Time's Up

by Annie Bryant

  “Uhh…no thanks, Whitney,” Katani finally spit out.

  As she bent down to clean Penelope’s last hoof, Katani sneaked a glance at Whitney. Did she actually look a little bit…hurt? Katani suddenly felt guilty for blowing her off, but immediately a bright, fake smile filled Whitney’s face.

  “That’s okay,” Whitney said quickly. “Can you just let me know where the ad was for the contest?”

  Katani opened her mouth, but before she said anything, Kelley was standing beside Whitney, blurting, “T-Biz!, T-Biz! The ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ contest encourages young entrepreneurs to develop their expertise to successfully start and manage their own businesses. This is an opportunity for all young entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams,” Kelley repeated the contest ad in a monotone voice.

  Katani gripped on to Penelope’s mane and slowly counted to ten. Kelley’s incredible memory was about to make her scream.

  “Mr. Bear and I, two business leaders of the next generation,” Kelley went on.

  Katani ignored Kelley and looked at Whitney, who seemed amused by all this.

  “Thanks, Kelley. And good luck in the contest.” Whitney smiled, showing her straight white teeth. “I’m sure you and Mr. Bear will do great.”

  Very funny, Katani thought. Whitney was so totally condescending.

  “See you in two weeks.” Whitney spun around and walked away from them, her ponytail swishing across her back.

  “I like her, I like her very much. And Mr. Bear likes her, and Wilbur—”

  “Kelley,” Katani interrupted, and said as patiently as she could, “I should have told you the contest is a special pinkie-swear secret.”

  Kelley’s eyes widened. She loved pinkie-swear secrets.

  “You know what that means, right?” Katani asked.

  Kelley nodded and sealed her lips with her finger. Then they hooked and unhooked their pinkies three times.

  “No one else can know now,” Katani warned her sister as she put her finger to her lips and pretended to throw away the key for emphasis.

  Penelope stomped her hoof to the barn floor, reminding Katani to return her to her stall where food was waiting. As Katani led the horse back, Penelope nuzzled her shoulder. Katani whispered that she’d see her in one week and six days and stroked her neck. When Katani and Kelley stepped outside into the bright sun, the Triple B was heading toward the barn. Grandma Ruby waved to the girls as she splashed the big, blue Buick through the puddles.

  Before she was inside the car, Kelley proudly announced, “Katani and I have a pinkie-swear secret! Don’t even ask me what it is because I can’t tell you. Big secret. No one else can know. NO ONE.” Kelley made the whisper sign and shook her head.

  Katani slunk down into her seat as Mrs. Fields gave her the eye.

  CHAPTER 4

  A Date or Not a Date

  As she walked through the door of Montoya’s and breathed in the rich smells of Cuban coffee, chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and butter, Charlotte swore she dreamed about this place last night. She almost wanted to lick her lips in anticipation of a sip of the rich, dark hot chocolate that was Montoya’s specialty. As Nick waved to her from behind the counter, she had to admit he was another reason why she liked coming here so much. Charlotte saw Avery, Maeve, and Isabel were waiting at the BSG’s usual table in the corner, so she rushed over.

  “Where’s Katani?” she asked her friends. “She was supposed to meet us here before school, right?”

  “Maybe Kelley didn’t want to go to school alone today or something,” Isabel suggested.

  “But she would have called, no?” Maeve asked.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” Avery started over to the counter. “I’ve been thinking about their cranberry nut muffins since I woke up.”

  “I’m going to get the Isabel Regular: buñuelos and a hot chocolate, topped with my personal fave—whipped cream with shaved chocolate on top, spiced delicately with a burst of cinnamon,” Isabel said in a professional waitress voice.

  “Of course,” the others chorused at the same time.

  After they ordered and were carrying their breakfast treats back to their table, Nick called from behind the counter with a smile, “You’re not going to start flying through Montoya’s, are you, Maeve?”

  “That was soooo funny.” Avery started laughing all over again.

  “I’m so glad I was at the rock gym to witness it, because I def wouldn’t have believed it otherwise,” Isabel added.

  “Haven’t you guys ever heard of ‘Method acting’?” Maeve explained, shrugging the teasing off. “Now if I ever have to fly in a movie, I’ll know how it feels!”

  “Well, I talked my mom into letting me sign up for the rock-climbing team, so I want to start practicing this week,” Avery announced, popping a big bite of muffin into her mouth. For someone so small, she ate more than anyone Charlotte knew.

  “Wow, Avery. You’re going to be super busy. The exhibition game is Thursday, remember?” Isabel reminded her.

  “Do I REMEMBER? It’s all I’m thinking about! I’m so psyched to play there! I mean, the TD Banknorth Garden, how cool is that? Swoosh!” She fake-shot a basket. “Imagine playing during the Celtics’ half-time!”

  “We have practice every day this week,” Isabel said, with much less enthusiasm. She and Avery had both made the Abigail Adams basketball team, but Isabel was less sure of making the exhibition team. “Coach is choosing only five people for Thursday’s game, and I bet I won’t be one of them.”

  “Dude, don’t even go there!” Avery shouted. “You have to think positive.”

  Charlotte turned to Avery. “But how are you going to do everything, Ave?”

  “No big deal. I’ll figure it out!” Avery smiled. “I hope you all get tickets. I want you to start a wave when I get a basket.”

  They started laughing. Then Maeve jumped up and swept her arms through the air. Isabel, Charlotte, and Avery copied her from their seats.

  Anna and Joline walked into the café at that moment, looking way too cool for anything like a wave. They eyed each other, smirking. “OMG,” Anna said, “what is this? A BSG wave…how adooooorable.”

  “Catch, Anna!” Avery leaped up to make a quick pass with her napkin toward QOM #1 just as Nick walked toward their table.

  He reached out his hand to block her shot. “Hey, Paul Pierce, you sure you’re ready for the Garden?” he teased.

  “Just you wait,” Avery replied, secretly psyched that Nick had compared her to one of the Celtics’ best players. “Abigail Adams is going to rock!”

  Smiling, Nick turned to Charlotte. “You up for the new Omni show at the Museum of Science, Char?” he asked casually.

  Charlotte froze in her seat. Did Nick Montoya just ask her to go to a movie with him? Stammering and flushing, she spit out, “The one about the Serengeti? That’d be awesome.” That’d be awesome? Did she sound too excited? Charlotte knew her face was turning bright red—again. And the fact that her friends were hanging on to every word of this conversion definitely didn’t help.

  “How about this weekend?”

  “Um, that sounds good….” Sounds good. Why couldn’t she ever think of anything more interesting to say?! Something like…“Let me check my calendar.” Now he knows I had no plans, she thought.

  “Great, I’ll e-mail you the details.”

  After Nick walked away, Maeve leaned across the table excitedly. “Omigosh, Charlotte, are you going on an actual real live date with Nick Montoya?”

  “No, that wasn’t,” Charlotte stammered, “official.” She picked up her hot chocolate mug as if she could hide behind it.

  “Official? What do you think you’re going to get, a written invitation?” Avery blurted.

  Charlotte half spit and half dribbled hot chocolate down the front of her new long-sleeved Boston University T-shirt.

  “I’ll get some soda water.” Isabel jumped up.

  Charlotte didn’t dare look around to
see if Nick had seen her too. But she couldn’t stop herself. He smiled at her from across the room and gave the thumbs-up. She groaned. “Major klutz strikes again.”

  “What number is this?” Isabel asked.

  “I’m not exactly sure.” Charlotte laughed. “But, I’ve been recording all my major klutz attacks.”

  “For real?” Avery asked.

  Charlotte nodded. “I’m going to publish my collection one day and hand it out to every middle-school student.”

  “That’s brilliant,” Maeve said. “I’m sure it’ll be a smashing success.”

  “The name Charlotte Ramsey does sound like a bestselling author, doesn’t it?” Isabel said.

  “So, Charlotte Ramsey, when did you actually start dating Nick Montoya for real?” Maeve demanded, in her best entertainment-newscaster impersonation.

  Charlotte was sure she’d turned every shade of red by now. When would she ever get thicker skin? “Well, it’s not exactly a date,” she said, desperately trying to sound casual. “I mean, Nick and I were talking about starting an online travel club with Chelsea Briggs. You know, a website where kids from all over the world can post their adventures and cool information about their part of the world. He probably just wants to talk about that.”

  “So,” Maeve asked in a conspiratorial tone, “is Chelsea going to the movie too?”

  Charlotte shook her head. “Um, I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, then,” Maeve said, as if that settled it. “It sounds like true love to me. Oh, Nick, I mean Romeo, wherefore art thou? I just love the sound of that,” the redheaded romantic sighed.

  Avery threw a cranberry at Maeve. “Earth to Maeve. Reality check.”

  Maeve pretended to look surprised. “What, you don’t think it’s true loooove?” She faked a swoon, with one hand dramatically resting across her forehead.

  “No!” said Avery. “Charlotte can have a boy ‘friend,’ you know. I’ve got lots of them.”

  Charlotte smiled gratefully at Avery, though now that Maeve mentioned it, Charlotte was confused—was this a real date or not?

  “Love is so complicated.” Maeve sighed and picked up her pastry. The other BSGs couldn’t help but laugh. Their dramatic friend did have a way of turning life into a soap opera!

  Suddenly, Katani dashed into Montoya’s, out of breath. “Hey, girls! Sorry to be so late.”

  “Terminally late. We’re all leaving now,” Henry Yurt warned as he approached their table, shrugging on his coat. The Yurtmeister was both the class president and designated class clown. He always managed to be goofy and sweet at the same time. “We’re going to be in big-time trouble if we don’t get moving. Especially this pair of zombies.” Yurt gestured toward the Trentini twins, who looked like they’d just woken up.

  “You should do something about the school hours, Prez. Like start school around ten,” Billy Trentini muttered sleepily.

  The BSG laughed and cleared their table. Before they left for school, Isabel opened her notebook to make a quick sketch of a bird flying madly in circles and carrying a letter in its beak to drop into the mailbox below. She wrote, “Better late than never.”

  The Fastest Knitter This Side of the Charles River

  The BSG walked to school with Yurt and the Trentinis, all of them blowing white clouds from their mouths. Charlotte could see Yuri’s fruit stand up ahead. The rest of the group kept walking as Charlotte and Katani stopped to say hi.

  “Nobody wants Yuri’s fruit today?” The burly Russian wore a brown fur hat with earflaps that tied under his chin that looked super warm and a little strange; Charlotte wondered if he had brought it with him from Russia. “What the matter here? All people needs vitamin C, eh. Have orange, girls, on Yuri.”

  “Thank you, Yuri.”

  “Now go fast to school. Americans always hurry hurry. No time for hanging out.” Yuri rubbed his hands together. He sounded gruff, but he was like a marshmallow inside. Charlotte remembered how concerned he had been when her landlady, Miss Pierce, mysteriously disappeared. In fact, Charlotte suspected Yuri had a little crush on Miss Pierce! The girls each took an orange and hurried to catch up with the others.

  “So, how are the contest plans going, Katani?” Charlotte asked.

  “Ugh, that’s why I was late. I’ve been working like a mad-woman on my business plan.”

  “What else do you need to do?”

  “Well, I have to fill out the application form and create a sales plan, promotion plan, and a detailed budget. Also, I need a recommendation from a teacher, but Grandma Ruby can do that—though I haven’t asked her yet. I want it to be a surprise. I was thinking of asking Chelsea Briggs to take photographs of my final product.” Reciting the list out loud, Katani felt suddenly anxious, but she pushed the feeling aside. She didn’t have time to be nervous, and she didn’t want anyone to think that she couldn’t pull it off.

  “At least I’ve decided what I’m going to make,” she gushed on. “Scarves. Like the one I made for Grandma Ruby, you know?”

  “That sounds like a lot of work, Katani.” Charlotte wanted to sound realistic without putting a damper on Katani’s enthusiasm. “We have an English project due soon—”

  “I can’t think about that right now,” Katani said dismissively. “Besides, I’m a fast knitter, and I’ve worked out most of the designs. You’ve seen them, remember?”

  Charlotte nodded. “They’re great, and I know you’re a champion knitter, but—”

  Katani kept talking, hardly looking up. “There’s just one snag.”

  Charlotte was beginning to think there might be more than one snag with all that work. It sounded too ambitious, even for Katani, but since she had refused any offers of help, Charlotte didn’t dare say anything that might squelch Katani’s plans.

  “The only thing is,” Katani continued, “I need to get some kind of hook, something that ties in with a community service. But I’ll figure that out.”

  “And you’ve got to do all this by when?” Charlotte asked.

  Katani hesitated, and her voice dropped when she told her the date that the application packet had to be postmarked. For the first time Katani didn’t seem quite so assured.

  “You really think that’s possible?” Charlotte asked in a soft voice.

  “It has to be.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Competition Fever

  Katani pushed through the usual morning chaos of the AAJH hallways to get to her locker. Mondays were always the worst, but with all that was going on, Katani felt like today might possibly go down in history as one of her worst Mondays ever. She straightened the photo of the BSG on her locker door that Mrs. Madden had taken at Avery’s soccer game last fall. After the game, all the girls had posed lying on the grass with their heads forming a circle, smiling as they squinted into the sun. Katani sighed. She wished she were lying on the grass with the BSG right now.

  Oops, Yurt alert! President Yurt strutted down the hall, high-fiving everyone he passed. He probably considered it part of his job as class president, Katani thought with a hint of frustration. Sometimes Henry Yurt was a bit much to take. Especially when people had a lot to do! She turned back to her locker so she wouldn’t have to say hi to him.

  “Extra-awesome shirt, dude.” From the corner of her eye Katani watched Dillon high-five the Yurt, who was wearing his oversize Manny Ramirez jersey backward. Anything to do with the Boston Red Sox was considered super cool at AAJH.

  “Thought I’d do a test-run for ‘Backwards Day,’” Yurt replied. “You know, to keep up AA school spirit.”

  A paper airplane went whizzing over Katani’s head. Dillon jumped up and grabbed it. “Hey, Trentini,” he yelled as he opened the piece of paper. “Isn’t this your math homework?”

  Down the hall, Betsy Fitzgerald, class know-it-all and one of Abigail Adams’s best students, was distributing neon yellow flyers. Katani wondered what super-achiever Betsy was up to. Probably trying to persuade students they needed longer school hours or mo
re homework or something. Katani had shut her locker and already started toward homeroom when Betsy intercepted her to hand her a flyer.

  “Of course, you don’t need my services, Katani, but you may know someone who does, so I’ll give you a business card too.”

  In bold letters, the flyer read, Super Test and Term Paper Prep with Bets: B or Better or Your Money Back.

  “You started your own tutoring business?”

  Betsy nodded. “I’m submitting a business plan to this contest I saw in T-Biz! You know, that teen business magazine.”

  Katani hoped she didn’t look as sick as she suddenly felt. She was sure her mouth was hanging open and her cheeks were burning. She felt like an idiot. Why had she assumed she would be the only one entering the contest? How many others from Abigail Adams alone would be submitting business plans? She suddenly felt like she was on a Tilt-A-Whirl.

  “Here you go,” Betsy said cheerfully. She handed a flyer to an eighth grader walking by. “Super Test and Term Paper Prep with Bets: B or Better or Your Money Back. Contact: Betsy Fitzgerald, Honor Student.”

  Katani held up Betsy’s business card. In blue ink on smooth, creamy cardstock, it read, “Betsy Fitzgerald, Master Tutoring” with her contact information. Her presentation was so neat and smart, Katani guessed they had to have been professionally designed. In the center of the card was a logo of a stack of books. Of course anyone with a business should have business cards. Katani felt like crying.

  “There’s this community service part of the contest,” Betsy blabbed on, “so I thought I’d charge on a sliding scale. So those who can’t afford my services can still take advantage of them. I mean, even people who don’t have much money should pay a little. That way it won’t feel like I’m just doing them a favor, you know, and they won’t feel like they can’t ask a question. You know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, sure,” she mumbled. Betsy was so nice, you didn’t want to hate her, but she could be so incredibly annoying. Katani saw Maeve standing next to Dillon, both of them reading Betsy’s flyer. Mumbling a quick “see you” to Betsy, Katani ran to catch up to Avery and Charlotte as they headed toward homeroom.