Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars (3 page)

“But, but, Jake Axle…,” Maeve pleaded. She gave him her best
I'll be so good if you do
look. “Please, Matt.
Pleeeeease
?”

“Tell you what, if we still have time after you finish your math homework, then we'll listen to your hot Jake Axle song.” Matt put his hand out for Maeve to shake. “Deal?”

Maeve smiled and grabbed his hand. “Deal!” Her heart did a little flip-flop. She couldn't believe she was actually touching the hand of Matt the Adorable!

Concentrating on the rest of the lesson was definitely challenging, but Maeve did her best to focus. She was positive that once Matt saw the moves she had choreographed,
he would definitely be impressed. She flipped open her laptop and scrolled through her calendar, searching for today's homework assignments. Because she was dyslexic, her teachers let her bring a laptop to class to help with writing and spelling. Fortunately that meant she could also use the laptop to keep track of her very busy life, which
un
fortunately seemed to always include hours of homework.

After what seemed like forever and a half, she finished the exercises assigned in her textbook. “
Done!
” Maeve cried at the end of twenty minutes of pre-algebra torture. She dropped her head on the tabletop for a half-second, jumped to her feet, and ran over to the CD player. The room thumped with the beat of drums, electric guitars, and a keyboard. Maeve folded her hands across her chest and froze until Jake's honey voice started crooning:

Maeve was thrilled as she got her groove going in perfect step to Jake Axle's new number one single. At the end of the song Maeve spun around and struck a pose in an almost-perfect imitation of Bedazzle, whose number one videos had
the absolute best choreography, in Maeve's professional opinion. She had been practicing the singer's signature move for months now.
Am I ready to star in my own music video or what?
she thought proudly, looking up at Matt and wiping a tiny pearl of sweat off her forehead.

“Mix-Master-Curl in the houuuuse!” Matt cheered. He put two fingers in his mouth and sounded a loud whistle. “That was off the hook, Maeve. How did you remember that whole routine?”

Maeve, who usually had answers for everything, could only shrug. She was thrilled that Matt recognized her mad dance skills. She thought her heart might skip a beat!

“Okay, Maeve, now for the really big announcement. You managed to get every answer correct. I'm very proud of you.”

“Really?” Maeve asked, totally surprised. “But I'm terrible in math, so how did I get all of those problems right?”

“It's just like dancing, Maeve,” Matt told her wisely. “You gotta work at that, right? I mean, you must have practiced that routine for hours. The more you practice, the better you get. Same with math.” He grabbed his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I gotta go, but we're on for Saturday, right?” he asked. Maeve managed a nod as she started shuffling through her closet in her head—planning an outfit was sort of a gut reaction. “Great! I'll text you with the times and stuff. Check it out with your friends and your mom. Take it easy, Mix-Master-Curl!” Matt called over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

Sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor, Maeve's heart was still beating like crazy.
Mix-Master-Curl…
She wrapped
a strand of her curly red hair around her finger, then jumped up to look in the mirror. Lucky for her, the frizz attack was under control today. She wondered if Matt liked red hair. Some boys at school made fun of it. But luckily, she had Katani, the style queen, to reassure her: “Luxuriate in your red curls, Maeve. They're distinctive.”

“Hey, Maeve? Guess what?” It was Sam. Now he was in his full Army uniform. Maeve had to admit—he made an impressive little Army dude. She let go of her hair and watched it spring back into a perfect banana curl.

“What?” She turned to smile at her precious little brother.

“I'm going too!”

And before Maeve had a chance to scream “
Noooooooo!
” her pesty little brother was gone.

A
very Madden zipped over to the BSG lunch table with a plastic tray teetering in her hands. “Happy Friday to me! Spaghetti and meatballs today! You gotta love it. That's like a million times better than tuna fish surprise. Who's with me?” Avery held out her hand for her friends to slap her five but nobody was paying attention. They were all staring at Maeve. Charlotte's mouth was open so wide that Avery worried her jaw might just hit the cafeteria floor. “Okay, what's the soap opera today, BSG?” she asked.

Isabel looked up at Avery with wide eyes. “Maeve says she has…a date.”

Maeve sat beside Isabel, munching away on a meatball and beaming from ear to ear. She explained, “Yes. A date with a real, live college guy.”

Katani rolled her eyes. “It's just her tutor, Matt. He's taking her to some science thing at MIT. Trust me, girlfriend, science festival plus your college-age math tutor does not equal a date.”

Charlotte, the writer and the most imaginative of the group, held up her spoon to object. “Wait a minute there, Kgirl. Haven't you ever heard of a thing called
chemistry
? That's science too, after all.”

“That's funny, Char.” Isabel giggled.

“Well, a girl can dream. Why don't you guys come along?” Maeve suggested. “Matt asked me to invite you all so you can get some ideas for your science fair projects, too. Wasn't that darling of him?”

“Okay, Maeve, if he invited your friends, not no way, not no how is this a date,” a blunt Avery told her. “Even I know that.” But Maeve, lost in her own romantic fantasies, hardly gave her friends' suspicions any thought.

Charlotte spooled a few strands of spaghetti around on her fork and commented to no one in particular, “What do you think, guys? A science festival could be fun. I saw a flier about the Sally Ride Science one at Montoya's yesterday, and it looks wicked.”

“Wicked, huh?” Avery gave Charlotte a joking nudge. “Looks like some of our cool Boston lingo is finally rubbing off on our world traveler.”

Charlotte had lived all over the world, including Australia, Africa, and Paris. When her father landed a job at a college back in their home town of Boston, Charlotte quickly realized that she felt right at home—especially now, with her new best friends, the BSG. But the funny Boston expressions…well, they still felt a little weird coming out of her mouth. She was sure her face had turned watermelon pink.
Did I sound completely goofy saying “wicked”?
she wondered.

“Count me out, BSG. I've got my pick-up soccer game on
Saturday. Nothing messes with my soccer,” Avery said with a grin.

“Well, I really want to see the experiments on alternative energy, like wind. Alternative energy is the hot thing, you know. Imagine living in a house powered entirely by wind or water….” Charlotte nodded emphatically.

“Whoa,” Isabel said. “That sounds totally sci-fi! How does that work?”

All the girls looked interested…except Maeve, who was worried that the conversation was about to get a little too science-y for her taste. She tried to steer things back to her own hot topic—a certain dreamy, blue-eyed tutor.

“Forget alternative energy, Char. This festival is going to be positively
dripping
with handsome college guys.” Maeve fanned her face with her hand.

Avery made a gagging noise and Katani, who looked totally annoyed, blurted out, “Girlfriend, get real. We're twelve. I barely have time to look for a boyfriend in the seventh grade.”

“I know, I know.” Maeve pouted. Katani could be such a bummer sometimes. “Can't I just crush on him for a while?” she added defensively.

“You can crush on whoever you want, but boys shouldn't be the reason you go to a science festival,” Katani said.

“Earth to Maeve,” Charlotte interrupted and reached over to grab Maeve's arm. “I hate to break it to you, but this festival is
girls only…
fifth to eighth graders.”

“Forget the date debate, you all,” Isabel piped up, through a mouthful of crunchy lettuce. “Charlotte is right. This could be a fun thing to check out.”

“I mean, I've wanted to go to the holography exhibit at the MIT museum ever since I moved to Boston,” she added. “Art in 3D? Does it get any
cooler
?” Isabel, the resident artist of the BSG, was constantly awing students with her funny cartoons in
The Sentinel
—the AAJH school paper.

Avery suddenly stood up with a now-empty lunch tray. “Looks like I've done enough damage here,” she said, patting her stomach. “You ladies can continue this date debate…I'm headed outside to the court…the b-ball court!” She turned to sprint her way to the tray depository.

“Wait!” Maeve cried. “Ave, did you know that MIT has one of the biggest college sports programs in the country?” Katani raised an eyebrow dubiously, but Maeve protested, “No, it's totally true. Matt told me.
And
you all might be interested to know that MIT has a whole system of underground tunnels…they might be pretty cool to explore.”

Avery slowly turned around. “Excuse me, did somebody just say sports and underground tunnels?” Maeve nodded her head up and down, sending her long curls into a vibrant bounce. “Okay, now I'm interested. Count me in! The soccer boys at the park will just have to manage without my superior talents.” Avery laughed as she ran off.

Katani tossed the end of her bright yellow, handmade scarf over her shoulder and answered, “Well, if you all are going, I'm in, too. I'll just have to make sure that Patrice can stay with Kelley while I'm gone. You know Kelley. Large crowds and underground tunnels would be a definite recipe for disaster.” Katani loved her older sister Kelley—they did tons of after-school activities together and even shared a room. But having a sister with autism meant that Katani had
a lot of extra responsibilities…and needed extra patience. Katani didn't mind. Sometimes, though, it was nice to get a break.

“So then it's settled!” Maeve announced. She stood up and, all jazzy-like, stretched out her arms and wiggled her fingers. “Official BSG outing slash Maeve Kaplan-Taylor sorta kinda maybe date with an adorable tutor.” Avery let out an audible groan as Maeve went on, “This Saturday morning we'll meet at the T stop on Beacon Street. Sally Ride Science Festival, make way for the BSG!”

“Hey, I have an idea: What about roping in Scott and Elena Maria?” Avery exclaimed, skidding back into her seat at the table. “It's our chance to get them together.”

Scott was Avery's older brother; Elena Maria was Isabel's older sister. They were both in high school, both very cool, both loved cooking, and both—the girls suspected—secretly had crushes on each other. Elena Maria was dating this other guy, Jimmy, but Isabel knew for a fact that her sister wasn't very happy with the situation. Jimmy wasn't what she'd call the most thoughtful kind of guy. And Scott and Elena Maria had been amazing about helping the girls this year. They were the ones who had lent a hand to make all the delicious food for the BSG bake sale when they needed to raise money for their trip out west.

“That's an awesome idea!” Isabel agreed. “They would probably be happy to take us to the Science Festival…they could be chaperones, too. Especially if it means an excuse to hang out with each other…right?”

“Totally,” Maeve agreed. “Let's chat online tonight and firm up the details.”

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Katani noticed two super-trendy outfits moving toward them. Even while she was relaxing, her fashion radar was always on. “Make way for trouble,” she murmured.

“Yikes!” Avery cried. “QOM at one o'clock.”

Anna McMasters and Joline Kaminsky, a.k.a the Queens of Mean, were headed toward the BSG table. Anna looked like she was bursting with her usual ill will. The QOM were social climbers to the max, with a nasty habit of making fun of basically everybody while whispering and giggling—even during class. Charlotte dubbed them the “whisperers” when she first moved to Brookline. Katani gave them an A plus for their fashion efforts (she said they were funky and courageous), but gave their personalities a D minus minus.

“Hold the phone,” Anna squealed as she click-clacked her way to the table with a bright pink smile pasted to her face. “Did I actually hear you BSG saying that you were going to a science festival this weekend?”

“And just when I thought that your little group of friends couldn't get any pathetic-er,” Joline added.

“I don't think ‘pathetic-er' is a word, Joline,” Charlotte informed her—with her own satisfied smile. “Which you would know, if you had paid attention to the vocabulary section Ms. R assigned us last week.”

Anna snorted. “Well, excuse us if we're not, like, super-nerds like you BSG, or whatever.”

Joline leaned over and whispered something to Anna, and the two of them immediately burst out laughing.

“Major point, Jo,” Anna said conspiratorially. “My cool friend here just reminded me that we have plans for this
weekend. Plans that don't involve being ultra-geeks 24/7. Plans that are so cool that you wouldn't even understand if we told you in English.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Isabel muttered to Avery.

“That we don't speak Crazy…the native language of the Queens of Mean?” Avery answered.

As Avery and Isabel shared their own little giggle, Anna and Joline strutted away, swinging their shoulders and arms back and forth like they were trying to walk down a fashion runway. When they passed Avery, Anna stopped and suddenly something round and very blue began to bulge out of her lips. It grew bigger and bigger. It was certainly bigger than any bubble gum bubble that Avery had ever seen before, and she considered herself sort of an expert on gum. Just when she thought Anna's bubble was going to float up to the cafeteria ceiling from Anna's lips, Anna flicked out her tongue, snapped the gum, and slurped it into her mouth with one gasp. It was incredible really—especially since she managed to get not even a tiny fleck of gum on her face.

“Enjoy the geek fest, dweebettes.” Anna smirked. With that, she and Joline flitted away.

“I really can't take those two,” grumbled Charlotte, who hardly ever had a negative thing to say about anybody.

“Me either!” Avery exclaimed. “But I really want to know where Anna got that ri-
donc
-ulous blue gum. I've never seen anything like it! Do you think it might be extraterrestrial?”

“Translation?” Maeve demanded.

“Extraterrestrial means from another planet. Like Martians or aliens,” Charlotte explained. Char was the BSG resident word nerd—and proud of it.

Isabel shuddered. “Gosh, I hope not. But being from another planet could answer a lot of unsolved mysteries about those two girls.”

The BSG shared a laugh as they gathered their trays and made their way back to class.

Growing Pains (in the Neck)

That night, Maeve was at her dad's apartment trying to figure out what to wear to the science festival. She was still getting used to having parents who were separated. It was hard, going from a family where both parents were always there at the beginning and end of the day to switching from apartment to apartment every other weekend. And it always made her a little sad when she didn't see her dad during the week. The whole separated-parents thing was just so complicated, she thought with a sigh. And annoying—
like, how am I ever supposed to put together the perfect Science Festival outfit when I don't even have all my clothes in one place?

In her head, Maeve had it all planned out. She wanted to wear her perfect pink puffy-cap-sleeve blouse with her favorite pair of Audrey Hepburn-inspired, skinny, black Capri pants. Unfortunately, her perfect blouse was perfectly clean, perfectly ironed, and hanging perfectly on a hanger in the closet…at her mother's apartment.

At least she had packed her back-up blouse, the one she wore all the time back in sixth grade, and hoped it still fit. She pulled her arms into the sleeves.
Phew
—they were still long enough. But when she started to button up the front, things felt all weird. She looked at herself in the mirror and shook
her head. The blouse felt way too small, but her pants from sixth grade still fit.

Suddenly, Maeve heard a knock at the door. “It's me, honey. Can I come in?” called Mr. Taylor.

“No! I'm changing!” Maeve cried, and without even thinking about it, folded her arms across her chest.

“Well, come out when you're ready,” her dad told her. “I want to find out what your final plans are for this Science Festival outing.”

“Okay, Dad, gimme a minute.” Maeve furiously tore off her once-favorite blouse and, wearing just a white tank-top with her jeans, stared at her reflection in the full length mirror. She studied herself from every angle, feeling puzzled. She hadn't outgrown her pants from sixth grade yet. Was it possible to go up a size on one part of your body but not another?

Suddenly, the truth hit her like a lighting bolt. She felt her face flush as she realized what the difference was. She, Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, was in desperate need of…a
bra
!

Maeve crossed her arms and threw herself onto the beanbag in the corner to think this over. At that moment, more than ever before, Maeve wished divorces, separations, and different homes were illegal or something. She definitely needed her Mom right now—talking to her dad about bras was absolutely, positively out of the question. So totally weird it made her shudder just to think about it. But she wouldn't be seeing her mom before the Festival tomorrow, so what could she do?

Maeve resolved to wear a striped pink sweater with her jeans instead, and sadly folded her old favorite blouse and
placed it back in her bureau. This was a milestone moment for Maeve, who never folded anything—much to über-organized Katani's utter dismay.