Mia's Boiling Point

by Coco Simon

  I might go see the movie anyway, Katie texted me. Hope that’s ok.

  What could I say? I really wanted to see it with her, but I couldn’t tell her to wait. That wouldn’t be fair.

  K! I typed. Txt me a review when it’s over.

  K, Katie typed back, and that was the end of our conversation.

  I couldn’t tell if she was mad or not.

  But there was no point in worrying about it, right? I wasn’t going to have a miserable afternoon just because I might have upset Katie. And when Olivia came over, we had a great time.

  “We need to spend some time in your closet,” Olivia said when she arrived. “Last time was too much homework, not enough clothes!”

  “What are we waiting for?” I asked, and we headed upstairs.

  I used to kind of hate my bedroom. When I first moved in, it had old-lady wallpaper and old furniture that didn’t match, but Eddie helped me totally redo it. He took down the wallpaper (which was the really hard part), and after changing my mind, like, a thousand times, we painted the walls in this pale turquoise color, and then we painted the furniture gleaming white, with black around the trim and stuff, and it looks totally cool. Plus, I have a really big closet, which is almost as big as my whole bedroom in my dad’s apartment in Manhattan.

  “Oh my gosh, Mia, this closet is ah-may-zing!” Olivia cried as she opened up the door. “You have the most fabulous clothes!”

  “I get a lot of them for free,” I explained. “From my mom’s clients.”

  “It is sooo cool that your mom has a fashion career,” Olivia said. “My mom sells mattresses. Boooring!”

  She pulled out a white sleeveless dress with black polka dots that I got this spring.

  “Ooh, this is adorable! Can I try it on?”

  “Of course,” I said. When I’m in Manhattan, Ava and I are always trying on each other’s clothes. I miss having someone to do that with here.

  The afternoon went by pretty quickly. Since winter is coming up, I’ve been trying to figure out how to style my winter outfits, and Olivia’s mad layering skills came to the rescue. We came up with seven new outfits just based on what was in my closet. And Olivia didn’t say anything mean about anybody—not once.

  Right after Olivia left at four o’clock I got a few texts from Katie.

  Baby bear cute.

  Baby bear gets lost.

  Baby bear finds mom.

  The end.

  So it looked like everything was okay with Katie after all, and I was really relieved.

  I got more good news the next morning at school. I was walking to my and Olivia’s locker when Olivia came out of the principal’s office and headed toward me.

  “Hey, so this kid Michael Hanna moved or something and I can have his locker,” she told me. “It’s right around the corner from yours.”

  She held up a note. “Principal LaCosta gave us a note so we can skip homeroom and move the stuff to my new locker.”

  “That’s great!” I said, but Olivia didn’t look exactly happy.

  “It’s fun sharing a locker with you,” she said. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you, too,” I said, but I was kind of lying. Because inside I was thinking, Hooray! No more locker Olivia!

  We went to my locker and each grabbed a handful of Olivia’s stuff and brought it to her new locker. Olivia opened it up and turned to me.

  “Would you mind bringing the rest? I’ll start getting it organized,” she said.

  “Um, sure,” I said. I made a couple more trips with Olivia’s books and makeup, and on the last trip, I took the mirror off the door, cringing as it tore my wallpaper. I’d have to find something to put there to cover it up.

  When I handed Olivia the mirror, she gave a big sigh.

  “My locker is sooo boring!” she complained. “I wish I could make it look cool like yours.”

  “Of course you can,” I said. “You have an awesome sense of style.”

  “Not like yours,” Olivia said. “I could never be as good as you, Mia. You’re practically a professional!”

  “Maybe I should go into business,” I joked. “Mia’s Locker Makeovers.”

  But Olivia took me seriously. “You could make over my locker! I would love that. I could be, like, your first client.”

  I thought about it. Designing my locker was a lot of fun. It would be fun to decorate Olivia’s, too.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s talk more at lunch.”

  So at lunchtime, Katie was telling me about the polar bear movie when Olivia interrupted us.

  “So, Mia,” she said, “I was thinking of how we can decorate my locker. Maybe turquoise and black, like your room. Or maybe animal prints. Or both! What do you think?”

  I took out my sketchbook.

  “Animal-print wallpaper could be cute,” I said, sketching it out as I talked. “And you need a cool mirror, of course. Maybe that could be the focal point. Oh, and extra shelves for your makeup!”

  I could see Alexis roll her eyes across the table, but I didn’t care. I was having fun.

  “That all looks ah-may-zing!” Olivia said. “How soon can we do it?”

  I thought about how my mom handled her clients. “Let me come up with some sketches for you, and a budget. Maybe by Friday, okay?”

  Olivia pouted. “Friday? That’s forever!”

  But I wanted to do the job right. I kind of liked the idea that Olivia was my first client. I wasn’t going to charge her, of course, but I still wanted to do things professionally.

  “I’ll definitely have it by Friday, I promise,” I assured her.

  So when I wasn’t doing homework or having soccer practice, I worked on sketches for Olivia’s locker. I found samples of wallpaper and mirrors and shelves online and printed them out. By Friday, I had a whole presentation for Olivia. We looked at it while we ate the lemon cupcakes Alexis had made.

  “Ooh, this mirror is perfect!” Olivia said, pointing to one I had printed out. “And I love the wallpaper and the shelves and the makeup light. Soooo cool!”

  I did some quick adding. “The stuff all comes to about forty dollars. You can get all of it at the stores in the mall. You can keep the proposal, so you know what to look for.”

  “Wow, that’s all so complicated,” Olivia said. “I probably wouldn’t even get the right stuff. Would you mind doing it, and I’ll pay you back?”

  Once again, I saw Alexis roll her eyes, but Olivia wasn’t asking anything outrageous. Mom did this kind of thing for her clients all the time. She did the shopping, and then she sent them a bill, and they paid her.

  “No problem,” I said. I could use my shoe savings to get the stuff over the weekend, and then I’d have the money back on Monday. “This is going to be so fabulous. Even more fabulous than my locker!”

  “I hope so,” Olivia said.

  For a second, I wondered, did she just mean that she hoped her locker was fabulous? Or did she hope that hers looked better than mine? But then I felt silly thinking that. Mostly, I was superexcited to be doing the locker design. And I really liked knowing that Olivia admired my sense of style. She was turning out to be a really nice friend.

  CHAPTER 13

  The Monster at the Museum

  Saturday was a pretty hectic day, because after my soccer game, I had to shower and change so I could make the one thirty train to Manhattan. It’s always weird when I have to go in on Saturday because Dad and I don’t have our usual sushi routine. But this time I had a plan: Dad was bringing Ava with him, and we were going to go shopping for Olivia’s locker stuff in midtown, which is crowded and filled with all kinds of stores.

  Ava ran up to me and gave me a big hug as soon as I got off the train.

  “Mom says I can have dinner with you guys,” she told me. “Yay!”

  “I’m kind of in the mood for Italian,” I said. “When it starts to get chilly out, I crave pasta.”

  “How about the Ravioli Hut?” Ava suggested. “They have forty-six diff
erent kinds of ravioli!”

  I looked at Dad, and he shrugged. “Whatever you girls want. But you need to do some shopping first, right?”

  The stores I needed were close to the train station, so we walked. Because it was Saturday afternoon, the streets were crowded with tourists. Dad walked right behind me and Ava, so he wouldn’t lose us.

  After about ten blocks we reached Dazzle, an accessories shop. They had the mirror I wanted, along with racks and racks of other amazing stuff, like jewelry, scarves, and hats. Dad went to get coffee, like he always does when he takes us shopping, and Ava and I walked around the shop.

  Ava picked up two long, dangly earrings with keys hanging from them. They reminded me of Olivia’s necklace. She held them up to her ears.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Adorable!” I replied. “I think keys must be a big thing this year. Olivia has a necklace that would match those perfectly.”

  “So what are we getting for Olivia again?” Ava asked.

  “I’m designing her locker.” I reached into my bag and took out the proposal I had created for Olivia. “I did a bunch of sketches and printed out samples of stuff, and she picked what she wanted. I’m going to buy it for her, and she’ll pay me back.”

  “I thought you were saving for those shoes?” Ava asked.

  “I know, but I don’t have exactly enough yet, and anyway, Olivia will pay me on Monday,” I replied.

  “Wow, you’re being totally professional,” Ava told me, and the compliment meant a lot. That’s what I was trying to do.

  I bought the perfect mirror, just the right size and with this really pretty border with lots of bling on it. Then we headed to the Organizer Store two blocks down to get a special light that we could stick above the mirror so Olivia could see better when she put on her lip gloss. We got some small shelves there too.

  “This is going to be an awesome locker,” Ava said. “Olivia is lucky. Hey, I forgot to ask you. Did you see that polar bear movie yet?”

  I shook my head. “I was supposed to go with Katie, but . . . well, Olivia came over.”

  “Wow, you’re spending a lot of time with Olivia,” Ava remarked. “How does Katie feel about that?”

  “I think she’s a little bit hurt,” I admitted. “But it’s not fair. I’m still her friend. She’s just sensitive, that’s all.”

  “I’m just saying, you’ve been talking about Olivia a lot lately,” Ava said.

  I didn’t get mad when Ava said that, because she’s outside the situation, if you know what I mean. Since I moved to Maple Grove, she’s always given me good advice about what happens there. So it got me thinking—maybe I was ignoring Katie a little bit. And that wasn’t cool.

  So that night, after we finished shopping, stuffed ourselves with spinach and cheese ravioli, and took Ava home, I stretched out on my bed and texted Katie.

  Miss u. Want 2 hang out Monday?

  Science report due Tuesday. , Katie texted back right away.

  Me too! Let’s do it together! My house? I wrote.

  K! , Katie wrote back.

  I have to admit I was feeling pretty good about things. Katie was happy, Olivia was happy, and I was close to getting my dream shoes. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

  And then on Sunday, my good mood was totally destroyed.

  Dad arranged for us to meet Lynne and Ethan at the museum. It’s a huge, beautiful building with big stone steps and it’s right across from Central Park. The steps were pretty crowded, so I looked around to see if I could guess who Lynne and Ethan might be. Then Dad pointed to a woman at the top step.

  “Hello!” he called out, waving, and Lynne waved back.

  She was wearing a plaid peacoat, a denim skirt, and knee-high black boots. Her hair kind of reminded me of Katie’s—light brown and wavy. I didn’t see what Ethan looked like right away because he was hiding behind his mom.

  Lynne smiled as we walked up. “Mia, I’m so glad to meet you! Your dad has told me so much about you,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

  “And this is Ethan,” Lynne said, reaching for his arm. But Ethan just grabbed on to her leg and held on.

  I sort of knelt down and said in my friendliest voice, “Hi, Ethan. I’m Mia.”

  Ethan stuck his head out, and I saw a head of messy brown hair, blue eyes, and a runny nose.

  “Go away!” he yelled, and then he ducked behind his mom again.

  “I’m sorry,” Lynne said. “Ethan is getting over a cold, and he didn’t sleep well last night.”

  Dad looked behind Lynne. “Sorry you’re feeling bad, little guy,” he said, but Ethan didn’t respond. Then Dad looked at Lynne and me and gave us a big smile. “What do you say we explore this museum?”

  We followed Dad inside, and he paid for our admission.

  “Can we look at the blue whale first?” I asked.

  The blue whale is probably the most famous thing in the whole museum. It’s a life-size model of a blue whale, the largest animal on Earth. It hangs from the ceiling and you can walk underneath it. It’s totally incredible. Besides, I know Katie loves it, and I wanted to take a picture to send her.

  “I want to see the dinosaurs!” Ethan yelled.

  “We’ll see the dinosaurs,” Lynne said patiently. “But first we’re going to see the whale.”

  “But I don’t like the whale!” he said, stomping his foot.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “We don’t have to see the whale.”

  “No, it’s all right,” Lynne insisted. “Ethan has to learn to be patient.”

  So we walked to the big room where the whale is, and before we could even walk through the door, Ethan ran away like a rocket.

  “Ethan!” Lynne cried, panicked.

  “I’ll get him,” my dad volunteered.

  Let me tell you, this kid was fast. Dad goes to the gym almost every day, but he had a hard time catching up with him. Then when he did catch up to him, you could hear Ethan screaming.

  Lynne and I looked at each other.

  “We’d better find them,” Lynne said apologetically.

  We followed the sound of the screaming to the dinosaur wing. Dad was holding Ethan’s hand, but the kid was just yelling and yelling and people were staring. He ran to Lynne as soon as he saw us.

  “Mommy! Mommy! I want to see the dinosaurs!” he wailed.

  “It’s fine,” I insisted. “Let’s see the dinosaurs.”

  Lynne and my dad gave in because we all stayed to see the dinosaurs. Ethan raced around and asked a million questions about each one. Finally, Ethan said he was hungry, and we went to the snack shop in the museum. It was packed, but we managed to find a table. My dad asked what we wanted, and then he got on line to get the food for us.

  “I’ll help,” I offered.

  “Don’t worry, sit and relax,” Dad said. “I want you guys to get to know one another.”

  I reluctantly sat down and Lynne smiled at me. “So, Mia, how do you like school this year?”

  “Well, a lot better than I did before,” I said, but before I could explain why, Ethan started whining and complaining about how hungry he was and asking if he could go back to see the dinosaurs. So Lynne and I couldn’t have much of a conversation.

  Finally, Dad came back with a tray of food. He put an order of chicken fingers in front of Ethan, along with a carton of apple juice.

  Ethan picked up the juice and frowned.

  “I wanted orange juice!” he yelled, and he slammed down the carton so hard that the cardboard container split and juice spilled all over the table.

  “I’ll get it!” Dad cried, and he jumped up and ran to get some napkins.

  I was totally appalled. This kid was a monster! I imagined having to be his big sister and shuddered.

  CHAPTER 14

  Thank Goodness for Katie

  Dad didn’t have much to say after the museum disaster, and I could tell that he was embarrassed
and disappointed. I couldn’t think of anything comforting to say to him, because all I could think about was how terrible it would be to live with Ethan.

  The next morning, I told Katie the whole story on the bus, and she was very sympathetic. Then we said good-bye and headed to homeroom, where I handed Olivia a bag with all of her locker supplies.

  “Oh my gosh, Mia, thank you, these are soooo awesome!” she squealed as she looked through the bag.

  I handed her the receipts. “It came to forty-one dollars and thirty-six cents,” I said.

  Olivia absently took them from me. “Mmm hmm,” she said, and she tucked them into her notebook. She didn’t say anything about paying me back.

  “So you would not believe what happened to me yesterday,” I said. “Remember I told you my dad wanted me to meet his girlfriend and her kid? Well, we went to the museum and—”

  “So when are you going to put all the stuff up?” Olivia asked, interrupting me.

  “Well, I thought we could do it together,” I said. “Maybe tomorrow after school?”

  “Can’t we do it today?” Olivia asked.

  “I’m working on my science report with Katie,” I explained, and Olivia pouted.

  “Okay,” she said, with a long, drawn-out sigh. “I guess I’ll have to wait.”

  If Olivia was trying to make me feel guilty, it didn’t work. There was no way I was going to back out on Katie.

  So that afternoon I was happy when Katie got out at the bus stop with me. Eddie was home, and he had cookies and milk on the dining room table for us. (My mom is the healthy snack person in the house, but Eddie is happier with a cookie than a carrot.) I got out my laptop, so Katie and I could work on our reports.

  “I was thinking about what you said on the bus this morning,” Katie said. “About Ethan. I feel so bad for you!”

  “Thanks,” I said. “He was totally awful!”

  “But then I was thinking about Jake,” Katie said. “He’s better now, but he used to be really bratty sometimes, remember? Like that one time we were baking and he had, like, this tantrum because he wanted a cupcake and they weren’t ready yet?”