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Iâm So Grapeful
A ly Tanner glanced at her purple polka-dot watch. Uh-oh. She and her sister, Brooke, had only four minutes to unpack the new polish colors before their first appointments showed up at Sparkle Spa.
âBrooke,â Aly said, looking to where her sister was carefully reorganizing the bottles at the polish display, âweâve got to go a little faster. Jenica and Bethany are going to be here for their pedicures soon. And then the rest of the soccer team will be coming in all afternoon.â
Sparkly, the girlsâ tiny dog, who lived in Sparkle Spa during the day and at home with them at night, barked in agreement.
âI know, I know,â Brooke said. âBut I just canât decide if Iâm So Grapeful should go before Plum Delicious or after We the Purple. Itâs hard to tell how the colorâs going to come out on peopleâs nails. And I want the display to be absolutely right so that no one thinks theyâre getting one color and ends up getting another.â
Aly smiled. Brookeâs attention to detail was partially what made Sparkle Spa look so beautifulâsheâd been in charge of picking the paintings on the walls, the colorful pillows in the nail-drying and bracelet-making area, and the huge rainbow display of polish. Aly quickly opened up a bottle of Iâm So Grapeful and brushed it onto her thumbnail. Then she blew on it and added a second coat.âDoes this help?â she asked. âCan you tell better now?â
Brookeâs eyes lit up. âYes. Now I know exactly where it should go.â She slid the bottle in right next to Purple People Eater and went on to the next color.
âYou know,â Aly said, handing Brooke Cider Donuts, which was a very light orange, and Apple Crispy, which was a bright red, âI think later we should pull out all the colors that have to do with fall stuff. You know, for the Sixth-Grade Fall Ball.â
âOkay,â said Brooke. âAnd maybe we can come up with some special Fall Ball combinations.â
âMaybe tomorrow?â Aly asked. âWhen Sparkle Spa is closed?â
Brooke nodded as she put a bright yellowish-gold polish called Candy Corn on the Cob next to Lemon Aid. Sparkle Spa, which was really just the backroom of True Colors, Aly and Brookeâs momâs nail salon, had a lot of rules. One of them was that the girls could be open only two days after school and one day during the weekend. That was so they could still do homework and hang out with their friends.
âI canât wait until Iâm in sixth grade and can go to the Fall Ball,â Brooke said, reaching for a silvery Very Ice Try. âOnly three more years.â
Aly closed the box and put it in the corner with the rest of the extra polish bottles. âAnd only two more years until you get to decorate. I canât believe I get to be a decorator this year.â
The Sixth-Grade Fall Ball was one of the biggest events of the school year at Auden Elementary. The fifth graders always decorated the gym for the dance. It was tradition. It was also tradition that two sixth graders, one girl and one boy, got trophies for being âOn the Ball.â They were chosen by teachersand always had to be kids who were good students and good friends and gave back to the school community. Aly wondered who was going to get the trophies this year.
âAre you guys open yet?â a voice called from the Sparkle Spa doorway. It was Jenica Posner:
â¢Â sixth-grade captain of the girlsâ soccer team
â¢Â the most popular girl at Auden Elementary
â¢Â and Sparkle Spaâs very first customer, back when Aly and Brooke started the salon a little more than a month ago.
Jenica was also the person Aly would vote for to win one of the On the Ball trophies if winners were chosen by students instead of teachers.
Jenica was more than just a great soccer player. She had also created an