On the Back Burner (11 page)

“Now we have to cover it and let it simmer for one hour and fifteen minutes,” Shawn told them, checking the recipe card. While it cooked, the girls started cleaning the kitchen.

Mr. Jordan came out of his office. “Girls, that smells terrific!” he said.

“Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll bring you a plate,” Shawn said. “Go back to work!”

“What do we do with these lemons?” Natasha asked.

“We spritz the lemon over the stew just before we eat it,” Shawn told her.

“I can’t wait,” Molly said. “It smells soooooo good.”

The doorbell rang and the girls looked toward it. “Could it be Peichi?” Molly said hopefully. “Maybe her parents have loosened up.”

“Um... I don’t think so,” Shawn said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I invited Angie over, but she didn’t want to cook, so I said she could just come over to eat. I’d better go let her in.”

Natasha, Molly, and Amanda looked at one another, shocked. “Is Shawn for real?” Molly asked.

“This is too much,” snapped Amanda. Her face had turned bright red. I can’t believe we worked in the kitchen all this time and now Angie is going to just swoop in here on her broomstick and eat our food! That is so rude. It’s disgusting. I want to tell her exactly what I think of her!”

“I don’t know if you should do that, Amanda,” warned Natasha.

“Why not?” Amanda demanded. “Doesn’t she make you mad?”

“Yeah,” Natasha admitted, “but she also makes me nervous. I’ve heard that she can be really, really mean. A girl from her old school is in my math class and she’s, like, scared of Angie. I’m not kidding! You probably should be careful—you don’t want to get on her bad side.”

They stopped talking when Shawn walked into the room with Angie. An uncomfortable silence followed as the three girls stood, staring at Angie, who was dressed in an expensive-looking furry purple angora sweater over a long, black velvet skirt and heeled leather boots. Her blond hair was held back loosely with a jeweled scrunchie.

“Amanda, what on earth is all over your clothes?” Angie broke the silence. “Did you
actually
spill that much food on yourself? My two-year-old cousin is neater than that!

Amanda looked down at her shirt and saw that it was splotched with large yellow grease stains. “I—I must have splashed the chicken broth,” she stammered.

“We all get messy while we’re cooking,” Molly said quickly. “You spill a lot—even when you wear an apron.”

Amanda looked at Molly gratefully and then caught Shawn’s eye. Amanda’s expression said,
See how rotten she is? Can’t
you get rid of her?
Shawn just looked away, as though she didn’t want to be put in the middle of this fight. She went to the kitchen and, using her new potholders, picked up the pot of stew. “We can eat,” she said. “I set the table in the dining room.”

“Fabulous!” Angie said, heading right for the dining room.

“Fabulous,” Amanda mimicked Angie and imitated her wiggly, nose-up walk. The sound of Molly and Natasha giggling made Angie turn around and look at them. Amanda froze, but it was too late—Angie saw Amanda mocking her. She shot Amanda the nastiest look she’d ever seen.

“
Watch it,”
Angie hissed to Amanda in a voice so low and harsh that Molly and Natasha could barely hear her.

Whoa,
Amanda thought, startled.
Maybe Natasha is right
.
Maybe I
should
be careful around Angie.

In the dining room Angie made sure to sit next to Shawn. “Wasn’t cheering practice too hysterical yesterday?” Angie said, angling her chair toward Shawn.

“It was,” Shawn agreed. She cleared her throat and tried to change the subject. “What did you all think of the school assembly yesterday?”

“I liked the part about the rain forest,” Amanda said. “The tribal dances were cool.”

“Oh, that assembly was idiotic!
Soooo
boring.” Angie dismissed the subject. Turning back to Shawn, she began talking about the cheerleading team once again.

“This lamb stew is great,” Molly interjected in another attempt to talk about something they could all discuss. But Angie just ignored her. The rest of the dinner involved Molly, Amanda, and Natasha talking together, while Angie spoke only to Shawn on the other side of the table. Amanda could hardly concentrate on what her friends were saying. And she didn’t taste the food.

“Shawn, that new movie with Shane West is at the Flatbush Theater. He is so cute! Want to go see it?” Angie asked in a loud voice.

Shawn squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. “Would you guys like to go?” she asked, looking down at her plate.

“No!” Amanda said. “Definitely not.”

“Yeah, we should probably go home,” Molly agreed quickly.

“I’ll go with you, too,” Natasha agreed, getting up.

“Don’t you girls think you should thank Shawn?” Angie said. “After all, Shawn cooked this delicious meal for you. And she did an awesome job...Something wrong, Amanda?” Angie asked snidely.

“I am out of here! Let’s go!” Amanda said to Molly and Natasha. She led the way toward the front door. Molly and Natasha rushed after her.

“Wait a minute,” called Shawn. She got up to follow them to the door, but Angie grabbed her elbow.

“They’re gone!” the girls heard Angie say as they pulled on their jackets by the front door. “That Amanda is such a baby! What a drama queen.”

Amanda stopped in her tracks and tried to listen for Shawn’s reply. More than anything in the world, Amanda wanted to hear Shawn stick up for her. But all Shawn said was “What time is the movie?” in a low voice.

Amanda slammed the front door as hard as she could, not caring if Mr. Jordan or the neighbors were disturbed. “Shawn has lost her mind!” she shouted as the girls headed down the street. “That’s the only explanation I can think of. How can she even stand to be in the same room with Angie?” Amanda felt hot even though it was really cold outside.

“I don’t know,” Molly admitted. She decided to change the subject. “I wonder if there’s anything good on TV tonight. Hey, do you want to rent a movie?”

“Maybe,” Amanda said shortly. That’s all she said until they dropped off Natasha, then went home. Amanda stomped into the den, slamming the door behind her.

Yipes,
Molly thought to herself.
I’ll give her a few minutes to cool down.
With a sigh, Molly trudged up the stairs to the twins room.

Amanda logged on to the Internet and began typing rapidly.

To:
qtpie490

From:
mooretimes2

Re:
ANGIE THE WICKED WITCH!!!!!

I
nstead of cooking at Shawn’s house on Saturday, Peichi was in Chinatown, standing on the corner of Mott and Canal streets with her mom, dad, Ah-mah, and Ah-yeh. With her parents video camera raised to her eye, she filmed the Lion Dance parade that was part of the opening celebrations for Chinese New Year. Mr. D. had approved her project and now she was working on it every chance she had.

Even though Peichi had seen the parade many times before, she was still amazed at the colors and sounds around her. A chill went down her spine as she watched men in a long, elaborate gold-and-red lion costume, each holding up a different section of it, dance down the street as they pretended to be the mythical lion. Peichi knew that before it was finished, the parade would wind its way all through the narrow streets of Chinatown and end at Chatham Square in the heart of the neighborhood. The streets were packed with thousands of people. She felt so tiny surrounded by the huge crowd and was glad to have her family nearby. Besides spectators, the sidewalks were crowded with news vans, reporters, and camera crews. In a clearing in the street, Peichi watched the golden lion gracefully dance over upside-down rice bowls. Mr. Cheng held the camera high above his head to capture the entire scene for her video. The shopkeepers presented the lion dancers with elaborate puzzles. If the dancers could solve the puzzle, they were rewarded with money as the shopkeepers bought good luck for their stores for the coming year.

When the parade finally passed out of sight and the crowd began to thin, Peichi turned her lens to Ah-mah and Ah-yeh. Her grandparents spoke in Chinese, and her parents took turns translating their words into English. “Is this what Chinese New Year was like when you lived in China?” she asked, still filming.

Ah-yeh laughed lightly and spoke. “Ah, that was many years ago.” Mr. Cheng translated.

“Many, many years,” Mrs. Cheng added for Ah-mah. “Here in America the holiday isn’t really celebrated for the full fifteen days, the way it was done in China. Here in Chinatown there is more celebration than in the rest of America, but even here it is shorter.”

“Can you tell us some of the things people do to celebrate Chinese New Year?” Peichi asked. She knew the answer to this, but she thought it would be more interesting in her movie if her grandparents told it in their own words.

This time Ah-yeh spoke, and Mr. Cheng quickly translated: “During the Chinese New Year celebrations, there are parades like the one you just saw. When I was a boy, people lit bamboo stalks because they believed the flames would frighten evil spirits. The fireworks that we light during the celebrations are also to frighten away evil with fire.”