Kitchen Chaos Read Online Free

okay,” she says, pulling at a hangnail. Then she looks up and shrugs. “Sometimes I just miss my friends.”
    Frankie and I exchange a look, and I know we’re thinking the same thing: If one of us ever moved awayfrom the other, it would be the Worst. Thing. Ever.
    Lillian forces a smile. “So,” she says in her same quiet voice, “I guess we’re supposed to come up with some ideas for the project, right?”
    I shift into major student mode and flip a page in my notebook. I notice Frankie picks up her pen too. She rolls her eyes when she catches me smiling at her, but I’m pretty sure she’s smiling just a little bit.
    â€œRight,” I say, looking from one to the other. “What have we got?”
    Before anyone has time to answer, the lights switch on and off again and Mr. McEnroe says it’s time to wrap things up. I look down at my blank notebook and know just what Frankie must be thinking: If it were just the two of us, we’d have five pages full of notes and ideas by now. She’s right, but it’s not my fault Mr. Mac wanted to “stir things up” and make us work in groups of three.
    â€œWe should all meet up after school this week to work on the project,” I say.
    To my surprise—and I’m pretty sure Lillian’s, too—Frankie turns to Lillian and flashes her most charming smile. “How about at your house?” she suggests. I stare at her for a split second, and then I realize that Mr. McEnroe has just walked up. She’s obviously trying to impress him. He gives her shoulder an absentminded pat before moving on to other groups. Frankie closes her eyes and sighs. She’s definitely going to have that T-shirt framed.

CHAPTER 5
Frankie

    Now I know what it means when they say “New World Order.”
    Ever since Liza sprang this whole Lillian thing on me a few days ago, I’ve been trying to talk to her about it. I mean, it’s not like we don’t have other friends, we do; but it’s us , and then everybody else. At home I’m the only girl in a house full of boys, and practically ever since Ms. Hirshman made us line partners in kindergarten, Liza has been the sister Ialways wanted. Now, all of a sudden, without consulting me, she brings in the new girl and thinks I should like it?
    I’ve tried to bring it up a million times, but either Liza’s running off somewhere or Lillian just happens to be there. Who knew we had so many classes together? And when I text her about it, Liza seems determined to answer as vaguely as possible. Evasion. I get it. Well, two can play that game.
    Mr. McEnroe says we have a week to come up with a topic for our project, but I’ve decided that the sooner we figure it out the better—then we can just divide up the work and do it independently. Or, better yet, Lillian can handle her piece while Liza and I work our magic as a team.
    In the meantime, we’re all supposed to meet at Lillian’s house to brainstorm ideas. I’m on my way to Liza’s locker to pick her up, and out of nowhere, Lillian materializes. Of course.
    â€œHey, Franks!” Liza says, grabbing my arm. “We thought we could all just hop on the train and head over to Lillian’s together.” Lillian smiles and nods.
    Oh, we did, did we? I think fast.
    â€œGreat idea,” I say. “But, Lize, we said we’d water the planters for the Garden Committee, remember? We can’t forget to do that.” I turn to Lillian. “Why don’t you go on ahead and we’ll catch up?”
    I see Lillian look at Liza, who starts to say something but then changes her mind. “Oh, that’s right, sorry. It won’t take us long, but if you want to go on home, we can definitely follow.”
    Lillian nods and gives us her address, then heads down the hall to her locker. She looks back at us once, as if we might have disappeared.
    We’re not actually signed