Free 30 Days of No Gossip by Stephanie Faris Page B

call my mom to tell her I was going over to Vi’s. We’d had so many days of hanging out at each other’s houses that both of our moms knew if we weren’t home, we were at the other person’s house. That was just how it worked.
    But the weird thing here was, I hadn’t been to Vi’s house since our initial blowup. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d be invited over until the thirty days were up. So it was a relief to be camped out on Vi’s couch with baked veggie potato chips and coconut water. That was the closest thing to junk food we could find at her house. My house wouldn’t have been much better.
    “I have to show him I’m outgoing,” Vi said. “I don’t want him to think I’m shy.”
    “Why don’t you just talk to him?” I asked. “I could introduce you.”
    It beat offering to talk to him for her, which I was sure would just make things worse between us. I should have known that wouldn’t work for Vi, though. She was terrified to talk to boys. Especially boys she liked as much as she liked Travis Fisher.
    “That’s what an outgoing girl would do,” I reminded her. “Shy girls are afraid to talk to boys.”
    “I don’t want him to think I’m chasing him,” Vi said worriedly. “I just want to get to know him without all that.”
    I wasn’t sure how to help her there. Maybe she just wanted someone to listen to her. So that was what I did. I quietly munched on chips while Vi talked.
    “Maybe if he knew my interests . . . ,” Vi said. “He’d like me then, right?”
    I nodded but she didn’t even look at me. She just kept talking.
    “I could show him what I’m doing with my room,” Vi commented. “But he probably wouldn’t care about that, would he?”
    I thought for a second. There was no natural way to let him know about Vi’s decorating talent. He probably wouldn’t care about what she was doing to her bedroom anyway. That was more of a girl thing. What we needed was a way for him to see her talent in person.
    “We need a school project,” Vi said. “Some way we could work together on something.”
    She was having the same thought I was. But I had one thing she didn’t—knowledge that Troy Middle School may very well have a project they could work on together. Only I couldn’t tell her about it.
    “Maybe if people knew about your stuff,” I said, pointing to her sketch pad on the table between us. “We should make sure the people in charge know.”
    Vi looked at me. At least she noticed I was there. I was beginning to wonder.
    “People in charge,” she added.
    People like Miss Golden and her two guys. People who could put Vi to work showing off her talents to Travis Fisher and the world.
    “Mr. Shelly, for one,” I said instead. Because the whole Miss Golden thing would have been impossible to explain without gossiping. “And maybe some of the teachers.”
    “I already showed Miss Hunter,” Vi pointed out. “Why would I tell anyone else about it?”
    That wasn’t so easy to answer. I took a shot at it anyway.
    “If other teachers know about your talents, Travis will know about it,” I said. “Understand?”
    She thought about it for a second before saying, “Nah. I don’t think so. It’s no big deal, anyway. I’m sure Travis and I have something in common and it probably has nothing to do with decorating bedrooms.”
    But if she didn’t tell Mr. Shelly about her skills, the crew from 24-Hour Makeover might not find out about them. They might come in, start doing their renovations, and never involve Vi. It would be all my fault because I knew about it and didn’t tell her. She’d never, ever forgive me for not telling me her favorite show was coming to our school. But I couldn’t tell Vi.
    “So what’s going on with you?” Vi asked suddenly.
    I looked up, alarmed. Was she on to me? Did she knowall about the gossip that had been going around the school? I’d have to explain myself and I had no explanation. I hadn’t even prepared for this