Time's Up

by Annie Bryant

  “Hi, Katani,” she said matter-of-factly. “Mom, this is Katani, the girl from riding I was telling you about. The one who’s entering the contest.”

  Tall and blond, Whitney’s mom looked just like her daughter—cool, collected, and rich. Whitney’s mom smiled to reveal perfectly white teeth. “Oh, yes, nice to meet you, Katani. You’re just like Whitney—doing everything!”

  Just like Whitney? Katani winced, then managed to put on a small smile. “Nice to meet you. I thought you were Whitney’s sister at first.” People sometimes said this to Katani’s mother, so she figured it would be the polite thing to say.

  “Well, thank you very much! Whitney, I love your new friend!” She laughed. “Now, we need to get those beads you ordered. Do they have them behind the register?”

  “They should. Thanks, Mom.”

  As soon as Whitney’s mother was out of earshot, Katani blurted, “You’re not entering the contest, are you?”

  “You don’t think I should?”

  “It’s not really fair.”

  As soon as Katani said this, Whitney looked wounded. Katani immediately felt guilty. She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh.

  “What do you mean, ‘not fair’?” Whitney asked.

  But before Katani could answer, Whitney’s mother called, “Honey, could you take a look at these?”

  “Okay, Mom, I’m coming.” Whitney spun around and started walking away.

  “Wait, Whitney—” Katani started.

  “I’ll see you at High Hopes,” Whitney called icily over her shoulder.

  Great, Katani thought. She hadn’t meant to hurt Whitney’s feelings…it just came rushing out. She stepped into the cold air outside the store, convincing herself that she had to say what she did to Whitney. Business was business, right? As Katani swung her two large bags of yarn toward home, she tried to shake off the feeling of Whitney’s hurt eyes still on her.

  Katani reminded herself that she should be happy. After all, everything was miraculously coming together. She had most of her business proposal drafted. Now she just had to figure out how she could knit those twenty scarves by the weekend. She was a super-fast knitter. She’d just have to work faster than she ever had before. She’d stay up all night if she had to. Candice said she sometimes pulled all-nighters at college. It couldn’t be that bad.

  Then, all of a sudden, Katani’s hands went clammy. Uh-oh. Math Boy! She was supposed to meet Reggie after school to talk about their Egyptian math project!

  Breaking into a run, Katani sprinted until she couldn’t breathe. When she reached the entrance to school, she slowed to a walk so she could catch her breath. Who knew yarn could be so heavy? she thought as she flew down the hall to the school library, only to find the door closed. About to collapse, she leaned over, dropping her two big bags of pink yarn on the floor beside her, and tried to catch her breath. Her legs and feet were aching. Katani tried to swallow the lump in her throat. What should she do now? She’d made a terrible mistake.

  She stood up at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

  Arms crossed over his chest, Math Boy glared at her. “I can’t believe you blew me off.”

  “Reggie, I’m really sorry, I—” Katani started.

  “I was pretty psyched about this project, but it doesn’t seem to matter that much to you.” Math Boy’s voice rose. “You know, I used to think you were serious about math and school and stuff. I mean, like you were up for a challenge, like me.”

  Katani opened her mouth to apologize again, but Reggie put his hands in his pockets and scowled at her. “You really let me down. I know our project could have been the best in the class. Not anymore.”

  Reggie turned his back to Katani and began walking down the hall. Close to tears, Katani watched as Reggie’s footsteps got softer and softer and silence filled the hallway. Just a few minutes ago she was on top of the world. Now, Math Boy thought she was a complete loser.

  Knit One, Purl One

  Isabel was waiting with Avery in the school lobby after basketball practice when she saw Katani. Katani was looking down as she walked and didn’t even notice her friends until she almost crashed into them.

  “You okay, Katani?” Isabel asked.

  Katani looked up, startled.

  “Earth to Katani!” Avery laughed. “What are you still doing here?”

  Katani put on a brave face for her friends. She hated it when people knew she was upset. “I was checking to see if I could catch a ride home with my grandmother.”

  “There’s my mom. We’ll give you a ride,” Avery said. “Come on!”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Isabel asked as they walked into the cold afternoon air.

  Katani nodded. “I just stayed up way too late last night.”

  “Ugh, me too.” Avery opened the front door of her mother’s SUV. “Hi, Mom. Can we give Katani a ride home, too?”

  “Of course.” Mrs. Madden turned to say hello to Katani and Isabel.

  Avery was bouncing on the front seat. “I can’t stop thinking about the exhibition game. It’s in two days! Coach Porter announces the final team tomorrow. I’m so rocked. There’s just too much going on this week!”

  “I told Avery it’s not going to help to worry,” Mrs. Madden said as they drove away from the school. “If you girls are working too hard, you should have a time-out. We should stop at J. P. Licks or something like that.”

  “Sounds great!” Katani started, then thought better of it. An ice-cream break did sound perfect, but she really needed to get to work on those scarves. “But I should get home,” she finished, in a disappointed voice.

  “Same. I should help with supper,” Isabel added glumly.

  “All right, but remember,” Mrs. Madden told the girls, “keep things in perspective and don’t take too much on, or even small things can seem overwhelming.”

  Avery and Isabel started telling Mrs. Madden about basketball practice. It wasn’t until they were driving down her street that Isabel noticed Katani hadn’t said a single word since they’d left the school. Isabel was about to ask Katani how all her work was going when Katani’s face became suddenly animated.

  “I almost forgot, Izzy!” she exclaimed. “I need to get back those knitting needles you borrowed, if that’s all right. I’ll just need them for a few days, then you can have them again. I may have a few scarves going at the same time, you know, for the contest.”

  “Sure, no problem. Come in with me. You can say hi to my mother while I get them,” Isabel said as they pulled up in front of Aunt Lourdes’s house.

  “Is that okay, Mrs. Madden?” Katani asked. “I’ll be really quick.”

  “Of course, dear. Take your time.” Katani smiled at Avery’s mom. Mrs. Madden was so nice, even smiling when Avery turned the radio up really loud.

  As soon as she opened the door, Isabel could smell the chili cooking. Her mother was sitting on the sofa knitting, like she had been for the last few days. Usually she would have been resting in her bedroom at this time. It made Isabel so happy to have her mother greet her when she walked through the door, she broke into a smile and ran to give her a hug. “How do you feel, Mama?”

  She greeted Katani then turned to Isabel. “Bien. Muy bien.”

  Isabel grinned with happiness. “What have you been doing?”

  “Oh, just watching some talk shows while I work on this blanket,” her mother said, shaking her head. “It’s unbelievable, all these crazy people on TV! But I need background noise while I’m knitting.”

  “Just a minute, Mama. Mrs. Madden is waiting outside. I have to go get the knitting needles I borrowed from Katani. Be right back.” Isabel dashed out of the room.

  Katani was impressed by the neat, steady click-clacking of Mrs. Martinez’s needles. She knits even faster than me, Katani thought, a little envious. “What are you making, Mrs. Martinez?” she asked, coming over to the couch to get a better look.

  “Oh, it is just a baby blanket. Isabel has a new little cousin
,” she replied with a weary smile. “Which reminds me. Thank you so much, Katani, for loaning Isabel those knitting needles. Mine are nearly always in use, as you see.”

  “No problem,” Katani reassured her.

  “Are you starting some new project that you need them back now?”

  “Well…” Katani considered whether she should tell Mrs. Martinez about the contest and the impossible pile of knitting she had waiting for her at home. As she looked into Mrs. Martinez’s kind brown eyes, she knew she could trust her.

  “The thing is, I kind of do have a problem,” she said in a low voice. “I promised to knit twenty scarves by this weekend for this contest I’m entering, and I haven’t even started yet.”

  “Oh, that is a problem,” Mrs. Martinez agreed, looking concerned. “Twenty scarves? That is a lot for a girl who also has to keep up with her schoolwork, family, and friends.” She gave Katani a knowing look.

  “I know,” Katani said, looking down.

  “But,” Mrs. Martinez continued, leaning in and speaking in a low voice as well, “I think I might be able to help you.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, I don’t feel very well sometimes, but I do have two good hands here.” She smiled, and it dawned on Katani what she was proposing.

  “You would do that? You would help me knit?” Katani asked incredulously.

  “Of course!” Mrs. Martinez’s smile was getting bigger. “To tell you the truth, Katani, I get tired of watching TV and letting everyone else do things for me all the time. It would make me very happy to be able to do something to help someone else.”

  “It would be a huge help to me,” Katani agreed. All of a sudden she felt hopeful.

  “I’m sure I could knit at least three by this weekend,” Mrs. Martinez offered.

  “Thank you!” Katani exclaimed. Then her face darkened again. “Oh, but, Mrs. Martinez, if you could maybe not mention anything to Isabel…I’m trying to do this on my own. You know—a surprise for everyone.”

  “Your secret is safe with me, Katani,” Mrs. Martinez reassured her. “You will bring me the yarn that you would like me to use and a sample scarf?”

  “Yes, absolutely. I’ll get it to you as soon as I can. I have the yarn in the car…but if I bring it in now, Avery and Isabel will see….”

  “Don’t worry, Katani. Just give it to me when you bring the sample.”

  “Thank you so much!” Katani was glowing. Three scarves down, only seventeen to go!

  Isabel rushed back in, holding the needles out. Katani and her mother suddenly got quiet, and she felt like she was interrupting something. That’s weird, she thought briefly as she handed over the knitting needles.

  Katani looked at her watch. “I better go,” she said, and started toward the door with the knitting needles. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Martinez. See you tomorrow, Izzy.”

  TO: Charlotte

  FROM: Katani

  SUBJECT: Wat do you think?

  Hey Char, Need 2 ask u sumthing. remember whitney from high hopes? The 1 who reminded me of Anna and Joline? well, I saw her at the yarn store 2 day. I told her it wouldn’t be fair if she entered the contest—should I have sed that?

  w/b soon! thanx—

  Kgirl

  CHAPTER 9

  Who’s the Genius Now?

  Maeve paced around her room, picking up a glass figurine, a stuffed bunny, and a picture of the BSG. She eyed her “crush alert” wall, starring a poster of Orlando. Betsy would be over in five minutes. It would be so strange to have the Betsy Fitzgerald right here in her bedroom! I better straighten up, she thought as she began anxiously shoveling things into her drawers. She didn’t want Betsy thinking she was a total disaster.

  Maeve was still worried that she was betraying Katani by having Betsy tutor her. But Katani could finish her work without help from anyone. That’s the way she was. “But that is not the way I am,” Maeve said out loud. Still, she knew Katani well enough to know that she would be, if not angry, at least hurt. How could she understand Maeve really needed help when she never did?

  The idea of an angry Katani made Maeve even more nervous. She should have talked this through with the BSG. Now it was too late. Betsy would be here any second.

  Just then the doorbell rang. Maeve rushed downstairs and opened the door to find Betsy standing there with a worn leather briefcase.

  “Hi, Betsy,” Maeve said. “You look so…so professional.”

  “Thanks.” Betsy shrugged. “It’s my mom’s. My files don’t fit in my backpack. I have to keep all this tutoring stuff straight.”

  “I thought maybe you were going to try to sell me something!”

  “Oh, no!” Betsy looked shocked. “Just tutoring!”

  They laughed, breaking the awkwardness between them. Then Maeve said, “Let’s go to my room before my little brother comes out to spy on us.”

  Upstairs, Betsy’s eyes widened and she stood frozen in the doorway of Maeve’s pink palace. “I love this!” she exclaimed. “It’s so, um, wonderfully pink in here! You could open your own Think Pink!”

  “No, being onstage is my dream.”

  “I feel like I should put on my sunglasses. It’s so dazzling!” Betsy pointed to the pink shelves of ribbons and trophies. “Did you win all those?”

  Maeve nodded. “I’ve been taking dance practically my whole life.”

  “You must be really good at it.”

  “Better than math!” Maeve agreed, giggling.

  “We better get started,” a suddenly nervous Betsy said. They’d agreed to spend the first half of the session on math and the second on the English paper.

  As Betsy spread all her material out on Maeve’s desk, Maeve noticed her tutor glance up at her “cute boy alert” wall.

  “Who’s your favorite?” Maeve asked.

  “Definitely Orlando.”

  “Really?” Maeve never would have guessed that about studious Betsy!

  “I adore him,” Betsy admitted, blushing a little. “But back to tutoring.” Betsy was nothing if not focused. “We can start with your homework and go from there.”

  Maeve smiled and opened her book. Step by step, Betsy went through the first problem so Maeve could actually follow it. Then she said, “Okay, why don’t you start the next one. Don’t worry if you forget something. I’m going to walk you through it.”

  Maeve looked down at the swirl of numbers and then back up at Betsy. “I could show you a couple of dance moves if you want.”

  “Really?” Betsy looked surprised. Then her eyes fell on her watch. “Maybe when we’re done. But I’m not much of a dancer. Let’s keep going. What would you do next here?”

  When they got to problem number three, Maeve couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Did you like Orlando better in The Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean?”

  “Oh Pirates, definitely.”

  “Me too!”

  The girls stared at the poster of Orlando with his moussed hair, black hoodie, and adorable grin.

  “He’s so cool, and those eyes,” Maeve gushed. “He always seems like he’s staring right at me!”

  “Maybe we should start on the English paper?” Betsy suggested.

  Maeve sighed. “We could.”

  “Okay.” Betsy pointed to Maeve’s shelves beyond the poster. “Is that a Magic 8 Ball, by any chance?”

  “Yes.” Maeve was afraid Betsy would think it was sort of silly.

  “I had one too. I used to be obsessed!”

  “I totally was!” Maeve practically shouted. She couldn’t believe she had this in common with Betsy too. Orlando and the Magic 8 Ball. Who would have guessed?

  “Don’t tell anyone this, but I used to ask mine if I’d be the first woman president,” Betsy said. “I’d ask about once a day until I got the answer ‘Signs point to yes’ or ‘Without a doubt.’”

  “I asked if I’d win an Oscar for Best Actress!” Maeve exclaimed. “That’s my number-one dream.” She smiled. “Should we ask i
t a question now?”

  Betsy looked at her watch again. “Maeve, we have to get back to work. Time is flying, and we’ve barely gotten anything done!” Betsy straightened the piles of papers in front of them. “I haven’t been very professional. I haven’t even taught you anything yet!”

  Maeve looked guiltily at her math homework. “Number three.”

  Betsy frowned and tapped her pencil nervously. “Do you think we could move to the kitchen to study? I can’t seem to concentrate with all this, um, pink in here.”

  “That’s funny. Pink totally relaxes me. In fact, I think I’d do much better in school if all the school walls were painted pink,” Maeve said. “But sure, we can move if you think it’d work out better.”

  In the kitchen, the girls spread their papers and books out on the wooden table and got down to business. It was a great place to work. They went through Maeve’s math homework until it really started to make sense. By the end, she was actually doing each problem on her own with Betsy’s encouragement. Betsy was almost as good a tutor as Matt.

  Maeve smiled when they finished. “You know, I actually hope the Crow calls on me tomorrow.”

  “Mr. Sherman?” Betsy asked.

  Maeve wrinkled her brows and flapped her arms until Betsy was laughing. “Okay, you’re right! He does look like a crow.”

  Next, they made a list of everything Maeve needed to do to organize her Romeo and Juliet project, including a visit to the library after school the next day. Betsy had seen the movie version, too. “It’s really amazing that this play has been remade so many times,” Betsy said. “It never gets old.”

  “It’s so totally romantic. Love doesn’t change!” Maeve swept her hand across her heart.

  “Yes,” Betsy agreed. “Language changes, clothes change, hairdos change, but human nature doesn’t. That’s why Shakespeare’s plays are done over and over again.”