Free Pink & Green is the New Black by Lisa Greenwald

say no.
    Mom and Grandma are sitting in the living room drinking tea when I get home.
    â€œWho’s Travis?” Mom asks before she even says hi.
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œA boy named Travis stopped by the pharmacy today,” Grandma explains. “He looked lost, wandering around for a little too long. So I asked him if he needed help, and then he asked if someone named Lucy worked there.”
    â€œOh. Yeah, he’s new. We go to school together.”
    â€œGot it.” Mom smiles like she thinks something is up,even though nothing really is. She gets these ideas in her head and blows them totally out of proportion.
    â€œAnyway, I have good news.” I sit down next to Mom and grab her mug for a sip of tea.
    â€œYeah?” Grandma asks, impatient as usual.
    â€œThe school board proposal went through,” I tell them. “Our cafeteria will be green! And not just ours. The elementary school and the high school too!”
    â€œReally?” Mom jumps up. “Tell us more! Tell us more!”
    â€œOkay, calm down.” I laugh at Mom’s enthusiasm, then explain all about Clint’s dad and how it’s going to work. I have to stop every few seconds because Mom has so many questions, but it doesn’t bother me. When you’re really excited about something, you don’t mind when people ask questions about it. You want to tell them everything so that they can be excited too.
    â€œThat is so wonderful, darling,” Grandma says. “I can’t even believe it. My granddaughter is taking over the world!”
    â€œWell, if that’s the case, the least you can do is treat me to a celebratory dinner.” I give them a hopeful look. “Sushi, anyone?”
    Grandma and Mom glance at each other. I think their eyes are saying yes.
    â€œSure! Go call Dad and let him know,” Mom says. “Hewas expecting baked ziti leftovers, but something tells me he’ll be okay with this.”
    â€œIt’s settled. Sushi it is. We’ll leave at 6:45.” Grandma collects the mugs and goes into the kitchen.
    â€œDo you want to invite Yamir?” Mom whispers with a sneaky expression on her face.
    â€œWhy are you whispering and what is that face?” I ask. All my happy feelings wash away, and I’m suddenly annoyed.
    â€œI didn’t want Grandma to yell at me for butting into your business.” Mom is still whispering.
    â€œOh.” I think for a second. “It’ll be better if it’s just us tonight. But thanks.”
    They were so excited for me that I didn’t want to tell them how I’m also feeling a little sad and uncertain about Yamir. I want them to think I’m taking over the world, not stressing about a boy. I guess I can just focus on being happy for now and worry about the empty feeling later.
    I go up to my room to check my e-mail, change clothes, and get ready for dinner. Going out for sushi with my family isn’t like going out for any other meal. We take it really seriously. We order one huge round to start. And we order as much as we want after that. We eat and eat and eat until we’re so stuffed it’s hard for us to walk out to the car.
    It’s a very special treat.
    We’re all big sushi eaters, even Grandma. She says that she’s going to take everyone to Japan when she wins the lottery. The weird thing is that she hardly ever plays the lottery, so I’m not sure how that’s going to happen. Still, it’s fun to think about.
    I sign in to check my e-mail, but there’s nothing exciting there: a message from Bloomingdale’s about a sale, and some mass e-mail about Eighth-Grade Masquerade that I don’t feel like reading.
    So I draft an e-mail to Claudia and Bean:
    Guess what? The cafeteria is officially going green! And not just the middle school—the high school and elementary school too! Yippee! Hope all is well in Chicago! A new kid in school just moved from