Free Raisin Rodriguez & the Big-Time Smooch by Judy Goldschmidt

stall.
    â€œShe means that you guys have a new nickname,” Fiona said as she took out a dry foaming towelette from her bag and ran it underwater.
    â€œWhat is it?” I asked.
    Fiona turned off the faucet, threw the towelette into the garbage, and dried her hands with a paper towel. Then she threw out the towel, opened the bathroom door, and finally, just as she was stepping out the door, she put an end to my suspense and answered my question.
    â€œMiss Priss,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulders as the door slammed behind her.
    I felt my face and neck get really hot and my heart start to pump at twice the regular speed. As if I didn’t have enough problems, now I had a nickname too! And to think I really thought owning an iPod would fix everything.
    Galenka gave me a puzzled look. “What means ‘Mees Prees’?”
    â€œThat’s what I’m wondering,” I told her. I’m going to look for Lynn and find out what this is all about.
    Â 
12:44 PM, EST
    I’m so confused. So much is happening. Right now, if someone pointed a gun to my head and said, “Answer this question. Are you or are you not a loser?” I honestly would not know what to tell them.
    On the one hand, I am an extreme loser. Lynn told me that the reason people are calling me Miss Priss is because of the way I ran out of the skybox at Roger’s bar mitzvah.
    But on the other hand, there’s also a chance that I’m not such a loser. Because when I explained to Lynn that I only ran out of the room because I didn’t want people to see me crying, she asked me why watching a bunch of people play spin the bottle would make me cry.
    WHICH MEANS THAT DYLAN AND CJ WEREN’T KISSING BECAUSE THEY LIKE EACH OTHER! THEY WERE KISSING AS PART OF A GAME! WHICH MEANS THAT I STILL HAVE A CHANCE WITH CJ!
    â€œSo you ran out of the room because you thought Dylan and CJ were making out for real?“ Lynn asked after I explained what had happened.
    â€œYes. You’re just realizing that now?” I answered. “But you know how I feel about CJ,” I whispered. We were standing on an empty landing in the stairwell, but there were kids eating lunch on the one above us, so I didn’t want them to hear.
    â€œWell, I, uh . . . I, uh . . . I guess I, uh . . . was really into the game,” she responded—acting kind of strange all of a sudden. I couldn’t figure it out. Why would someone who’s made the first move so many times in her life get all freaky over a kissing game?
    â€œDo you have your period?” I whispered again.
    â€œRaisin, assuming that someone in a confused state or grouchy mood is having their period, regardless of whether they’re a girl or a boy, is kind of bourgeois, don’t you think?”
    Just then a voice came booming from behind us, saving me from having to pretend I knew what bourgeois meant.
    â€œWho has her period? Is it Miss Priss?” It was Roger Morris.
    â€œGrow up, Roger,” said Lynn. “And she’s not a priss, by the way. It’s all a big misunderstanding.”
    â€œOh, really? Because I heard you wouldn’t kiss my cousin. Or was that a big misunderstanding too?”
    â€œYour cousin is nine years old,” I said.
    â€œSo what? He’s inherited the Morris family good looks.”
    â€œMore like he’s inherited the Morris family large bones,” I murmured under my breath.
    â€œDon’t worry, Raisin,” Roger said. “You don’t have to be a priss forever. It’s an easy thing to change. I can help you.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows just to make sure I understood what he meant by “help.”
    â€œGet lost, Morris,” Lynn said.
    I gave him a look of hate and headed for the exit door. How disgusting can one oversized sweaty boy be?
    And why couldn’t CJ be the one saying things like that?
    The point is that even though it sucks that I have this