Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars (4 page)

She shook her head to clear it and decided that it would probably be a smart idea to actually have plans to talk to her dad about, so she signed online hoping that the BSG would be online too.

I
sabel couldn't believe that she was awake before noon on a Saturday, and what was even more unbelievable, that she was awake before noon to learn about science. But she was excited to get Elena Maria together with Scott Madden, and who could pass up a 3D holograph exhibit? Actually, she had been lying in bed for at least an hour now, thinking about 3D bird images and waiting for Elena Maria to get out of the bathroom.

When she realized it was getting late, Isabel finally rolled out from under her squishy comforter. It took her all of two seconds to throw on a pair of comfy green sweats and her current favorite T-shirt—one with a beautiful parrot on it saying, “Polly want a little piece and quiet at the Boston Public Library.” Katani found it at a thrift shop and got it for Isabel, who loved birds and art with equal passion.

She went and knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you ready to go yet, Miss Elena?”

“Almost!” Elena Maria hollered back.

“Almost?” Isabel was beginning to get worried. She really didn't want to be late to meet the BSG at the T stop. Isabel packed everything she needed for the fair, which was her sketchbook and pencil. Her art supplies were really all she needed to go anywhere. Then she straightened up her side of the room and made her bed. When she was done, she marched back to the bathroom and pounded on the door. “Elenaaaaaa! C'mon! This isn't the Grammys.”

The door creaked opened, and Elena Maria popped her head out. “I'm having such a bad hair day. Would you look at this?” Elena held up a strand of her long, wavy, dark brown hair, with a look of dismay on her face.

Isabel couldn't believe her sister. “Are you kidding me? Elena, your hair, as usual, looks perfect. And are you serious? Eye makeup? At nine in the morning? We're not going to a party,
mi hermana
.”

Elena Maria shrugged. “Well…I just thought…”

Isabel knew exactly what her sister thought. Elena Maria's cheeks were bright pink—and it wasn't the blush she was wearing. “You look awesome, Elena. But you're totally going to be the most dressed up girl at this thing.”

But when they arrived at the train, Isabel saw that she was wrong—her sister was definitely not the most dressed-up girl attending the Sally Ride Science Festival. That prize had to go to (she should have known) the one—the only—Miss Maeve Kaplan-Taylor.

“Yoo-hoo! Martinez sisters! Over here!” Maeve waved her hand in the air, jangling the many charms on her bracelet.

Despite the minor snag in her ensemble plan the night before, Maeve was extremely proud of her final selection,
which she deemed oh-so-college-y. She was wearing her favorite flared jeans that fit her just right with a soft pink sweater and a pink and scarlet plaid wool blazer. Though it had taken her nearly an hour to transform her famous red curls into a sleek, shiny, straight 'do, Maeve thought it was definitely worth the effort. She topped off the whole look with a little raspberry cap slightly tilted to the side, a leather briefcase her mother had saved from the eighties, and a pair of non prescription pink tortoise shell glasses.

The rest of the BSG watched Isabel stifle a giggle as she took in Maeve's totally over-the-top outfit.

“What do you think?” Maeve threw her arms in the air. “Am I college-prep, or what?”

It took all the strength Isabel could muster to reply, “Absolutely.”

“Thanks! Plus, this briefcase doubles as a purse. Genius, right?” Maeve huddled the girls together and whispered, “And these glasses…aren't real, you know.”

Katani shook her head. “Well, no kidding, girlfriend! I think we'd all know at this point if you wore glasses.”

Charlotte adjusted her own
real
glasses and cleared her throat. “Ahem. Too bad you can't be as lucky as me to be born this way!”

“I wish I was!” Maeve exclaimed. “Glasses are soooo
in
right now, Char. They make you look ultra-sophisticated. I found these puppies at Think Pink after school yesterday. You gals have to swear on your lives you won't tell anyone they're fake!” she begged.

Even Katani and Avery, who both thought Maeve's romantic fantasies could be way too intense sometimes, couldn't
help laughing. “You know, the thing about being friends with Maeve,” Katani informed an awestruck Elena Maria, “is that life is always in full color.”

Elena Maria smiled. “I can see that,” she said. Then, turning pinker and speaking softer, she mumbled, “Hey, Scott.”

Scott pulled out his iPod earphones, grunted a quick, “'Sup,” and quickly replaced the earphones.

Elena Maria took the lid off a shoebox she was holding. “I made some of my chocolate and cinnamon spice cookies. I hope you like them as much as my salsa…you know, the one I made for the bake sale?”

“Huh?” Scott took out his earphones again. “Oh, sweet. Thanks, Elena.” He took a cookie and went right back to listening to his music. The BSG gratefully helped themselves to the cookies, but despite the girls' excitement over the delicious treats, Isabel noticed that her sister looked majorly disappointed.

“So, so stupid,” Elena Maria murmured to herself.

Avery glanced at Scott pointedly, but he was totally immersed in grooving to his tunes. “Don't worry, you two,” Maeve whispered, looping her arms over her friends' shoulders. “That's part of the ‘Secret Language of Boys.' I read all about it in
Teen Beat
. It said the less that comes out of his mouth, the
more
he likes the girl. Luckily, we females are
much
more advanced.”

Avery, who spent way more time playing sports with dudes then reading crush articles about them, was surprisingly irritated at her big brother's behavior. “The least he could do is talk to her like a normal person! Is that too much to ask?”

Charlotte, Maeve, Isabel, and Katani looked at one another and answered at the same time, “
Yes!
”

“Besides, it could be worse. At least your brother
attempts
to be cool,” Maeve complained. “Mine still thinks that cool means dressing up in weird costumes and making potions out of pickle juice and shaving cream. Can you believe Sam actually
wanted
to go to this science festival? Like, for
fun
. I told him it's for girls but he still wanted to go. Seriously, I had to sneak out of the house this morning while he was in the bathroom. It was a way close call.” Maeve took a mirror out of her briefcase and applied sparkly gloss to her lips.

“Um, Maeve?” Katani gently elbowed her friend.

“One sec,” Maeve said, studying her reflection so intently that she neglected to notice the station wagon pulling to a stop beside her.

“I am
very
disappointed in you, young lady!” scolded a deep voice from within the car.

Maeve didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Her face turned pale as she weakly uttered, “Dad?”

“We made it! We made it!” Sam cheered. “Houston, we
don't
have a problem!” He popped out of the passenger seat and skipped right over to Maeve.

Dressing up must be part of the Kaplan-Taylor DNA,
Charlotte thought, fighting the urge to grin. Much to Maeve's horror, Sam had chosen to sport a bright blue
Star Trek
costume—the one he had worn for the last two Halloweens in a row—complete with plastic pointed ears.

“Good morning, girls!” Mr. Taylor greeted the BSG, back to his normal, cheerful self. “Oh, and good morning,
boy
,” he
added goofily, saluting Scott Madden. “I thought you might need a little Spock to help you navigate your way through the world of science, boldly going where no BSG has gone before…,”

“Daaaaaaad, the Festival's for girls,” Maeve breathed through clenched teeth.

“Live long and prosper,” Sam greeted Charlotte, holding up one hand with the fingers spread apart in the middle.

Charlotte covered her heart with two hands and mouthed “
He's so cute!
” to Maeve.

Maeve clearly did not agree. “Dad, you can't be serious,” she moaned.

“Do I look serious?” Mr. Taylor asked. With his bushy eyebrows and out-of-control curly hair, Maeve thought her father looked anything
but
serious, though she knew better than to say that now. “You are babysitting, Maeve. I checked with the festival people, and little brothers are welcome as long as someone is responsible for them.”

“But, Dad, it's supposed to be my special day with Ma—I mean, learning about science and stuff. Not the day I have to supervise my Martian slash brother.”

“Hey! Who you calling a Martian? I'm a
Vulcan…duh
!” Sam thwacked his head with his palm in frustration.

“I'll keep an eye on him, Maeve…if you want,” Charlotte volunteered. As an only child, Charlotte often wondered what it would be like to have siblings. Sure, her friends complained sometimes, but she saw how much fun all the kids in big families had together. And if she
did
have a brother, she secretly wished he would be just like Sam—school-obsessed and proud of it…the way that she was.

“That would be wonderful, Charlotte!” Mr. Taylor said with a grateful smile.

Charlotte nodded, glancing fondly at Sam. “Totally.”

“Of course, I would pay you as a regular babysitter,” he added. “Five bucks an hour.”

“Five bucks? Really?” Charlotte squeaked with a smile. She was saving money for a journal she'd seen with a pretty purple suede cover.

“
Really?
” Maeve squeaked with a frown. Now she was feeling totally guilty and annoyed. As the big sister, it was her job to take care of Sam. She didn't want her friends to have to deal with him, and she
definitely
didn't want her dad to have to shell out cash for it. “Char, you really don't have to—” Maeve started.

“No, it'll be fun!” Charlotte said enthusiastically. “It's just a good thing I didn't bring Marty. Then I'd have two little pups to look after!” she joked as she tousled Sam's shaggy hair. Marty was the adorable little pooch that belonged to all the BSG but lived with Charlotte and her father. It had been doggie love at first sight when the BSG rescued him from a garbage can.

Maeve could hardly believe her eyes when Sam laughed along with Charlotte's joke. If Maeve had called him a “pup,” he would have been telling on her to their parents in two seconds!
What disloyalty!
She guessed Sam and Charlotte had some kind of brainiac connection she couldn't understand, which only made her feel worse for not living up to her big-sisterly duties.

The T arrived just as Mr. Taylor was getting back into the car. “Thank you so much, Charlotte!” He waved and restarted
the noisy station wagon. “Good-bye…Maeve…Sam, be good for Charlotte.” And then he was off.

Feeling somewhat dejected, Maeve took her time boarding the train. As she climbed the stairs behind Scott, she wondered what her father had meant by that last part. Was he just saying bye? He wasn't telling
her
to be good, too…was he? Didn't her dad realize that she was practically a teenager? After all, she was definitely ready to start wearing a bra. What she needed right now was to talk to a real-live teenager, someone who would know for sure if she, Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, was a mature teenager too.

The gang took their seats on the crowded train. Elena Maria thoughtfully scooted next to the window, leaving one empty seat. And since Scott was the only person still standing, she was pretty sure he was going to end up right where she wanted him—right next to her. Maybe once they started chatting he would get more comfortable and start acting like her friend again.

Scott scanned the train and immediately spotted Elena Maria and the empty seat beside her. He took out his earphones and nervously began, “Hey, Elena, do you mind if I—”

“'Scuse me, Scott!” Maeve sang, squeezing through the crowd. “Yowch! Make way, please. Coming through.” Maeve shot past Scott and let out a huge sigh as she collapsed next to Elena Maria. “Gosh, that was a close call! I have some serious issues to discuss and the only other open seat was next to Katani.”

“Um, Maeve, wouldn't you like to discuss your ‘serious issues' with Katani? She
is
one of your best friends…,” Elena Maria suggested.

Maeve shook her head. “I can't talk to Katani about these things. I need to talk to an older woman. Hey, Scott, you can grab the seat next to Kgirl if you want.”

“Sure…whatever,” Scott mumbled. Katani didn't say a word as Scott sat down, but continued to flip through the magazine in her lap.

“Whatcha reading?” he asked, attempting to be friendly.

“
Fashion Plate
,” she replied without looking up.

“Cool. Oh, right, Avery said that you were, like, wicked into clothes.”

“Fashion,” Katani corrected. “Clothes are just clothes. Clothes are what
you
wear. But fashion…well,
fashion
is art.” Katani hoped she didn't sound rude, but she really didn't appreciate being interrupted when she was in the middle of creative inspiration. All she wanted to do on the train ride was read the latest issue of
Fashion Plate
and think about the future fashion lines she would create someday, when she was a big-time designer.

“So, uh, are you also into sports?” Scott asked.

Katani was now officially annoyed. Just because his sister Avery was a total sports nut did not mean that
she
was. “Not really,” Katani answered. “Why?”

“Oh, well, I've seen your sister Patrice on the basketball court. She's amazing! I figured it must run in the family,” Scott offered with a friendly smile.

“It doesn't,” Katani informed him. If there was one thing that really got under her skin, it was being compared to her older sisters, Patrice and Candice, who were both exceptional athletes. Though Katani was tall and slim like her older sisters, she always felt like a total galumph on the basketball
court. She hoped that people could see beyond her lack of sports talent to the future businesswoman and fashionista extraordinaire that she was inside.