The Gossip File by Anna Staniszewski Page B

I say.
    â€œI am,” he responds, “but I try to sneak away once in a while to make time for Ellie.”
    Something stabs at me. My dad can make time for Ellie every week, but I’ve come all this way and he can’t even make time for me?
    â€œMaybe we could go out for ice cream tonight after dinner,” I say. “Just the two of us?” Ice cream has always been our thing. He can’t say no to that, can he?
    Dad nods absently and checks his watch. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”
    â€œOr mini-golf!” I say. “We haven’t done that in years. Maybe we can go later? Or tomorrow?”
    â€œSure, Roo. But I have to go.” He gives me a quick kiss on the forehead and hurries off. As he walks away, I can’t help feeling that I’m looking at a stranger. He might look like my dad and sound like my dad, but whoever this person is, I’m meeting him for the first time.
    â€¢â€¢â€¢
    After Taylor and I get back to the café, I have to wait an hour before I can go through the Gossip File while Carrie and Taylor aren’t looking. My heart is pounding as I flip through it, searching for Ellie’s name and whatever bad thing Carrie said is written about her.
    It takes me a while to find it, but finally I spot a page of scratchy writing with “Ellie” underlined about halfway down. I glance around to make sure Carrie and Taylor are still in the back of the café, and then I start reading.
    â€œEllie gets her hair done at the salon every morning, but she still looks like a mess. She pretends she’s perfect, but she’s not. Pretty soon, people are going to catch on to what she’s really like.”
    Wow, whoever wrote this stuff about Ellie really didn’t like her.
    I flip the page, hoping for more, but that’s all it says. I hear Taylor pirouetting across the café, so I quickly shut the book and shove it back into its hiding spot. Then I pretend to wipe down the counter, realizing too late that I’m holding a plastic bag instead of a rag.
    â€œUm, are you okay?” Taylor asks.
    â€œI’m fine,” I say, but it doesn’t sound all that convincing. I can’t ignore the icky feeling that’s been growing inside me ever since I saw my dad earlier.
    â€œYou seem kind of distracted. And you barely even looked at people when we were handing out the pastries earlier.”
    â€œI’m just…” Part of me is tempted to tell Taylor what’s going on, but I can’t explain to her that my dad is seeing Ellie. That would only make everything more complicated.
    Luckily, Carrie saves me from having to say anything as she rushes over, untying her apron. “It’s four o’clock. Time to go, ladies. If you want to clean up, I’ll do the registers.”
    When we’re done closing up, we troop outside into the crazy humidity, and Carrie locks the café door. She turns to me. “Do you want to hang out with us tonight? I think we’re going to see a movie and get out of the heat for a while.”
    â€œOh, I can’t. I have plans.”
    â€œMaybe tomorrow,” says Carrie brightly. “It would be fun to hang out.” She puts one arm around my shoulder and the other around Taylor’s. “I could use some cheering up.”
    â€œWhy? What’s going on?” says Taylor.
    Carrie sighs. “My mom’s been giving me a hard time about college again.” She looks at me and explains, “She really wants me to go, but we can’t afford it. No matter how many hours I work, it’s not going to be enough, you know? But she can’t accept that. She wants me to get a second job.”
    â€œWow,” says Taylor. “What does your dad say?”
    Carrie snorts. “What does my dad ever say? ‘I don’t know. Go ask your mother. Where did I put my socks?’ The man hasn’t had a clue since before I was