Raisin Rodriguez & the Big-Time Smooch by Judy Goldschmidt Page B

turns passing the talking stick and when it got to us, we had to discuss how we felt about our “special places.” And there were boys there!!!

Thursday, December 2
    7:04 AM, EST
    What’s new, Pussycats?
    Poor Sam. We just crossed paths in the bathroom and boy, is she upseterino. She won’t even look me in the eye. My mom and stepdad went completely ape poop on her. She’s not allowed to be alone in her room with Sid and they’re making her take “a more active role” as a member of the family by making her drive me to after-school events. I guess they figure that the busier she is, the less time she’ll have with Sid. That or the more time she has to spend with me, the more she’ll realize how awful children are and the more careful she’ll be about not making one with Sid. Though if that’s the case, they really should have put her in charge of Lola.
    I hope she’s not angry at me about having to drive me around.
    Speaking of Sam, I’ve decided to wear her green velvet dress again. There’s no way CJ will be able to resist me in it. I doubt he’ll recognize it from Saturday. After all, his eyes were kind of buried in She Who Shall Remain Nameless’s Face.
    Gotta go.
    Love,
    The future ex-Miss Priss. Soon to be known as the future Ms. Raisin Rodriguez-Mullen.
    12:23 PM, EST
    Foiled again.
    When I got to school today, CJ was waiting for me at my locker.
    â€œI don’t think I can get together with you tonight,” he said.
    â€œWhy not?” I asked, rushing to get my coat off so he could see my outfit.
    â€œJeremy didn’t like my strip. He wants me to do it over,” CJ told me.
    â€œDoes it have to be tonight?”
    â€œHe wants it as soon as possible so he can leave time for last-minute changes.”
    CJ looked so sad. I really wanted to give Jeremy a piece of my mind. And on that piece of my mind, I would have written the following: Why are you ruining my life?
    â€œI wish Lynn’s orthodontist would hurry up and finish putting on her braces so she would come back to the zine,” I said. “She never would have made you redo your strip.”
    â€œMaybe she would have.”
    â€œI don’t think so,” I said, struggling with the end of my zipper.
    â€œWhy not?” he demanded.
    â€œBecause . . . I don’t.” It was hard to think of a reason with my coat attacking me.
    â€œBut why not?”
    â€œBecause . . . because . . .” I needed CJ to see my outfit. But there was no getting my coat to open. So I stepped out of it the way you step out of a skirt or a hula hoop. Which I thought was genius.
    Until finally my foot got caught in the material and I tripped over it. “Because . . . I don’t,“ I yelled to CJ from the ground.
    â€œOkay, Raisin,” CJ whispered, almost like he was shushing me, but not really, because he’s too sweet. He offered me his hand and I grabbed it, which was kind of nice.
    Except that as soon as I was on my feet, he spit out a quick goodbye and was off. I wonder if he noticed I was acting weird?
    Before I could even gather my thoughts, Sparkles appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
    â€œListen, NG, we’ve all been there. Sometimes I find it helps to write down my outfits on a calendar. That way I avoid wearing the same outfit twice within too short a time.”
    At that point I wasn’t sure if admitting that I‘d repeated the outfit on purpose made me more or less pathetic. So I just thanked Sparkles for his advice.
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12:25 PM, EST
    What if CJ was using the strip as an excuse? What if the truth is that he doesn’t want anything to do with me because he heard that I’m a priss?
    (What if the truth is that he doesn’t want anything to do with me because I repeated my outfit twice in one week?)
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12:27 PM, EST
    I guess I could ask Jeremy if he really asked CJ to redo the strip.
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12:28 PM, EST
    But then I’ll