On the Back Burner Read online

  “And this music stinks,” Molly grumbled. “Even if you wanted to dance, it’s hard to dance to!”

  Suddenly Tessa bounded up to Amanda. “Ohmygosh, Amanda!” she squealed. “Please come with me to the bathroom. I have got to tell you something.”

  Amanda looked at Molly and Natasha. “Wanna come?” she said.

  “Sure,” Natasha replied, standing up.

  “That’s okay,” Molly said. “I’ll wait here.” Checking her watch, Molly swallowed back a yawn. At least this boring dance will probably be over soon, she thought. Natasha and Amanda followed Tessa off toward the girls’ room. Molly kept watching the dancing.

  “Hey, Molly.” She turned and found Justin standing beside her.

  “Hey, Justin,” she replied. “Thanks for helping last week. Are you having fun?”

  “Uh, not exactly,” he said. “You look like you’re having just about as much fun as I’m having.”

  That made her smile. “What, you mean you’re not loving this?”

  “It’s so dumb,” he commented. “Whoever heard of a holiday about being in love? Every year it comes along and ruins my birthday.”

  “Your birthday is on Valentine’s Day? Thaf’s funny,” Molly said.

  “I don’t think so. I think it’s pretty lame. But, you know, whatever,” he replied.

  Molly laughed, understanding how he felt. “So how’s the paper going?”

  “Pretty good. I’m getting better at taking pictures. This spring I want to cover a lot of the school sports—baseball, track and field, all of that.”

  “I like sports a lot,” Molly said. “On Monday I’m going to try out for the girls’ softball team. That’s one good thing about being in middle school. At least there are some teams for girls.”

  “That’s great,” he said. “You should definitely try out.” Justin began talking about baseball, comparing the Yankees to the Mets. Then Molly noticed Amanda coming out of the girls’ room with Tessa and Natasha. She suddenly felt guilty for sitting there having such a great conversation with Justin when all Amanda wanted from this evening was for Justin to pay attention to her. Molly felt very uneasy. But she couldn’t just run away from him.

  “Justin, do you want to dance with Amanda?” she blurted out.

  Justin looked confused. “Um...sure, I guess.”

  Still wearing his bewildered expression, Justin walked over to Amanda and asked her to dance. As he spoke, a fast dance ended and a slow one began. Soon the two were swaying to the music together. Amanda looked over Justin’s shoulder at Molly and her eyes sparkled happily.

  After the dance, Justin smiled at Amanda and said, “Thanks for the dance.” He walked back over to the big clump of boys standing around the food table.

  Amanda joined Molly and Natasha, exploding with excitement. “Did you see that? He finally asked me!”

  “Yay, Manda!” squealed Natasha.

  “That’s so great!” Molly said. She wasn’t about to tell her twin that it had been her idea. Amanda was so happy, and she didn’t want to do anything to spoil it.

  “I saw you two talking,” Amanda went on. “What did you talk about? Was he asking about me?”

  “No, we mostly talked about sports,” Molly replied.

  “Sports?” Amanda asked, sounding surprised. “Oh. Anyway, I was starting to think I didn’t have a chance with him, that he thought of me as just, you know, a friend. But now that he asked me to dance, that changes everything. He does like me, after all!”

  For the rest of the night, Amanda couldn’t stop smiling, not after the dance had ended, not while she told Mom all about dancing with Justin, not even while she brushed her teeth. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought to herself, I knew this dance was going to be amazing. First everything works out with Shawn, and now Justin! This is the best day of sixth grade yet.

  Chapter 14

  Molly leaned over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Softball tryouts had just ended, and she’d spent the last two hours fielding balls, batting, and running. Her first time at bat she’d struck out, which was majorly embarrassing, but she had hit the ball every time after that. I hope I make the team, she thought to herself as she took a drink of water from the bottle she’d brought to the tryouts. She hadn’t realized before how much it meant to her. Just then, the coach posted the new team roster. Ugh, Molly thought. I almost don’t want to go check! What if my name’s not there? I wish Amanda were here to look with me.

  Just then, Athena raced over to Molly and thumped her on the back happily. “You made it! Way to go, Molly!”

  “Awesome!” Molly cheered.

  “Practices will begin in two weeks, on Mondays and Wednesdays after school,” the couch announced. “See you then.”

  Molly walked home with Athena. “We could do tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Athena suggested. “I’m so glad you made it. You’re a great batter and with practice, you’ll be even better.”

  Molly smiled at Athena. During their tutoring sessions, she’d started to feel that they could become friends. Now that they would be on the same team, maybe it really would happen. When they got to Taft Street, Molly waved and hurried across the street. She began to run toward her house, excited to tell everyone the great news. When she was inside her house she called out, “Hey, everybody, I’m home. I have big news!”

  Amanda rushed down the stairs. “You made the team!” she shrieked.

  “Yes!” Molly shouted.

  Amanda hugged her and together they did a victory dance in the hallway, hopping in circles and cheering.

  “I have some good news, too,” Amanda said. “Justin sent me an e-mail!”

  “Really?” Molly asked.

  “I’ll show you,” Amanda said. “I printed it out.” She pulled a folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Molly.

  To: mooretimes2

  From: Justmac

  Re: Hi

  I had fun cooking that day you were sick. Call me again if you ever need another fill-in chef. Molly, good luck at softball tryouts today. I know you’ll make it. I’ll probably go to some of the games to take pictures for the paper.

  Justin

  “Isn’t that great?” Amanda asked. “He wants me to call him to be a fill-in chef. It’s just an excuse to get me to call him. Don’t you think so?”

  “Could be,” Molly answered. She didn’t mention to Amanda that Justin had written the e-mail to both of them—not just Amanda. Why bum her out when she’s so excited? Molly thought.

  “And don’t you think that hint he dropped about the softball games is cute?” Amanda added. “He’s letting me know that he’ll be there because he figures I’ll be there, too, watching your games.” Amanda closed her eyes, imagining sitting with Justin at Molly’s games, borrowing his jacket when it was windy or cold...

  Oh, boy, Molly thought. Did I create a monster when I asked him to dance with her?

  “We also got an e-mail from Peichi,” Amanda continued. “She’s feeling much better and will be back at school tomorrow. And guess what? Her mom dropped off her video for Mr. D. last week. He called Peichi at home today to tell her how great it was! He really loved it and she’s getting an A! So she’s officially not grounded anymore!”

  “That’s great!” Molly exclaimed. “I’m so happy for Peichi.”

  “Yeah, me too. She’s having a big premiere on Friday night so we can all watch her video. Ah-mah and Ah-yeh are coming and everything. Oh, and guess what else? There’s a message on the machine for another Dish job!”

  Mrs. Moore came in the front door. She’d been back at work again, now that she was over the flu. “I have great news, girls,” she announced. “They just told me at work today that they’re sending me to New Orleans next month for a conference. So we’re all going to go. We’ll have a family vacation in New Orleans!”

  “New Orleans!” the girls shouted at the same time. “Cool!”

  “That’s where Daddy and I went on our
honeymoon, you know,” continued Mrs. Moore. “New Orleans is a great city. Well probably take a swamp tour and see alligators, and eat all kinds of delicious Cajun food. It’s going to be so much fun!”

  “Ooh, Molls, let’s go look at the pictures from Mom and Dad’s honeymoon!” Amanda said excitedly as she rushed off to find the photo album

  Molly smiled as she followed Amanda into the living room. Looks like everything’s back to normal, she thought. Peichi’s not grounded any more, that huge cooking job is done, everyone’s over the flu, and Amanda and Shawn are friends again! But Molly knew that things wouldn’t stay quiet for long. More Dish jobs, softball practices and games, and a trip to New Orleans...Molly was certain that her future would be really busy—and really fun!

  cooking tips From the chef Girls!

  The Chef Girls are looking out for you!

  Here are some things you should know if you want to cook.

  (Remember to ask your parents if you can use knives and the stove!!

  1. Tie back long hair so that it won’t get into the food or in the way as you work.

  2. Don’t wear loose-fitting clothing that could drag in the food or on the stove burners.

  3. Never cook in bare feet or open-toed shoes. Something sharp or hot could drop on your feet.

  4. Always wash your hands before you handle food.

  5. Read through the recipe before you start. Gather your ingredients together and measure them before you begin.

  6. Turn pot handles in so that they won’t get knocked off the stove.

  7. Use wooden spoons to stir hot liquids. Metal spoons can become very hot.

  8. When cutting or peeling food, cut away from your hands.

  9. Cut food on a cutting board, not the countertop.

  10. Hand someone a knife with the knifepoinf pointing to the floor.

  11. Clean up as you go. It’s safer and neater.

  12. Always use a dry pot holder to remove something hot from the oven. You could get burned with a wet one, since wet ones retain heat.

  13. Make sure that any spills on the floor are cleaned up right away, so that you don’t slip and fall.

  14. Don’t put knives in clean-up water. You could reach into the water and cut yourself.

  15. Use a wire rack to cool hot baking dishes to avoid scorch marks on the countertop.

  An Important Message from the Chef Girls!

  Some foods can carry bacteria, such as salmonella, that can make you sick.

  To avoid salmonella, always cook poultry, ground beef, and eggs thoroughly before eating.

  Don’t eat or drink foods containing raw eggs.

  And wash hands, kitchen work surfaces, and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry.

  mooretimes2: Molly and Amanda

  qtpie490: Shawn

  happyface: Peichi

  BrooklynNatasha: Natasha

  JustMac: Justin

  Wuzzup: What’s up?

  Mwa smooching sound

  G2G: Got To Go

  deets: details

  b-b: Bye-Bye

  brb: be right back

  <3 hearts

  L8R: Later, as in “See ya later!”

  LOL: Laughing Out Loud

  GMTA: Great Minds Think Alike

  j/k: Just kidding

  B/C: because

  W8: Wait

  W8 4 me @: Wait for me at thanx: thanks

  BK: Big kiss

  MAY: Mad about you

  RUF2T?: Are you free to talk?

  TTUL: Type to you later

  E-ya: will e-mail you

  LMK: Let me know

  GR8: Great

  WFM: Works for me

  2: to, too, two

  C: see

  u: you

  2morrow: tomorrow

  VH: virtual hug

  BFFL: Best Friends For Life

  :-@ shock

  :-P sticking out tongue

  %-) confused

  :-o surprised

  ;-) winking or teasing