The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura by Waka T. Brown

Author:Waka T. Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Californians.” Chloë rolled her eyes in exasperation the following Tuesday afternoon at recess. “All our guests did was miss their green smoothies and complain about how cold and gray it is here.”

“So, would you say you like Oregon more?” I asked as we trudged around the track like we usually did. The air was so frosty that my question came out like wisps of clouds.

“Oh yeah, one hundred percent.” Chloë made her mittened hand reply to me like a sock puppet.

Definitely different, I thought. Real Chloë’s grin was sincere and sweet, not like the Amanjaku when it appeared as her. The Amanjaku had me fooled this weekend with the adjustments it had made to its voice and its eyes, but its smile wasn’t the same as Chloë’s. It was hard to put my finger on it, but it almost felt like the Amanjaku was acting happy when it would smile. It was forced, or something like that. I didn’t want to think about it right now, or about the several dollars I didn’t pay to the Red, White, and Blue.

It didn’t hurt anyone, I told myself again.

I let out a little sigh of relief when Chloë said she liked it here. Not that us kids have much influence in where our parents make us live, but I was happy to hear that the Yoshidas’ visit with their old friends didn’t make them miss their old home and want to move back. And with the weather like it was today, I could see how—Californian or not—it would be hard to see the charms of dreary Oregon.

This morning had felt like autumn was playing tug-of-war with winter—and losing. It was lucky for me, though, because it allowed me to wear my long winter jacket over my new outfit, which made it easy to hide it from my mom. I could also wear my new fleece-lined boots!

“Those are nice.” My mom had commented on them when I stepped into the car. “How much were they again?”

“Only $8.40,” I’d answered. Only, I don’t know why I said that and not twelve. It’s not like I kept the receipt or that she even knew about the other clothes. And even if she did, I doubt she’d go back to the store, calculate how much I spent, and know that the Amanjaku switched the tags around so I could afford these boots that were a really good deal at even twelve dollars.

“Hey, I really do love your new outfit.” Chloë’s comment brought me back to school. “Did you buy that when you went shopping with me?”

“Wha . . . what?” I stammered. I could have sworn this was the real Chloë with me right now. I would bet my life on it! But then how could she have known about my shopping trip with the Amanjaku?

“Your mom bumped into us yesterday while we were buying groceries,” Chloë answered my question without me having to ask.

“Oh, really?” I gulped. “What exactly did she say?” I suddenly started to sweat, so I undid the top two snaps on my jacket.

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