Mia's Baker's Dozen (11 page)

“I knew you could do it, Mia,” he said. “Keep this up and maybe you can stay in that advanced class.”

“You're really good at explaining things, that's why,” I said. “You should have been a teacher.”

Eddie looked really pleased. “I always thought about being a teacher. Who knows? Maybe I'll give it a try someday.”

As I was closing my book I heard a little ringing sound from my cell phone, letting me know a text came in. I flipped open the phone and saw a message from Katie.

We're
having macaroni and love for dinner tonight. I really cheese that stuff!

I laughed out loud.

“What's so funny?” Eddie asked.

“You're not going to believe this,” I said, and then I told him the whole story.

When I was done, Eddie started to laugh, and he didn't hold it in. Soon tears were running down his cheeks from laughing so hard.

“Oh, that poor, poor boy,” he said. “I hope you told him what happened.”

I nodded. “I did. He seems okay with it. But I'm still worried about what Sydney will do to me.”

Eddie nodded. “No wonder, after what she did to Jackson.”

Then I found myself talking to Eddie about Sydney—stuff I hadn't even told Mom about. Like how Sydney wanted me to be in the PGC, but I didn't like how she bossed everyone around. And how she's nice to me sometimes and says insulting things at other times.

“I agree that you shouldn't have joined her club, but you might have hurt her feelings when you did that,” Eddie said. “Sometimes when people
are hurt, they act sad, but other people get angry and lash out.”

I might have hurt Sydney's feelings? Now there was a new thought. I realized that Eddie was probably right. I had never really thought about Sydney's feelings before. I guess I figured she didn't have any.

“By the way, don't forget to ask Señora if she wants you to double-space that report that's due Friday,” Eddie said as I packed up my homework.

“I don't have Spanish tomorrow because it's a half day,” I said. “But you can ask her tomorrow night when you meet her.”

Eddie paused. “We can ask your mom to do that,” he said. “Your dad's going to go with her.”

“Um, okay,” I said, and I was remembering what Mom had said before about Eddie and how he should meet my teachers because he helped me with my homework. I realized now that she was right.

“And Mia?” Eddie said.

“Yeah?”

“Turn off your cell phone before your mom sees you. Remember, no screens for a week.”

“Oh!” I said. I had forgotten. I turned off my phone. Then I smiled at Eddie. “Thanks,” I
whispered, and ran up to my room. Eddie has a lot of rules, but he can also be pretty cool, I guess.

After I went up to my room, Mom came in carrying a garment bag.

“I've got another sample for you, Mia,” she said. “This one's leftover from Nathan Kermit's fall line, but I think it's pretty timeless. And cute, too.”

She opened the bag to reveal a really awesome blue boyfriend-style jacket with rolled-up sleeves, a plaid lining, and what looked like vintage silver buttons.

“I love it!” I exclaimed, trying it on. “I have just the shirt to go with it.”

“I knew you would,” Mom said, and she turned to leave.

“Hey, Mom,” I said, and she stopped. “I wanted to ask you something. I think Eddie should to go the parent-teacher conference tomorrow.”

Mom looked surprised. “Instead of Dad?”

I shook my head. “No,
with
Dad,” I replied. “Especially since he's tutoring me in Spanish now and everything.”

Mom smiled. “Let me make sure it's okay with Dad. But I'm sure he won't mind.”

I hadn't even thought that Dad might be
uncomfortable being around Eddie. I guess divorce is weird for everybody involved. And it's definitely complicated! But I had a feeling that Dad would be cool with it.

The next morning I woke up feeling pretty happy about things. I was nervous about what Señora might say to my parents—all three of them—but at least everyone knew the truth now. And I got to wear my awesome new outfit.

When I got to my locker, Sydney and the PGC walked right by me.

Callie stopped. “Mia, I love your jacket,” Callie said.

“Thanks,” I said.

Sydney kept walking like I didn't exist, and Maggie and Bella followed her. That was just fine with me. Sydney had been totally ignoring me, but at least she wasn't telling everyone that I was going bald.

Then, on my way to homeroom, I passed Jackson Montano. He smiled at me, and I knew that everything was cool between us.

“Hey, Queso!” he said, teasing. But I totally didn't mind.

Since it was a half day, we all went to Alexis's house for lunch and a Cupcake Club meeting. Alexis's
dad took the day off, so he was there when we walked in the door.

“Hope you're hungry!” he called out when he heard us. “I'm making my famous grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.”

“Dad, that soup comes from a can,” Alexis said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, you're going to ruin my reputation,” Mr. Becker said. “Well, the sandwiches are all mine.”

Mr. Becker reminds me of Eddie sometimes. He's really friendly, and he's always joking around. We took off our coats and sat down in Alexis's neat-as-a-pin kitchen. Alexis's dad already had a bowl of soup and a sandwich at each place on the table.

“Nice service, Mr. B.,” Katie said. “When I open up a restaurant someday, you can be a waiter.”

“I'll do it if I can be
head
waiter,” he said.

Katie nodded. “Deal.”

We sat down to eat. The grilled cheese was crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, just the way I like it. Of course, Alexis opened up her notebook while we were eating.

“I have good news,” she reported. “We already have three new orders based on our baker's dozen offer!”

“Woo-hoo!”
Katie cheered, and we all started clapping.

Alexis told us about the orders, and we came up with some ideas. Then we just started talking about regular stuff.

“You'll never believe what Jackson Montano called me today,” I said. “Queso!”

Everybody laughed.

“I guess there are worse nicknames,” Emma said sympathetically.

“Anyway, I'll never forget what that word means,” I said. “Plus, Eddie's tutoring is really good. He's even going to the parent-teacher conference tonight. My dad is too. That's kind of weird, isn't it?”

“It sounds kind of nice to have an extra dad,” Emma said.

Katie didn't say anything. Remember how she was joking around and cheering just a minute before? Well, she was quiet for the rest of lunch. Just like before. I had a feeling I knew why, but I didn't want to bring it up in front of everybody.

Then my cell phone rang, and it was Dad. (Eddie actually told Mom that I should have my phone on when I was out of the house for emergencies, and Mom totally agreed.)

“I'll be right back,”
I said, and walked into Alexis's living room.

“Hey, Dad,” I said. “What's up?”

“I'm leaving the city now,” he said. “I'll be there in plenty of time for the conference.”

“Yay!” I said. Then I thought of something. “Did Mom tell you that Eddie was coming too?”

“She did,” Dad replied. “It's fine with me if that's what you want,
mija
.”

I had to think of a way to explain it without hurting Dad's feelings.

“Well,” I began, “you're my dad, and you'll always be my dad. But when you're not here, Eddie's like a spare dad. Kind of like a baker's dozen. Most kids only get two parents. But I have three right now.”

Dad laughed. “Baker's dozen, huh?”

I could hear in his voice that he was okay with that. And that was better than anything—even an extra cupcake.

Katie Tells Me What's Wrong

N
ow that all three of my parents were going to the conference, and Dan had basketball practice, they didn't want to leave me home alone. At our school, they do the conferences over three nights. Since Katie's mom was going on Thursday, I got to hang with Katie that night.

After we ate chicken tacos and rice with Katie's mom, we went up to Katie's room. There's never a lot of homework when there's a half day, so I was showing Katie sketches I'd made of the
Emerald Forest
costumes.

“These are so cool!” Katie said, looking at a drawing of a fairy in a green sparkly dress. “You have to teach me how to sew sometime. Then we could make awesome costumes for Halloween.”

“My mom's
a better sewer than I am,” I admitted. “Maybe she could teach both of us.”

It was nice and quiet in Katie's room, with no distractions—no cupcakes, classrooms, or popular girls to bother us. I figured I might as well talk to Katie about what was bothering her.

I just came right out and said it. “Are you okay?” I asked. “'Cause it seems like something's been bothering you lately. Especially when you're talking to me. And I just hope I'm not doing something to hurt your feelings or anything.”

Katie didn't look at me right away. She didn't say anything right away either.

“Don't worry, it's not your fault or anything,” she finally said. “It's just . . . hard to talk about, I guess.”

“You can talk to me about anything,” I told her. “After all, you've been hearing me complain about Mom and Dad and Eddie all the time lately. And I guess . . . I guess I thought maybe something about that was bothering you.”

“Kind of,” Katie admitted, turning to me. “I never see my dad. He moved away when I was a baby and has this whole other family now.”

“Wow,” I said. Right away I imagined what it would be like if I never saw Dad anymore. If he
spent all his time with other kids, brothers and sisters I didn't even know. “That sounds awful.”

“It is,” Katie said. She started talking faster, like she couldn't hold in the words. “And every year I used to get a card from him at Christmas, but this year there was no card. Nothing. And it really hurts.”

I felt so bad for Katie. “That's horrible.”

She took a deep breath. “So when you were complaining about having
two
dads getting into your business, it kind of made me upset. I would give anything just to have one dad in my life. You're really lucky that you have two, you know?”

“I know,” I said, nodding, and for the first time I really understood that I was. Having a bunch of parents can be a real pain sometimes, but it's way better than not having any. In a way, I guess I'm very lucky.

“And I know it's hard for you too,” Katie told me. “It's just a different kind of situation. So I'm not mad at you at all. I'm mostly just sad for me.”

“Hey, if you want, you could borrow one of my dads sometime,” I said.

Katie smiled. “It all depends on how I do on my next Spanish test!”

We both laughed, and then everything felt
pretty much normal for us again. It amazes me how Katie can be such a positive person when I know how sad she must be sometimes.

I opened my sketchbook. “Let's design matching costumes for this year. You can be the Emerald Fairy, because you look fantastic in green. And I'll be the Ruby Fairy, because I look great in red.”

“Wait, won't we be too old for trick-or-treating next year?” Katie asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “So we'll throw a costume party! Then we'll
have
to make costumes.”

Before I started sketching, my phone beeped. I jumped, thinking maybe the parent-teacher conferences were over. I was still worried about what would happen with Señora Delgado.