Dead Is Just a Rumor by Marlene Perez

Author:Marlene Perez [Perez, Marlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

CHAPTER TWELVE

My dad drove me to my cooking lesson with Circe that Saturday. We'd bought another car when Dad came home, and Mom had optimistically hoped that he'd jump right back into academia. That hadn't happened. He still hadn't heard back from the interview he had a couple of weeks before, and he didn't seem to have any other options on the horizon. Meanwhile, the car gathered dust, for the most part, but we weren't allowed to take it, because Mom wanted to have it available for Dad to use.

"You've been looking a little tired lately," he remarked on the drive over to Wilder's.

"Being a chef isn't as easy as I thought it would be," I admitted.

"Are you rethinking a culinary career?" he asked.

"No," I said. "I really like it. It's just working at Slim's, cooking lessons, school..." I didn't mention my boyfriend, since we were still at odds over my relationship with Ryan.

"Daisy, can I ask you a question?"

Uh-oh, I thought. Here it comes.

"Why did you give up gymnastics? You were quite serious about it."

Dad was bringing up a sore subject.

"I didn't give up gymnastics, Dad. It gave me up."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? I grew about eight inches since you were gone. I'm too tall for gymnastics now."

Dad was a little shaky behind the wheel, but he delivered me in one piece and said, "Call me when you're finished tonight and I'll come by and pick you up."

"Will do," I said. "I shouldn't be too late."

Circe looked like a wreck when I got there. There was flour in her hair and her normally immaculate coif was in disarray.

"Daisy, get your apron on and get the vegetables chopped."

Hello to you, I thought. I threw on an apron and washed my hands and then got started on an enormous pile of veggies. I have to admit I cheated a little when no one was looking. A lot of people knew of my psychic abilities, but I didn't want anyone to think I was showing off.

The kitchen reeked of tension and sweat. "What's going on?" I asked Sabrina, one of the wait staff.

"We're double-booked and the sous-chef didn't show up for work tonight," she replied. "Gotta go. I'm slammed out there."

It wasn't just Circe who was suffering. The entire staff of Wilder's, with the possible exception of Bianca, was scared of Circe when she was in a good mood. She was terrifying when she was in a bad mood. The dishwasher dropped a plate and the whole place sucked in its collective breath when Circe's head whipped around, quick as a snake.

Her eyes gleamed green fire, a sure sign that an explosion was imminent. Instead, she only barked, "I need more pork chops!"

Balthazar let out a tiny whimper when he heard that.

I tore lettuce by hand for salads (chopping it bruised the lettuce) and whipped up gallons of Circe's secret recipe salad dressing. "The salad dressing is done," I said.

"Not quite," she said, then sniffed. She rummaged in her pocketed apron and pulled out what looked like a small bag of herbs and sprinkled it into the dressing.

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