âCanât you see it?â
Fiona couldnât see it. Not at all. She put both hands on Haroldâs head and pressed until his hair was flat again.
âOw!â said Harold.
âMilo. Milo. Milo!â she yelled. âWho flat-out cares about Milo Bridgewater?â Then she opened the front door and marched inside.
âJeez Louise, Fiona,â said Harold, following her. He put his finger up his nose. âYou didnât have to yell.â
When the words came out of her mouth, Fiona felt better and worse at the same time. Mostly worse. âSorry, Harold.â She led him into the kitchen and pulled down a jar of peanut butter from the cupboard. She stuck her finger into the jar, pulled out a glob of peanut butter, and put it in her mouth. Right away the peanut butter wrapped up her troubles in a tiny box and mailed it to the moon.
Harold reached his finger toward the jar.
Fiona held the jar out to him and then pulled it away. âWait,â she said, staring at his finger. âYou need a spoon.â
âYou look different today,â said Harold.
Fiona looked at herself. âI do?â
âAnd you smell a little different too.â
Fiona sniffed her armpits. âAwesome!â Shecouldnât wait to see what Mr. Bland had to say about her stink.
She let Harold have the last spoonful to make up for the Nasties. âHow do you know all that stuff about Milo?â
Harold licked the spoon like a lollipop. âAre you going to yell at me again?â
âNo, Harold. Jeez.â
âHe told me at recess.â
âOh.â
âMaybe we can be in Miloâs club.â Harold handed her the spoon and she laid it on the countertop.
âIâm not sure Iâm an explorer kind of girl,â said Fiona.
âOh, heâs not starting an explorerâs club,â said Harold.
âBut you saidââ
âThat was in Minnesota,â said Harold. âMilo said he was going to start a different kind of club here.â
âWhat kind?â asked Fiona.
âA meteorology club.â
âA what?â Fiona could not believe her ears. âBut Iâm the . . . but thatâs my . . . he canât . . .â
The phone rang then.
âHello, Fiona sweetheart,â said Mom. âI was wondering if Iâd get to talk to you. I thought you might be at ballet.â
Fiona was still thinking about what Harold just told her. Electricity wasnât enough for Milo, now he was going to take the weather away from her too? Mrs. OâBrien was right. Milo Bridgewater was stepping on her toes. Except that he wasnât just stepping. He was flat-out dancing on them.
âFiona?â said Mom. âAre you there?â
âGahâ was all that came out of Fionaâs mouth.
âI was saying that I thought you might be at ballet.â
âBallet is over until it starts back up again, remember?â Having a mom who lived all the way in California meant she forgot the things that happened all the way on this side of the country.
âOh, thatâs right. I think you mentioned that,â she said. âSo whatâs new, wonderful, and exciting in Ordinary?â
âNothing,â said Fiona. âExcept for a new boy at school who is taking over everything. And he hates my guts. And my tutu.â
âIâm sure he doesnât,â said Mom. âHow could anyone hate you? You are lovely.â Which is what moms have to say because it is the law. Fiona knew it wasnât always the truth. After all, Fiona had heard the nice things her mom said about Max.
âYou know what my mother always told me,â Mom said.
âWhat?â asked Fiona.
âBoys only pick on girls they like.â
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âWhy would someone be mean to some -one they liked?â Fiona asked Mrs. Miltenberger, as she watched her slide a pan of lasagna into