the trash can right as Dad walks into the kitchen. He breathes in, and his caffeinated smile goes away.
“It smells…interesting in here,” he says.
“Oh, we were…um…experimenting with something for dinner, but it wasn’t any good,” I tell him as I run for the trash can. The burnt pot is sitting right on top, with the empty chocolate tin next to it. I pull out the plastic trash bag and tighten it up.
“Taking out the trash too? This must be my lucky day.”
“It sure is, Dad!” I say. And when I think of the love potion in the coffee cup in my room, I realize that may actually be the truth—because if the love potion works for Samantha and Larry, Dad will be the next one to try it out. Then he’ll be one step closer to getting back together with Terri.
I think I could be the best daughter of all time. He just doesn’t know it yet.
—
On Friday morning, I choose my favorite storyboard for the Immersive Interactive Art Installation—the sequence of pictures featuring Pandaroo and Skunkifer in an action-packed outer space battle. Skunkifer, the evil villain who once had blond hair like Madison but now looks more like Lisa Lee, has kidnapped the Millipede with Many Shoes and hidden him in her lair filled with blue cheese, garlic, and other stinky stuff. (Our experience with the love potion recipe inspired me to add a few onions at the last minute.) Then Pandaroo rescues the grateful and relieved millipede from the skunk’s clutches after a battle of cleverness and gymnastics, not violence. When I hand the storyboard to Kevin on Friday morning, I make a wish to get a good and prominent position in the Friendship Community Immersive Interactive Art Gallery (actually the gym) that night.
When Madison gets to class, she gives Kevin a big bag from a store called Hervé Léger. I know Ryder’s head is inside. Considering how it still looked a little frightening the other afternoon, I hope she’s had time to work on it since then!
Before Dad and I leave for the art show that night, there’s a mega-super-important task I have to do: figure out how to transport the STUFFS SWEET to the event! I go into the bathroom, where Dad’s medicine cabinet is filled with almost-empty bottles of cold medicine and cans of shaving cream with rust on the edges. I rummage around a bit, and on a shelf behind some hotel shampoos and conditioners I find what I was hoping for: eyedrops! The bottle looks pretty old and dusty, so I don’t think Dad will miss it. It’s got a squeezy black top that fills a little glass straw with liquid. I empty and wash it, then take it into my bedroom and pour our STUFFS SWEET potion into it. The potion’s gotten thicker and gloppier and maybe even browner, but it’s still liquid at least. Naturally, I spill some onto my desk as it makes its way from the big coffee cup into the tiny eyedrops bottle, but I can clean it up later. What’s most important is that there are enough drops to make Larry and Samantha fall in love.
Dad shouts for me to meet him in the car in two minutes, but a flash of something sparkly grabs my attention. There, on my dresser, sits the red bottle of love potion. It looks extra glittery and pretty tonight, like it
wants
me to look at it. Like it’s calling out,
“Use me! Use me!”
Of course that’s the potion we
should
be using. I know it’s not in the
POCIÓNES
book, and we don’t know exactly how it works, but Uncle Arnie’s potion would be sure to give ours an extra boost. Just a drop couldn’t hurt, could it?
I’m doing it.
I pick up the potion and open the top. I hold the eyedropper steady on my dresser and slowly tip the red bottle. I don’t want too much to come out. I take a deep breath and tip the bottle just a little, little bit further. Then—
“One minute!” Dad yells from down the hall.
I stop.
What am I doing? I promised myself I wouldn’t use Uncle Arnie’s love potion without instructions. It’s like he’s testing me, sending
“It smells…interesting in here,” he says.
“Oh, we were…um…experimenting with something for dinner, but it wasn’t any good,” I tell him as I run for the trash can. The burnt pot is sitting right on top, with the empty chocolate tin next to it. I pull out the plastic trash bag and tighten it up.
“Taking out the trash too? This must be my lucky day.”
“It sure is, Dad!” I say. And when I think of the love potion in the coffee cup in my room, I realize that may actually be the truth—because if the love potion works for Samantha and Larry, Dad will be the next one to try it out. Then he’ll be one step closer to getting back together with Terri.
I think I could be the best daughter of all time. He just doesn’t know it yet.
—
On Friday morning, I choose my favorite storyboard for the Immersive Interactive Art Installation—the sequence of pictures featuring Pandaroo and Skunkifer in an action-packed outer space battle. Skunkifer, the evil villain who once had blond hair like Madison but now looks more like Lisa Lee, has kidnapped the Millipede with Many Shoes and hidden him in her lair filled with blue cheese, garlic, and other stinky stuff. (Our experience with the love potion recipe inspired me to add a few onions at the last minute.) Then Pandaroo rescues the grateful and relieved millipede from the skunk’s clutches after a battle of cleverness and gymnastics, not violence. When I hand the storyboard to Kevin on Friday morning, I make a wish to get a good and prominent position in the Friendship Community Immersive Interactive Art Gallery (actually the gym) that night.
When Madison gets to class, she gives Kevin a big bag from a store called Hervé Léger. I know Ryder’s head is inside. Considering how it still looked a little frightening the other afternoon, I hope she’s had time to work on it since then!
Before Dad and I leave for the art show that night, there’s a mega-super-important task I have to do: figure out how to transport the STUFFS SWEET to the event! I go into the bathroom, where Dad’s medicine cabinet is filled with almost-empty bottles of cold medicine and cans of shaving cream with rust on the edges. I rummage around a bit, and on a shelf behind some hotel shampoos and conditioners I find what I was hoping for: eyedrops! The bottle looks pretty old and dusty, so I don’t think Dad will miss it. It’s got a squeezy black top that fills a little glass straw with liquid. I empty and wash it, then take it into my bedroom and pour our STUFFS SWEET potion into it. The potion’s gotten thicker and gloppier and maybe even browner, but it’s still liquid at least. Naturally, I spill some onto my desk as it makes its way from the big coffee cup into the tiny eyedrops bottle, but I can clean it up later. What’s most important is that there are enough drops to make Larry and Samantha fall in love.
Dad shouts for me to meet him in the car in two minutes, but a flash of something sparkly grabs my attention. There, on my dresser, sits the red bottle of love potion. It looks extra glittery and pretty tonight, like it
wants
me to look at it. Like it’s calling out,
“Use me! Use me!”
Of course that’s the potion we
should
be using. I know it’s not in the
POCIÓNES
book, and we don’t know exactly how it works, but Uncle Arnie’s potion would be sure to give ours an extra boost. Just a drop couldn’t hurt, could it?
I’m doing it.
I pick up the potion and open the top. I hold the eyedropper steady on my dresser and slowly tip the red bottle. I don’t want too much to come out. I take a deep breath and tip the bottle just a little, little bit further. Then—
“One minute!” Dad yells from down the hall.
I stop.
What am I doing? I promised myself I wouldn’t use Uncle Arnie’s love potion without instructions. It’s like he’s testing me, sending
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