Katie Starting from Scratch by Coco Simon Page A

cracking up.
    I was laughing too, not because it was funny, but because George is so ridiculous sometimes. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but he couldn’t use Mr. Cheddar in the talent show. He just couldn’t. People would be laughing at him, not with him.
    â€œYou need to go back to your balancing act,” I said. “Seriously. This is awful.”
    â€œReally?” George asked. “Rats!”
    â€œNo rats! No mice! No puppets!” I said. “Or I might be embarassed to be seen with you.”
    â€œWhat? That’s not fair!” George cried.
    â€œI’m serious! And didn’t you try out already?”
    â€œI did,” George said. “But I thought I should jazz up my act. My little brothers love this thing.”
    â€œThen save it for them,” I said. “Trust me!”
    George held up Mr. Cheddar again. “That stinks worse than Limberger cheese!”
    I looked at Mia and shook my head, and we both laughed. Leave it to George to get me out of my bad mood.
    But all day I kept thinking about how Emily was going to come home with me and how weird that was. At the end of the day, she was waiting by the bus. She looked pretty relieved when she saw me, and for a second I felt bad for not wanting to hang out with her. After all, her mom was off in Haiti, and now she had to take a bus to our house instead of going home. It probably felt weird.
    â€œHey,” I said.
    Emily smiled. “Hi.”
    We got on the bus, and I immediately realized we had a problem: I always sit with Mia.
    â€œDon’t worry, I’ll find another seat,” Mia said,figuring things out at the same time I did.
    I gave her an I’m sorry look as she headed for the back of the bus, but Mia just smiled at me. She’s so nice. Emily and I sat down on my usual two-seater. George stuck his head over the back of our seats.
    â€œMia! You shrunk!” he said, looking at Emily.
    â€œVery funny,” I said. “George, this is Emily.”
    â€œYou’re Mr. Green’s daughter, right?” he asked, and Emily nodded. “He’s a pretty cool teacher. Everybody likes him.”
    â€œYeah, thanks. I hear that a lot,” Emily said.
    And then George just kept talking the whole ride home. I’m not sure why he did it, but I was glad that he did. It saved me from trying to make awkward conversation with Emily.
    After the bus dropped us off, we headed into the house.
    â€œGeorge is really funny,” Emily said. “Is he your boyfriend?”
    I could feel myself blush. “Not exactly,” I said. “Kind of. Maybe. I don’t know.”
    Emily didn’t press it, which was nice. When we got inside, I went straight to the kitchen, like I always do. There was a note from Mom on the table.
    Hi, Katie:
    Please make sure that Emily knows she can have a snack. We have fruit and cheese and crackers. Get started on your homework right away. I’ll be home at 5:30, and Jeff will be there around the same time to take Emily home.
    Love,
    Mom
    â€œAre you hungry?” I asked Emily.
    â€œA little,” she replied.
    I got two plates and put some cheese, crackers, and grapes on each one.
    â€œYou can do your homework anywhere,” I said. “I’m going upstairs.”
    â€œOh, okay,” Emily said.
    I picked up my plate and my backpack, went up to my room, and closed my door behind me. I did everything Mom told me to, right?
    But, of course, that wasn’t enough. . . .

CHAPTER 10
I Lose It
    K atie, I don’t understand your attitude,” Mom was saying.
    Jeff had picked up Emily, and they’d left. Mom and I were eating dinner.
    I sighed. “What do you mean?”
    â€œWhen I came home, you were in your room with your door closed, and poor Emily was down here by herself,” Mom replied.
    â€œWe were both doing homework,” I argued. “What am I supposed to do, look over her shoulder while