grilled cheese, which was even soggier than sheâd feared. âBut they fight constantly. Itâs exhausting.â
Mimi snatched the pudding cup and dunked a plastic spoon into it. âYeah, thatâs how my brothers are. Willie is always trying to clobber Jake, and then Michael jumps in and itâs a free-for-all. Nobody ever gets hurt, but it drives my mother crazy!â
âMama chalked it up to their exhaustion and all,â said Lark. âBut I donât know. It felt like maybe there was something else going on. Something deeper.â
âDeeper, huh?â Mimi gulped down the spoonful of pudding and reached for a tater tot. âWell, how were they to
you
? Friendly? Flirty? Or too full of themselves to even acknowledge your existence?â
âFriendly, I guess,â said Lark. âBut, Mimi, theyâre going to take over my music room for their homeschool classes. Itâs like I donât have any personal space in my own house.â She dropped the disgusting sandwich back onto the plate. âThey eat like thereâs no tomorrow and they hog the bathrooms and use all the hot water. If I donât die of hypothermia from taking freezing cold showers Iâll probably starve to death.â
Mimi laughed. âNow you know how I feel!â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI have three older brothers and one younger sister, remember? Youâve basically just described every single morning of my whole entire life.â
Lark smiled. âI never thought about that before. Maybe your first film should be about life in a large family.â
âNot a bad idea. Although Iâm not sure whether it would fall into the category of screwball comedy or horror movie.â
âCâmon,â said Lark, biting into a carrot stick. âIs it really that bad?â
âNah. You know I love my sibs. I guess thatâs the difference in our situations. You have to put up with a bunch of guys you donât actually love.â She raised one eyebrow and grinned. âOr do you?â
âWhat?â
âBe honest . . . when you met the really gorgeous one . . . Ollie, right? Were there any sparks flying? Any soul-searing romantic moments when your eyes met his?â
âNo!â cried Lark, feeling her cheeks flush. âAnd for the record, our eyes only met twice. First when I was half-unconscious, and then when he confessed to eating my tuna sandwich . . . so if there were any sparks flying, they were sparks of fury, not romance. Besides, theyâre all older than me.â
âNot by that much.â
âStill, itâs hard to feel crushy about a guy who steals your zit cream.â
âOllie stole your zit cream?â
âWell, one of them did. Iâm not sure who.â
âI guess I see your point,â said Mimi with a shrug. âAnyway, what would be the point, right? Youâve already got your crush.â She smiled in the direction of the super-popular table, where Teddy Reese was offering a tater tot to a giggling Alessandra Drake.
Teddy was in eighth grade, which made him seem miles more sophisticated than Lark could ever hope to be. With his dark hair, blue eyes, and ready smile, he was by far the best-looking boy in school. It didnât hurt that he was also an honor student and the star of the soccer team. Mimi liked to say that Teddy was âthe all-American boy, right out of central casting,â whatever
that
meant. All Lark knew was that he was perfect.
Her face turned even pinker. âTeddy doesnât know Iâm alive,â she lamented.
âWell, I bet heâll take notice when everyone finds out youâre living with the worldâs next super-hot boy band,â Mimi observed. âLittle advice? When that info goes public, you might want to leave out the part about the zit cream.â
Lark laughed. âYeah. Good call.â
Mimi took