All I've Never Wanted(52)

My mom frowned.

Before she could say anything, I quickly added, “Think about it. It’ll be so much safer and better than a babysitter. Her house has security that would put the Pentagon to shame, and there’s always staff around, anyway. Besides, we go to school together, so I can even get a ride to and from Valesca without having to walk. And you don’t have to worry about me trying to cook at home and burning the kitchen down.”

My mom winced a little, obviously remembering the time I’d tried to scramble eggs and ended up setting the pan on fire instead.

“I don’t know, won’t you be intruding? What will her parents say? Two weeks is so much hassle…”

“Oh, it’s no hassle at all, Shelley,” Adriana said smoothly, suddenly materializing again. “My parents have already agreed, and honestly, I would love to have Maya stay over for two weeks.” She smiled. “It’ll be like having a sister.”

I held my breath, watching the indecision play over my mother’s face. “I’ll have to think about it,” she finally said. “I’ll talk to your father and get back to you later.”

Yes! That was a total yes! Once my mom says she’ll “think about it,” it was as good as done.

“Thank you, mom, thank you, thank you, thank you,” I gushed, running over to give her a hug.

She laughed, waving me off. “All right, you troublemaker you. Why don’t you go in the kitchen and help your grandmother sort out what she needs?”

“Ok,” I said happily. I would’ve agreed to anything now that I didn’t need a babysitter.

I bounded into the kitchen, where I saw my grandmother standing on her tippy-toes on a chair, pulling down a can of sardines I didn’t even know we had.

“Grandma! Let me do it,” I called. “You might get hurt.”

“I fine,” she said impatiently, dropping the can onto the counter with a clang. She hopped off the chair, surprisingly agile for her age. “Why you put fish up so high? So hard for me to reach,” she said crankily.

She noticed Adriana. “Who are you?”

“I’m Adriana, one of Maya’s classmates,” Adriana answered with some amusement.

My grandmother examined Adriana head to toe, looking for a flaw to dissect. When she couldn’t find anything, she finally said, “Put hair away. Too blonde. Blinding me.”

“So, do you need any help?” I asked, staring at the kitchen counters, which were loaded down with a mishmash of stuff.

My grandmother shoved a can of Pillsbury cookie dough at me.

“What this?”


“It’s cookie dough, grandma.”

“Cookie dough?” She looked horrified. “Why cookie dough have ghost as mascot?”

“Ghost?” I was confused. “That’s not a ghost, it’s the Pillsbury Doughboy! It’s a really famous mascot, haven’t you seen it before?”

She scowled. “No!” She shuddered, tossing the cookie dough into the garbage.

I let out a whimper. That was my favorite!

“No wonder this house have such bad energy, when you all buying stuff with ghosts,” my grandmother scolded. “You eat too much of that, you turn to ghost. Why you think people who eat so much pork not as smart as people who no eat pork? It’s because their brain slowly turn to pig’s brain.”

I stared at her. Where did she get this stuff? “I don’t think it’s the same thing, grandma. For one, cookie dough is just…dough. It’s not meat.”

She ignored me.

“You become what you eat,” she lectured. “Eat more fish. It’s good for brain.”

“But I can already swim pretty well,” I joked.

I heard Adriana snicker beside me. Sadly, the joke was lost on my grandma. “And no more cookie dough, young lady. No wonder you gain weight.”

I rolled my eyes. I loved my grandmother and all, but jeez, she was not good for a teenage girl’s self-esteem. Or anyone’s self-esteem, really.

“You sure you want the sardines, grandma?” I wandered over to the counter and picked up the can of fish, wrinkling my nose. “I don’t know how long it’s been here.”

“Good.” My grandmother cackled. “I give to Loser Weed. She deserve it, cheated me out of hundred dollars last year.”

Loser Weed? Oh, she was talking about Rose, her biggest mah-jongg rival.

“Blondie, help me and Maya put stuff in suitcase,” my grandmother ordered, snapping her fingers like she was a diva or something. “And no drop my stuff, or you pay!”

I stifled a laugh, refraining from telling her Adriana had enough money to buy out all the supermarkets in town ten times over.

I was impressed, though, when Adriana actually did as she was told. Wow. I’m pretty sure the closest she’d ever gotten to physical labor before was walking from one spa room to the next.

I blanched a bit at my own thoughts. Wow, way to stereotype, Maya, I scolded myself.

It took the four of us—me, Adriana, my mom, and grandmother—two hours to pack up everything into suitcases or throw them out in the garbage.

When we were done, I collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted.

“That was pretty fun,” Adriana said cheerily, sitting down beside me.