Free Odd Girl In by Jo Whittemore

didn’t budge.
    â€œMaybe you should save those,” I said. “You know, for a special occasion.”
    Emily waved the thought away. “Go ahead. I’m making more for Chloe’s slumber party.”
    â€œReally?” I raised my eyebrows and Emily frowned. “I mean, does the world really … deserve them?”
    â€œI have an idea,” said Trevor. “My mom’s a chef and I help her in the kitchen sometimes. Why don’t we all make some desserts?”
    Emily’s face brightened and she turned to me with a pleading look. “Yes! It could be your teamwork assignment!”
    Even though I imagined at least a dozen ways this could end badly, I sighed and nodded. “All right.”
    â€œGreat!” 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. “So, um, we’ll meet at my place tomorrow evening?” she asked.
    â€œSounds like a plan!” 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 wouldn’t forget them.
    Shy Shelly, B.O. Bobby, Tan Dan …
    â€œAll right, Evinses.” Ms. Success rubbed her hands together. “You’ve met your classmates. I want you to point them out and tell me one thing about each of them.”
    My thoughts came to a grinding halt and I turned to Ms. Success. “I thought we just had to learn names .”
    Ms. Success wagged a finger. “I said I expected you to know your classmates, Alexis. Why don’t you go first?”
    There was no way I could say what I knew about each person. All of Trevor’s mnemonics had been helpful but not particularly insightful. I couldn’t say Dan spent too much time in the sun or that Bobby smelled like an armpit.
    â€œUh,” I said and pointed to Shelly. “That’s Shelly. She has blonde hair.”
    â€œAnd?” prompted Ms. Success.
    I stared at Shelly’s desk for clues. “Well, she’s not afraid to use pens.” I held up a finger. “Which is saying something because the pen is mightier than the sword.” I paused. “That also means she’s probably not afraid of swords, so if you were going into medieval battle—”
    Ms. Success closed her eyes. “Move it along, Alexis.”
    â€œRight.” I blushed. “Next to Shelly is Jules,” I said. “She likes to wear, um, jewels. Probably diamonds, since they’re a girl’s best friend. As are dogs.” I frowned. “Oh, wait. Dogs are a man’s best friend. So maybe cats—”
    Nick leaned over. “Stop babbling.”
    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.
    â€œWell done,” said Ms. Success, sending us back to our seats. “Class, your assignment that is due next lesson is teamwork. Keep it fun and keep it legal.”
    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 hadn’t even stepped away from our desks when Ms. Success called our names.
    â€œCome join me for a quick powwow,” she said.
    â€œGreat,” muttered Parker. “I wonder what this could be about.” 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.
    â€œI’m not an idiot, kids,” she said. “I know Alexis