The Hidden Door

Dinner tonight is turkey. And gravy. And also stuffing and cranberry sauce. But don’t worry- it’s not Thanksgiving. That was two weeks ago, and yet we still have practically the whole meal leftover. Mom makes WAY too much food every year. Luckily, Grandmother is visiting to help us eat it all.

Me, Sara, my five year old sister, Branden, my older brother (He’ll try to convince you he’s fourteen, but he’s only twelve), my mom, my other mom, and my grandmother are all eating dinner in the dining room when the snow first starts to fall.

“Look!” Sara cries as she runs to the window. She attempts to see above all the plants on the windowsill by standing on her tiptoes with no luck. I go over and look out the window next to her, and I can practically hear her pouting.
“Pick me up, Hailey!!” Sara demands. I pretend to think about it, then finally I do, right before she’s about to kick me. We do this often. Sara always wins.
“Wow…” she breathes. Right in my ear. Which causes spit to fly into it. Gross.
“Come back to dinner, girls.” Mom says. “There’s dessert!” Sara’s back in her seat before Mom can even finish her sentence.
A few minutes later, after all of the apple pie is gone (the only thing that we finished), I walk into the living room and see Grandmother sitting by the fireplace with Brandan and Sara.
“Wait for me!” I run up to them and plop next to my little sister. She giggles.
“I was just about to start.” Grandmother smiles, her eyes sparkling like they always do when she is about to tell a story.
“But you had to wait for Hailey.” Branden rolls his eyes at me. I ignore him, but as soon as I get a chance, I’m going to punch him. After all, what are ten year old sisters for?
“Grandmother! The story!” Sara reminds her.
“Right!” Grandmother smacks her forehead. “How could I forget? Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s get started! Once upon a time…..”


Gwen was walking back to her house when she heard a noise. It wasn’t a loud noise, but just loud enough for Gwen’s ears to perk up as she glanced behind her. But by now the only sound was the wind whistling through the trees around her. Picking up the pace, Gwen made it back home in less than half an hour, which is good, considering that it usually took her just under an hour. Gwen smiled at this. It was sure to please Mother.
Gwen entered her house filled with joy and bursting to tell her father about what kinds of animals and birds she had seen earlier in the forest. Gwen’s father loved animals almost as much as his daughter did.
Gwen headed to her bedroom on the first floor of her house to do the remainder of her schoolwork and, if she had extra time after that, maybe she could fit a little bit more exploring into her schedule.
As she was thinking of this, the front door of the house flew open and her parents rushed in, not bothering to take off their shoes as they ran to talk to their daughter.
“Gwen!” Her father, Jake, burst into her bedroom with such force that it made Gwen jump. Soon after Jake came Hannah, her mother.
“We have to talk to you about something very important, honey.” Hannah explained, smiling.
“What is it?” Gwen asked, curious. The last time there was something “important” they wanted to talk about, it was boring. Something about getting a great deal for a turkey?
“Well…. You tell her, Hannah. You’re better at explaining things.” Jake said.
“All right. Well, Gwen, your father and I have got a hold of two tickets to go on a sea voyage, to do research, and unfortunately, you have to stay behind. There isn’t enough money in our bank to get a third for you.”
Gwen’s face fell. She didn’t want to be left alone. She hated being alone! Being an only child made it even worse. No one to talk to, except for her dog, Archie. Archie would keep her company, and sure, she could talk to him, but there was absolutely no way that he could talk to her. Barks don’t count, just in case you were wondering.
But Gwen saw the look on her parent’s faces. They looked so happy and excited, she didn’t want to spoil it for them. She tried to smile.
“That’s great. How long will you be gone?” Gwen asked. She hoped that they would only be gone for a few days or so, max.
“ Two weeks.” her mother replied.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?
Two whole weeks by herself?? Um, no thanks. That is WAY too long. Gwen was an inch away from screaming her head off, begging them to stay. But instead, she gulped down her emotions and tried to look on the bright side. Well, apparently there was no bright side in this situation, because all she was thinking about was how bored and sad she was going to be while they were away. Poor Archie. He was going to be whining at the door everyday, because he usually got walked four times a day, and there was no way Gwen would have time for that. After all, she still had to go to school, even if her parents were away.


“If Mommy was away for that long, would I still have to go to school?” Sara asks Grandmother, wide eyed, not realizing that she had just interrupted her. Mom comes in from out of the kitchen and answered the question for her.
“Of course you would. If your other mom and I were on a sea voyage, we wouldn’t want your education to slip.”
Sara seems satisfied with that.
“Back to the story.” Branden says, focusing on Grandmother.
“Alrighty.” Grandmother salutes at him.



Gwen was very upset, and she was about to tell her parents this, but instead she stayed quiet and asked yet another question.
“When do you leave?”
“That’s the other thing.” Jake glanced at his wife. She nodded. “We leave tonight.”
Whatever Gwen was feeling before, it was nothing compared to that.

Later that night, while she was trying to sleep in the dark, lonely house, Gwen’s mind kept wandering to her parents, as she imagined them sleeping peacefully in their little room on the ship. She wondered what they were dreaming about. Probably something based on why they were there. Something about Jellyfish. Or maybe Pufferfish. Possibly Clam, but they were far too boring for her parents, who were more interested in “cool” animals. Whatever they were doing or dreaming about wasn’t important to Gwen at the moment. At that moment, she wanted to explore the house. She wasn’t exactly sure why, since she had lived there her entire life. But there was just an… urge pushing her to do it.
So Gwen hopped out of bed and started off by turning all of the lights in the house on. She wasn’t taking any chances.
“I wonder where I should start…” she whispered to herself. After thinking about it for a second, she decided to start on the main floor and work her way up.
A few minutes later Gwen was in the living room, searching for something, anything that would make being alone much less boring and stressful. She wasn’t positive that it wouldn’t just add to the stress, but at the time being she was busy.
Gwen ran her hand over all the floorboards, checked behind all the bookshelves, and took in every detail of the entire living room, with no luck.
Frustrated, Gwen retreated back to her bedroom after an hour of hunting for anything amiss. With no luck, obviously.
And that’s when she heard the squeak.
Surprised, Gwen gasped. Slowly, she eased off the bed and let her feet gently touch the floor. Gwen looked around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Had she imagined it?
Squeak squeak squeak!!
Nope.
Squeak…
It was definitely coming from the floor. Gwen went over to where she had last heard it. It sounded as if it was possibly coming from under her rug? She wasn’t sold on this idea, but it was the only one she had, so Gwen carefully lifted up the rug.
She gasped.


“What was under the rug??” Sara asks Grandmother, clinging to her blanket. I roll my eyes. Everytime Grandmother comes and tells a story, Sara always manages to interrupt her at least five times.
“Maybe if you let her continue, you’ll find out.” I advise her.
“Okay!” Sara smiles and jumps on Branden’s lap.
“Oof!” he cries. Sara giggles.


Right there, under the rug, was a trap door. It had a large brass handle, and was made of wood. It was about two feet wide, just big enough for Gwen to fit through, that is, if she wanted to. Which, at the moment, she did. So, after making sure she had a flashlight, Gwen lowered herself into the chamber.
It was exactly one word: Dark. Very dark. And also kind of dusty. Scratch that. It was actually a lot more dusty than she had first thought. Gwen coughed. Really dusty.
She flicked her flashlight on and glanced around the room. It was larger than she expected, and was lined with bookshelves. Gwen studied the shelves and looked at the book titles. Baking for Beginners, The Sugar in the Pantry, Fruit Desserts, a Chef’s Guide to Cooking, Making Bread, and Owning a Bakery. Books about cooking and baking? What in the world…? Gwen looked at more of the books, and all of them focused on working in the kitchen. Why would someone have put all of these books under her bedroom? Gwen swept the room with her flashlight and stopped it as she spotted a desk.
Jackpot.
On top of the desk there were three things.
A piece of paper
A book
A letter

Huh. Gwen wondered which one she should look at first. Finally, she settled on the letter, and moved the others aside. It was wrinkled, like someone had crumpled it many, many times.
Here’s what it read…

Dear Annie,
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way. Some things in life just happen, you know? Anyway, that is no excuse for how unfairly I have treated you. What’s done is done, and we can’t change the fact that I have run the bakery for over twenty years, and you have been in charge of the one across the street for just as long. I remember when we used to share ideas and recipes once a week on Sundays. I remember when we would meet at the park with all of our books and notes and profits. I remember when we baked and laughed together right before we opened our stores. I remember when you were my friend.
I understand that friends drift apart over time. But what happened between us wasn’t like that. Not even close.
You knew that I wanted to enter the contest. And instead of helping me prepare, like you should have, you had to sabotage it for me. My whole life- I even got an invitation from the mayor! You knew that it wasn’t just a silly little competition. It was something much bigger. And worst of all, they didn’t even get to try my cake.
But I have decided to put all of that behind me. I have decided that, even though we have had our ups and downs, I still want to be your friend.
I can’t say that you’ve always been there for me, Annie, but when you were, it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. And I want to feel that way again.
In the envelope you’ll find a key. This is the key to my bakery. I know that the one you owned got shut down, but I think that you may just want to, you know, take a quick look at mine. You will have to do a few things to get there, though. First, you will need to go to 26 North Drive. Next, go inside the house and enter the big room on the left. Then, you will need to lift up the big rug and go down the secret door under it. Finally, once you are in there, go through the door on the right wall. It will be covered by my bookshelf, and you will have to pull out the book that is labeled Food for Thought. The bookshelf will then slide to the left to reveal the hidden door to my bakery. Use the key to get in. After that, it is all up to you, Annie.

All the best,
Harriet

Gwen stared at the letter in her hands. She hadn’t realized how tight she had been holding it as she read. Releasing her grip a little, Gwen tried to understand what the letter was saying. So basically, she thought I have my own bakery now. Also, not only is there a trap door under my rug, there’s a secret door behind the bookcase too! Awesome….
Gwen held the desk tightly, struggling to stand. She couldn’t believe it. Slowly, she walked over to the bookshelf on the right wall of the room and started scanning the titles, searching for the book. Finally, after two long minutes of searching, she found it.
Food for Thought was a thick book, about an inch and a half wide. It had a dark green spine, with gold lettering. It looked ancient.
Carefully, Gwen reached for the book. She clutched it as if her life depended on it, and slowly, slowly, she pulled it out of the bookcase.
The bookshelf creaked. Gwen's heart thumped in her chest as the bookshelf gave another long creak, before revealing the big brass door with a golden handle that was behind it.
Excited, Gwen reached for the door, eager to enter her very own bakery. But the door didn’t budge. Panicked, Gwen pulled harder, desperate to get in. The door didn’t move a centimeter. Gwen was about to give up and head up to her bedroom, when she remembered something.
“The key! Of course!” She whispered and grabbed the envelope off the desk. She peeked in it, expecting to see the key. Inside, there lay the large, heavy gold key. Gwen snatched it out of the envelope. Then she ran over to the door and jammed it in the lock. It turned easily, and soon,
Gwen was staring at a staircase that ran in a twisty spiral up to a bright purple door at the top.
That must be the door to the bakery! She thought. Gwen was about to run up all of the stairs before she remembered her parents, and quickly threw that thought away
Now she was ready to explore the bakery. She trudged up the staircase and was soon at the top when she heard a bark coming from her bedroom.
Archie!
And so Gwen went all the way back down the stairs, through the secret door, and back to her bedroom.
She then led Archie out of her bedroom, through the secret door, and tried to convince him to go up the long winding staircase.
“It’s okay, Archie. The stairs won’t hurt you. Come on.” she coaxed, trying to sound like her father did whenever he wanted the Rottweiler to do something. Clearly it wasn’t working, because the dog wasn’t going anywhere. Gwen sighed, and gave up trying to convince him.
Gwen headed up the stairs (by herself) up to the purple door. This time, she pushed it open right away. She gasped.
Inside there was a huge room. On one side of it, there was a counter with a bright red cash register with a spinny chair behind the counter. On another wall there were lots and lots of shelves, waiting to be filled with treats. Gwen imagined herself in a white apron, restocking the shelves while chatting with a friendly customer.
Gwen noticed that for a bakery that had been shut down for almost two years, it was still in perfect condition. Interesting Gwen thought as she walked around the store I wonder if anyone has been in here since then, to clean up. Or maybe everyone just kind of abandoned it after it was shut down.
When she was younger, Gwen used to visit this bakery once a week after school on Fridays, and she would always get the same thing: A Nutella and raspberry pastry. After the bakery shut down when she was in third grade, she had forgotten about it. That is, until she discovered the trap door in the floor of her bedroom.
Ruff!! Ruff! Ruff!!!!!
Alarmed, Gwen looked up. Archie was calling for her, urgency in his bark. Feeling scared, Gwen raced down the stairs and ran over to her dog.
“What is it?” she asked. Archie whined, staring at the door that led back to the small library. Confused, Gwen put her ear up against the door and listened intently. She could hear a voice - A low voice, likely a man. It was coming from her bedroom on the first floor.
“Why are we here? This isn’t even the best house on the block. The one across the street looks more… Appealing.” the first voice said.
“This one was the only one with no one in it.” a second voice replied. This voice was higher pitched, and it sounded like it belonged to a woman.
“Still. I mean, the only room that isn’t locked is this one, and the most “valuable” thing we’ve found so far is a diamond ring. And the diamond isn’t even that big!!” the first voice said, trying to reason with the second one.
Gwen gasped. Robbers! She mouthed to Archie. He nuzzled her with his nose, as if he understood.
“This is the empty house, so it’s the one we rob. One thing that did stump me was why they left all the lights on and didn’t bother to lock the door. That was a stupid move.” the second voice got slightly louder and angrier as she spoke.
“Chill, Rico. I know that this isn’t our best of times, but hey, we still got a diamond!” the male said, his voice steady as he talked. Rico sighed.
“You're right. But not about the diamond, Kyle. It’s plastic. I mean, what kind of thief are you if you can’t tell the difference between a real and a fake.” Kyle started to protest, but Rico cut him off.
“We should head back now. Besides, we have a real mission to get to.” Rico said firmly. They continued to talk as they exited her bedroom. Gwen couldn’t hear what they were saying. This frustrated her.
“How am I supposed to know what their plan is, Arch? If I go out and confront them, I might get hurt. If I stay here, I can’t do anything!” Gwen said and slid down against the door, her head in her hands. Archie nudged her. Gwen sighed and gently stroked him.
Gwen waited a full hour before retreating back to her bedroom, just to make sure that the burglars were really gone. They were.
Gwen took in the mess of her room as she pushed the rug up and over her head. Her mirror on her dresser was cracked, as if someone had thrown a knife at it. Which, considering what she had been through, wasn’t impossible.
As she climbed into bed for the second time that night, Gwen thought about what had happened that day. There were a lot of things to think about.
Of course, her mind first went to the bakery. Gwen really wanted to open it as her own- after all, her parents wouldn’t be back for almost two weeks, and surely they wouldn’t mind coming home to their eleven year old daughter owning her own bakery.
Gwen decided that this was a good idea, and she would try to open the store within that morning. Definitely a reasonable goal. Gwen thought about this for a moment and nodded to herself.
Brimming with confidence, Gwen hopped out of bed yet again, and two minutes later she was sitting on top of the counter in the bakery, imagining all of the amazing things she could do with it.
Step One: Cleaning.
Gwen was about to head back down to her room and get the supplies she needed when she stopped. The bakery was right next door to her house. And the house door was unlocked, even the burglars said so. So basically she could have just sort of walked next door and reentered her house in less than thirty seconds, instead of the usual three minutes. Gwen felt stupid for not knowing that, and vowed that from then on she would take that shortcut.
Once she had everything (broom, mop, feather duster, something that looked like a dust pan, but she wasn’t sure), Gwen got to work.
The first thing that she did was the sweeping. Then mopping. Then feather dusting. She was going to use the strange thing that looked like a dust pan, but decided not to. What if she messed up and put a hole through the wall? She couldn’t take that chance. So Gwen just tossed it aside and focused on the other cleaning materials.
By the time Gwen was finished, she was exhausted. She glanced at her watch. 3:52AM. Great. If she had only just finished cleaning, how was she supposed to open at ten that day if she had just barely started?
Gwen chose to push ahead and look back later. So she moved on from the cleaning and transitioned to something else.
Step two: Kitchen inspection
This step was harder than it seemed. Gwen had to make sure that the oven was working without setting the kitchen on fire. This was also harder than it seemed.
After battling the heat, Gwen had to see if everything else was working well. It was, which surprised her. Remember, this shop was twenty two years old, and two of those years were the most recent ones, when it had been closed. Step two was complete.
Nope, I forgot something. Gwen thought to herself. Right! I need the kitchen supplies! She furiously opened all the cabinets, drawers, and anything that had a knob or handle on it. She even tried to open a tea kettle that was left over. No luck. There just wasn’t any kitchen supplies left over, which shouldn’t have been quite a shock for Gwen, but interestingly enough, it was, for some strange reason.
So I guess… I’ll have to either buy some, or take it from my own house.
Gwen’s parents had never really been bakers, so they didn’t teach her everything they knew or stuff like that. However, Gwen found that although they didn’t bake much, they sure had a whole lot of cookware.
Gwen struggled to carry everything with her as she opened the creaky door of her bakery. As soon as she got in, Gwen dropped everything, causing a loud CRASH!!! But she was too tired to notice.
Someone in town noticed, though. At the same time that Gwen had been carrying all of the cookware for her bakery, Julia Copper woke up to her cat licking her face at four thirty in the morning.
“Gigi, stop it.” she groaned, pulling her pillow over her head. Gigi cocked her head and started licking Julia’s feet. Julia pulled those under her blanket, and soon there was nothing left for the cat to lick.
So she meowed in Julia’s ear instead.
“Okay! I’m up! Happy?” Julia burst out of bed and glared at her cat. Gigi didn’t flinch. Julia sighed and glanced out her window, where she saw Gwen carrying everything over to her store.
Julia was the same age as Gwen at the time, and they even were in the same class. But never had Julia said a word to Gwen, and Gwen had never said a word to her. But that didn’t mean that Julia didn’t recognize her classmate.
“That’s a girl from my class!” She gasped, and quickly pulled a sweater over her pajamas and ran down the stairs. Gigi followed.
Once she sprinted out of the house, Gwen was already inside, humming away while stuffing random cookware into drawers, not caring where they went. Julia hurried across the street and started banging on the bakery’s door.
“Gwen!! It’s me! Let me in!!” she cried, and continued to ram her fists into the doors.
After what seemed like forever, Gwen finally noticed Julia standing out in the cold and dragged her inside.
“I was banging on that door for a full two minutes until you saw me.” Julia fumed and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Sorry.” Gwen said simply. “What are you doing here?” She asked quizzically.
“You’re loud. Also, my cat was licking my face.”
Gwen's face turned red. She thought that she was being quiet. Oh well.
“Anyway… Do you want some help with those?” Julia pointed to remaining kitchen supplies on the floor.
Gwen grinned.
Twenty minutes later, the two were talking and laughing together while shoving the supplies into now sorted and organized drawers.
“I've been thinking… I’m going to open this bakery as soon as possible, but I still need ingredients to make the pastries and desserts and stuff and also I may need a business partner.” Gwen explained, rushed. Julia nodded.
“I’d like that. By the way…. I might have a way for us to get ingredients.” she smiled mischievously.


Sara starts to snore. I glare at her. Last time this happened, we had to wait until the next day to finish the story, and of course this time she had to do it at a cliffhanger. I have no idea how long she was asleep - with Sara, you never know.
Luckily, Branden is prepared.
“You know…” he says slowly. “I think Mom said that she was going to make chocolate chip cookies tonight…”
Sara jolts awake immediately. Sometimes I think she’s faking it.
“Really?!” she asks excitedly. I cover my mouth to hide a smile.
Grandmother also smiles, but doesn’t try to hide it. Now that Sara’s awake, we might be able to finish the story in one sitting, unlike last time.


“First things first, we need a rope.” Julia told Gwen. Gwen nodded and made a mental note in her head to remember that.
“Next, a flashlight.”
“Check.” Gwen pulled the green flashlight out of her pocket and placed it on the floor next to her.
“And lastly, two people. We already have that and the flashlight, so we’re practically ready to go.” Julia stood up and dragged Gwen off the ground as well.
“Where are we going to get a rope?” Gwen asked herself.
“Easy. We’re going to my house.”
Gwen stepped uneasily into Julia’s house. The floor creaked beneath her.
“It’s an older house.” Julia told Gwen.
Julia wandered into the living room and came out a moment later holding a fat tan rope in her arms.
“And off we go.” she commanded. Gwen turned on her heels and trailed behind her business partner. Julia led her to the grocery store on the corner of town.
“Why are we at Shaws?” Gwen was confused. Julia looked at her, as if to say Why wouldn’t we be?
Slowly, it dawned on Gwen what Julia was planning to do.
“You wouldn’t.” She said, hands on her hips.
“I would, and if you want your bakery open at ten soon, I suggest you follow me.” And with that, Julia spun around towards the store, her long blonde hair flying in every direction. Gwen groaned.
“Why do we need a rope to get in? Shaws is only on one floor. Above it is the barber shop.” Gwen jogged after her friend.
Julia didn’t answer. She glanced around for a second, then threw the rope up into the air, until it landed just where she wanted it.
“We can go through the barber shop window, then down to the grocery store, where we can get the ingredients.”
“You’re planning to pay for this, right?” Gwen raised her eyebrows. Julia rolled her eyes and pulled out a few twenty dollar bills for an answer. Maybe she isn’t that bad after all. Gwen thought.
Julia was the first to climb the rope. She did it easily, and was at the top and through the window in less than ten seconds.
When it was Gwen's turn, she wasn’t quite as graceful. The rope swayed as she clung to it, afraid to look down. Then, after a very long three minutes, she joined Julia in the barber shop.
“It’s dark in here.” she blinked, her eyes still adjusting. Julia didn’t say a word, and rushed down the stairs with Gwen hot on her heels.
The grocery store wasn’t as dark, and they were able to find the light switch. All the aisles were exactly the same as they were during the day, only way less crowded.
The girls gathered everything they needed, and borrowed three shopping carts that they returned later. As promised, Julia left the money and a note saying that she was sorry and that they were welcome to come to their soon-to-be-very-successful bakery at any time for a bite to eat.
The two girls soon (after many hours) had put all of the ingredients away and had started to make the desserts. Well, Julia had started making the desserts-using the cookbooks from the mini library- since she knew more about baking then her partner did, and Gwen had made the menu.
“What do you think?” She asked Julia, holding it up.

Beehive Bakery

Blueberry Muffins 2.50 Kiwi Cake 7.00 Strawberry Shortcake 6.00
Elephant ear 4.00 Pumpkin Donuts 4.50 Vanilla Cupcakes 3.75
Chocolate Cake 6.75 Lemon Pie 5.99 Peach Pie 5.00
Apple Pie 5.25 Pear Upside- Down Cake 9.00 Raspberry Pastry 2.05

“What's a pear upside-down cake?” Julia frowned.
“It’s this really good dessert that I once got in France.” Gwen explained.
“You’ve been to France?”
“Yup. But we’re getting off topic. There has to be a recipe for it in one of those books…” Gwen shuffled through a few until she found it. “Aha!” She handed it to Julia. Julia looked at it.
“Looks easy enough. By the way, what time is it?” She asked.
Gwen glanced at her watch. “9:49. We have to get the tables ready!” she exclaimed. A half hour earlier Gwen and Julia had raided their houses for any extras. Their grand total was eight.
She and Julia quickly added tablecloths and flowers to each table. By the time they were finished, it was 9:58.
“Almost time for opening!!” Gwen squealed excitedly. She had spread the news just an hour earlier, telling everyone about what she and her friend were about to open. They were just as excited as she was.
Julia opened all of the curtains. “There’s a line of people outside!” she gasped.
“Open the door, then!”
When she did, people spilled into the bakery. Most of them were neighbors, but there were a few people that the girls didn’t recognize.
Gwen stood up a little taller behind her spot at the counter. She straightened her blue apron and tried to contain her excitement, with no luck.
A lady that Gwen didn’t know came up to her.
“I love your store. These days, kids are usually off playing video games or using some other device. You and your friend in the kitchen should be very proud of yourselves. Not many children could have pulled this off. May I please have an elephant ear?”
“Thank you! Your order should be ready in a few minutes.” Gwen told her and reported the order to Julia. Many more people came up to her with their orders and Julia soon came out with them all a few minutes after. She went up to Gwen.
“I guess we did a pretty good job with this place, huh?”
“Yeah.” Gwen smiled. “I guess we did.”


Grandmother gets up from her spot on the armchair. “Well, that’s it.” she says, stretching her arms.
“What??” Sara whines. “But we don’t know what happens when the parents get home!” She climbs onto the seat that Grandmother had just left, hands on her hips.
“Yeah!” Branden and I protest. I glance at him. I think this is the first time we’ve ever agreed on anything.
Grandmother smiles, her eyes twinkling. “Then I guess you’ll just have to wait to find out.”
Ugh.

[Story written by Layla Moreno, 11, Montpelier. Submitted by Lauren Chabot, Main Street Middle School]