Playing Cupid

by Jenny Meyerhoff

  “I don’t think she’s the kind of girl he would go for,” Joey said.

  “You don’t even know him! Or her. How can you say that?” I was surprised Joey would judge someone from seeing them for only a few seconds.

  “I see him and his basketball friends in the hallways after math tournaments. He’s loud. It’s not hard to get a sense of what he’s like.”

  My breathing was starting to speed up, and it wasn’t just because shoveling was hard work. I felt like I wanted to dump a shovelful of snow all over Joey’s head. Instead I tossed it toward my yard. It landed on the bottom step again and made me even madder. “For your information, I happen to know he does like Emily.”

  “He told you that?” Joey reached the end of my sidewalk and started on the bottom step of my porch. I moved down to the second step and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

  “Yeah,” I said. “He did.”

  Joey pursed his mouth in disbelief, but he said, “Wow, okay. I guess I was wrong.”

  “You’d think by now you’d be used to the feeling,” I said, trying for a joke. It didn’t come out funny. I took a deep breath. I hated fighting with Joey. It just got me so angry when he acted like he knew everything. Joey didn’t say anything, so I made the joke again. “You know, since you’re nearly always wrong, and I’m nearly always right.”

  I finished clearing the second step and stepped down to the third. With Joey one step below me, our eyes were practically at the same height.

  “Ha-ha,” Joey said, looking straight at me. His eyelashes looked long and feathery, and there was one snowflake perched on the end of his right lash. I wanted to reach out and brush it away, but for some reason, my arms wouldn’t move. I just stood there looking at Joey as he stood there looking at me. Then I got the weirdest feeling in my body, like the snow was falling inside me, but I wasn’t cold. I felt warm.

  Finally I got de-hypnotized. I shook my head and took a step backward.

  “You have snow on your eyelash,” I said.

  Joey wiped the wrong eye, gripped his shovel again, and started clearing the rest of the bottom step. “What are you doing today?” he asked, nudging me up a step so he could finish the one I was standing on too.

  “I don’t know,” I said. When I was little, my mother used to make snow days feel like a big party. We’d bake something really complicated like tres leches or sopapillas, and we’d be so covered in flour we’d look like the snowy evergreen trees in our front yard. Then we’d eat dessert for lunch, blast her favorite music, and dance around the house.

  I sighed. “I’ll probably sit around bored out of my mind.”

  “Want to watch a movie?” Joey asked. “My sister invited about eighty-four of her closest friends over, and if I stay at home, I’ll have to hide in my room all day.”

  “Sure,” I said, trying not to smile too much. Seriously, I reminded myself. It was just Joey. I hung out with him all the time. I paused at the doorway for a second, remembering Papi’s question about having boys over, but he meant real boys, boys that might try to be my secret admirer kind of boys. He couldn’t have meant Joey. I opened the door and gestured for Joey to enter.

  Inside, I made us more hot chocolate while Joey looked over my shoulder.

  “Hey, you want to try my special hot chocolate recipe?” Joey asked, turning around to rummage through my cabinets before I could even answer. He had been to my house so many times that he knew his way around our kitchen.

  Wordlessly, I watched as Joey grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a spoon, and scooped a small dollop into my cup of hot chocolate, stirring gently. He then did the same for his cup.

  “Trust me,” he said, handing me my steaming mug.

  I was used to hot chocolate only one way—with cinnamon and chili powder—so I was very skeptical. I took a sip anyway and was pleasantly surprised. “Yum!”

  Joey laughed. “See? Chocolate and peanut butter are great together.”

  I thought about what he said for a second. Where had I heard something like that before? But before I could figure it out, Joey was already heading toward the living room, so I quickly followed him.

  “The Avengers? Star Wars? Chicken Little?” Joey scrolled through the movie guide, offering suggestions.

  Finally, when we couldn’t agree on anything else, we chose Finding Nemo. It had been our favorite when we were little. I brought out both our drinks and settled into the couch on the opposite end from Joey.

  We were just about to start the movie, when my doorbell rang.

  I jumped, then laughed. I was really glad Joey was here, because I wasn’t expecting anyone, and if the doorbell rang unexpectedly when I was alone, I’d instantly be certain that it was a kidnapper. Even with Joey in my house, I was half sure there was a burglar at my door.

  “I don’t think we should answer it,” I said.

  “Okay.” Joey shrugged. “It’s probably some delivery guy. Want me to check?”

  I shook my head no, and grabbed a blanket and pulled it up to my chin. The doorbell rang again. Joey stood up and walked to the corner of the room where he could look through the bay window and see the front porch.

  “It’s some guy from your grade,” he said. “From school.”

  I let the blanket drop. “Who? Logan?” Maybe he couldn’t wait to find out that Emily was his match!

  Joey shook his head. “I don’t remember his name, but he’s just as bad as Logan.”

  I rolled my eyes at him as I got up to answer the door. I was pretty sure that no one in my grade was a kidnapper or a burglar, so I wasn’t too worried anymore.

  “Mateo?” I said when I saw him standing on my front porch holding an empty blue-and-white casserole dish. “What are you doing here?”

  He leaned backward and studied the address numbers next to the porch light. “Isn’t this Sofia’s house?”

  “Sofia’s house?” I wrinkled my face in confusion. My heart sped up and my muscles tensed, like they wanted to run away and hide. I looked behind him to see if I could see any of the other guys from school. Maybe this was some kind of prank.

  He held up the casserole dish. “My mom wanted me to return this. She and Sofia’s mom are friends. I thought this was the address she told me.”

  “One of you must have gotten the numbers mixed up. She’s 878; we’re 887.”

  “Oh.” Mateo nodded his head at my explanation. Behind him, the snow started falling heavier. The snowflakes looked like pillow feathers.

  “Your mom made you go out in a snowstorm to return a dish?” I shook my head and widened my eyes in disbelief. “That’s rough.”

  “Oh, yeah. She’s, um, she can be tough.” Mateo stammered and looked at his boots as he spoke. “Maybe, um, since I’m here … now would be a good time for me to ask you that question.”

  A gust of wind blew a puff of snow into my house. The snowstorm had picked up even more. “Joey! Look at the driveway. We’re going to have to do it all over again.”

  Joey walked over to the window, then folded his arms over his chest and peered down his nose at me. “We? I don’t remember you doing much driveway shoveling.”

  The wind blew another burst of snow through the door. The icy flakes stung my face.

  “Ay!” I shouted. “Mateo, come in before we freeze to death!”

  Mateo came inside, closed the door, and stomped the snow off his boots.

  “Don’t you live over by the fire station? It must have taken you forever to walk here!” I shook my head. He lived at least two miles from me.

  “Why wouldn’t your mom just drive you?” Joey asked.

  Mateo laughed. He sounded nervous. Maybe it was just the cold. “I was bored, I guess. Walking here seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  I looked out the window, and all I could see was a swirling mess of white. “I don’t think you can walk home for a while now. It’s crazy out there,” I told him.

  Mateo looked out the window longingly. He probably had plans wit
h the basketball guys or something. Then he looked back at me, and a sheepish smile spread across his face. He glanced over at Joey. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you had company.”

  “Oh, that’s okay,” I said, giving Joey an “I’m sorry” look over Mateo’s shoulder. Joey rolled his eyes. “We were just going to watch Finding Nemo,” I told him. “Did you still want to ask me that question?”

  “What?” Mateo shook his head. “Oh, yeah.” He looked at Joey again. “No, that’s okay. I’ll ask you some other time.”

  Mateo plunked himself down on the couch right between my spot and Joey’s spot. He picked up Joey’s hot chocolate and took a sip. “This is great. You got any popcorn?”

  I wondered what my dad would say about having two boys in my house today. Maybe I could convince Alivia and everyone to come over too. I picked up my phone to text her and realized Emily had been trying to get a hold of me all morning.

  I quickly texted Emily back.

  I thought about telling her what was happening at my house today, but decided against it.

  I went into the kitchen and tossed a bag of popcorn into the microwave, and when I came back with three bowls, I had to blink a couple of times at the picture of Joey and Mateo sitting on my couch together.

  Mateo was telling Joey all about the special hair gel he uses, and Joey was staring at the ceiling like he hoped a giant claw would lower down and lift him away. I felt bad for him, but it was also kind of funny. I wasn’t even sure if Joey knew what hair gel was.

  This day certainly wasn’t going the way I’d imagined it, but maybe something good could come out of it too. I still needed more guys to fill out my questionnaires.

  “Hey, Mateo,” I said, handing him a bowl of popcorn, “you know my business, Cupid Clara?”

  He shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth and nodded as popcorn crumbs spilled all down his shirt.

  “Do you think you could get your friends to stop by my table? They don’t even have to buy anything, just fill out my form. And they’ll get free chocolate.”

  “Sure,” he said as he ate another giant handful of popcorn. “I’ll make everyone do it tomorrow.”

  I leaned back into the couch and pushed PLAY on the remote. The movie started as a big gust of wind rattled the front window of my house. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my blanket tighter around me.

  Then the doorbell rang again. My heart started. Who could it be this time? I paused the movie and gave Joey a look so he’d know to walk with me to the door in case of burglars.

  It wasn’t a burglar. It was Mrs. Kaufman, the old lady who lived down the street. I’d forgotten Papi had told her to check on me. She wore a clear plastic hat over her curly gray hair, and a puffy down coat that went all the way to her feet.

  “Hi, sweetie,” she said. “Are you doing okay? Do you need anything?”

  “I’m fine, Mrs. Kaufman. Thank you.”

  “Hello, Joseph,” she said, nodding at Joey. Then peering over my shoulder, I saw her notice Mateo.

  “Uh, my dad said I could have friends over,” I explained, the tips of my ears burning.

  She nodded, and stepped inside. “Yes, he did say you might have friends here. I’ll stay out of your way. Don’t worry. I brought a book and I remember where you keep your tea.”

  Mrs. Kaufman hung her coat in the closet, then introduced herself to Mateo before heading to the kitchen. Joey and I settled back on the couch, and I turned the movie on again. The sounds of Mrs. Kaufman searching through our cupboards mixed with the sounds of the movie. Mateo shoveled handful after handful of popcorn into his mouth.

  I leaned backward a little bit so I could see Joey’s face on the other side of Mateo. Just as I did, Joey looked over at me and smiled, and my whole body started sweating like we were in the middle of a tropical heat wave instead of a blizzard. I quickly looked back at the TV, and I hoped I wasn’t getting sick or anything.

  The next morning, Papi drove me to school. It took forever to get there because we had to drive all around the outside of town. A big water pipe had burst near the downtown area, and police were redirecting traffic. That meant I had an extra long time of Papi asking me questions.

  “So, how did your call with Mami go?” He kept his eyes on the road while he spoke, which was good. If he looked at my face, I’d have to tell him the truth, and right now it didn’t feel like an option.

  “I forgot to call her,” I lied. “I got busy with stuff yesterday.”

  Papi frowned. “You have to call her, mija.”

  “Lo sé. I know.” I leaned my head all the way back against the headrest.

  “What kept you so busy yesterday?”

  “Well, shoveling the driveway, working on Cupid Clara.” Watching movies with Joey and Mateo, but Papi didn’t need a reminder about that.

  He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove. “Did the rest of your friends ever come over?” he asked. “Mrs. Kaufman only told me about two of them.”

  I hugged my backpack to my chest and shook my head. “No,” I replied just as we pulled up to the school. Whew. “Thanks for the ride,” I told my father. “See you tonight.”

  I closed the door before he could ask me anything else. I was crazy late. I hoped Emily was on time; otherwise no one would be running our table and our customers wouldn’t be able to pick up or drop off their questionnaires.

  I rushed over to the Cupid Clara table, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Emily sitting at the table. She looked so sad. I pushed past the guy taking a questionnaire and gave Emily a big hug.

  “Are you all right?” I whispered in her ear.

  Emily gave a big fake laugh. “I’m fine. Evan was just picking up a questionnaire.” I turned around and realized Evan Cho was the person standing at our table.

  “Make sure to tell all your friends to fill them out too,” I told him. I’m sure there were plenty of girl math geeks I could match him with.

  Evan nodded at Emily, nodded at me, then walked away.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  Emily swallowed. “He wanted to let me know that he was going to be karate sparring partners with Rajiv from now on. I have to find a new partner.”

  “Oh,” I said. “But that won’t be hard, will it? Can’t your sensei help you find one?”

  “Yeah,” said Emily, her voice was flat.

  I needed to cheer her up ASAP. No one would want to sign up with a mopey matchmaker.

  I picked up the questionnaire box and shook it. I heard a bunch of papers rattling around inside, but I knew we could do even better. “Want to make a scene? Get everyone even more excited about Cupid Clara?”

  Emily sighed and shrugged. This wasn’t like her at all. I had to act fast. I looked at the bowl of chocolate. “I’ve got an idea,” I told her. “Do we have more bags of Kisses?”

  Emily looked in the box underneath the table. “Four more,” she said.

  “Okay, here goes nothing.” I picked up the bowl of Kisses and stood on top of my chair. Then I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs. “Anyone who fills out a Cupid Clara questionnaire in the next fifteen minutes gets a whole handful of Hershey’s Kisses! As many as they can grab without spilling!”

  For a second, the whole room paused and everyone just stared at me like I was crazy. I had bad memory of second grade, the week after my mom left and my dad made me go back to school and I got out at hopscotch and couldn’t stop crying. Everyone had stared at me then too.

  But a second later, nearly half the people in the lobby flooded our table. Emily and I started handing out blank questionnaires and pens, and I reminded everyone that they didn’t get their Kisses until they put their finished questionnaires in the box.

  “I’m not sure bribing customers is a good business strategy,” Alivia called to me from her table, laughing. “You’re going to spend more money than you earn.”

  I laughed too. “It’s not bribery,” I told her. “We’re incentivi
zing.” The chocolates were in our budget, and they were working. Our table was flooded with customers.

  I noticed Alivia’s table was down to one tray of cookies left. “Wow, you’ve nearly sold out again!” I said. “Awesome!”

  Alivia gave me a funny look, and I remembered that she didn’t want to sell out so early in the day. Now she’d have nothing left to sell at lunch.

  “Maybe you could raise your prices?” I suggested. “Then you’d make more money even if you can’t make more treats.”

  Alivia wrinkled her nose. “There are two other groups selling baked goods,” she told me. “If we raise our prices, everyone will just start buying more from them.” She sighed, turning away from me.

  I wished I had some advice for her, but I didn’t, so I asked Emily if she could handle the store for the last five minutes until the bell rang. “I want to deliver our Claragrams,” I told her.

  “Sure,” Emily said. “No problem.”

  “By the way.” I held up Logan’s Claragram. “You need to be standing by the Austen Archer after school.”

  Emily’s eyes widened in terror, but I raced away before she could argue. This was going to be just the thing to cheer her up and to turn all those new questionnaires into matches.

  I speed-walked to the language arts hallway, since that’s where most of the sixth-grade lockers were, and taped my perfect-match announcements on my newest couples’ lockers. Then I taped Danielle’s, Kacy’s, Connor’s, and Ryan’s hearts on their lockers. Finally, I raced to Logan’s locker. I only had one minute left until the first bell would ring, and the hallway would start filling up. I wanted to do it before I was surrounded by a million people.

  I tore off a piece of tape and pressed the glittery heart to the locker.

  “What’s that?”

  Logan’s voice made me jump.

  “You weren’t supposed to see me doing this!” I said as Logan peered at the Claragram on his locker.

  “Why should we wait until after school?” he asked. “You’re already here.”