“I’m leaving.”
I smiled and stretched out on the couch, taking up the spot Chris had vacated. There was nothing better than making Chris crazy. And he was only going to get crazier. He might think I’d forgotten how he’d shredded all of Tim’s e-mails, but I hadn’t. And when he brushed his teeth tonight with the green dye-infused mint toothpaste I’d created earlier this morning, we would finally be even.
I was just about asleep with the thought of Chris’s new mossy smile playing in my head, when my mom walked into the room. “Oh good, you’re home. I can’t wait to hear all about your day.”
“I can’t talk. I’m too tired.”
“Nonsense. How tired can you be? You have the best job in the world,” she said, pushing my legs off the couch and propping me into a sitting position. “Now, go get washed up. It’s time for dinner.”
“I’m too tired to eat.”
“Then I guess you’re too tired to read the e-mail Tim sent you today.”
My eyes flipped open.
“Go read your e-mail, but hurry.” Mom patted me on the leg as she left the room. “The tater tot casserole is ready, and I don’t want it to get cold.”
I grimaced. There was nothing worse than my mom’s tater totcasserole, except for my mom’s tater tot casserole after it had been sitting out for ten minutes.
I ran to the computer and logged on.
From: Radford1104
Date: June 13, 9:17 A.M.
To: FullofFun
Subject: Hi
Mia,
Sorry I haven’t written, but I was out all weekend. Felicity’s parents took Nate, Sean, and me out sailing on their Catamaran. Her dad let us harness ourselves to the hull and hang out over the water. We caught some awesome wind and were flying. I’d forgotten how much I love sailing. You should try it.
—Tim
I’d been waiting three days for that? I’d cried myself sick over our relationship, but Tim hadn’t given it a second thought. Life was so not fair. Here I was, working myself to death while Tim was out sailing the ocean blue. This summer trip to visit his grandparents had turned out to be very convenient for Tim—he’d simply traded in one neighbor girl for another. And how wonderful for him—this one’s parents even owned a sailboat!
Not bothering to respond, I deleted his message and went to the kitchen to choke down tater tots already congealing in cream of mushroom soup.
The next week flew by, one day blurring into the next. I’d been grounded because of my toothpaste transgression, so all I did for the next four days was wake up, ride my bike to work, climb into myPlayhouse Pal costume, put on my makeup, set up and take down the Play Wagon five times in a row, get out of my costume, wipe off my makeup, ride home, laugh at Chris’s stained teeth—which had strangely turned a weird shade of puce—and then collapse.
But after a weekend of doing nothing but sleeping, I was refreshed and ready to tackle my Tim troubles. It had been six days since I’d heard from Tim, and his lack of e-mails was desperately crimping my strategy of playing hard to get. After all, it’s awfully difficult to be elusive when no one’s even trying to catch you in the first place.
At first, I was convinced the absence of Tim e-mails were just another one of Chris’s pranks. But after I threatened to sabotage his acne cream, Chris swore he had nothing to do with my empty inbox, and I accepted the truth: Tim had simply forgotten about us. And now it was up to me to take matters into my own hands. After all, I’d never let Tim get the best of me in the past, and I wasn’t going to let him do it now. There was no way I was going to let him string me along if he was swapping spit with Popeye the Sailing Woman.
From: FullofFun
Date: June 19, 4:47 P.M.
To: Radford1104
Subject: Hey
Tim,
I took a deep breath and wrote:
I need to know right now. Are we on or off?
—Mia
Then, before I could change my mind, I hit send.
I was just about to log off when my computer chimed, alerting me I had an e-mail.
I smiled and stretched out on the couch, taking up the spot Chris had vacated. There was nothing better than making Chris crazy. And he was only going to get crazier. He might think I’d forgotten how he’d shredded all of Tim’s e-mails, but I hadn’t. And when he brushed his teeth tonight with the green dye-infused mint toothpaste I’d created earlier this morning, we would finally be even.
I was just about asleep with the thought of Chris’s new mossy smile playing in my head, when my mom walked into the room. “Oh good, you’re home. I can’t wait to hear all about your day.”
“I can’t talk. I’m too tired.”
“Nonsense. How tired can you be? You have the best job in the world,” she said, pushing my legs off the couch and propping me into a sitting position. “Now, go get washed up. It’s time for dinner.”
“I’m too tired to eat.”
“Then I guess you’re too tired to read the e-mail Tim sent you today.”
My eyes flipped open.
“Go read your e-mail, but hurry.” Mom patted me on the leg as she left the room. “The tater tot casserole is ready, and I don’t want it to get cold.”
I grimaced. There was nothing worse than my mom’s tater totcasserole, except for my mom’s tater tot casserole after it had been sitting out for ten minutes.
I ran to the computer and logged on.
From: Radford1104
Date: June 13, 9:17 A.M.
To: FullofFun
Subject: Hi
Mia,
Sorry I haven’t written, but I was out all weekend. Felicity’s parents took Nate, Sean, and me out sailing on their Catamaran. Her dad let us harness ourselves to the hull and hang out over the water. We caught some awesome wind and were flying. I’d forgotten how much I love sailing. You should try it.
—Tim
I’d been waiting three days for that? I’d cried myself sick over our relationship, but Tim hadn’t given it a second thought. Life was so not fair. Here I was, working myself to death while Tim was out sailing the ocean blue. This summer trip to visit his grandparents had turned out to be very convenient for Tim—he’d simply traded in one neighbor girl for another. And how wonderful for him—this one’s parents even owned a sailboat!
Not bothering to respond, I deleted his message and went to the kitchen to choke down tater tots already congealing in cream of mushroom soup.
The next week flew by, one day blurring into the next. I’d been grounded because of my toothpaste transgression, so all I did for the next four days was wake up, ride my bike to work, climb into myPlayhouse Pal costume, put on my makeup, set up and take down the Play Wagon five times in a row, get out of my costume, wipe off my makeup, ride home, laugh at Chris’s stained teeth—which had strangely turned a weird shade of puce—and then collapse.
But after a weekend of doing nothing but sleeping, I was refreshed and ready to tackle my Tim troubles. It had been six days since I’d heard from Tim, and his lack of e-mails was desperately crimping my strategy of playing hard to get. After all, it’s awfully difficult to be elusive when no one’s even trying to catch you in the first place.
At first, I was convinced the absence of Tim e-mails were just another one of Chris’s pranks. But after I threatened to sabotage his acne cream, Chris swore he had nothing to do with my empty inbox, and I accepted the truth: Tim had simply forgotten about us. And now it was up to me to take matters into my own hands. After all, I’d never let Tim get the best of me in the past, and I wasn’t going to let him do it now. There was no way I was going to let him string me along if he was swapping spit with Popeye the Sailing Woman.
From: FullofFun
Date: June 19, 4:47 P.M.
To: Radford1104
Subject: Hey
Tim,
I took a deep breath and wrote:
I need to know right now. Are we on or off?
—Mia
Then, before I could change my mind, I hit send.
I was just about to log off when my computer chimed, alerting me I had an e-mail.
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