Addison Addley and the Things That Aren't There by Melody DeFields McMillan Page A

what you’ve gotta do.
    â€œWell then,” Mrs. Wilson muttered, not knowing what to say. She smiled at me, a real smile, not even a fake one.
    Tiffany’s face lit up like a lamp. For a second, just one tiny second, I kind of felt sorry for her. She really wanted that trophy. It must have meant a lot to her. Sort of like what winning the baseball tournament last year had meant to me.
    That feeling only lasted for a second because then she scrunched up her face into a twisted sneer again. “Thanks, Oddison,” the Lamp purred. “I’m going to go home and have a victory drink in this with some real punch. Victory. You don’t know what that word means, do you?” she whispered to me as she strode away.
    Victory. Oh yeah, I knew what that word meant. It was sweet. I thought of Tiffany heading home with her trophy. I thought about her pouring some of her own precious punch into it. I thought about her gulping it down. I thought about how my half of the worms had been sitting in that trophy last night at the creek. Oh yeah, victory was sweet.

Chapter Sixteen
    I studied the pages in front of me. Ever since Mom had found out that I’d failed my last chapter review in math, she’d found even more ways for me to look at numbers. She said she thought I could use a little practice. More than a little practice, if you ask me.
    I was now in charge of the household budget. Mom just didn’t get it. With me in charge, we’d be broke in a week. Luckily I was only going to be in charge for a month.
    â€œYou know, Mom, if you’d cut back on all of that organic stuff from the health food store, we’d have more money for other food,” I suggested. More real food, like ice cream with chocolate syrup and greensprinkles. You could never have too much of that stuff lying around the house.
    Mom grinned at me. “Nice try, Einstein.” She put down her cup of green tea. “You know, speaking of organic food, I saw Mrs. Wilson coming out of the health food store yesterday. Maybe she’s turning into a health nut like me. I think I’ll give her the recipe for my organic fruit punch at the next meeting. I bet she’d really enjoy that.”
    I coughed up my peppermint tea.
    â€œYeah, well, you might want to hold off on that,” I said. Mom still didn’t know about the punch disaster. No use getting her upset or anything. She’d just been elected to the treasurer position. It had been a close call, five votes to four. I wondered which way good old Mrs. Wilson had voted. I’d made her daughter sick, but then again I’d made her daughter happy by giving her that trophy. Maybe one deed cancelled out the other—like multiplying fractions.
    I had to think fast. “She was probably just there to put up flyers for the school fundraiser,” I said. It could have been true. There really was going to be a fundraiser, and Mrs. Wilson was sure to be in charge of it.
    â€œI bet she’s not interested in that organic stuff at all,” I continued. “Actually, I’m pretty sure of it. I heard her say she wouldn’t touch that organic stuff if you paid her to. She says it’s a total waste of money.” I didn’t mention the fact that Mrs. Wilson had only been talking about the punch. Some things are better left unsaid.
    â€œWell, keep working on those numbers and see if we can cut some corners,” Mom said as she headed out the back door. “I’m going to go take a peek at the stars. I can’t wait to borrow the telescope at the next meeting!” She practically floated outside.
    Great. A telescope. Old starlight. Black holes. Wormholes.
    Just what I needed. That’s how this whole mess started in the first place, looking for things that weren’t there. Maybe I could talk Mom into buying a new video game with spaceships and aliens instead. She’d have lots of stars to look at then.
    I finished up the page