Free Coming Up Roses by Catherine R. Daly

Homecoming business from us, you know?”
    Dad nodded.
    Still, I couldn’t help hoping that saving at least part of the Homecoming business would make everyone realize things weren’t quite so dire for the store.
    I crossed my fingers for luck before I not-so-casually asked, “So how did
your
day go?”
    Dad gave a small laugh. “Your great-aunt is quite a force to be reckoned with.”
    “Tell me about it,” I said.
    “She drove the realtor crazy. Nothing made her happy. One place was too big, the other too small. One didn’t have enough parking. Another was too close to a clothing store that sold ‘inappropriate attire for young ladies.’ “
    “She really said that?” asked Rose.
    “That she did,” said Dad. “She gave him quite a tongue-lashing for taking us there.”
    “Oh dear,” said Mom. “The poor guy!”
    In Spanish class on Monday, my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I had a text message. My heart skipped abeat. I knew it had to be my mom, because all my friends were in class. And she would never text me during school unless it was something totally important — like she had heard from Marcia about the Homecoming dress! I briefly considered sneaking my phone open, but Señora Friedman was tough — using a cell phone in class meant instant detention. But I couldn’t wait a whole forty minutes to read my text, either.
    I raised my hand. Unfortunately, my timing was off. Señora Friedman thought I was volunteering to answer her next question.
    “Señorita Bloom,” said my teacher.
“¿Como se dice
‘she sleeps’?”
    I thought for a minute. How
did
one say “she sleeps” in Spanish? Then it came to me.
“Duerme,”
I replied.
    Señora Friedman smiled.
“Muy bien.”
    “May I, I mean …” I racked my brain.
“¿Puede … ir … al baño?”
    “Puedo,”
my teacher corrected me. Then she nodded.
“Sí.”
    I practically skipped down the hallway in my excitement. In the restroom, I stood by the sink, the late afternoon sunlight struggling through the frosted-glass window. There, I flipped open my phone. Sure enough, the text was from my mom.
    EVERYTHING IS COMING UP ROSES — THEY’RE TAKING THE DRESS! LOVE, MOM
    “Wooo-hooo!” I cheered, which bounced around the tile-lined bathroom like an echo chamber. I cringed. Hopefully, no one had heard me!
    Just then the toilet flushed and someone stepped out of the last stall. Someone with long, straight, brown hair, which she flipped over her shoulder. It was Sabrina, one of Ashley’s henchwomen.
    “I should have known it was you,” she said. “Weirdo.”
    But I didn’t care. Petal Pushers was back in business. I wore a huge smile as I walked back to class.
    I wanted to run and tell Aster and Rose. I wanted to call Aunt Lily and tell her that we didn’t need to sell the store after all. I imagined how gorgeous the dress would look at the parade. And then I had an evil thought:
Who’s
going to be looking at the bouquets when
that
dress is on the float?
    I grinned, feeling just a tiny bit guilty when I thought of Hamilton.
    At lunch, I told my friends the good news.
    “That’s amazing!” said Amy.
    “Good for you!” said Becky.
    “Nice!” said Jessica.
    Heather, as usual, had one thing on her mind — boys. “And now you can ask Hamilton out!” she concluded.
    I held up a hand. “Give me a minute,” I begged. “My head is still spinning!”
    I unwrapped my turkey sandwich with cranberry mayo and ate it quickly. But I was still hungry, so Becky and I headed to the lunch line to get chocolate-chip cookies. On my way, I bumped into Rose.
    “Great news!” I told her excitedly. “Mom texted me — they took the rose dress!”
    “That’s great,” said Rose distractedly.
    I grabbed her arm. “It
is
great. So why aren’t you more excited?”
    Rose shrugged.
    “Hey, I didn’t know you had third period lunch today,” I told her. Sixth graders’ lunch schedule changed every day. “You should have sat with