Free Stitches and Stones by Chloe Taylor

competition, though. A group of eighth graders came in first place. But then Ms. Austen said she had an impromptu award to give out.
    â€œI was so impressed with the razzle-dazzle accessories worn by Priti, Libby, Zoey, and Kate, that I’m giving them the Most Pizzazz award,” she announced.
    Zoey practically skipped up the aisle with the others to get her certificate, which Ms. Austen had hastily written out backstage. She was excited to have won something for her original designs. She knew she hadn’t put in her best effort this week because of all the distractions on her blog, but sewing was her thing, so it would have been really disappointing not to win anything at all.

    â€œToday turned out to be fun, but I am so glad this week is over!” Zoey confessed to Kate on the bus home.
    â€œI know. It’s been a tough week for you. Did you get to speak to your dad last night?”
    â€œNo,” Zoey said, moaning. “He really did take a long shower. I guess I fell asleep. And I didn’t want to bother him.”
    â€œYou have to talk to him over the weekend, Zo,” Kate said. “Especially if there are more comments.”
    â€œI know,” Zoey said. “It’s gotten to the point where I dread going home to check my blog instead of looking forward to it—and that’s totally cray, right?”
    â€œSeriously cray,” Kate agreed.
    â€œI’ll definitely talk to Dad,” Zoey promised.

    When she got home, Zoey had a snack and then went up to her room to get her laptop. She felt a sense of foreboding as she clicked on the shortcut for her blog.
    The first few comments were from her usual readers, complimenting her on the accessories and asking how the karaoke competition went. But then . . . more mean comments! Really mean ones. So mean that Zoey slammed her laptop shut. She didn’t want to read any more of them. She didn’t want to even look at her blog. It had always been fun, but now it wasn’t.
    This isn’t going away, Zoey thought. It’s getting worse. Why do people I don’t even know hate me so much?
    It was definitely time to talk to her father.
    This was too big for her to handle by herself.

- - - -   CHAPTER 7   - - - -  
    To Blog or Not to Blog
    I hate to admit it, but I’m glad Spirit Week is over. That sounds very spiritless of me, doesn’t it? Thanks for asking about the karaoke contest. After a moment that seemed like an hour of me completely freezing up, I pulled myself together and had a great time. I mightnot be the best singer in the world, but between us, we make a great group. We didn’t win the karaoke competition, but we did win an award for Most Pizzazz for our sparkletastic accessories. That made me feel pretty good, and Kate and Libby won Best Team Costume for the Oreos and milk costume, which was awesome too.
    But to tell you the truth, this week has been kind of crummy—mostly because of what’s been taking place right here on Sew Zoey. I’m feeling pretty blogged out, and it’s made me think seriously about if I even want to keep blogging at all. That question is the inspiration for today’s clothing sketches. Don’t get me wrong—I love this blog, and I’ve learned so much from the feedback and the comments you’ve posted. You inspire me to try new things and to work harder, and you’ve helped me find solutions to sewing problems—and sometimes even to middle school ones, too!
    But you might have noticed there have been some new readers on the blog, and a bunch of comments that . . . well . . . aren’t very nice. That’s actually putting it mildly. Some of them have been really, really mean. I’ve thought about it, and while I know it’s a free country and we have a right to free speech and all that,this is my blog, so I get to set the rules. Like Dad says if Marcus and I argue