Into the Mix #4 Page 4

  Chapter 5

  The following Sunday was chilly and wet. Amanda was breaking an egg into a bowl, listening to the rain, when Matthew slid into the kitchen in his socks. stopping only when he hit the counter.

  “Doesn’t that hurt?” asked Amanda.

  “Nope. Where is everyone? I’m bored. What are you making?”

  “Well, Dad’s taking a nap—what else is new? Mom’s in the den, reading. Molly’s doing homework. And I’m making brownies cause the Chef Girls are coming over soon. We’re having a business meeting. ”

  “Mmmm! Brownies! Can I help?” asked Matthew.

  Amanda sighed. So much for the peace and quiet she was hoping to find alone in the kitchen. But she smiled at her freckle-faced brother. She was trying to be nicer to him lately.

  “Sure you can help. I’m going to try something new-mint icing for the brownies,” Amanda replied.

  “Ugh! Mint icing? Why can’t you just make regular icing?” complained Matthew, wrinkling his nose.

  “Mint icing’s good. Take it or leave it.”

  “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

  “Wash your hands,” said Amanda.

  “But they’re not dirty,” protested Matthew.

  “Wash them anyway.”

  Cooking with her little brother was actually kind of nice. Amanda had to admit he tried hard to be a big help.

  “You know what? This is gonna taste good,” said Matthew later, as he tasted the icing. The brownies were about to come out of the oven.

  “Mmm. Yeah, I think it will,” said Amanda, nodding her head. “Thanks for helping me. I’ll save some brownies for you, okay?”

  “Thanks,” said Matthew.

  Just then, the doorbell rang.

  “Okay, Matthew, my friends are here. Time to leave,” Amanda said.

  “Don’t forget about the brownies,” Matthew told her.

  “I won’t.”

  “Mmmm, it smells good in here,” Peichi said as she walked into the kitchen.

  Natasha and Shawn followed behind her.

  “Hey, Molls!” Amanda shouted. “Everyone’s here!”

  “So guess what!” announced Peichi when Molly had come downstairs. “I now have my own phone! It’s white and cordless, and it’s right by my bed!”

  “Wow,” said all the girls enviously.

  “Can we put your number on our business card?” asked Molly. “People seem to always call here, but if we have two numbers, that might be better.”

  “I’ll have to ask my mom,” said Peichi.

  “What’s this meeting about, again?” asked Shawn, reaching for a brownie.

  “To talk about Dish, and write down what we want on our business card,” Molly reminded her. “The big question is, now that we’re in school, what are we going to do about the business?”

  “Well, I’m really busy now with cheerleading,” said Shawn. “I don’t think I’ll have much time for Dish. And Grandma Ruthie’s really strict with me. She goes over my homework with me and makes me do stuff over and—”

  “These brownies are so good!” exclaimed Peichi. “Wow! We have to make these for our clients! Anyway, I’m really busy, too. Especially since I’m learning to speak and write Chinese after school. Can I have some more milk? Plus, I got straight As last year, and I want to keep it up! Mmm! I love these brownies! Amanda, you’re awesome!”

  Peichi took another bite, which kept her quiet for the moment.

  “I’m going to be busy, too,” Natasha said softly. “With homework, plus Hebrew school. And the paper, which I think I’ll join. I’m going to the first meeting. Unless I chicken out! But I think it could be fun.”

  “It would be cool to see your name at the top of an article,” Molly told Natasha. Molly looked around the table. “Dish is doing really well now,” she said. “Maybe we can try to cut back our work hours.”

  “It’ll be hard to say good-bye to all that money we were making!” Peichi pointed out. “But it was our summer job.”

  Molly frowned. “Is that what it is for you guys?” she asked. “Just a summer job?”

  “Well, Molls, we all agreed with our parents that it was a summer thing, and then we’d see what happened after that,” Amanda reminded her.

  “How about if we just do one or two jobs a month?” Molly asked the girls.

  “Sounds good,” said Shawn. “That’s all I could handle. So, then, what do we need a business card for?”

  “Because it’s the professional thing to have,” said Molly. “It’s, you know, cool! It makes us look like a real business.

  “Yeah! We’ll tape it to the bags when we deliver food.” said Peichi. “We’ll give each customer more than one. Then they can keep one and pass on the other one.”

  “Whoops! I have to get going,” said Shawn, checking her watch.

  “Where do you have to go?” asked Amanda with a frown. “I thought we were going to hang out today.”

  “Um, I have to meet Angie,” replied Shawn, as she looked around in her bag for something.

  “Oh,” said Amanda and Molly at the same time. They both tried to hide their disappointment.

  “It’s a cheerleading thing,” said Shawn casually. She stood up. “We have to meet with the team about a charity fundraiser we’ll be doing,” she said, looking at Amanda. “No big deal.”

  “On a Sunday?” blurted Peichi.

  “Yeah, on a Sunday,” said Shawn, a little annoyed. “Okay? I gotta go.”

  “Sure,” said Amanda. She forced a smile. “That s—sounds like fun.”

  “But you just got here, and we haven’t thought of the wording for our card,” protested Molly.

  “I’m sure you guys will come up with something really great!” said Shawn, as she walked through the kitchen doorway. “I’ll like whatever it is. Well, see ya.”

  “Bye,” said everyone. Seconds later, they heard the front door close.

  “Well!” said Amanda in a cheerful voice. She tried to put Angie out of her mind, but her mind raced. Does Shawn like Angie more than Molly and me now? Did she really have to leave early?

  Everyone was looking at Amanda.

  Amanda cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, let’s figure out what we want to say on our business card. Then Peichi will give it to her mom. and she’ll design the card for us.” Mrs. Cheng was an artist and a graphic designer.

  “Right,” said Peichi. She gave Amanda a smile, which meant, Don ’t worry, everything’s gonna be okay! “She’ll design it for free of course,” Peichi went on. “But we have to pay for the printer to make the cards. It’ll come out of the money in the treasury.” Peichi was the treasurer of Dish.

  Everyone fell silent, thinking about the right words to describe Dish.

  “What about, Are you tired of cooking?”’ suggested Molly.

  “Or, ‘Too tired too cook?’” offered Natasha.

  “Oh, that’s better!” exclaimed Molly reaching for her pen.

  “Maybe we should put down that the food is home cooked, Because you can always get take-out when you’re too tired,” Amanda said.

  “Good idea,” Molly replied. “And we should put that we deliver!”

  That’s when Mr. Moore walked into the kitchen, his hair rumpled from his long nap. “Hello girls,” he said. His blue eyes twinkled from behind his glasses. “Mind if I have a snack? Is anyone going to eat that brownie?”

  “Go ahead,” Amanda said. “But don’t touch the ones over there,” she said pointing to a yellow ceramic plate. “Those are for Matthew. I promised I’d save him some.”

  “What are you girls doing? Studying?” Dad asked. He wiped a brownie crumb off his lip. “Mmm. These are great!”

  Molly quickly explained what they were doing and read their line out loud. “Home cooking! Delivered to your door—when you’re TOO TIRED to cook!”

  “That sounds pretty good,” said Dad. “But these days people aren’t just too tired to cook—they’re too busy.”

  “Oh!”
said Molly. “That’s even better.” She changed the line and read it aloud.

  “It sounds great,” replied Mr. Moore.

  “Super!” said Peichi. “Then it’s ready to give to my mom. But let’s put all of our names on the card first!

  “That type looks cute, Mom,” said Peichi later that day. She was in her mom’s office, watching her work on the computer. They’d tried a few different typefaces and had finally found the perfect look.

  Mrs. Cheng smiled at the screen. “I like it. too,” she said, tucking her sleek black bobbed hair behind her ear. She added some clip art she had on file—a chef’s hat and a tiny tray of cakes.

  Peichi loved watching her mom work. When Mrs. Cheng was finished, the card looked so cool and fun.

  “Let’s check the spelling and the phone number one more time,” said Mrs. Cheng. “Then I’ll e-mail it right to the printer, and we can probably pick up the cards later this week!”

  “I can’t wait to show it to the Chef Girls!” said Peichi. “Thanks, Mom!”

  Amanda groaned the next morning as she walked down the main hall with Molly and Peichi. When is someone going to take down those lists of who made cheerleading? she thought.

  But today there was something new tacked up over part of the cheerleading list.

  “Look, you guys,” said Amanda. Peichi and Molly stopped chatting to read the biq sign.

  “Wow,” said Amanda. “I didn’t know this school did musicals. That sounds like fun.” She pictured herself singing on stage under the bright lights, wearing the long dress and big hat. being someone else.

  “Be prepared to sing,” read Peichi. “Can you guys sing?”

  “No.” said Molly.

  “Sure,” said Amanda at the same time. The twins looked at each other and laughed.

  “I like to sing,” said Peichi. “I’m pretty good.”

  Suddenly Amanda wanted to be onstage in that dress more than anything, even more than she’d wanted to be a cheerleader. But can I do it? she wondered. Can I get through another tryout? What if I make a complete idiot of myself again?

  Then again, she thought, maybe I won’t make a complele idiot out of myself.

  “Let’s try out!” blurted Amanda.

  “No way!” objected Molly “I could never do something like that. It’s way too scary.”

  “I’ll do it! Why not?” said Peichi.

  “Great!” said Amanda. “Molly, are you sure you don’t want to?”

  “Uh-huh, I’m sure,” said Molly. as Amanda and Peichi wrote their names and grade on the sign-up sheet. “But I’ll go with you and watch!”

  For the next few days, Amanda found if hard to concentrate in class and on her homework. She kept wondering what the audition would be like. She pictured herself alone in the music room with the pianist and the director of the play, singing her heart out. Then the director would say. “Thank you, Amanda, you have real talent.”

  Or she’d be wearing a long dress, taking a bow at the end of the play. Mom and Dad and Molly and Matthew and the Chef Girls would be in the center row. on their feet clapping and cheering. And Justin would be there, too. She’d be a part of the school, part of something big. Just like Shawn.

  I have to make this play, thought Amanda, or I’m just gonna die!

  Then suddenly it was Thursday afternoon and time for the audition. Amanda told herself she wasn’t nervous, but her heart was racing, her arms and legs were stiff, and her stomach felt tight. Earlier in the day. Peichi had passed her a note in English class:

  “Here goes!” said Peichi with her usual cheerfulness as she and the twins approached the auditorium where lots of other kids were filing in.

  “Arent you nervous, Peichi?” asked Amanda.

  “Nope,” said Peichi. “This is gonna be fun!”

  The auditorium was filled with the shouts and chatter of about a hundred kids, all nervously waiting for the audition to begin. A student handed out sheef music for a song from the musical.

  Amanda looked up at the stage. A large piano was there.

  “Oh, no!” she cried. We have to sing up there? On the stage? In front of everyone?”

  “Well, where did you think you were going to sing?” asked Peichi.

  Just then, a tall, attractive, dark-haired woman walked into the auditorium and stood in front of the stage.

  I’ve seen her before, thought Amanda.

  “Hello and welcome, students! she said. ”I’m so glad you’re all here for the audition! I’ll be directing My fair Lady. My name is Ms. Barlow—”

  “Ms. Barlow,” whispered Amanda to Molly and Peichi. “That’s Brenda Barlow! What’s she doing here?”

  “Ohmygosh!” whispered the girls.

  Chapter 6

  “For those of you who don’t know me yet, I teach eighth-grade French, and I’m the drama coach here at Windsor Middle School,” Ms. Barlow was saying. “I’m also an actress! Now let’s get started. This is Mr. Cummings, Windsor’s music teacher and choir director. He’ll be accompanying us on the piano and teaching us a song from the musical. Then you’ll come up to the stage to sing a few bars. We’ll go in alphabetical order, starting with the eighth-graders. The cast list will be posted in the main hall tomorrow morning.

  At least we get to go last, thought Amanda. Maybe the older kids will have gone home by then...I can’t believe Ms. Barlow works at our school!

  Recently, Ms. Barlow had hired Dish to do a dinner for her little girl’s birthday. She’d been a difficult customer—she’d called several days before the event, but then called again and asked them to do it earlier in the week. But the Chef Girls had already committed to another cooking job for that same day.

  Amanda had told her it was impossible, but Ms. Barlow had made such a fuss that Amanda agreed to the job just to get off the phone. And then, when the girls delivered the food, As. Barlow didn’t have the money to pay them! It took a few days—and a note to remind her that was written by Natasha’s dad—to get their money.

  Everything had worked out in the end. As. Barlow had finally paid them and had been very gracious, but now Amanda was uneasy. I hope she doesn’t hold that note against me, thought Amanda. But she just might.

  Peichi, of course, wasn’t giving it a second thought.

  Amanda and Peichi learned a lot by watching the seventh- and eighth-graders audition. It was obvious who’d been in the school plays before—they moved easily on the stage and joked with Ms. Barlow. They faced the audience and sang with feeling. Tiffany Hurst, a tall eighth-grader who was one of the first to audition, seemed to own the stage.

  “Oh, Tiffany’s a triple threat,” Amanda heard someone behind her telling her friend. “She’ll probably get the leading role.”

  “What’s a triple threat?” asked the friend.

  “You know, someone who can act, sing, and dance.”

  Some students had terrible auditions. They acted nervous, hiding behind their sheet music. They were impossible to hear. Some kids weren’t even standing up straight.

  “We can’t just sing the song,” Amanda whispered to Peichi. “We have to sing it like we’re already performing the play. And we can’t show that we’re nervous!”

  “You’re right,” said Peichi. nodding.

  Soon it was the sixth-graders turns.

  “Peichi Cheng!” called Ms. Barlow.

  “Oooh!” whispered Peichi as she jumped out of her seat.

  Amanda grabbed her hand. “Good luck, Peichi!”

  Peichi practically bounced down the aisle and up the steps to the stage. She greeted Mr. Cummings, who murmured a few words to her. and then Peichi faced the audience with a big smile.

  “So far, so good!” Molly whispered to Amanda.

  Still wearing her big smile, Peichi started to sing. A few students giggled.

  “Ohmygosh!” whispered Amanda. “She’s terrible!”

  Peichi was way off key—and completely clueless about it! She sang loudly and with expression, but her flat voice w
as almost painful to listen to.

  “She sounds like a sick cat,” giggled someone behind the twins.

  “Thank you so much! That’ll do, darling,” cut in Ms. Barlow. Thanks a lot!”

  “Oh, okay!” said Peichi. “Thank you!” She quickly walked off the stage and back up the aisle, beaming.

  For a moment. Molly couldn’t think of anything to say. “Uh, good job!

  “Yeah, I could hear you really well,” added Amanda. What else can I say? she thought.

  “Thanks!” said Peichi. “That was fun! Oh, I hope I make it!”

  Soon Amanda heard Ms. Barlow say, “Amanda Moore!”

  Molly squeezed her hand, and as everyone turned to see who she was. Amanda walked carefully down the aisle, hoping she wouldn trip.

  “Hello. Amanda,” said Ms. Barlow with a sincere smile. “Nice to see you again! Will you need sheet music, or do you have the song memorized?”

  “Um, I’d better take it.” Amanda heard herself reply. Her own voice sounded far away. She walked up the steps to the stage as if in slow motion.

  Mr. Cummings gave her a nice smile, too. “Ready?” he said.

  “Thank you, I mean, yes,” said Amanda, confused. Mr. Cummings played the introduction.

  As he played, Amanda remembered to stop looking at Mr. Cummings and look out at the audience. She tried to find Molly in the back, but couldn’t.

  Here goes, she thought, coming into the song right on time.

  At first Amanda could barely hear her own voice. She began to sing louder, and heard that she was a little off-key. She quickly found the right key and began to smile and relax.

  “Someone’s head restin’ on my knee...oh, wouldn’t it be loverly...” The piano music seemed to be filtering into her muscles and helped her feel less alone on the stage. That’s when she had the courage to look at the students in the first row. They were watching her—without laughing!

  Amanda began to loosen up. She felt that the words to the song belonged to her, and almost believed that she was Eliza Doolittle, the main character in the play. She had a glimpse of what it must be like to perform on stage. It felt awesome!