Zoe is on the Air Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Teaser

  Copyright

  “I am so glad it’s finally almost spring!” Zoe Martinez said, dropping her backpack on the floor of the history classroom and flopping into her seat. “I couldn’t take another week of winter.”

  “Aw, come on,” her twin sister, Natalia, said from across their shared table. “Who doesn’t love winter? Christmas! Snow! Hot cocoa!”

  “You’re kind of weirdly excited about winter.” Caitlin, Natalia’s best friend, lined up her pencils and notebook neatly, then tucked her long curls behind her ears, smirking over at Zoe.

  Zoe lived in Waverly, a small town on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Usually, walking around the pretty town lightened her spirits: the wide blue sky reflected in the blue of the bay, white gulls wheeling overhead, and white-sailed boats skimming across the water. Zoe loved to draw and paint, and the deep green shades of the marshy wetlands near the bay or the creamy white flowers of the magnolia trees on her family’s front lawn always filled her with inspiration.

  Winter was her least favorite season for Waverly, though: everything in shades of gray and brown, from the gray sky and choppy waters of the bay to the dim browns of the winter-dead grasses and trees.

  Emma walked up and plopped down a stack of library books on the table before taking a seat next to Zoe. “Have you guys thought about what you want to do for our ancient civilizations project? I’ve been thinking about ancient Egypt, and I found these—”

  Natalia bounced in her seat. “I love ancient Egypt. It’s all, like, giant pyramids and cats and fancy gold jewelry. And mummies!” Natalia’s hands flew in the air as she talked. She laughed loudly and frequently, and her long, dark hair tumbled messily around her shoulders.

  Across from Natalia, Emma was listening intently, her forehead creased with concentration. Zoe knew that it was important to Emma to do things right and to get along with everyone. Emma was Zoe and Natalia’s cousin, but she was like a sister to them both. She had moved to Waverly just before the start of sixth grade, and Zoe knew her cousin was still finding her place.

  Caitlin flipped one of Emma’s books open with a long, manicured finger. Zoe could tell from the way Caitlin’s nails tapped on her desk that she was just waiting to break in with her own opinion. If Emma liked to be sure she was doing the right thing, Caitlin just liked to be right. Natalia and Caitlin had been best friends for ages, but until this year, that was all Caitlin had been to Zoe: her sister’s best friend. But when they’d starred in The Wizard of Oz together—Zoe as Dorothy, Caitlin as Glinda—back in the fall, Zoe had gotten to know Caitlin better. Caitlin had helped the younger kids in the chorus with their songs, and she’d been a lot of fun to hang out with between scenes. It was true that Caitlin always thought she knew the answer to everything, but the thing was, Zoe found that Caitlin was often right.

  At this moment, Caitlin’s eyes shone not just with impatience but with amusement and affection, too, as she listened to Natalia rambling on about mummies: “And then they pulled their brains out through their noses! Disgusting!”

  Zoe brushed back her smooth bob and adjusted her neatly ironed top. Sometimes she felt as if she was on the outside of whatever was going on, observing everyone else instead of participating. Almost as if she was waiting for something to begin.

  She rested her chin on one hand as she remembered playing Dorothy. When she’d been onstage, she hadn’t felt that way, as if she was waiting for real life. She’d painted sets for drama club productions before, but when she’d played Dorothy, for the first time she’d been in the spotlight instead of watching from offstage. To her own surprise, she’d found that she liked being the focus of attention. The audience had been clapping for her. It made Zoe feel as happy and fizzy as if she were filling up with bubbles. I wish I could do something that exciting again, she thought wistfully. Maybe there would be a spring play she could try out for—

  Bing. An alert sounded over the intercom, interrupting the Egypt conversation. Mr. Thomas, their history and English teacher, turned on the interactive whiteboard at the front of the room. “Pay attention to the announcements, people,” he called.

  Yawning, Zoe looked up. Charlotte Avery and Oliver Marks, two eighth graders, appeared on screen.

  “Happy Wednesday, Waverly Oysters!” Charlotte shouted, grinning widely.

  Zoe rolled her eyes. Honestly. Sure, oysters were important to the environment and everything, as Zoe had learned in science units on the Chesapeake: They filtered and cleaned the water. They helped preserve the ecosystem. Oyster stew was tasty. Oysters no doubt had many other admirable qualities. But with all the creatures in and around the bay, why had the school chosen oysters as their mascot? There were otters and bottlenose dolphins in the bay! There were ospreys! Even being the Waverly Blue Crabs would have been better, if they wanted a shellfish as a mascot for some reason.

  The two eighth graders began going through the morning announcements. A canned food drive, after-school tutoring, a contest to design a school T-shirt. “Finally, next week is going to be the last week of our February show, Max and Noah’s Sports Talk,” Charlotte said. “We’re looking for ideas for March’s show!”

  Zoe perked up. Every month a different short show aired on Wednesday mornings after the announcements. There had been a talent show program back in the fall, where different people sang or did magic tricks. And, later, a fashion show, where kids modeled sneakers one week and earrings another. Then one about pets.

  Oliver leaned in toward the camera. “If you think you’d like to participate, just write up a proposal for your weekly ten-minute show—who’s involved and what the main idea is—along with a short video of yourself in action. Submit your proposal and video to your homeroom teacher on Monday. The student council will pick the best show, and it’ll appear right here every Wednesday morning in March.”

  “And, don’t forget, we’re looking for people to work behind the scenes, too,” Charlotte added, smiling. “So, if you don’t want to be in front of the cameras, maybe working the camera or taking care of the sound is right for you.”

  “And now, the final episode of Max and Noah’s Sports Talk,” Oliver said. He and Charlotte stood up and shuffled out from behind the table, and two seventh-grade boys took their places and began to talk about an upcoming NBA game. Zoe stopped listening. Basketball was not her thing.

  A school TV show? Interest prickled inside her. She had to admit she was tempted by the prospect of taking center stage again. But what could she do for a TV show? She couldn’t just sing songs from The Wizard of Oz all month. Zoe thought about the YouTube channels she liked. There was a video-game show that was pretty fun. She tried to imagine doing a show like that.

  “Today I’m going to play the newest, hottest game around. I’ve gotten so many requests for this!” Zoe said to the camera as she picked up a controller. “I’m fired up and we’re going to see if I can beat the first three levels in this game …”

  Zoe frowned. She liked video games okay and she liked watching people play them on YouTube—if they said funny things while they were playing—but she didn’t like them that much. And she wasn’t actually good enough at video games for people to want to watch her play. And she doubted her school would want to promote video-game playing, anyway.

  “Earth to Zoe!” Natalia said. Zoe blinked and realized that N
atalia, Emma, and Caitlin were all staring at her. The sports show had finished and Mr. Thomas had turned off the whiteboard. At each table, groups were quietly (or not so quietly) discussing their projects.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking.”

  “You were a million miles away,” Emma told her.

  Caitlin folded her arms. “We were trying to decide what we should do for our group project on ancient civilizations,” she said, sounding faintly irritated. “Are you okay with ancient Egypt? I thought maybe we could do something about women in that civilization. They had a lot more rights than people realize. There were even woman pharaohs.”

  “Sure,” Zoe said. She pictured what she knew about ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphics. Mummies. The Nile River Delta, which they’d talked about in class. Pyramids. Tomb paintings. Her fingers itched to pick up a brush and try to paint one. “Maybe we could do a model of, like, a female ruler’s tomb.”

  “Maybe,” said Caitlin, tapping her pen against her lips. “Cleopatra?”

  Emma flipped open one of her books and began to page through it. “Hatshepsut was pharaoh way before Cleopatra, and was even more interesting. It says here that she ruled for a long time, and she used to dress up as a male pharaoh with the ceremonial beard and everything. Everyone knew she was a woman, but tradition was super-important to the ancient Egyptians, so she had to look like the pharaohs who came before her.”

  As the other girls leaned in to look at a picture of a statue in Emma’s book, Zoe let her mind wander again. What were other good themes for shows? There was a cooking YouTube show she liked, but she wouldn’t have access to a stove for the school show, and a ten-minute show was too short to cook anything, anyway.

  There was a comedy show she liked, where two guys did dares and challenges suggested by their fans. It was funny, but … Zoe wrinkled her nose in disgust, thinking of a recent episode. There’s no way I’m eating a spider, she thought. Not even if it’s already dead.

  A partner on the show might be a good idea, though, she realized. If she had someone else with her, she wouldn’t have to do all the talking herself. But who? She looked across the table at Natalia. A twin-hosted talk show? Some people were fascinated by identical twins—even identical twins who dressed and acted as differently as she and Natalia did—and that might be a hook for the show. And maybe the whole show could be about twins? Although she wasn’t sure how they would stretch that topic out for a month.

  Natalia struck the pose of an ancient Egyptian, hands stiff, head turned to one side, and the others laughed. Zoe shook off the idea of doing a show together. She loved her sister—and she even liked her sister—but loud, exuberant Natalia would take over a show without even meaning to, and Zoe didn’t want people at school to only think of Zoe as her sister’s quiet twin.

  “Zoe!” Caitlin snapped again, sounding exasperated.

  “What?” Zoe asked.

  “You’re still not paying attention. Do you want to work on the project at Emma’s this weekend or not?”

  “Oh, um, sure.” There would be plenty of room to spread out art supplies at Seaview House, the Victorian mansion where Emma and her parents lived, and no little brothers to mess things up, the way there were at her own house. “Hey,” she added, trying to sound casual. “Did you hear what they said about needing a new show for March?”

  “Thank goodness,” Natalia said, rolling her eyes. “If I have to listen to one more basketball game recap, I’m going to lose the will to live.”

  “I like Max and Noah’s sports show,” Emma said mildly.

  “Well, you would,” Zoe said. Emma was on a swim team and played soccer for the school team and even watched sports on TV—by choice. “You seem so normal otherwise,” Zoe told her cousin, shaking her head in mock despair. Then she flicked her hair back and straightened her shoulders. “I thought I might submit an idea for a show,” she told them. She felt her cheeks get warm.

  “Awesome,” Emma said approvingly, and the others nodded.

  Zoe grinned, feeling encouraged. “I just need to think of something amazing.”

  “Rise and shine, sweethearts!” Zoe and Natalia’s mom’s voice rang out from their bedroom doorway, sounding way too energetic and upbeat for first thing in the morning.

  Zoe groaned loudly and burrowed farther under her warm blankets. She could hear Natalia getting out of bed and getting dressed, her bare feet padding across the bedroom to her closet. “Whyyyyy?” Zoe whined.

  “Because we promised to help out at breakfast at Seaview House,” Natalia said practically. “And I’m also supposed walk a dog one of the guests brought.”

  “Oh, yeah. This always seems like a much better idea when it isn’t actually happening,” Zoe said, sitting up slowly and sliding her legs out of the bed. Goose bumps immediately popped up on her arms, and she shivered. It would have been great to go back to bed for about three hours.

  Saturday brunch at Seaview House had grown more and more popular over the last few months since the bed-and-breakfast had opened, largely thanks to their uncle Brian’s amazing cooking. Uncle Brian was Emma’s dad, who had been a chef in Seattle before Emma and her family had moved to Waverly to open Seaview House. People from all over town turned up to join the B and B’s guests in gobbling up the mouthwatering spread he put out.

  It’ll be fun, Zoe reminded herself as she pulled a sock out of her drawer and stared groggily at it. Just not the getting up part.

  Natalia wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, sleepyhead,” she said encouragingly. “Just think about the special breakfast Uncle Brian’s going to be making for us before the official brunch starts. He knows we have to keep our strength up for a whole morning of helping out in the dining room.”

  It was chilly outside, frost glittering on the grass of the lawns they passed, and Zoe huddled deeper into her coat as the girls hurried the few blocks to Seaview House. Inside the house, though, it was warm, and the air smelled deliciously like something cinnamony baking.

  “Yum,” Zoe said. The cold walk had woken her up and, now that she wasn’t half asleep, she felt pretty good about the idea of earning some money by helping out.

  “I’ve got an appointment with a spaniel,” Natalia told her, heading for the stairs. “I’ll see you in the kitchen in a little bit.” Natalia had started her own dog-walking business back in the fall, walking the dogs of guests at the inn.

  As her sister disappeared up the stairs toward the guest rooms, Zoe looked around the luxurious front room. It looked especially cozy this morning, with the stained glass windows throwing stripes of color across plush red-velvet furniture.

  One of Zoe’s own paintings, which she had given Grandma Stephenson for Christmas last year, hung on the wall over the upright piano. It was a picture of a snowy egret, stiff-legged, picking its way across the deep green marshes at the edge of the bay. It was one of the paintings she was proudest of, and she blew the bird a kiss as she passed through.

  The kitchen smelled like frying sausages. At the stove, Uncle Brian was tipping a pan, a thin layer of batter spreading across its bottom. He glanced up when Zoe came in and grinned at her. “Hello, favorite niece,” he said.

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “You say that to both of us.”

  “That’s because you’re both my favorites,” he agreed.

  Emma was sitting at the counter, flipping through a newspaper. Her damp hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked much more awake than Zoe felt. The plate in front of her was empty except for a few crumbs.

  “You already ate?” Zoe asked.

  “I had swim team practice,” Emma explained. “I’ve been up for hours. Dad’s making me another crepe, though, because I am starving.”

  “But this one is for Zoe,” Uncle Brian said cheerfully. “Come choose a filling, Zo.”

  Zoe walked over to Uncle Brian and peeked into the bowls lined up next to the stove. Cooked apples, strawberries, chocolate sauce, lemon with sugar, goat cheese, and little
pieces of ham.

  “Strawberries and chocolate, please?” she requested, and Uncle Brian eased his spatula under the thin crepe and flipped it smoothly onto a plate, then filled the crepe with the warm strawberries and added a drizzle of chocolate sauce before folding it over. Zoe’s mouth watered. She added a couple sausages to her plate and sat down on a stool at the counter, across from Emma.

  “What does my horoscope say today?” Zoe asked, and Emma turned a page of the newspaper.

  “Taurus,” she read. “Take that plunge you’ve been thinking about. You’ll see friends and family in a new light as you embark upon an adventure! The prospects are good for new endeavors.”

  I could use a new adventure. Zoe thought about the morning show at school again. That would be an adventure, and a new endeavor, too. If only she could think of a good topic!

  “I’ll save some batter for Natalia,” Uncle Brian said. “Em, grab me some more eggs, I’m going to start a frittata for the breakfast buffet.” Emma hopped down from her stool and got the eggs out of the refrigerator while Uncle Brian put another crepe onto a plate for her.

  “Thanks, Dad,” she said, and sat down, opening her paper again as she forked up a bite of crepe. “Oh, listen to this,” she said to Zoe. “This woman wrote into the advice column and she says, Dear Marian, My best friend and I have been friends since we were kids and she’s a terrific person—they always say stuff like that, right before they start complaining—but she’s always criticizing me. My boyfriend isn’t good enough for me, the job I like isn’t high-paying enough, I should decorate my apartment differently. Maybe it’s because she wants the best for me, but I can’t stand her constantly putting me down! I’ve tried to talk to her about this before, but she just gets upset. What should I do?”

  “Huh.” Zoe ate the last bite of her crepe as she thought. She swallowed and said, “I’m not sure her friend is only bossing her around because she wants what’s best for her. It doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong with her life, it’s just not exactly the way her friend thinks it ought to be. Maybe the friend is just criticizing the letter writer to make herself feel better.”