On The Back Burner Part 7

After finis.h.i.+ng her social studies homework, Amanda decided to go to bed early. She looked at Molly's flushed face as her twin tossed fitfully in her bed. Ugh, thought Amanda. I sure hope I don't get sick, too.

Chapter 10.

Amanda went to school on M.onday morning, but Mom picked her up by lunchtimea"she'd come down with the flu, too.

Peichi arrived at school on Monday excited to see her friends. All weekend she'd worked on her Chinese New Year film and she'd loved every second of it. "I might be a filmmaker when I'm older," she told her parents. "I really like working with the camera." During the past weekend, she'd walked around Chinatown with her parents and filmed the sayings people tacked to their doors and to the fronts of stores. All your hard work will soon pay off read one card that was tacked to the front door of an apartment building. Peichi filmed it, then turned the camera to face herself and spoke into it, saying: "I sure hope that one is true for me."

Since being grounded, Peichi had started to really like going to school every day. It was the only time she could be with all her friends. But on Tuesday, she couldn't find anyone. That's weird, she thought. Molly and Amanda are home sick, but where are Shawn and Natasha?

By lunchtime, Peichi had figured out that Shawn and Natasha had stayed home from school. Uh-oh, thought Peichi. They must all have the flu! I bet the only reason I'm not sick is because I've been grounded and haven't been hanging out with them. Peichi walked into the cafeteria all by herself. Even though she had lunch there every day, it suddenly felt overwhelminga"large and bright and loud. Oh no, she thought suddenly. Who can I eat lunch with today? I'll feel so lame if I have to eat all by myself!

Without her friends there, the day seemed to drag on slowly. At lunch, she ended up sitting alone and studying for an English test she would take that afternoon. She'd reviewed her notes carefully the night before, but now she reread the poems and the notes she'd taken in cla.s.s.

Wednesday after school, Peichi walked to each of her friends' houses to drop off their textbooks and make-up homework. She hoped that at least one of them would be feeling better and be able to talk with her for a few minutes, but they were all still sick in bed.

By Thursday, Peichi missed her friends so much it felt like a physical ache in the middle of her stomach. For a while she wondered if she was getting sick, too. But she decided it was just loneliness. That's it, she decided. The Chef Girls aren't the only people I know in this school. She scanned the cafeteria, looking for a familiar face. She spotted Athena sitting with a group of seventh-graders and decided to go talk to her.

"Hi, Peichi!" Athena said brightly. "What's up?"

"Not much," Peichi said. "Hey is this seat taken?"

"No, sit down!" Athena encouraged her. "Peichi, this is Julia, Emily, and Lauren. Everybody, this is Peichi. She's making a really cool video about Chinese New Year."

"That's awesome," said Lauren. "My parents just got this amazing digital video camera, but they won't even let me touch it, practically!"

"Digital cameras are great," Peichi agreed. This is going really well! she thought to herself. I can't believe I ate lunch all by myself for two days when Athena and her friends were right here. It's so cool to be eating with all these seventh-graders!

Peichi's good day got even better Mrs. Weyn returned her latest English testa"this time, Peichi got an A, and Mrs. Weyn wrote on it, "Excellent!" After school, Peichi was in such a great mood that she skipped up the steps to her house. The phone was ringing off the hook, so she ran to get it. "h.e.l.lo? Is this Peichi Cheng?" asked the woman on the other end.

"Yes."

"Oh, wonderful. My name is Alice Kramer. Barbara Moore gave me your phone number. The thing is, there's been a slight change of plans. My sister had her baby this morning, so I'll need the food delivered on Sat.u.r.day."

"I thought the baby was due at the end of February," Peichi said, remembering that the big Kramer job wasn't supposed to happen until after Chinese New Year.

"That's right, but obviously no one told the baby this! I'm flying out to see her tomorrow, which means I'll need the meals delivered this Sat.u.r.day by six."

"This Sat.u.r.day?" Peichi squeaked.

"Yes. My husband will pay for them when you get there. Thanks so much. Bye!" Mrs. Kramer clicked off without even waiting for Peichi's good-bye.

Peichi took a deep breath. This was terrible! How was she going to do this by herself? She was only one persona"one grounded person!

She quickly dialed the Moores' number and Mrs. Moore picked up. "Hi Mrs. Moore, it's Peichi. Can I talk to Amanda and Molly? It's a Dish emergency."

"I'm sure they'd like to talk to you, Peichi, but they can't talk. Really, they can'ta"both of them have such sore throats that they're completely hoa.r.s.e! Can I give them a message?"

"Do you think they're well enough to log on to the computer?" she asked.

"Well, I think so, but only for a few minutes. I'll tell them to log on."

"Okay, thank you. Bye," Peichi said. Next she phoned Natasha but her mother said she was too sick to come to the phone. Somehow, Peichi convinced Mrs. Ross to let Natasha go online for a few minutes. After that she called Shawn but got only the answering machine. Peichi figured Shawn was home alone and wasn't getting out of bed to answer the phone. "It's me, Peichi," she barked. "Shawn, get on the computer. I have something important to discuss with everybody right now."

Then Peichi went to the computer and wrote an e-mail telling them about her phone call with Mrs. Kramer. Within ten minutes, all the Chef Girls were online in their chat room. Molly and Amanda were the first to respond to the e-mail with an IM.

mooretimes2: OH NO! We didn't even get 2 make some food in advance!!!

qtpie490: No way we can do this job. We have to cancel.

Mooretimes2: Can't cancel!

happyface: Agree!

qtpie490: Then what???????????????

Moortimes2: dunno BrooklynNatasha: Could Carmen help us? Freddie?

happyface: Maybe! I could call Omar, Connor, and Justin 2!

mooretimes2: I don't want boys doing this job.

mooretimes2: Don't want Justin in my house when I'm sick. I look awful!

qtpie490: Let me guess. Amanda sent the last IM.

happyface: Get over it, A & M! We have no choice. Not much time.

BrooklynNatasha: g2g. Mom says I am 2 sick 2 be here.L8R happyface: g2g 2. Making calls now. Will let you know what happens.

Peichi heard keys turning in the front door lock. She ran to meet her parents at the front door.

"Mom? Dad? I have to talk to you about something," Peichi said as soon as her parents were in the house.

"What is it?" her father asked.

Peichi told them about the call she'd received from Mrs. Kramer and how everyone in Dish had the flu. "I know I'm still grounded until after I turn in my extra credit movie to Mr. D.," she said. "But my grades are improving a lot and Dish has no one besides me to make this food for the Kramers. All I need to do for the extra-credit project is film our big New Year's party for the last scene. The rest is done. I can show you what I have, and if you like it, you can unground me so that I can do this Dish job. Otherwise, we'll be facing a Dish disaster!" she said quickly.

"Yes. Let's see it," her father replied.

Peichi plugged the digital video camera into the computer and showed her movie on the computer monitor. This was the first time she was viewing her own work, and she was just as pleased as her parents were.

"This is really good, Peichi!" her mother said when it was done.

"You know, it really is good!" said Peichi. "Yay!"

"Excellent work," her father agreed. "I'm willing to end your grounding, though I expect your grades to come up and stay up."

"They will!" Peichi promised excitedly. "Thank you!"

"But Peichi, you can't possibly do this job all by yourself," her mother said. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to call Carmen and see if she has any suggestions. Can I do that now?"

"Go ahead," her mother said.

Peichi looked up the number of Park Terrace Cookware in the phone book. She hoped that Carmen would be there because Peichi didn't have her home phone number. She was relieved when Carmen's familiar voice answered the phone. "Park Terrace Cookware. How can I help you?"

"h.e.l.lo, Carmen? It's Peichi Cheng, your old student? I hope you don't mind me calling you but my friends and I have a huge problem, and I'm calling to get your advice and maybe your help! It's a Dish emergency!" She went on to explain what was happening. "So we were wondering if maybe you and Freddie could help us pull this job together quickly. I know it's a lot to ask, but we don't know where else to turn. Oh, please! I'm totally desperate!" She gasped for air.

Carmen chuckled. "Stay calm. I'm happy to help and I'm pretty sure Freddie will be, too. Listen, why don't you call Justin, Omar, and Connor, too?"

"Yes! Yes!" Peichi cried. "We had the same idea but we weren't sure if we should ask them."

"I think you should. We're going to need all the help we can get. Where are we going to do this?"

"I'll find out if we can cook at the Moores' house," Peichi replied.

"Okay, call me here tomorrow afternoon and let me know who's on board for this project," Carmen instructed. "I'll phone Freddie and tell him what's going on. And stay calm, Peichi. I once fed one hundred people who were sheltered in a high school cafeteria during a hurricane with only bread, applesauce, four five-pound cans of chicken chow mein, and six boxes of Jell-O to work with. They really liked it, too! If I could do that, we can get through this."

"Thanks, Carmen. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks!"

"No problem. Talk to you tomorrow."

The next step was to contact the boys.

To: cookincon11, funnyomy478, Justmac From: happyface Re: Need help big time!

Hi guys, Peichi Cheng here. Dish is having sort of a crisis right now. Everyone but me is sick and we have a huge job we have to deliver by this Sat.u.r.day. We were hoping maybe you could help us too. We'd pay you, of course. Carmen and Freddie will be helping us with it. Please let me know as soon as you can if any or all of you can help us.

Thanks!

Peichi Within two hours, the boys wrote back.

To: happyface From: funnyomy478 Re: saving the day Hey peichi, You're in luck, cuz I just talked to connor and justin and we've decided to save the day for you girls. You can thank us later. So this is what we want: 1. limo transportation to school for the month of february 2. free brownies for the rest of the year 3. $500.00 each That all seems fair. Thanks for thinking of the Chef Dudes, Peichi.

OMAR.

Peichi laughed. Omar was such a goofball. She quickly wrote back.

To: cookincon11, funnyomy478, Justmac From: happyface Re: yeah, right Yeah, right, Chef Dudes. We will split the profit equally. And forget the brownies and limos! But thanks so much for helping. We couldn't do it without you guys! And I NEVER thought I'd say that!

Peichi P.S. Okay, we'll make you guys some browniesa"one time!

Peichi sat back, hit SEND, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.

Chapter 11.

The twins sat at the top 01 the stairs on Sat.u.r.day morning and listened to the voices downstairs. Their fevers had finally broken and they had a little energy, but they'd come down with harsh, hacking coughs.

"h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Moore," Carmen said as she came through the front door dragging a large, clanking bag.

"Please call me Barbara," Mom said, reaching to help Carmen with the heavy bag.

"h.e.l.lo, Barbara," someone else said. "I'm Freddie Gonzalez. Nice to meet you! Hope you're ready for us!"

"Come in!" Mom answered. "What's in the bag, Carmen?"

"Cookware," Carmen answered. "The big, industrial stuff. Hopefully it will make the job go much faster since we won't have to cook everything in two batches."

"It's so nice of you to help the girls," Mom said as she and Freddie helped Carmen carry the bag.

"Oh, it's our pleasure! They're such great girls."

Amanda and Molly shot each other a thumbs-up. But then Molly had a coughing fit and slapped her hand over her mouth to m.u.f.fle the sound. This set Amanda coughing and both of them ran back to their rooms.

When the coughing had stopped, they flopped down on their beds. "I can't believe Justin is going to be in my very own house and I won't be able to see him," Amanda grumbled.

"The way you look right now, you should be glad he won't see you," Molly teased.

Amanda checked her image in the mirror. "Ohmygos.h.!.+ You're right!" Her greasy hair stood out at odd angles and her skin was blotchy and s.h.i.+ny. There were dark circles under her eyes.

The doorbell rang and then the girls heard voices coming from the front hall. "Peichi's here," Molly reported.

"And I hear boy sounds," Amanda added. "I think I hear Connor and Omar. And Justin! He's here! Oh, why can't we go downstairs? I know!" she exclaimed. "We can listen in on the intercom!" She jumped over to the end of Molly's bed and pressed the intercom b.u.t.ton. Both twins listened in.

Down in the kitchen, dishware was banging and utensils were clattering. Peichi felt full of energy and was excited to begin cooking. With Carmen and Freddie there, she no longer felt so nervous. "I'll go downstairs and start bringing up the food," she volunteered.

"We'll help," Omar offered, and he followed Peichi down the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs along with Justin and Connor. They returned with armfuls of food that they dumped out onto the kitchen table.

"I'm going to put you boys in charge of the peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly sandwiches, the salads, and the pastaa"except for the lasagna. Freddie will do that," Carmen said as she read over the menu the girls had written out. "Freddie will also make the meatb.a.l.l.s. I'll do the lamb stewa"that looks the most complicateda"and the fried chicken," she continued. "Peichi, you're on the corn chowder, the chicken parmigiana, and the chicken croquettes. And please show Omar how to make the bread. We'll tackle the sides and desserts as soon as the main courses are under control."

"Peichi, think fast!" Omar yelled, tossing her a bag of frozen corn for the chowder.

"Omarrrrrrr!" she shrieked. Everyone laughed.

Upstairs, both Amanda and Molly had their ears to the intercom, listening to the laughter. "It's no fair! They're having so much fun," Amanda whispered.