Free Stitches and Stones by Chloe Taylor Page A

with him when he’s laid down the law about something, “This country might be a democracy, but this house isn’t.”
    So here they are—and there are only two, so it’s not like I’m getting too bossy or anything, I hope:
    1. Sew Zoey welcomes constructive criticism, but nasty comments will be deleted.
    2. Users who write nasty comments will be blocked.
    I think that’s fair, don’t you? We should all be able to come here without having to worry about people being mean. It’s bad enough having to deal with that at school.
    Zoey spent Friday night curled up on the sofa, watching movies and worrying. What if the people from Très Chic read her blog and started to believe the stuff the mean commenters wrote? What if they thought she really was a fraud who didn’t design and sew her own clothes and decided not to includeher in the online feature? It would be so awful to be cut when none of that was even true!
    Maybe she should just take a break from Sew Zoey. Or just stop doing it, period.
    But the thought of not doing Sew Zoey made her even sadder than the nasty comments. In the short time since she started the blog, so many great things had come from it. She had a secret fashion fairy godmother, Fashionsista, who was an amazing mentor and, even more than that, a friend who sent her encouraging notes and gifts. She’d been invited to be a guest judge on her favorite TV show, Fashion Showdown . And now, she was about to be part of a feature on teen designers in her absolute favorite fashion magazine of all time, Très Chic . None of those amazing things would have happened if she hadn’t started Sew Zoey. It seemed wrong—even worse, totally unfair—that she would lose that because some mystery people were acting mean. If she stopped blogging, she’d also miss the Sew Zoey readers. Even though they hadn’t met, they felt like friends.
    Zoey knew one thing for sure: No matter what,even if she stopped blogging, she would never stop sewing, sketching, and coming up with ideas for clothes. That was as much a part of her as breathing.

    Marcus came up from the basement, where he’d been practicing his drums since after dinner, and flopped onto the end of the sofa.
    â€œWhen’s Dad coming home?” Zoey asked. “He’s hardly been home all week.”
    She knew she sounded whiny, but . . . she missed having her dad around at dinner every night.
    â€œI know, Zo, but Eastern State has a big championship game coming up the week after next, and some of the big players have injuries. Dad has got to do extra PT sessions with them, so they’re ready to play.”
    â€œI know. It’s just . . .” Zoey hesitated.
    â€œIt stinks when he comes home late and tired every night.”
    â€œYeah. That,” Zoey said. “At least he’s not working tomorrow.”
    â€œZoey,” Marcus began. “Is everything okay?”
    Zoey thought about telling him everythingabout the blog, but when she tried to speak, nothing came out. Finally, she mumbled, “Yeah, I just need to talk to Dad.”
    Marcus shrugged. “Okay, well, I can think of something that will cheer you up in the meantime,” Marcus said. “The latest Très Chic came in the mail today.”
    Marcus definitely knew how to make her feel better. A new issue of Très Chic to look through?
    Zoey’s evening was looking up!

    The next morning her dad was home, and not only that, he’d made special pancakes with a secret ingredient Zoey and Marcus had to guess.
    â€œSomething citrusy,” Marcus said.
    â€œYes . . . Orange zest?” Zoey guessed.
    â€œYou got it!” Mr. Webber said. “And here’s some freshly squeezed orange juice from the de-zested oranges.”
    It was great having him around, and not tired and distracted like he’d been all week.
    â€œWhat time are we meeting this young