"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!!!!!

What's the matter with you, Shawn? I've known you a long time and I never knew you had a terrible mean side. You must have one or else there is NO WAY you would be friends with such a nasty jerk like Angie. My idea of friendship is that friends are loyal to one another. You always just stand there and let Angie insult me without saying a word. She insults all of us. You don't deserve to be our friend if you let Angie get away with being so rude to us. You have changed so much and you are turning out to be as big a creep as Angie, and it makes me really sad.But whatever, it's your life, and if you want to treat your REAL friends this way, you don't deserve to have us as friends.

Amanda

Chapter 9.

Instead of cooking at Shawn's house on Sat.u.r.day, Peichi was in Chinatown, standing on the corner of Mott and Ca.n.a.l 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 pa.s.sed 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."

"One of my favorite parts of Chinese New Year is the lantern festival," Ah-mah said through Mrs. Cheng. This happens on the last day of the celebration. People hang beautiful lanterns everywhere and they carry them on poles in an evening parade under the light of the full moon. I loved to see that as a child and I love it still. And during the lantern festival there is always a dragon dance. The dragon is a big, colorful puppet that is sometimes one hundred feet long. Young men carry it along on poles as they dance through the streets. The dragon dancers light fireworks, too, to scare away evil spirits from the shop owners, who reward them with ly-ceea"just like the lion dancers."

Peichi switched off the camera. "Thanks. That was great!"

"You're welcome," her mother said. "Now, are you ready to eat some real Chinese food? Ah-mah's cooking tonight."

"Definitely. Could I film you cooking it?" Peichi asked her grandmother.

Ah-mah shrugged. "Why not?" she asked with a smile. "I always wanted to be a movie star!"

When the girls returned to school on Monday, Amanda was hoping to talk with Shawn at lunch. Amanda had been a little surprised that Shawn hadn't called her on Sunday to apologize, but Amanda figured that Shawn just didn't know what to say. But, to Amanda's surprise, Shawn didn't sit with the Chef Girls at lunch. She didn't say anything to Amanda, and she didn't even look at her. By the end of the day it was clear to everybody that Shawn wasn't speaking to Amanda. She treated Amanda like she was invisible.

This was not how Amanda had wanted things to go. In her mind, she thought Shawn would receive her e-mail and suddenly realize how terribly she'd been treating her other friends.

"I can't believe she's not speaking to me," Amanda said sadly on Tuesday afternoon as Molly checked their e-mail.

"Well, she's speaking now," Molly said. "Writing, anyway."

She hurried to the chair and wriggled in beside her sister. "What does she say?"

"Read it yourself," Molly replied.

To: mooretimes2 From: qtpie490 Re: your last message Amanda, You say Angie is insulting but she has NEVER sent me an e-mail like that! Saying those terrible things about me is not something a "real" friend would do. If I have to choose one friend over another, I would pick the one who doesn't call me nasty names. I never knew you could be so mean, but I'm glad I do now.

Shawn Amanda was stunned. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest, and a flush crept over her face. She was surprised when she realized what she was feeling-shame. That's crazy, she thought. Why should I feel ashamed? Everything I wrote to Shawn was true. I can't believe she is trying to twist this around and make me the bad guy! Amanda tried to take a deep breath, but it caught in her throat. Molly sighed.

Mrs. Moore walked up behind them. "You two look pretty unhappy," she noticed. "Bad news on the Internet?"

"Kind of, yeah," Amanda replied slowly. She explained to Mom what had been happening with Shawn. Mom will know how to fix this, she thought with some relief. "Here's the message I sent her," she said, clicking on Old Mail and bringing up the message.

Mom read it. At first, she said nothing. "That's some message," she finally said. "I guess you were pretty mad."

"Mad is not the word," Molly said. "Furious is more like it."

"There's a rule about writing angry letters," Mom said gently. "Wait three days before mailing them. You can write it and let off steam. But reread it again in three days to make sure you really want to send it, because once it's gone, you can't get it back."

Amanda exhaled sharply. "You know, she says I said terrible things about her, but I didn't. I said terrible things about Angie, which are all true!" she cried.

"You implied that she was just the same as Angie," Mom pointed out.

"What am I supposed to do?" Amanda asked. "I can't just stand around and not say how I feel! It really hurts my feelings that Shawn doesn't stop Angie from being so mean to me."

"There are constructive ways to express how you feel," Mrs. Moore said, "and there are ways that are destructive. But if you stick to expressing only how you feel, it's easier to make your point without making things worse."

Molly put her arm around Amanda to comfort her. She wanted to say something helpful, but she couldn't think of anything. Ever since middle school began, she also felt terrible about what was happening with Shawn. For some reason, though, Amanda seemed even more upset by it.

"I know you don't want to hear this, Amanda." Mom continued, "but I'm going to say it anyway. Sometimes people grow apart. This doesn't just happen with kids, it happens to adults, too. It might be time to start pursuing other friendships."

Molly and Amanda looked at each other with surprised expressions. The idea seemed so extreme. Replace Shawn with other friends? Could Mom be serious?

Amanda sighed deeply. "I hate this," she said. "But I guess whatever is going to happen will happen. There's no sense fighting it."

"You sound like Sonia," Molly said, smiling.

"Sonia was the one who said I'd feel like I was losing my best friend," Amanda reminded her. "Boy, was she right." Amanda looked to Mom. "Would you help me write a better message to Shawn?" she requested. "If this friendship is going to end, I don't want to be the one who ended it."

"Sure," Mom agreed. "I'll help you do it right now."

Amanda thought a moment about what Mom had said about forming new friendships. "After we're done with the letter, I'm going to call Tessa, that girl I met when I was in the play last fall. Maybe we can go to a movie next weekend or something."

After about thirty minutes, Mom and Amanda had an e-mail ready to send to Shawn.

To: qtpie490 From: mooretimes2 Re: sorry Dear Shawn, First, I wanna tell you I'm sorry for sending you that e-mail when I was really, really mad. I didn't want to hurt your feelings or anything. But I was so upset that I just wrote it really fast and didn't think about making you upset. Obviously you got upset from my e-mail and I didn't want that to happen. I don't think you're mean or nasty. You're my best friend, Shawn.

That's why I get so upset about Angie. She is always saying really mean things to mea"right in front of you. And it hurts my feelings that you don't stick up for me or even tell her to stop. I feel like I'm losing you as my best friend, which makes me sad.

Anyway, that's how I feel. I never meant to hurt your feelings with that e-mail. I hope you forgive me.

Your friend (I hope), Amanda "Should I wait three days before sending this?" Amanda asked. "I really don't want to. I want to get things back on track with Shawn as soon as I can."

Mom smiled at her. "Go ahead and send it, honey. I think you did a good job."

"No, we did," said Amanda. "Thanks, Mom."

On Sat.u.r.day afternoon, Molly sat at the kitchen table and stared down at the menu they'd created for their big job for the Kramers. Everything about it was great. There was now only one problema"a really major problem. Where are we ever gonna get the money to pay for this? she wondered.

Back when they'd first started Dish, Peichi's mom had talked to them about investing their earnings into the business. That meant they should take some of the money they earned and buy the things they needed to run Dish instead of spending all the money on themselves. This had turned out to be a good idea and, for the most part, they'd calculated how much money they'd need pretty well. But now they had a bigger job than they'd ever had before, and there just wasn't enough money in their treasury to pay for it.

Mr. Moore came into the kitchen with Matthew. He opened the refrigerator and stared into it, running his fingers through his graying black hair. "You girls haven't been cooking lately," he noted. "I don't see the usual selection of wonderful things to snack on in here."

"Yeah, no brownies, no chocolate chip cookies." Matthew added. "What's up with that?"

"We'll be real busy soon," she told them. "Dad, could I talk to you about a little business loan?" She explained to him the situation with the Kramers. "I don't think we should make everything ahead, she said. "We don't have enough room in the freezer to store it all. But we do want to make two meals ahead of time and freeze them. That way, as soon as we get the call that Mrs. Kramer's sister has had the baby, we'll only have three dinners to cook. We'll be under a lot less pressure. And we can pay back the loan completely as soon as we deliver the food to the Kramers."

"I'm impressed, Molly," her dad said. "You're thinking like a real businesswoman."

"Thanks," Molly said. "You know we paid Shawn's Grandma Ruthie back the money she lent us for the refrigerator. We paid her right away out of the first money we made."

"You have good references and a solid business plan," he commented. His blue eyes twinkled behind his gla.s.ses. "Throw in a free batch of brownies and you've got yourself a loan."

"Thanks, Dad! Oh, and could you drive me down to Choice Foods this afternoon?" He gave her a thumbs-up. Molly smiled at him. "One batch of deep-dish brownies coming up.

She made Matthew and Dad the brownies they wanted. While they were baking, she phoned Natasha. "I was thinking we should begin shopping for the Kramer job," she explained when she got Natasha on the phone. "Do you want to go food shopping with me today? Dad will drive us to the supermarket."

"Is everyone going?" Natasha asked.

"No, I don't think Shawn and Amanda should be together right now. Amanda sent Shawn an e-mail apologizing for the first e-mail she wrote, but Shawn hasn't responded and they're still not talking. Amanda is over at Tessa's, and if we invite Shawn and Amanda's not doing the work, it will make Shawn even madder. And Peichi is still grounded, which leaves just you and me."

"Okay" Natasha agreed. "I'll shop with you."

At Choice Foods, Mr. Moore helped by pushing the cart while Molly and Natasha ran around the large supermarket. Molly didn't mind all the walking. It was all the thinking that started to tire her out. Comparing prices to get the best value, thinking about what they needed for each dish, reading labels, making sure to stay within their budgeta"it was a lot of work.

"I'm exhausted," she said as Mr. Moore paid for all the food "I have some bad news for you," Mr. Moore said as the three of them walked out to the car with the food. "The work isn't over yet. Now we have to load it into the trunk of the car, walk it up the stairs into the house, and then put it away."

Natasha and Molly groaned. They'd never before shopped for a food order this large. It took a little more than an hour before all the food was put away.

"I am so tired," Natasha said, throwing herself onto a kitchen chair. "Do you think it's fair that we did all this work ourselves?"

"It's not fair at all, but I guess it's my fault," Molly replied. "We should have waited for the others to help us. I didn't realize it would be so much work."

"I think we should force Shawn and Amanda to make up," Natasha said.

"You're right," Molly agreed. If they waited for Shawn and Amanda to make up on their own, it might never happen. She had an idea. "Feel like renting some movies tomorrow?" she asked Natasha.

"Sure, as long as I can finish my homework first. You know how my parents are," Natasha said.

"I was thinking that an afternoon movie marathon would be a good way to get Shawn and Amanda back together," Molly explained. "Movies are always fun, and n.o.body will have to talk to each other!"

"It's worth a try," Natasha agreed. "Good idea!"

The following day, Molly and Mrs. Moore rented three comedies at the video store and bought a bunch of fun snack foodsa"popcorn, candy, ice cream. The trip took them a little longer than they expected, though, and when they returned, Molly found Shawn and Amanda sitting quietly in the living room "h.e.l.lo," Shawn said to Molly. Just then, Natasha arrived. Thank goodness, Molly thought. I really hope this day goes okay.

At first, things were pretty uncomfortable, but soon the four girls were drinking milkshakes and laughing at the movie.

Molly pinched Natasha's arm lightly. "This is going to work," she whispered excitedly. Natasha nodded, her eyes bright.

Molly settled in to enjoy the movie. Every once in a while she looked over at Shawn and Amanda. They weren't talking to each other, but they were laughing hard. It was a good start. But as the afternoon pa.s.sed, Molly found the movies less funny, though the other girls were still cracking up. Her face felt hot, but her hands were freezing. And her throat was getting sore, too. Molly took a sip of her milkshake to try to soothe her throat, but it didn't help. She put the gla.s.s on the table and rested her head against the back of the couch. After the last movie ended, Shawn and Natasha got up to go home. Molly walked them to the door with Amanda, but as soon as they closed the door, Molly slumped against the wall, sighing heavily.

"Molls, what's the matter?" Amanda asked.

Molly realized that her body felt incredibly heavy and that her head throbbed dully at her temples. "I think I'm sick," she told Amanda.

"Your face is red," Amanda said, looking worried. She placed her hand on Molly's forehead. "You're hot, too. Mom!" she yelled. Mrs. Moore quickly appeared at the top of the stairs. She took one look at Molly and helped her up to bed.

In the twins' room Molly quickly changed into a nightshirt while Mom got the thermometer. Molly pulled back her covers and crawled right into bed. When Mom returned with the thermometer, everyone waited silently to see what Molly's temperature was.

"One-oh-two," Mom said. "No wonder you're feeling so lousy, Molly. Amanda, go get an extra blanket from the hall closet and a gla.s.s of water. I'm going to get some medicine." After Molly gulped down the medicine, she fell right asleep.

"She's really sick, isn't she?" Amanda asked Mom as they went downstairs.

Mom nodded, looking very concerned. "Probably just the flu. It's been going around. Fortunately, I can take tomorrow off to take care of her. There's no way she's going to school tomorrow."