Time's Up by Annie Bryant

love stuff.”
    â€œYou were spying on us!” Maeve yelled.
    â€œI was just doing my homework in the dining room like Mom said to.” Sam turned to Betsy. “It’s like the way armies attacked Russia in winter and they always got defeated, but they kept trying it, anyway.”
    â€œThat’s so true,” Betsy said. “Wait, how old are you?”
    â€œEight.”
    â€œHe’s read about every battle under the sun,” a proud Maeve told Betsy. “But I’m sure he doesn’t know anything about Romeo and Juliet ,” she added just to make sure her brother’s head didn’t get any more swelled.
    â€œI know in the movie you watched they use guns instead of swords and there are skyscrapers instead of castles, but it’s the same story that Shakespeare wrote in 1597. It’s the archetypal love story.”
    â€œHow do you know that ?” Maeve demanded of her brother, who sounded like he was suddenly forty years old.
    â€œI read it after you rented the movie for the hundredth time.”
    â€œI’m so impressed!” Betsy’s eyes brightened. “When I was your age I memorized every capital of every state and country in the world. Ask me one.”
    Brainiac meets brainiac, Maeve thought as Betsy and Sam quizzed each other. They were in heaven talking about how much they knew. Maeve hit the return button a few times and typed a note to herself:
    Â 
    Maeve’s Note to Self:
1. arkitipal (sp???) love story—ask Char what that means tomorrow!
2. Okay, just because I’m not in the smart club, doesn’t mean I don’t know anything!
3. As annoying as he can be, Sam is a genius, which means I’m related to a genius, which I guess is cool enough for me!
    A Very Important Date
    Katani knitted in front of her computer, waiting for Charlotte to reply. Where was that girl? Actually, Katani really loved to knit. While she worked she tried to decide what she was going to write about for her English paper. She knew Let the Circle Be Unbroken inside and out, but she couldn’t focus on the story. Every time a thought came to her, she started thinking about Whitney and Betsy, the deadlines for her math project (she didn’t even want to think about Reggie), the English paper, the contest, and dropping off twenty scarves to Ms. Pink. She tried to figure out how many hours she would need each day to complete all her projects. Maybe there really weren’t enough hours. She wondered if there was a way you could expand time.
    Catching a dropped stitch, Katani was grateful that Mrs. Martinez was going to knit three of the scarves. Katani would have to do two scarves a night and then knit all night on Friday, all day on Saturday, and all morning Sunday if she was going to make the deadline. Katani called Isabel’s mom after dinner to let her know that she would drop off the yarn tomorrow. Fortunately, Isabel hadn’t answered the phone, and Katani knew that her secret was still safe with Mrs. Martinez.
    Suddenly her computer made the familiar ping . There was an e-mail in her in-box. Finally.
    TO: Katani
FROM: Charlotte
SUBJECT: RE: Wat do u think?
    K,
    I remember u talking about Whitney It’s hard 2 say. Would u want to enter the contest if u heard about it from Whitney?
    X O
Char
    P.S. Where have you been?
    Katani hadn’t thought of it like that. What if it were the other way around? Would she have wanted to enter the contest no matter what? But it wasn’t the other way around. Katani had found out about the contest on her own. Besides, Whitney already had her own business and fancy riding clothes. Katani felt a little guilty for thinking that way, but still…
    Kelley ran into their room right then. “I finished the book!”
    â€œWhat book?” Katani asked without looking up.
    â€œ Learning to Knit and Purl for Beginners ! I’m ready for my lesson.” Kelley stood too close to Katani.