.”
“You’re brilliant!” Lena exclaims, eyeing the Shawna trail Charlie mapped out. You swear if she were a cartoon, her heart would be thumping right out of her shirt right now.
“So,” Jimmy says, leaning closer to the map and sort of brushing against your arm as he does, “if she sticks to this pattern, she should show up somewhere in this area next.” He points to the west end of the mall, which looks small on the map, but you know that it covers a lot of ground.
Jessie deflates. “How are we supposed to hit all those stores before Shawna runs out of tickets? That would be impossible!” She throws her arms up in frustration, and her bangles jangle like a drawerful of silver spoons.
“We split up,” you suggest. “Everybody pick somewhere to go and we’ll text each other if we find her.”
“Good plan,” Lena agrees. She looks down at the map. “What thinkest thou, m’lord?” she asks Charlie. “Whither should I go?”
Huh? Since when does Lena ask any guy’s opinion? She’s way too independent for that. Charlie’s businesslike approach must be getting to her.
“Well,” Charlie reasons, “I know Shawna loves going to the movies, so maybe start there?”
“I’m on it,” Lena says, hoisting her pack onto her back. Before she goes, she turns to you and Jessie. “Farewell, friends. Parting is such sw
eet sorrow—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah … Just step on it, Shakespeare!” Jessie interrupts, laughing as she spins Lena around and points her toward the movie theater.
As you watch your friend disappear down the hall, you shake your head, amused. “Freak.”
Next up is Jessie. It’s no secret that Jessie loves music, so before she says a word, you know exactly where she’s headed. She takes a quick look at the map and slams her finger down on the square that says MUSIC MEGASTORE. “That’s where I’ll be. Wish me luck!” And off she goes, her blond ponytail bouncing as she jogs away.
“And what about you two?” Charlie asks, looking at you and Jimmy as if you are a team. I wish! you think. But maybe he’ll stick with you and go wherever you decide to go. You cross your fingers—but no such luck.
“A-actually,” Jimmy starts, checking his watch, “I really should be going. I’m late enough as it is, and Mona is probably going to kill me.”
“Oh, right,” you say quietly, the mention of him and another girl feeling like a tiny stab to your heart. “Yeah. Of course. Sure. No problem. Okay.” Would you stop it? You’re rambling! You take a breath. “Well, see ya later, Jimmy. Hope your head doesn’t split open or anything.”
“Um, thanks?” he says. Ugh, was that a weird thing to say? Yeah, that was probably weird. You should just stop talking now.
You smile and nod, waving as he walks away. Sigh … In your mind you see the happy balloon that was your hope of spending more time with Jimmy withering slowly into a shriveled rubber mess, as if someone let all the air out of it. You guess it was dumb of you to think that you were the only one who noticed that Jimmy is pretty great. But you blame your intelligence-gathering crew (that means you, Lena and Jessie!) for not picking up on the single most important stat about him: he already has a date with Mona! You wish you had known that before you got your hopes up. Oh well. No use crying over spilled ketchup … not right now, anyway.
Charlie clears his throat, bringing you back to the here and now. You almost forgot he was still there.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”
Charlie shakes his head slowly. “Got it bad for him, don’t you?”
“What?” you object a little too loudly. “Who? Me? For Jimmy? Nuh-uh. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” If Lena were here, she would say, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” (Translation: Yes, you’re totally gaga for Jimmy and you know exactly what Charlie’s talking about.)
Charlie smirks, apparently not buying your denial at all. “Riiight. You’re just staring a hole in his back because you’re completely indifferent.”
You open your mouth to object again, but realize it’s useless.
“Okay, fine, you got me. Just do me a favor and don’t tell that big mouth Amy Choi. And especially don’t tell Jimmy!”
As if on cue, Amy pops out from behind you, her black swishy hair swinging as if she’s been running. “Did I hear my name?” she pants. “And don’t tell Jimmy what?”
It’s amazing! That girl is like a great white shark: She can sense a drop of gossip in the water from ten miles away. Quick—make something up or Amy will make something up for you!
“Uh … I was just saying don’t tell Jimmy that everybody saw that video of us crashing into each other earlier, thanks to you. He’d be upset.” Nice save.
“Oh, that,” Amy says, disappointed, you guess, that you’re talking about old news. She doesn’t even have the decency to seem ashamed. “That was no big deal. And he wouldn’t get mad, anyway. He’s way too nice. Hard to believe he’s going to the party with Mona.”
“Yeah,” you agree, struggling not to sound so miserable. “When did that even happen?”
Amy’s eyes sparkle to life. Goody!you imagine her thinking. I know something you don’t know! “You mean you didn’t hear? I just found out today that Mona asked him to go, like, two weeks ago already, which is, like, forever!”
“But how did they meet?” you wonder out loud. “I mean, Jimmy never even spoke to her at school before summer vacation.”
“Oh, they didn’t meet at school. They met at, like, some modeling thing, you know? Because Jimmy’s mom is, like, a makeup artist.” Amy leans in toward you and Charlie, as if she’s about to hand off some top secret information. Not that anything is top secret for Amy. “I hear that Mona sort of pushed Jimmy into being her date. And he just didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he said yes.” With that, Amy straightens up again, adjusting her bangs. “But it’s been so long now and he hasn’t backed out. So maybe he really likes her,” she says, shrugging. Just then Amy’s phone beeps and she speed reads a text message. “Ooh! This could be good,” she comments to herself. Then to you and Charlie she waves a quick good-bye. “Gotta go,” Amy announces. “Duty calls!”
As Amy flounces away, Charlie—who looks even more businesslike after your run-in with the gossip fairy—turns to you and shakes the map in his hand. “Sorry about all that. But should we get back to finding Shawna? It might take your mind off things.”
I might as well, you think, tears threatening to well up in your eyes. Even if he doesn’t want to be, Jimmy is attached to Mona, which means your plan to spend more time with him is dead in the water. The only thing that could salvage this day is winning a ticket to Shawna’s birthday party—even if you would have to see Jimmy there with Mona.
“Sure,” you answer glumly. “Let me see that map.”
The two of you study the color-coded squares together for a while before Charlie asks, “So? Where do you want to start?”
Aside from wanting to stalk Jimmy so you can confirm with your own two eyes that he actually likes Mona, you really aren’t sure. But since you’re not completely looney tunes (yet), you opt for the one place in the mall that always makes you feel better. You don’t know if Shawna will be there, but right now you need a break.
Are you sure you aren’t at an amusement park? Because today has been a total roller coaster so far. You gave up your chance at being a model—only to find out that your übercrush is going on a date with a model, who happens to be your sworn enemy, Mona. Rumor has it he was pushed into it, but that doesn’t make you feel any better. And to top it off, all this drama has distracted you from looking for the birthday girl, Shawna. So maybe it’s time to take Charlie’s advice and get back to business. If you don’t want to cry in front of everyone, though, it might be best for you to start somewhere that makes you feel safe and happy. Where would that be, exactly? Take the quiz and find out.
QUIZ TIME!
Circle your answers and tally up the points at the end.
1. When you grow up, you want to be:
a rocket scientist. You would love pursuing the kind of career that only a handful of people in the world are smart enough to handle. You know that it would take lots of extra years of school, and you’d spend most of that time studying and reading, but for you, that’s the fun part! Plus, you are crazy about science. Your friends may think you’re a super-geek, but you know there’s nothing wrong with using your brain to the max.
an English teacher. You’re always correcting everyone’s grammar anyway, so this seems like a good fit. Besides, from Shakespeare to Stephenie Meyer, you’ve read it all, and nothing would suit you better than to be in a classroom day after day, sharing your love of books with your students.
a Web site designer. Some serious computer skills are necessary for this gig, but once you have those down pat, you can be as creative as you want. And your Web sites would never be boring, since you’d know how to jazz ’em up with animation, streaming video, interactive links, music, and whatever colors or crazy fonts you could think of!
an art photographer. What could be better than traveling the world in search of that perfect shot, and possibly having your work hang in a gallery one day? Your family might think you’re cuckoo because you have no steady address (and no steady paycheck), but hey, that’s the life of an artist!
2. Your ideal ho
liday present would be:
the deluxe, oh-my-God-these-questions-are-so-hard edition of Trivial Pursuit. You prefer presents that will give your brain a real workout (although it’s already pretty buff).
the complete collection of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books. Fun, friendship, and love all wrapped up with some great writing and smart female characters? Yes, please!
the computer game that lets you design your own roller coaster. Figuring out how to design a ride that is fast and safe is actually a lot more complicated than people think, but you would love getting to decide how the ride would look and what kind of death-defying turns and loops you could throw in there.
an easel and canvas with a full set of acrylic paints—the ideal companions for an artiste (that’s “ar-teest”) such as yourself. The only thing better than going to a museum to see priceless works of art is to put some paint on a canvas and create one of your own! It’s the perfect way to let your imagination run wild.
3. The walls of your room are:
plain white, with a map of the world on one and a framed photograph of Albert Einstein on another. And don’t forget the Socrates quotes above your bed. Oh, and all your academic achievement awards and science fair plaques…
tan, with a simple corkboard where you tack up your best and worst test scores. The good scores make you feel smart, and the not-so-great scores motivate you to work harder.
blue, with a few framed photos of your friends and family. The blue is a soothing, relaxing color that makes you think of the ocean. And it’s always nice to see your loved ones’ faces smiling back at you.
bright purple, with pictures of all your favorite things covering almost every inch of space. Near your bed are the scrapbook-type collages you made of your friends, with funny sayings underneath, and your mom lets you keep a string of colorful twinkle lights up all year long because you think they look festive.
Your Life, but Better Page 8
