Infinite in Between by Carolyn Mackler

Author:Carolyn Mackler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

MIA

TWO DAYS BEFORE Mia left for the Intensive Math Learning Institute, she was picking out the center of a croissant and nibbling the doughy innards pinch by pinch.

“Do you have to eat your croissant like that?” her mom asked, tossing Mia a paper towel.

“Can you take me to the mall today?” Mia asked.

Mia’s mom looked up from her phone. Her thinly waxed eyebrows lifted like tiny umbrellas. “You want to go to the mall?”

Mia wiped the croissant flakes into the sink. Her mom hated her secondhand clothes. Just like how she hated the rainbow streaks in Mia’s hair and her scuffed Docs. Her dream was to take Mia to the mall, to transform her into a blond, perky, gym bunny princess, but up until now that was Mia’s nightmare.

“I want cute clothes for California,” Mia explained. “And sneakers. I’m going to start running every day.”

Her mom’s mouth was open in shock. She was too surprised even to read the text coming in on her phone, which was tight in her hand.

“Can you also book me a hair appointment with Glenda?” Mia asked. “I’m ready to go blond.”

Mia’s mom dropped her precious phone onto the floor. Mia scooped it up and handed it back to her. She was kicking her plan into high gear.

“You’ve always made fun of sun-streaked highlights,” Sophie said when she pushed open the door to Mia’s room the following evening. Sophie had come over to say good-bye. “And a pink manicure? A lavender tennis skirt? Where’s my Mia? Did your mom clobber you unconscious and give you a makeover?”

“I bought new clothes for California,” Mia said, brushing her newly blond hair. “My mom took me to the mall.”

Sophie sank into Mia’s desk chair. “I don’t even know where to begin. Your mom? The mall?”

“I just wanted to . . .” Mia paused. Over the past year, just as she’d started feeling good about her body, Sophie had gained weight and broken out all over her face and back. “I’m trying out a new look for California.”

Sophie reached into Mia’s suitcase, which was open on her bed, and pulled out a seersucker tank top with the tags still on. She draped it across her chest and wrinkled her nose at her reflection.

“You can borrow whatever you want,” Mia offered, but she didn’t really mean it. She wanted to be the first to wear her new clothes.

“Like that tiny thing would ever fit me,” Sophie said, tossing the shirt onto Mia’s bed.

As Mia folded the tank top and set it back in her suitcase, Sophie said, “I guess it’s cool. You’ll see how the other half lives. I just hope you’re not going to forget us little people.”

“Of course I won’t,” Mia said, shaking her head.

What Mia didn’t tell Sophie was that her plan for California wasn’t about seeing how the other half lives. It was about being the other half.

The next day, Mia stepped into the orientation at IMLI. The sky was bright on the walk over, and there were palm trees lining the streets.

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