Boiling Point (3 page)

“We always get here before Shawn,” Molly told Amanda. “Did you ever notice that?” She pulled her long brown hair into a high ponytail.

“That’s cause Shawn just lives over there,” said Amanda, pointing to a tall apartment building. “So she always leaves at the last minute. Amanda held up her hand and inspected her glittery lavender fingernails. ”You should try this color, Molls. Your nails look terrible. Are you biting them again?“

Molly blushed. “I guess I am.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. She was the fashion conscious sister. Amanda loved clothes, jewelry, nail polish, lip gloss...it seemed that every week. she was trying a new nail polish color or hairstyle. Molly, on the other hand, loved a comfortable old pair of jeans and boys’ canvas sneakers. She spent her allowance on CDs and hardly ever bought anything like lip gloss or hair accessories. “What’s the point?” she would tell Amanda, whenever Amanda begged her to buy something girly. “You already have all that stuff. I’m not wasting my money.”

The twins were different in other ways. too.

Amanda was cautious. Molly loved doing things on the spur of the moment, and always had a big idea she wanted to try out. Cooking had been her idea one boring day earlier in the summer. The twins were tired of all the take-out food their parents had been bringing home lately.

“Let’s cook dinner!” Molly had suggested. Despite Amanda’s protests, they did, and it tasted great! That led to their summer adventures—taking cooking classes in the neighborhood, getting to know Peichi better, and...starting their own cooking business—Dish! None of that would have happened if Molly hadn’t decided to take a risk.

“Here she comes,” said Molly, as she watched Shawn walk under some trees that bordered the lake.

Shawn was wearing denim shorts, running shoes, and her new candy-striped peasant top. Her bright green “cat glasses” looked so great against her coffee-colored skin. They were the same color as one of the stripes in her top. Shawn always looked—and acted—and dressed—so cool. Who else could pull off wearing really out-there eyeglasses? Or stay calm in the most bizarre situations?

Only Shawn. Amanda wanted to dress like her, and Molly wanted to act like her. But they never really could. Shawn was one-of-a-kind.

“Hi, Molls,” said Shawn. “Hi, Manda.”

“Hi,” said the twins. “What’s up, Shawn?” they both asked at the same time, and then giggled. They did that all the time—“the twin thing”—when they said the same thing at the same time.

“Did you see any turtles yet?” asked Shawn, ignoring the question. She stared at the water. “My dad and I did, yesterday.”

“Okay, Shawn, give it up,” said Molly. “Tell us what’s going on.

Shawn sighed and sat down on the grass in front of the bench so that she could look at the twins.

“Um, okay. Here it is. Remember that long business trip my dad’s been talking about? Well, he’s going on it after all. He’s going to Australia and New Zealand.” She looked down at the ground. “Wherever that is!” she said with a little laugh. “No, I know where it is. On the other side of the world!”

“I had a feeling this was happening,” said Molly. “How long is he going to be away?”

“A month.”

“Whoa!” exclaimed Molly. “That’s a long time!”

“I was bummin’ when he told me,” said Shawn, shaking her head.

“That
is
a bummer,” said Amanda. “So, like, what are you going to do?”

“I know!” Molly broke in. “You can live with us! It would be so cool—like a month-long slumber party!”

Shawn smiled a little smile. “Thanks,” she said. “But, um—I’m gonna go back down to South Carolina and stay with Grandma Ruthie. For the rest of the summer.” She looked at Molly, then her eyes flicked over to Amanda.

“What!” cried the twins.

“But you just got back from there,” said Molly. “You were there at the beginning of the summer, and it seemed like you were gone forever. You just got home!”

“I’ve been back for a while,” said Shawn softly.

“But Shawn, we’re all having such a great time,” declared Amanda. “This summer is
awesome.
We’re just getting Dish going. And we’re writing our cookbook. Why do you want to leave?”

“I don’t really
want
to leave,” replied Shawn with a shrug. “But what else can I do?”

Molly stared at Shawn. So did Amanda. Then the twins glanced at each other, and realized that they were both wondering the same thing:
Does Shawn even care that she’s leaving?

Molly forced a smile as she turned to Shawn. “Well, why can’t Grandma Ruthie come
here?
”

“Grandma Ruthie doesn’t want to be up here that long,” said Shawn. “I already asked her. And, well, I’m not gonna lie to you guys. I like it down there. I love going to Myrtle Beach with my cousins. I’ve been having a lot of fun here, too. You know that, right? But...”

A large dark cloud passed over the sun, and the air suddenly felt cold. Molly shivered.

“But it’s just better this way,” continued Shawn. “Okay? Anyway, I’ll be leaving in a few days. It’s just for a month, guys.”

Neither Molly nor Amanda knew what to say.

Shawn was acting weird. A little
too
cool.

Suddenly it seemed to the twins that Shawn had already checked out. And gone.

T
hat night, when Mrs. Moore came home from work, she found the twins in the garden. “Hi!” she said. She kissed them and asked, “Do you want to eat dinner out here tonight?”

“Okay,” replied Molly.

“Sure,” Amanda mumbled.

“Something’s up with you two,” stated Mrs. Moore. “What’s going on? You seem so glum.”

“What does ‘glum’ mean?” asked Amanda.

“If it means bummed out, then we’re glum all right,” said Molly. “We’re ‘glummed out.’” She snickered at her little joke.

Mom set down her heavy bag. “What’s up?” she asked.

The twins told Mom all about their talk with Shawn.

“I see,” said Mom. “I’m sorry you’re going to be missing Shawn all over again.”

“And it doesn’t sound as if shell miss
us,”
Molly blurted out.

“Oh, that’s not true,” Mrs. Moore assured the girls. “But try to remember that other than her dad, Shawn doesn’t have any family here in New York. Sometimes it’s just good to be with your family. That seems to be what Shawn needs right now. And she likes it down in South Carolina, so it’s not sad for her to go there.”

Mrs. Moore smiled at her daughters. “That doesn’t mean she won’t miss you, and all the fun you’re having,” she went on. “But growing up is about accepting things that you can’t change, and making choices that are right for yourself. And Shawn’s doing pretty well in that area. Losing her mother has forced her to grow up. Try to see it her way. And try not to make it harder for her, okay?”

The twins didn’t say anything for a while. They were thinking about everything Mom had said. It was a lot to take in. But it did seem to make sense.

“Well,” said Molly slowly, “I guess I haven’t really looked at this the way Shawn would.”

“Me, either,” said Amanda. She sighed. “Okay, Mom. She’s here for a few more days, so Molly and I will—”

“Just act normal and not make her feel guilty!” interrupted Molly.

Mom smiled again. “Shawn’s lucky to have you two as her best friends.”

“Cha-ching!
Cha-ching!” cried Molly, the next afternoon. The friends had just dropped off their latest cooking job at Mrs. Jamison’s house.

“Peichi, well divide the money at your house,” Amanda said, pocketing the wad of bills Mrs. Jamison had just given them.

“You know what’s really fun?” asked Peichi. “When we open up the boxes and show the customer what we made for them—”

“And their eyes bug out and they say how good it all looks!” interrupted Amanda.

“Mrs. Jamison looked so surprised when she saw how young we are,” commented Shawn. “Everybody’s like that at first. And then they see what we did, and they’re so impressed. That’s, like, just as good as getting paid.”

“Mrs. Jamison wouldn’t have been so impressed if she’d seen us outside her door, right after we rang the bell,” said Molly. “I’m still shaking!”

“I still can’t believe you and Peichi almost spilled that whole platter of mini-pizzas,” Amanda reminded them. “What a mess that would’ve been!”