Confectionately Yours #4: Something New by Lisa Papademetriou Page A

“Once we’re finished poking around the library.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Annie says, and I hesitate a moment, then nod.
    I may never be a rich girl, and I may never fit in at Islip, but I can have the right shoes. And I guess that’s better than nothing.

“H ayley? It’s Meg.”
    “Oh. Hey! What’s up?”
    “Meh. Campaign insanity and barbecue awkwardness.”
    “Yeah …”
    “That Artie moment was pretty painful.”
    “Don’t talk about it.”
    “Okay … What’s the story there? Does she like Marco or something?”
    “Is this not talking about it?”
    “Sorry. Sorry. But — can I ask one question?”
    “If I say no, will you ask it anyway?”
    “Why don’t you like Marco? He’s a nice guy. I mean, he has a temper, but he’s sweet. And cuh-yoot! Those eyes! Imean — you know, you’ve been friends for such a long time. Maybe it makes sense to try something else.”
    “Meghan! It isn’t like that! I can’t like someone just because I, like, should.”
    “Hmm.”
    “It doesn’t make sense, I guess.”
    “No. It does. I mean, I had that crush on Ben Habib, even though it was hopeless, right? Besides, maybe you like someone else better … If you know what I’m saying … Hello? Are you still there?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You like Kyle, right?”
    “What? No.”
    “Hmm.”
    “Whatever. Maybe. I don’t know!”
    “It’s okay.”
    “Look — I don’t even know. Do you think that he thinks I do?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “He asked me to the barbecue.”
    “Ooooh.”
    “What do you mean, ‘Ooooh’?”
    “I mean that I’m putting some stuff together in my mind. Like, Kyle asked you to the barbecue, but you’d already said yes to Marco, and so you had to say no. And weirdness ensued. No wonder you’ve been acting …”
    “What? What? How have I been acting?”
    “I don’t know. However you’ve been acting. Like, full of thought? Even Artie was like, ‘What’s up with Hayley, she hasn’t done her posters.’ Anyway, I get it now.”
    “Okay.”
    “Are you mad? Don’t be mad.”
    “I’m just — okay. I’m not mad.”
    “Good.”
    “Meg —”
    “Yeah?”
    “Do you ever wish we were back in third grade? Like — do you ever wish we didn’t have to think about crushes and barbecues and all of that stuff?”
    “No. I like planning barbecues. Obviously. Why — do you?”
    “Sometimes. I guess I just wish things were simple.”
    “Were things simple in the third grade? That’s not how I remember it. Are things simple for Chloe?”
    “Not exactly. You’ve got a point, Meghan.”
    “I usually do. Somewhere in there. Listen, I’ve got to go. My mom is screaming that I have to tell her what I want in my lunches for the rest of the week or I’m getting nothing but Tofurky sandwiches on gluten-free bread.”
    “Is that a threat?”
    “Whatever — it’s working. I’ll see you at school, okay?”
    “Sure, Meg. Bye.”
    “Bye, Hayley.”

“F etch! Go get it, Tessie! Go on!” Chloe gestures down the hall, where she has just tossed Tessie’s favorite stuffed animal — which is actually a stuffed vegetable. It’s a fuzzy carrot. “Go get it!”
    Tessie cocks her head, like a parrot getting ready to squawk.
    “Go get it, girl!”
    “She doesn’t understand why you just threw her toy away,” Rupert interprets.
    “I didn’t throw it away — I want her to fetch it! Ugh!” Chloe stomps toward the carrot, but Tessie — sensing that Chloe is about to grab her beloved toy again — races in front of her and snatches up the carrot. “Drop it! Drop it, girl!”
    “She isn’t dropping it,” Rupert says as Tessie races back into our tiny living room and scrambles to the other side of the coffee table.
    “Get that stuffie!” Chloe commands.
    My legs are tucked under the table, and I am happy to take a break from conjugating irregular verbs. “Here — let me have the carrot, Tessie.” I lean over to try to grab the toy, but Tessie hops away from me.