Mia's Baker's Dozen by Coco Simon

something.
    â€œUh, sure,” I said, a little nervously. I hoped it wasn’t too complicated.
    Sydney handed me her phone, and I checked the message.
    Te quiero.
    Now, if you read Spanish you probably know that this means, “I love you,” which is what my parents say to me, and my abuela says all the time. But when I saw “ quiero ” I got it mixed up with the word “ queso ,” which means “cheese.”
    Yes, that’s right. That’s what I thought. And here’s what I told Sydney.
    â€œHe says you’re cheesy,” I said.
    Honestly, I didn’t think that was strange. Jackson is on the football team, and he says mean things to kids all the time. Sydney and Jackson actually would make a perfect couple. Jackson thinks he’s supercool just because he’s a football player, and Sydney thinks she’s supercool because . . . well, because she’s Sydney.
    Sydney’s face turned bright red. “Cheesy? Really? I’ll show him!”
    Then she stomped away. She went back to her table, and I could see her talking with Maggie. While Sydney talked, she looked shocked and kept glancing down at her phone and looked like she was getting angrier by the minute.
    I went back to the table.
    â€œWhat did she want?” Alexis asked.
    I shrugged. “She wanted me to translate some text message for her from Jackson Montano. Hetold her he thinks she’s cheesy.”
    â€œCheesy? That’s a weird thing to say,” Emma said.
    â€œHmm. Well, at least that’s one less boy drooling over Sydney,” Katie said. “So yay for that.”
    â€œIt figures he’s texting her,” Alexis said. “Those two think alike.”
    And then I forgot all about it—for a little while, anyway. In a split second, I had made a terrible mistake—one that would haunt me forever. (I know that sounds totally dramatic, but it’s true!)

CHAPTER 10
    Katie Is Still Acting Weird
    T hat night at dinner Mom made an announcement.
    â€œI just got the e-mails about the parent-teacher conferences next week,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet all your teachers!”
    I almost choked on my pork chop, and started coughing.
    â€œMia, are you okay?” Mom asked.
    I nodded and took a sip of water.
    â€œDo not believe anything Mrs. Caldwell tells you,” Dan said. “She’s always accusing me of messing around in class, but it’s Joseph, not me.”
    Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, we’ll see about that,” he said. “Any other teachers we should look out for?”
    Dan shrugged. “They’re all pretty cool, I guess.Mr. Bender gives us tons of homework, but I always do it all.”
    â€œWhat about you, Mia?” Eddie asked.
    I shrugged too. “They’re all cool.” Normally, I would have told them about how much fun Ms. Biddle’s science class is and how strict Mrs. Moore is in math class, but I didn’t feel like talking. I couldn’t keep my secret about Spanish class much longer. I decided I’d have to tell Mom after dinner.
    But then Eddie said something that really made me mad.
    â€œMia, I’m looking forward to meeting your teachers too,” he said.
    I almost choked again. Why was Eddie going to my parent-teacher conference? Dad is the one who should be going!
    I was too angry to say anything. I kept quiet until the end of dinner. Then after, when Mom and I were cleaning up, I confronted her.
    â€œWhy is Eddie going instead of Dad?” I asked her. “Dad’s still my parent, right? Shouldn’t he be going?”
    Mom looked really startled. “Well . . . ,” she said, like she was trying to figure out an answer. “I didn’t think of it. It might be hard for Dad to get herefrom the city during the week. I’ll ask him. But is there a reason you don’t want Eddie to go?”
    â€œBecause he’s not my dad!” I blurted