didnât budge.
âMaybe you should save those,â I said. âYou know, for a special occasion.â
Emily waved the thought away. âGo ahead. Iâm making more for Chloeâs slumber party.â
âReally?â I raised my eyebrows and Emily frowned. âI mean, does the world really ⦠deserve them?â
âI have an idea,â said Trevor. âMy momâs a chef and I help her in the kitchen sometimes. Why donât we all make some desserts?â
Emilyâs face brightened and she turned to me with a pleading look. âYes! It could be your teamwork assignment!â
Even though I imagined at least a dozen ways this could end badly, I sighed and nodded. âAll right.â
âGreat!â Emily hugged me, then advanced on Trevor, who was too busy pawing through her candy to notice.
Before she could hug-attack him, I yanked her away by the back of her shirt and shook my head. Trevor glanced up just as Emily was smoothing her top down. âSo, um, weâll meet at my place tomorrow evening?â she asked.
âSounds like a plan!â he said.
We followed the crowd back inside for the rest of our lesson. When it was finally winding down, Ms. Success called my brothers and me to the front, and I silently recited my mnemonics so I wouldnât forget them.
Shy Shelly, B.O. Bobby, Tan Dan â¦
âAll right, Evinses.â Ms. Success rubbed her hands together. âYouâve met your classmates. I want you to point them out and tell me one thing about each of them.â
My thoughts came to a grinding halt and I turned to Ms. Success. âI thought we just had to learn names .â
Ms. Success wagged a finger. âI said I expected you to know your classmates, Alexis. Why donât you go first?â
There was no way I could say what I knew about each person. All of Trevorâs mnemonics had been helpful but not particularly insightful. I couldnât say Dan spent too much time in the sun or that Bobby smelled like an armpit.
âUh,â I said and pointed to Shelly. âThatâs Shelly. She has blonde hair.â
âAnd?â prompted Ms. Success.
I stared at Shellyâs desk for clues. âWell, sheâs not afraid to use pens.â I held up a finger. âWhich is saying something because the pen is mightier than the sword.â I paused. âThat also means sheâs probably not afraid of swords, so if you were going into medieval battleââ
Ms. Success closed her eyes. âMove it along, Alexis.â
âRight.â I blushed. âNext to Shelly is Jules,â I said. âShe likes to wear, um, jewels. Probably diamonds, since theyâre a girlâs best friend. As are dogs.â I frowned. âOh, wait. Dogs are a manâs best friend. So maybe catsââ
Nick leaned over. âStop babbling.â
I struggled through the rest of the names and facts and then Parker went, followed by Nick. And, of course, they both brilliantly rattled off the names and different facts for each student.
âWell done,â said Ms. Success, sending us back to our seats. âClass, your assignment that is due next lesson is teamwork. Keep it fun and keep it legal.â
With a wave, she turned her back to the crowd, and there was an instant shuffling of papers and scraping of chairs as the class gathered their things to leave. My brothers and I hadnât even stepped away from our desks when Ms. Success called our names.
âCome join me for a quick powwow,â she said.
âGreat,â muttered Parker. âI wonder what this could be about.â He gave me a pointed look and I shoved him.
All Nick had to do was extend his massive hand, one toward each of us, and Parker and I fell silent.
As soon as everyone else had left, Ms. Success gestured for us to grab the desks closest to her.
âIâm not an idiot, kids,â she said. âI know Alexis