Free Miss Matched by Shawn K. Stout Page A

gave him a Doom Scowl, an invisible one so that he couldn’t see, with extra Doom. Fiona must have looked like she was about to say something else just then, because Cleo whispered her name and then moved her fingers across her lips like a zipper.
    Fiona nodded. She locked her mouth with her fingers and threw the key over her shoulder. Because she knew that when it came to her mouth, a zipper wasn’t strong enough to do the trick. Her mouth had made a declaration ofindependence from her a long time ago.
    â€œBefore you pack up to go home,” said Mr. Bland, “remember that tomorrow we’re going to have our first rehearsal for Ordinary Elementary News.”
    â€œO.E.N.?” Fiona whispered to Milo. “We need a better name.”
    â€œI know it,” he said.
    After the Loretta L-O-V-E Letter Incident, Fiona and Milo declared world peace. Fiona gave up on starting any new school clubs, for now . (Especially after Mr. Bland declared that from now on, all new ideas for school clubs had to be approved by him.) Milo gave up on Loretta on account of the fact that teenagers were too mysterious. And they both gave up on D.O.O.M.
    Like soy sauce and ice cream, there were just some things that didn’t go together.
    â€œMilo,” said Mr. Bland, “do you have some announcements you want to make?”
    Milo stood at his desk gripping a clipboard and a pencil. “Everybody knows what they are supposed to do for tomorrow?”
    Fiona stared at the bucket marked ELECTRICIAN underneath the job board. If only she had X-ray eyes so she could see the paper with her name on it. And if only she could talk to trees, she thought, then she could talk to paper—since paper is made from trees. She could sing a lullaby to that piece of paper with her name on it and tell it to latch on to Mr. Bland’s fingers so that when he reached into the bucket, she would finally get to be . . .
    â€œFiona?”
    â€œHuh?” she said, turning to the front of the room.
    â€œYour interview with Principal Sterling.” said Milo. “Do you have the questions that you’re going to ask?”
    Fiona shook her head.
    â€œYou don’t?”
    â€œI changed my mind,” she said. “I had a big idea this morning when I checked my lunch box and saw that Mrs. Miltenberger had packed me a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich.”
    â€œFiona,” said Mr. Bland, rubbing his head, “we only have a few minutes before the bell.”
    Fiona sped up her words. “So instead of interviewing Principal Sterling, I was thinking about a news report on the history of food couples.”
    â€œFood what?” said Milo.
    â€œYou know,” she said, “food couples. Partners. Buddies. Like macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs.”
    â€œPork and beans,” said Harold.
    â€œGood one,” said Fiona, writing that down. “And how they got to be matched up.”
    â€œWhat about Principal Sterling?” asked Milo.
    â€œI’ll do it,” said Cleo. “I’ll interview her. I’d rather do that than operate the camera.”
    Milo shrugged and then nodded. “Leila, do you want to be the cameraman?”
    â€œCamera girl ,” Leila corrected. “Okay.”
    â€œAll right, Florida.”
    â€œThanks, Minnesota,” Fiona said.
    Milo grinned. “Harold, you’re the stage manager. You got your checklist?”
    Harold wiped his finger on his pants and then gave the a-ok sign. “You betcha.”
    While Milo went on to check in with others about their jobs, Fiona whispered to Harold, “Want to come over after school and help me find more food matchups for my report?”
    â€œCan’t,” said Harold. “Leila invited me over to her house to help her rearrange her stuffed animal collection. Sorry.”
    â€œThat’s okay.” The new, popular Harold was something she still had to get