Sprinkles and Secrets Read online

  “My dad loves the weather too. The Weather Channel is his favorite channel. What is up with that? Look outside, Dad. There’s the weather.”

  Dennis laughs. “I know, it’s the truth.”

  It’s quiet for a minute. “We should get to work,” I say.

  “What’s your all-time favorite movie?” he asks.

  “I think I’d have to go with The Wizard of Oz. Why?”

  “No, see, that should be our question. When we don’t know what to say. Movies are a safe topic.”

  “What’s wrong with the standard ’How’s it going?’”

  “Because all you get is an ’Okay’ or ’Fine,’ and then what? You’re right back where you started. It’s a useless question. Like anyone is going to tell you how it’s really going. ‘Hey, thanks for asking. Man, things are terrible. My grandma’s sick, my dog just died, and I didn’t have any clean underwear this morning.’”

  I’m trying hard not to laugh. He’s right. It’s true. “Come on. Let’s get our write-up done. Tell me what you’ve got for the hypothesis.”

  He points his pencil at me. “Aren’t you going to ask me what my favorite movie is?”

  I look at him and smile. “Power Rangers, right?”

  He laughs and shakes his head. “You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

  “Nope. Never.”

  Chapter 11

  chocolate pudding

  IT CAN SOOTHE EVEN THE MOST FRAZZLED NERVES

  It’s Friday, and the audition is still over a week away. As I peek around the corner, waiting for Isabel to leave her locker, I realize I’m being ridiculous. There is no way I can hide from her for an entire week. I’m going to have to tell her. I decide I’ll do it at lunch. When she asks me about it, I’ll just tell her. Straight out, fast as I can, and it’ll be over with. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. She’ll be mad. Furious, probably. But I’m going to have to live with it.

  I take a deep breath and walk over to our locker.

  “There you are,” Isabel says. “How’s it going?”

  I think of Dennis. How he hates that question. And here I am, proof that the question really is useless. Because I can’t tell her I’m a mess over this audition thing. Not right now. So I say what I usually say. “Okay. How about you?”

  “Dreading that social studies test today. Did you study some more last night?”

  “A little bit. I was busy with a science project, though.”

  She grabs the locker door as I’m about to close it, then takes her lip gloss out of her pocket. She looks in the little mirror we have stuck on the door and moves the wand over her lips.

  She turns and smiles. “That’s better. Yeah, so I saw you with Dennis Holt yesterday after school. You guys working on something together?”

  “Yeah. We have a write-up due today. We got it done yesterday. It actually turned out really good.”

  “He’s kind of different, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know. I think he’s all right. Once you get to know him.”

  The warning bell rings. “Let’s have lunch together, okay?” she says. “I missed you yesterday.”

  I try to smile. “Yeah, sure. See ya later.”

  In science, Mr. Leonard gives us a few minutes at the beginning of class to check over our write-ups. We split up into pairs again, and I meet Dennis at his desk this time.

  “You want to look it over again?” he asks.

  “Not really. But I will.”

  I take it from him and start reading. “So, big plans for the weekend?” he asks.

  “I think I’m watching Star Wars with my brother tonight. His first time.”

  “That is awesome. I still remember the first time I saw the movie. Most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  I give him a funny look. “You need to get a life, Dennis.”

  He nods. “I know! You want to help me?”

  I look around, wondering if anyone heard him say that to me. “I don’t think I can. I have my own problems. Now be quiet so I can read this thing.”

  He scribbles in his notebook as I finish looking it over. I find one spelling error and make the correction.

  “I think it’s ready,” I tell him. “We did a good job.”

  “I need a new hobby,” he says, still scribbling. “Something fun. I haven’t tried anything new since I gave up sports.”

  “Music?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head.

  “Martial arts?”

  He shakes his head again. “I was thinking something like photography.”

  “That’d be good.”

  “I just need a camera.”

  I sit back in my chair. “Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty important if you want to take up photography. Maybe for Christmas?”

  He nods. “Yeah. I’ll put it on my list.”

  “Along with your Power Rangers pajamas?”

  He gives me an evil grin. “I’m gonna get you one of these days, Sophie. Just you wait.”

  At lunch, Isabel and I find a spot at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. I haven’t even sat down and I’m already sweating. My stomach hurts so bad, I didn’t take anything from the hot food line. I just grabbed a carton of milk and a bowl of chocolate pudding.

  As I sit down, I notice Dennis at a table off to the side, by himself. Does he always sit by himself? I’ve never noticed before.

  “Sophie, what are you doing?” Isabel asks. “You need more than that to eat. You’re not on some crazy diet for your audition, are you?”

  “No. Just not hungry.”

  She opens her milk carton, and then pours some dressing on her salad. “Okay, so tell me. Tell me all about the audition. I’m not letting you keep it to yourself one minute longer. I don’t care if your agent said you aren’t supposed to tell anyone, I am your best friend, and I have to know.”

  I look over at Dennis. He’s reading a book. A book. At lunch! Who does that? The boys down the table from him laugh at someone’s joke. Somebody throws a carrot stick across the table. He should be sitting there, having fun. Not alone. What would I do if I didn’t have anyone to sit with? If all of a sudden Isabel didn’t want to be my friend anymore? Would I be brave enough to go up to a table of girls I don’t know very well and ask if I could sit with them? What would I do?

  “Sophie?” Isabel says, shaking my arm. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

  I’m breathing fast. I can feel my heart racing. “Um, I don’t know.”

  All I know is I don’t want to eat alone. I can’t lose Isabel. I just can’t.

  “The audition is for this new bran cereal,” I blurt out. “They want to try to sell it to kids, so they’re looking for kids to cast in the commercials. Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard? I have to try to get kids to want to eat bran cereal.”

  She laughs. “Seriously? Bran cereal? Yuck. But if anyone can do it, you can!”

  My breathing slows down. I take a bite of my pudding. It tastes good. I take another bite. My stomach feels better. I keep eating.

  “So when’s the audition?” she asks.

  “Monday after Thanksgiving weekend.”

  “Oh! That’s a teacher workday so you won’t have to miss school. Too had, huh?”

  I smile and keep eating. I want to dive into this pudding and live there. It reminds me of being little, when a bowl of chocolate pudding made everything better.

  Isabel changes the subject then, and starts telling me a funny story about her neighbor, Lana, who’s an artist. I’m only half-listening, though, as I watch Dennis get up from the table and leave the cafeteria. Alone.

  Chapter 12

  candy bars

  SO MANY KINDS, AND EVERYONE HAS A FAVORITE

  Dad went all-out on snacks for the big movie night. There’s popcorn, lemonade, and various candy bars all laid out on the kitchen counter. Hayden barely eats any of his dinner, he’s so excited.

  “Couple more bites, Hayden,” Mom says.
“Or no candy for you.”

  “Are the spaceships real, Dad?” Hayden asks, before he takes a bite of his hamburger.

  “Dude, what do you mean?” I ask. “It’s a movie. Nothing is real.”

  “But-”

  “Hayden, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Mom says.

  He finishes chewing and swallows. “I mean, did they make spaceships and let the guys fly in them?”

  “Let’s wait and see what you think, okay?” Dad says. “I don’t want to ruin anything for you.”

  Hayden takes another bite and then jumps up, walks his plate over to the counter, and starts ordering us. “Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!”

  I help Mom clear the table while Dad takes Hayden into the other room.

  “I think you should have given him the movies for Christmas, Mom. How are you ever going to top this?”

  She takes a sponge to the kitchen table. “Honey, have you been in the toy aisle recently? Something tells me many Star Wars products are in our future. I’m pretty sure this is only the beginning.”

  “Geez, don’t sound so depressed. It could be worse.” I start to throw out a joke about Power Rangers, but she probably wouldn’t get it.

  The phone rings, and I answer it.

  “Hey, Sophie, it’s Lily.”

  “Hey. How are you?”

  “Really good. I wanted to see if we could get together tomorrow. Maybe go for cupcakes when the shop is actually open?”

  “Uh, sure, we could do that,” I say. “You want to come over here and we can walk again? We can hang out here for a while too, if you want.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good. What time should I have my mom drop me off?”

  “How about after lunch, like one o’clock?”

  “Sounds good. See you then, Soph.”

  “Bye.”

  “Was that Isabel?” Mom asks.

  “No, actually, it was Lily. She’s coming over tomorrow.”

  “Mom! Sophie!” Hayden yells from the other room. “Come on, it’s starting!”

  “I’m glad she called,” Mom says. “It’ll be fun to see her again.”

  “Come on,” I say. “The galaxy far, far away is waiting for us.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Hayden hardly says a word the first half of the movie. Not only that, he hardly moves. He takes a bite of a candy bar when Dad hands him one, and then puts it in his lap, totally forgotten. Normally the kid would have had that thing eaten in ten seconds flat. It’s like he’s hypnotized. Or maybe he’s under the control of the Force.

  During one of the battles, my mind drifts to Isabel and how I totally failed as a friend. Her = good. Me = evil. I should wear a Darth Vader costume to school next week for punishment. I’m sure Dennis would love that.

  Or maybe I should cancel the audition.

  I should.

  I really should.

  “Mom, will you help me get the popcorn and drinks?” I ask.

  I go to the fridge and grab the lemonade. Mom plugs the air popper in and pours in the kernels. It’s noisy. I wait until it’s done, and then I tell her about my decision.

  “I’ve decided I don’t want to go to the audition,” I tell her.

  She turns from the stove, where she’s melting butter, and looks at me. “What? Why?”

  “I can’t tell Isabel, Mom. I just can’t. I tried today, and I failed. It was horrible.”

  “Oh, honey. I’m sorry this is stressing you out.” She drizzles the melted butter over the big bowl of popcorn. “Why don’t you think on it over the weekend. Maybe talk to Lily about it tomorrow, see what she thinks.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “We can’t call Candace until Monday anyway,” she says. “So wait. Sleep on it some more. I really think it’s an incredible opportunity, and I’d hate to see you regret it someday.”

  She hands me the popcorn. “Did you salt it?” I ask.

  “Nope. That’s your job. I always do too much or too little.”

  I walk over to the table, grab the salt shaker, and give it four good shakes. Mom reaches in, takes a handful, and pops some into her mouth.

  “Perfect.”

  Well, at least I can do one thing right.

  Chapter 13

  rocky road cupcakes

  THEY PROVE A LESS-THAN-SMOOTH ROAD ISN’T ALWAYS A BAD THING

  The next morning, it is all Star Wars all the time, because Hayden won’t stop talking about it and can’t wait to watch the next one. Mom finally gives in, so I spend most of the morning in my room, watching musicals. I doodle in my dream notebook while I do.

  Dream #5 –

  I dream of wearing beautiful

  shoes in a movie one day.

  I wonder if ludy garland

  left like the luckiest girl in the world

  wearing those ruby slippers.

  At noon, I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and slice up an apple before I jump in the shower. Lily arrives right on time.

  “Lily, which Jedi is your favorite?” Hayden asks.

  “Hayden. Please stop,” I tell him. “Not everyone wants to talk space stuff, okay?”

  “I like the short green guy,” Lily says. She pretends to be thinking. “What is his name?”

  “Yoda!” Hayden yells.

  “You ready to go?” I ask her. I look out the front window. “Is it very cold?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Okay, let me get my heavy coat.”

  “Hey, Lily, did you know Sophie’s going to be an actress someday?” I hear Hayden saying. “Maybe someone will see her on TV and put her in a movie. Maybe it’ll be a movie with spaceships!”

  I walk back out and Lily looks very confused. Yes, my annoying brother will do that to a person. “I’ll explain on the way.”

  Mom comes and says hi to Lily. “We’re going to get a cupcake,” I tell her.

  “Okay, have fun, girls. Call if you decide you want a ride home.”

  We step outside and it really feels like winter, with the chilly air and the trees almost bare. I zip up my coat.

  “Sophie, what did he mean, ’see you on TV’?”

  We walk down the front pathway to the sidewalk. I take a deep breath and tell her all about my new agent and the audition.

  “That is so exciting!” she says.

  “I guess”.

  She laughs. “You guess? Come on. This could change your whole life!”

  “If I tell you the audition is with Beatrice’s Brownies, does that change how you feel about it?”

  She stops walking, grabs my arm. “No way.”

  “Yes. Way.”

  Her face looks almost as pained as my insides have felt these past few days. We continue walking. “What are you going to do?”

  “I think I’m going to call my agent on Monday and cancel. I tried to tell Isabel about it last week, but I couldn’t do it.”

  We turn the corner and a blast of cold air comes at us. We walk faster. “What do your parents think?”

  “It’s crazy. They both think I should do it. It’s a great opportunity, Isabel would understand, blah, blah, blah. But what if my commercial was the one to bring their cupcake business down? I would have to live with that for the rest of my life. And maybe without Isabel, which would be even worse.”

  She looks at me as she holds her coat collar up around her face, trying to keep the cold air away. “But it wouldn’t be your commercial. You’d be in the commercial, but it’s Beatrice’s commercial. And besides, you might not even get the part. If I were you, I’d go, and think of it as practice for the next audition. I mean, no offense, but I bet not many people get the job from the first audition anyway. It’s really competitive!”

  “So you’d go to the audition and not tell Isabel who it’s with? Just keep it to yourself?”

  She shrugs. “Yeah. I mean, a practice audition is not a bad thing. It’s not going to hurt anyone.”

  Hearing her say this fills me with relief. “The only thing is
that Isabel knows about the audition. She was at my house when I got the call. I made up excuses as long as I could, but finally on Friday, she said I had to tell her about it. So I lied. I told her it was an audition for bran cereal.” I hit my head with my hand. “I can’t believe I said that. I wish I could have just told her.”

  Lily doesn’t say anything else. We just walk, our hands tucked into our coat pockets, and our faces buried in our coats as much as possible.

  When we reach the cupcake shop, Lily turns to me before opening the door. “Do the audition and then tell her. My mom always says, one thing at a time. That’s what you need to do. Right now, focus on the audition and get that over with. When it’s all over, you can come clean to Isabel. I mean, what are the chances that the first audition you get called for is their cupcake shop’s biggest competitor? It’s so crazy it’s almost funny. I bet you guys will laugh about it.”

  She’s made me feel so much better. I’m not an evil person. I’m not! No Darth Vader costume for me after all. “Thanks, Lily.” I open the door, and the little bell above it rings. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

  We step in, and the first thing I notice is how empty the place is. We’re the only ones here.

  Isabel’s mom, Caroline, walks up to the counter. “Sophie! What a wonderful surprise!”

  “Hi! How are you?”

  She waves her hand around. “I’d be better if I had a few more customers. But we’re fine. Happy about Isabel’s win, of course.”

  I nod and catch Lily out of the corner of my eye, scanning the case of cupcakes. “Oh, this is my friend Lily. We went to theater camp together.”

  Caroline smiles at Lily. “Nice to meet you. Is this your first time at our shop?”

  “Yes. And they all look so good. It’s going to be hard to decide.”

  She lists the flavors, pointing to each one in the case as she does, but I don’t hear anything past the first one: Rocky Road. I know instantly, as soon as she says it, that’s the one I want.

  While Lily tries to decide which flavor she wants, Caroline looks back at me. “Would you like me to call Isabel? See if she wants to come down and sit with you girls?”