Bad News Nails Read online

  “I think it’d be cool to teach someone about the Sparkle Spa,” Brooke said.

  Aly thought about it. Maybe it would be fun to show another girl what they’d learned. But still! Mom should have asked first.

  “In that case,” the woman said, “I bid seven hundred and fifty dollars!”

  Aly gasped. That was a lot of money.

  “Going once, going twice,” the lady in green said. “Sold to Carolyn Washington of Custom Creations.”

  “I hope we really like that lady’s daughter,” Brooke muttered to Aly.

  “Me too,” Aly answered.

  Now that she’d gotten over her initial worry, she was imagining having someone fun working with them. There was always room for one more, wasn’t there?

  three

  It’s Not Easy Being Green

  The next morning Aly was awakened by a soft, wet tongue licking her palm.

  “Ick, Sparkly. Stop it. It’s too early to wake up,” she told her dog.

  “Not if you want to be at the park by eleven,” said Mr. Tanner as he pulled up the blinds, letting in the sunshine. “It’s ten o’clock now.”

  Aly popped out of bed. They had overslept. By the time they had gotten home from the gala last night, put their fancy dresses away, and washed up, it had been past midnight.

  Today Charlotte’s twin brother, Caleb, was playing basketball in the park. He had asked the Sparkle Spa girls to come and cheer for his team.

  “Come on, Brookester!” Aly said. “Let’s move it. The girls don’t know about the soccer party or the intern yet. I want to fill them in before the game.”

  When their dad dropped the girls off, they walked with Sparkly over to the oak tree next to the basketball court—the spot where they usually met up with the Sparkle Spa crew. Lily, Charlotte, and Caleb were already there. Charlotte was leaning against the tree, braiding Lily’s hair.

  Just as Aly and Brooke reached the tree, Caleb said he had to go warm up for the game. A few seconds later Sophie showed up carrying a really big bag.

  Aly sent Brooke a Secret Sister Eye Message: Should we tell them our news now?

  Brooke nodded.

  “Brooke and I have two important Sparkle Spa announcements to make,” she said. “Number one, the soccer team is having a Sparkle Spa party next Sunday. And number two, we’re getting an intern.”

  “A party?” Charlotte said at the same time that Lily said, “An intern? Ouch! Charlotte, stop pulling my hair so hard.”

  Aly and Brooke sat down, and Aly continued. “Jenica wants to celebrate their team going to the state finals. And last night at the Businesswomen Unite gala that our mom took us to, a woman won the True Colors internship for her daughter. She starts tomorrow at the Sparkle Spa.”

  “Well, the soccer party should be fun,” said Lily.

  “But what will the intern do, Aly?” Charlotte asked. “We’ve already assigned all the jobs there are in the spa.”

  Charlotte was right.

  Brooke turned to Aly. “Why don’t we make a list of things to teach her?”

  “And we should also make a list for the soccer party,” Charlotte said. As chief operating officer of the Sparkle Spa, she would be in charge of making sure the party ran smoothly.

  “Definitely,” Sophie said. “I think that’ll be fun. Also, after we finish, I have a present for everyone.” Sophie, Brooke’s best friend, was usually pretty quiet. She was a manicurist at the Sparkle Spa, and that’s all she really wanted to do—she didn’t want to be in charge of anything.

  “That’s so nice,” Aly said.

  “How come you didn’t tell me you had a surprise?” Brooke asked.

  Sophie just smiled. “I’ll show you when we’re done brainstorming.”

  After Charlotte snapped an elastic band around the bottom of Lily’s braid, Lily climbed up to the lowest branch of the tree and sat dangling her legs.

  Aly took her notebook and purple pen from her backpack, ready to write. Brooke lay down on the grass and put Sparkly on her chest. Sophie sprawled out on her stomach, resting her chin on her bag. “Okay, let’s start with the party,” Aly said.

  “Manicures and pedicures,” Sophie offered. “Because everyone will be expecting those.”

  “And we should do hair, too,” Charlotte added.

  “And we can make bracelets,” Brooke said.

  “But we’ve done all of that before,” Aly said. “What can we do to make this party special?”

  “Ask Joan to make cookies?” Lily suggested.

  Brooke scratched Sparkly behind the ears. Lily tossed an acorn down on Charlotte’s head. Sophie twisted two blades of grass.

  “A magician?” Brooke asked.

  The girls all shook their heads. “Not very spa-ish,” Charlotte said.

  Aly sighed. “Let’s see if we can come up with something special in the next few days. In the meantime, let’s switch over to our intern list.”

  When the girls were finished, the list looked like this:

  What to Teach Our Intern

  1. How to polish (if she doesn’t know)

  2. How to braid (if she doesn’t know)

  3. How to choose colors

  4. How to decide on special manicures for special events, like the Fall Ball manicure

  5. How to keep track of the money in the donations jar (Lily will be in charge of this because she’s in charge of money)

  6. How to decide which charities to donate money to

  7. How to keep a schedule (Charlotte will be in charge of this)

  8. How to be friendly to customers even when they annoy you

  “I think that’s a good list,” Lily said, peering over Aly’s shoulder from her spot in the tree. “Do you know anything about the intern?”

  “Just that her mom’s name is Carolyn Washington and she runs a company that makes shirts and hats and cups and things with people’s names on them.”

  “I really hope she’s nice,” Sophie said.

  “Me too,” said Brooke. “But if she’s not, we’ll have to add that to the list: ‘How to be nice.’ ”

  Aly laughed. If you could teach a person how to be nice, she would’ve taught Suzy Davis ages ago. Just last week Suzy told some fourth-grade girls that the Sparkle Spa was too small and always “smelled like dog.”

  It was true that their spa wasn’t a “big business.” It was also true that Sparkly hung out at the salon a lot, but it never, ever smelled like dog. Mostly it smelled like the lavender lotion they used for manicures. And a little bit like nail polish remover.

  “Are we done with the lists?” Brooke asked. “Because if we are, Sophie can give us our presents!”

  Sophie opened the bag and reached in. But before she pulled anything out, she said, “You know how I drip polish on my shirt and shorts and socks and my mom gets a little bit mad?”

  “I keep telling you to put a napkin or a towel in your lap,” Lily said.

  Sophie pulled a hot-pink apron out of the bag. Brooke’s name was embroidered on it in bright yellow letters. Then she took out a purple apron with Aly’s name embroidered in green. “I had aprons made for everyone, but in different colors,” Sophie told the girls. She was beaming.

  “These are beautiful,” Brooke said, taking hers. “Thank you so much, Sophie! Pink and yellow are my two favorite colors.”

  “Wow!” said Aly. “I love purple and green. Thanks.”

  Sophie handed Lily a yellow and blue apron and a red and orange one to Charlotte.

  “Where did you get these?” Charlotte said, putting hers on.

  “My mom found them online,” Sophie said. “A site called Custom Creations.”

  “No way!” Aly said. “That’s the company that our intern’s mom runs.”

  “That’s got to be a good sign,” Lily said, jumping down from the tree.

  Sophie pulled the last apron out of the bag. It was the color of Orange You Pretty, with her own name embroidered in teal.

  Brooke looked at eve
ryone holding their aprons. “Oh my gosh! We’re the colors of the rainbow sparkle pedicure!”

  “Yep!” Sophie said with a laugh. “It was really my mom’s idea. She just wanted me to stop ruining my clothes.”

  Just then Caleb came running over, calling, “Hey, Charlotte!” He was trying to spin a basketball on his finger. “It looks like Garrett isn’t coming today. Any chance you want to play?”

  When Caleb and Charlotte were at home, they played basketball together. Charlotte had a great jump shot.

  “Last time I took Garrett’s spot, someone pushed me and I skinned my knee. Not interested in that again,” she told Caleb. “Sorry.”

  Lily handed her apron to Sophie. “I don’t mind skinned knees,” she said. “I’ll play.”

  “Cool,” Caleb said. “Let’s go.”

  “Do you think we’re all set for the intern tomorrow?” Brooke asked. The girls started to walk over to watch the game.

  “I think so,” Aly answered. “But I don’t think we’re set for the soccer party. Getting to state finals is huge. We need to think of something really special for the players.”

  “We’ll come up with something,” Brooke said. “But if we don’t, who knows? Maybe the intern will.”

  four

  Cotton Candyland

  On the drive to True Colors on Sunday morning, Brooke started singing, “Today is intern day. Today is intern day. We hope she’s fun and nice. And really wants to stay.” Sparkly barked along.

  “Nice song,” Aly said. She looked at her purple polka-dot watch. It was a little before ten. “Mom, what time is the intern coming?”

  “Ten thirty,” Mrs. Tanner answered. Brooke was still singing as she and Aly headed back to the Sparkle Spa.

  On the way Aly made sure to ask Mrs. Howard how her new baby grandson was doing. She also checked on Jamie, one of the manicurists, who had a cold. Once in the spa, Sparkly climbed into his little bed and chewed on a toy bone.

  As the girls looked at the day’s schedule, Lily and Charlotte arrived.

  “Schedule look good?” Charlotte asked.

  “I’ll start with pedicures,” Aly said. “Brooke and Sophie can start with manicures, and we’ll see how it goes from there. Our intern is due at ten thirty.”

  Lily set to work cleaning the outside of the sparkly teal strawberry-shaped jar they used to collect donations, then she checked inside it. “The jar is almost full. I’ll count it at the end of the day.”

  A little before ten thirty, Sophie came into the spa wearing her new apron.

  “You look awesome, Sophie!” Brooke squealed.

  The rest of the girls put their aprons on too. Just as they were admiring how professional they all looked, Clementine Stern, their first customer for the day, showed up for her appointment and picked Cotton Candyland polish for her manicure.

  Aly and Brooke wanted to be free when the intern arrived, so Sophie took her.

  “Only two minutes until she gets here!” Aly announced, checking her watch again.

  “Do you think she’ll be someone we know?” Charlotte asked. “Or maybe she lives in a different neighborhood and goes to Dickinson or Whitman.”

  It was possible, Aly thought. There were three elementary schools in the area, and the mystery intern could go to any one of them.

  Brooke was organizing the polish display and Aly was scrubbing a pedicure basin when Joan called, “Girls! Mrs. Washington and her daughter are here.”

  Joan walked into the Sparkle Spa followed by the woman from the gala.

  “Hello,” Mrs. Washington said, looking right at Aly. “I hope you can teach my daughter a bit about starting a company and get her involved in and excited about business.”

  “I’ll try,” Aly answered, trying to look behind the woman for a glimpse of her daughter. But she didn’t see anyone there.

  The woman turned around and spoke loudly through the open door. “Suzy, come in here! What are you doing?”

  Aly’s stomach squinched a little. There were lots of girls named Suzy, right? It couldn’t be . . .

  But it was. None other than Suzy Davis marched into the Sparkle Spa, looking pretty unhappy about it in fact.

  “I’m here, Mom,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

  Aly’s stomach felt like it was falling all the way down to her toes. She locked eyes with Brooke, who was sending her a panicked Secret Sister Eye Message: Suzy Davis? There’s no one meaner! Now what are we going to do?

  Before the girls could react, Lily blurted out, “You’re our intern?” then she clapped her hand over her mouth.

  “You girls know each other?” Suzy’s mom asked. “How nice. I’ll leave you be, then. Love those aprons, by the way. From Custom Creations, right? They’re marvelous! Okay, see you at four, Suzy.”

  And with that, Carolyn Washington and Joan left the Sparkle Spa.

  Aly stared at Suzy. Suzy stared at Aly.

  “But your last name is Davis,” Charlotte said, breaking the silence from her spot near the desk.

  “So?” Suzy said. “My mom never changed hers because she was already a successful businesswoman when she married my dad.”

  “Oh,” Charlotte said. “Interesting.”

  The way Charlotte had said it made Aly think she didn’t find it very interesting at all, but Aly actually did. She wondered if she’d also want to keep the name Tanner if she was already a successful CEO when she got married.

  Everyone just kept staring at one another for another minute—everyone except Sophie, that is, who was busy with Clementine’s nails.

  Aly couldn’t believe that Suzy Davis was their intern—Suzy, the one girl at school who had been mean to her since the first day of kindergarten . . . the girl who always cut ahead of her in line every time it was pizza day at lunch . . . who’d made rabbit ears behind Charlotte’s head in their second-grade school picture . . . who called Brooke “Pippi Longstocking” because of her braids (a name Brooke absolutely hated) . . . and who was no fan of the Sparkle Spa.

  Aly took a deep breath. Maybe this internship would change things with Suzy. Maybe after she worked here, she’d stop staying mean things about the Sparkle Spa. Maybe.

  Aly decided to be very professional by pretending that she’d never met Suzy—to wipe off all the old polish and start with clean fingernails, so to speak. She would act exactly like she would with a stranger, talk to her as if she were a girl she was meeting for the very first time.

  “Welcome, Suzy. We’re really glad to have an intern.” Aly forced herself to smile. “We’re looking forward to you working at the Sparkle Spa and have lots to teach you.”

  Suzy put her hands on her hips. “Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat,” she stated. “I’m not glad to be your intern. I don’t want to work here. And my mom is making me do this because she wants me to run a business like her one day.”

  Suzy narrowed her eyes and continued, “When your mom told all the other businesswomen about—” Suzy stopped talking and shook her head. “Never mind,” she said. “Anyway, I bet there’s nothing you can teach me that I don’t already know.”

  “When our mom told all the other businesswomen about what?” Brooke asked.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said never mind,” Suzy replied, plopping herself on a pillow in the jewelry-making area. “I can just sit here all day . . . even though this place is gross and smells like dog.”

  “It does not smell like dog!” Brooke screeched. She turned to everyone else. “Does it?”

  “Maybe a tiny bit in Sparkly’s corner,” Lily said, sniffing. “But it’s not a bad smell at all. Right, Sparkly?” she cooed, stroking his head. Sparkly barked and wagged his tail.

  “I told you,” Suzy said. “Smells like dog. Bad for business.”

  “But—I—you—” Brooke couldn’t even get her words out.

  Aly shook her head at Brooke slightly. She decided she was going to ignore anything mean that Suzy Davis did or said. She’d just act li
ke it hadn’t happened and change the subject.

  Aly cleared her throat. “Do you know how to polish nails?” she asked. “We can teach you. Then you could do your mom’s nails or your sister’s.”

  Suzy glared at Aly. Then she shrugged. “Well, I don’t know how to polish nails, so I guess I might as well not waste my whole day here. Fine, show me. But you’d better be a good teacher, otherwise forget it. Also, where’s my apron?”

  Aly frowned. “We, um, didn’t know you’d be coming when Sophie ordered the aprons. Sorry.”

  When Aly went to get Color Me Happy from the polish wall, Brooke followed. “How long is she going to be here?” she whispered.

  “One week,” Aly whispered back.

  “That’s terrible,” Brooke said. “A week of terribleness.”

  Aly had no idea how she’d last a whole week with Suzy Davis in their salon. It was hard enough to last five minutes.

  five

  Not So Grapeful

  Aly usually looked forward to Tuesdays. It was rainbow sparkle pedicure day at the salon, which meant they were always booked with the soccer team. But today she was not looking forward to Tuesday at all. Suzy Davis was coming back to the Sparkle Spa for the second day of her internship.

  When the final bell rang at 3:07, Aly met up with Charlotte and Lily on the front steps of the school. Sophie and Brooke soon joined them.

  “Do we have to wait for Suzy?” Brooke asked.

  Aly sighed. “I think so.”

  Every time Aly thought about Suzy in the salon, she also thought about how Suzy had accidentally-on-purpose poured chocolate milk on her white leggings in third grade. On school picture day. And how Suzy had come into the Sparkle Spa demanding that someone fix her broken nail when the day was already booked, then had screamed and yelled when no one could do it right away. She really was the pits.

  A few minutes later Suzy came out of school with her younger sister, Heather, and Heather’s friend Jayden.

  “What are you doing here?” Suzy asked Aly. “Shouldn’t you be at the Sparkle Spa?”

  “We were waiting for you,” Brooke told her. “What took you so long?”