Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars (7 page)

Avery shrugged. “I dunno. I just thought it was supposed to be whatever science thing you wanted to learn about…you know?”

Matt smiled. “Well, according to Al Gore, the environment isn't just going to be
an
issue for the future of our Earth…it's already
the
issue.”

“Oo! Oo! Oo!” Avery hooted excitedly, practically bouncing out of her seat. “This could work! We should totally make the AAJH science fair all about saving the planet!”

“If you guys truly feel passionate about environmental issues, that would be a very cool idea,” Matt agreed.

“You really think?” asked Maeve.

Matt shrugged. “Hey. Why not? Didn't I tell you Mix-Master-Curl could do anything? Especially with your BSG posse around.”

Maeve felt herself glowing as she watched the city of Cambridge, next door to Boston and Brookline, rush by her window. All in all, she thought, it had been one fabulous day…even the science was cool.

M
aeve couldn't believe how tired she was when she returned home from the Festival.
Phew! College is seriously a ton of work
, she thought.
Not just all the learning and everything, but running around all over that big, beautiful campus. And on top of all of that, I'm supposed to make sure my hair doesn't get frizzy! In five years or something, am I really going to be cut out for college? It's not like I'm Betsy Fitzgerald.
Maeve sighed. Betsy was AAJH's superstar student, who was dedicated to growing her college résumé at every opportunity.

As Maeve made her way up the stairs of the apartment, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was pleased to find that each strand of her straight-for-the-day hairdo was absolutely perfect.
Huh. Maybe I am cut out for this after all
. Maeve flashed herself a gloriously glam smile, and began daydreaming about what her life would be like when she was old enough to be a real college student.

First of all, she was definitely going to have a boyfriend as cute as Matt. Maybe they would work on a science fair
project like Bailey's together…someday. The thought of growing plants from tiny seedlings, making sure that they were properly cared for and turning out beautiful pink flowers for everyone to enjoy, made Maeve feel all glowy inside.

When Maeve arrived at her room, she flung open the door, and was totally ready to throw herself on her big, pink, plushy bed, when she noticed something blocking her dramatic moment: a large brown shopping bag. This was very strange, Maeve thought. It wasn't anywhere near her birthday or anything.

Tied on the handle of the bag with a pink ribbon was a small card with a note. Maeve opened the card and slowly read the words. “Maeve, let me know if this fits. My girl is growing up!!! XOXO ~ Love Mom.”

Maeve's stomach did a tiny flip-flop as she wondered what might be lying beneath the light pink tissue paper. It was certainly something sophisticated—there was no doubt about that! Maeve hoped it would be the cute jean skirt that she'd been eyeing in the window of Think Pink—her favorite local boutique and pink stuff headquarters. Every day when she drove by Think Pink with her mom, she oohed and aahed over that lovely sequined pink denim number. Maybe her mom had finally picked up on her not-so-subtle hints.

Maeve never had much patience for suspense. It took her all of two seconds to pull out the tissue paper, shake it, and rip it up into shreds, revealing a small piece of white fabric. But it definitely took Maeve less than half a second to realize exactly what that little piece of white fabric
was
.

A bra.

A training bra?

A really, really,
really,
totally not cute training bra.

Maeve used her thumb and forefinger to pick up the garment, slowly—very slowly—and hold it up an arm's length away to give it an inspection. She wanted a bra, but Maeve had always imagined that her very
first
bra would be…well…something not quite so
blah
. Something silky maybe, with lace, and teeny tiny rosebuds. But this, this,
thing…
Ugh.

As Maeve put on her coziest pajamas, she knew there was no getting around it—sooner or later she was going to have to talk to her mom about this little “present.” She just didn't realize how soon until she heard a quiet knock on her door. “Yoo-hoo, honey. It's me. Your mother. Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Ms. Kaplan hesitantly creaked open the door, crept in slowly, and took a seat next to Maeve on her bed. She was moving so cautiously, Maeve wondered if her mom thought her bed was going to explode or something. “Soooo…tell me. Did you have a good time at the science festival today?”

Maeve shrugged. “It was okay, I guess. Definitely cooler than I thought it would be.”

“Really? How so?”

Maeve looked dreamily out the window, remembering how dashing Matt had been when he'd led the group through the creepy tunnel. “Oh, I dunno. They had some booths with science stuff that was really awesome. I can't believe how much those MIT kids know about the environment. This girl Bailey was growing the most awesome plants with her special organic fertilizer. And Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut, was there. And of course Matt was like,
the awesomest tour guide
ever.
He makes me feel like a real grown-up, you know?”

Maeve's mother burst into a smile of relief. “I'm so glad you feel that way, Maeve. In fact, that is exactly what I was hoping to talk to you about tonight.”

“Matt making me feel like a grown-up?”

“No,” Ms. Kaplan began, “I was going to talk to you about you
becoming
a grown-up. Did you see the surprise I left on your bed for you?”

“Oh…that.” Maeve felt herself blush.

“Yes,
that
.” Maeve noticed that her mom looked pretty uncomfortable too. “So…did you like it? Did you try it on?”

“Actually…”

“Well?”

Maeve saw how hopeful and sweet her mom's face looked. Now she didn't feel so much embarrassed—she just didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings by telling her that the bra she'd bought was far from the kind of bra that Maeve herself would ever want. So she decided to go with a little phrase that Katani had taught her when they were shopping together. Katani explained that this was what she said to Kelley when she didn't like what Kelley picked out. Maeve opened up her mouth, took a deep breath, and went for it. “To be honest, I wasn't
crazy
about it.”

“Not crazy about it?” Ms. Kaplan got up and fetched the bra from the bag. She held it up and inspected it from every angle. Maeve felt her humiliation creeping right back immediately. “Not crazy about it?” she repeated. She seemed confused. “I don't get it, Maeve. It's only a training bra, after all.
It's not supposed to be like those ridiculous things on those, those, you know, Dream commercials.”

Maeve shook her head. How was it possible for her mother to be so tragically out of touch with all things that were cool?

“I thought that the bra I picked out would be just perfect for you. The lady at the department store said it would fit most girls your age because the material was so stretchy.”

“And uncomfortable,” Maeve informed her. “I feel itchy just
looking
at it.”

Ms. Kaplan tapped her chin. “But I just thought…mmm. When I was your age I was way too embarrassed to ask my mom about getting a bra. She just sort of figured out when that time had come and left one on my bed like I did for you. Not cool, huh?” Her Mom looked over at Maeve with a half smile.

“Um, Mom,” Maeve began, taking a deep breath. “It's really nice that you did this for me. I mean, it's really, really sweet. But the thing is, when I imagined what my first bra would be like, I totally was thinking something way cuter—no offense, Mom.”

Ms. Kaplan shook her head, smiling. “You have always had a very strong sense of style, Maeve. So what did you have in mind, hon?”

“I dunno, like maybe something with a little more…lace…and like, little pearls? Ooh, and also, teeny tiny rosebuds, you know? Maybe it could even be pink. You know, my signature color!” Maeve suggested. When she saw her mother looking like she was about to laugh, Maeve figured she'd better hurry up and get the point across. “I mean, if I
absolutely must wear a bra, it should be just as cute as the clothes I want to wear over it…don't you think?”

Her mother nodded, patiently folded up the training bra, and placed it back in the shopping bag. “Well, I appreciate your honesty, sweetie. How about if you and I take a trip to the mall together on Monday to pick out a few together?”

Maeve smiled. “Really? Ones that I like?”

Ms. Kaplan squinted an eye. “Ones that we
agree on
.”

Maeve jumped up and hugged her mom. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cried.

M
orning, Ms. R!” Maeve called out as she marched into Ms. Rodriguez's homeroom. The BSG were huddled around their desks enjoying the precious five minutes before class started. Sometimes, Ms. R would sit at her desk, sip her coffee, and read the paper, giving her class a chance to unwind so they could focus on the lesson of the day. Happily, this was one of those days. And no one appreciated this mini social time more than Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, who was strutting over to her girlfriends as if the front of the classroom were her own personal catwalk.

“You guys like my outfit?” Maeve asked. “I decided to go green for the big Green Machine kickoff. What do you think?” Maeve spun around to show off her khaki pleated skirt and an asparagus-colored cotton sweater. She had turned in her signature pink wardrobe for earth tones and was feeling especially proud of herself.

“You know, girl, I will say, this is a refreshing fashion choice,” noted clothing-conscious Katani, who often thought
that Maeve's pink on pink on pink choices bordered on a little tacky. “But supporting earth colors isn't exactly the same thing as supporting the Earth.”

Maeve threw her backpack down on a desk. “Well, obviously! But dressing the part to get into the spirit of things never hurt anyone! Why do you think people wear costumes on Halloween? Duh.”

Charlotte opened her mouth to comment on the historical significance of Halloween costumes but then decided not to bother. Maeve, in her own weird way, did have a point.

“Now, Avery,” Katani began, whipping out a sunshine yellow pad of paper. “Did you bring the petition?”

“Roger that, Kgirl!” Avery dove into her bag and riffled through her sloppily shoved-in folders and packets. Katani couldn't imagine keeping her stuff so messy and cringed as Avery finally produced a crinkled sheet of paper. “Check it out, my fellow environmental warriors,” she announced proudly. “The Green Machine Official Mission to Save the Planet Earth. On recycled paper, of course. I even put on this clip art picture of the planet. Pretty cool, huh, Iz?” Avery glanced at Isabel for her artistic approval.

“Totally!” Isabel said with a sweet smile as she fished something out of her bag. “Here is the proposal I did. Well, Charlotte wrote it, and I designed it. What do you think?”

Like every project Isabel took on, her proposal looked flashy and fabulous. It was no secret to everyone at AAJH that Isabel was a gifted artist. The BSG gave one another happy nods that their talented friend had, once again, come up with a complete success. Best of all, Isabel had decorated the paper so fantastically, it would be impossible for people
who saw it not to want to read on. On the top of the page was one of Isabel's signature bird cartoons. Charlotte thought this one was particularly on target.

Charlotte had described the girls' mission to focus their science fair projects on ways in which they could improve the environment, with recycling, energy conservation and alternative energy, green and natural building, and carbon emissions control…all the neat stuff they had learned about at the festival.

Katani scribbled on her pad and said very matter-of-factly, “Petition…check. Proposal…check.”

“Immature hairstyles…check!” sang a voice from behind the BSG. The girls didn't have to turn around to know it was Anna with her sidekick Joline by her side. “What's the big meeting about, girls?” Anna snickered sarcastically, leaning over Katani's shoulder. “Something really important, I bet!”

Even though Charlotte truly didn't care one bit about what Anna or Joline thought, when those Queens of Mean treated her and her friends so nastily, she always felt nervous and sick to her stomach. Maybe it was the leftover effects of her being a new kid so many times—she was used to feeling like the odd girl out. But she admired how poised Katani was when it came to the terrible twosome.

Katani didn't blink or even give Anna the satisfaction of turning around. “Nothing, Anna. The meeting is about nothing, so it's none of your business.”

“Oh, well that's where you're wrong. See…everything at Abigail Adams Junior High is
my business
. I am one of the two seriously gifted columnists for the Sentinel gossip column after all. I make a point of knowing absolutely everything.”

Joline nodded as she quickly combed her fingers through her long, stick-straight brown hair. Joline never stopped playing with her hair. Maeve wrinkled her nose and wondered if maybe that was some kind of nervous tic.

“Come on, seriously, Katani. What are you guys working on? It better not be some kind of practical joke…cause that's against the AAJH rules, you know,” Anna smugly informed them.

“And we'll tell Ms. R. Don't think we won't,” added Joline.

Avery stood straight up, stepped right in front of Anna, and looked her in the eye, which wasn't easy, as Avery's head barely reached Anna's shoulder. “Listen up, blondie. It just so happens that we are starting a petition to save our planet. Earth as we know and love it is changing big-time. Like melting glaciers that can raise sea levels—imagine certain peoples' beach houses, like Kiki Underwood's for example, sliding into the ocean!”

Avery was speaking so loudly that now all of Ms. Rodriguez's class had become quiet to hear what she had to say. Ms. R glanced up from her paper calmly. She knew that when Avery Madden had something to say, it was usually interesting. She nodded at Avery to continue.

Realizing that she had gained the spotlight, Avery decided to take it a step further, and jumped up on her chair so for once she was the tallest in the room. “Imagine a billion people on our planet don't even have clean water! Imagine living with water that's contaminated by garbage or even sewage.”

“Ew, gross!” Joline squealed.

“Gross is right!” Avery cried, throwing her fist in the air.
“That is why we, the Green Machine, are asking you, fellow classmates, to sign our petition and agree to focus your science fair projects on our planet, Mother Earth. One seventh-grader can't save the whole giant planet by herself, but if we all get inspired and everybody does something—even a little thing—together we can make a difference!”

Charlotte and Isabel glanced at each other, remembering the time Avery ran for class president. Even though she had lost to Henry Yurt, she'd spearheaded a fabulous campaign, and it was clear that a career in getting people motivated was definitely in Avery Madden's future.

“So if you want to join our cause to save the one and only planet we call our home, then step right up and sign the dotted line. Actually, it's more like a solid line, now that I look at it, but whatever! It's a line!” Avery shook the wrinkled paper high above her head like she was holding the Declaration of Independence.

Anna rolled her eyes at Joline and whispered,” How pathetically uncool.”

“But of course,” Katani intervened in a soft voice, “we don't want just anybody signing the petition.”

Avery looked outraged and jumped down from her chair. “Katani, are you crazy? That's exactly what we—
ouch
!” She felt someone step on her toe and realized that it was Katani.

“We're really just looking for smart and talented people who
actually care
about making a difference.” Katani emphasized the words “actually care” as she glanced at the Queens of Mean. “We don't want people signing up just to look cool and be part of the most awesome science fair this school has ever had. Nope, we only want people who are truly
passionate about saving the environment.” Katani took the petition and held it close to her chest. “No Green Machine wannabes. Period.”

Joline looked at Anna, panic-stricken. “I care about the environment! Honestly, I do! My family and I were the ones who started my neighborhood's own farmer's market. Eat local!”

Anna glared at Joline. “You are such a copycat! That was totally my idea! I told you about that two months ago!”

Joline frowned. “Oh yeah? Then why did I start our farmer's market
three
months ago?”

“Liar! Hey, Katani, can you pass me that petition? I am very, very concerned about saving the environment. Way more concerned than Joline.”

“Wait, Katani! Pass me the Green Machine petition! I'm the concerned one!” The BSG watched, astounded, as Anna and Joline battled to be the first person to sign the Green Machine petition.

Katani turned to the BSG with a satisfied smile. Her plan had worked! Tell the Queens of Mean that they weren't wanted, and they just
had
to be there. And if the Queens of Mean had to be there, so did everybody else. In about five seconds, everyone in Ms. Rodriguez's homeroom was lined up behind Anna and Joline to sign the petition—including Ms. R!

By the time the final bell rang that day—sooner than usual because it was a half day—Avery had in her hand six and a half sheets of signatures. Maeve had nearly fainted when the Crow, her math teacher and the one faculty member she liked to avoid, stopped her after math to sign his name
too! “It's about time we put our hearts and minds into such a worthy project,” he declared, signing “Maxwell J. Sherman” on Maeve's copy of the petition with a flourish.

“And check this out,” started Katani, as a flood of kids ran right past them, shouting, whistling, and ready to take advantage of half a day of freedom. “My grandma even promised to bring it up at the faculty meeting today. She thinks it's high time for a green science fair, and she admires our initiative.” Katani's grandmother, Mrs. Fields, also happened to be the principal of AAJH. She was very kind to the BSG, but also very fair. When she had her principal hat on, Mrs. Fields did not play favorites. That was why a compliment from her really meant a lot.

“So is the next stop Montoya's Bakery for some more Green Machine planning?” Charlotte asked.

“What?” Isabel cupped her ear. “I can't hear you over all the screaming.” The girls looked around at the hallway full of smiling faces and loud, happy voices.

“Hey, Char! Catch!” shouted Nick Montoya, throwing Charlotte a softball as he passed. Charlotte, startled, missed the ball, which landed by her feet. She spun around to find it, and as she did, stepped on the ball. Her feet got all tangled up under her and she began swinging her arms like a windmill to keep from falling. It was a typical Charlotte klutz-o-rama moment—one for her journal. Nick, in a very gentlemanly way, reached out his hand to steady Charlotte as her face turned as red as a plum tomato.

“We're playing ball at the field,” Nick informed the BSG, ignoring Charlotte's acute embarrassment. “You coming?”

Since Charlotte's favorite part of Montoya's bakery wasn't
going to be at the bakery that afternoon, she was more than happy to change plans. “I'll go,” she said softly.

“Sounds good to me!” Isabel piped.

“Sounds like
procrastination
to me,” Maeve announced, sternly folding her arms. In her head she was playing the role of bookish, super-serious student. A sudden nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach had her intent on putting off the bra shopping trip, and planning for a green science fair seemed like an excuse her mom might go for. Playing ball, not so much.

The BSG turned to Maeve with faces of utter shock. “Excuuuse me?” Avery gasped. “I'm sorry, is there some sort of strange homework spirit which has momentarily taken possession of Maeve? 'Cause last time I checked, MK-T was the procrastination
queen
.”

“I just think that if we get behind schedule now, then we'll never finish our projects on time, and then you know what will suffer? The Earth,” Maeve argued.

The girls looked as if they'd spotted a UFO. “Um, Maeve, I don't think a few extra hours of fun will be the end of our projects…and it definitely won't be the end of the Earth,” Katani said, her mouth curling into the beginning of a smile. “I vote…fun?”

“WHOOOO HOOOOO!” Avery cheered, jumping up and down. “Let's plaaaaay ball!”

Maeve had no choice. She watched, for the second time that week, as the BSG skipped away and she was left alone to trudge home. Usually shopping was an activity Maeve would be very much excited about. But—for one very good reason that began with a “B”—she was soooo not her usual self today!

Goldi-Maeve and the Three Bras

“Mom, I think these pink ones are totally me.” Maeve was holding up a pair of pink fake-sheepskin boots on display in the large department store's shoe section.

“Come on, Maeve. We don't have time to dawdle. Your brother gets out of Tae Kwon Do in an hour.” Ms. Kaplan anxiously scanned the store and marched over to a lady wearing a nametag and holding a bottle of perfume. “Excuse me, ma'am. Where is the underwear department?”

“The
lingerie
department,” the snooty sales girl said, correcting her mother, “is up the escalator and to the left. Would you care for a spritz of Hello? It's the new fragrance by Lucy C.”