The Truth About Twinkie Pie Part 5

And that's how she decided to enter Mama's Turn Over a New Leaf Turnovers. Even the name was perfect. It was for when you found yourself in a sad situation with a whole heap of leftover chicken and wanted to make something amazing out of it.

She won.

Everyone loved it, and I swear that for the rest of the summer, everyone we knew made Mama's Turn Over a New Leaf Turnovers. I figured that million dollars would change our lives forever.

That was when the crazy part started.

Before she'd let them take the official winner's photo, DiDi had her Beautiful Gay Best Friend, Harley, give her a total makeover. New hair, face-everything. Even I couldn't recognize her. Then she said that, for reasons of a delicate nature, her real name was not to be used anywhere in print, but that she'd be glad to provide a suitable alias. Well, the good people at Mayflower had their winning recipe, so they said she could call herself whatever she wanted. At first, I thought it was all pretty fun and glamorous, but then DiDi just ended up using Lori's name and giving her some of the prize money for her trouble. Now, I have no problem sharing with Lori-she practically saved our lives way back when we needed a place to stay. But if you're going to get a total makeover and play the name game, why not go all out? She could've been anyone.

"Anytime you make up a story, G, it's best to have a little bit of truth to it. Otherwise it's hard to keep track of things. All I want is to make sure we have our privacy. This money is n.o.body's business but ours."

If you asked me, with a million dollars, we should've thrown a big old celebration for the neighborhood. We should be living in a mansion with a butler and a pet tiger and a swimming pool filled with champagne. But then DiDi started in on how a million dollars was not all that much money. Even with my scholarship. How she still had to pay taxes and with six more years of private school and then college, it wouldn't even end up being enough. Yakkity. Yakkity. Yak. Can you imagine? A million dollars not enough money?

Everyone knows I'm the math whiz in the family, but DiDi is the legal guardian, so she gets the final say. I'll tell you what, though, if I ever got my hands on some of that money, the first thing I'd buy DiDi is a calculator.

So here we are. No big fancy house. No swimming pool. Just living the way we always did. The only thing she was going to spend a penny on was My Future. The money, DiDi said, was to make sure I got to be what I deserved to be. Getting fancy wasn't going to do it, but making sure I got educated was.

"But, D, wouldn't it be nice to at least have a new car?" I said, looking at the Blue Bomb with its funny back fins and headlight eyes. "This poor thing is practically prehistoric!"

"When would we use it, G? I work right downstairs and you can walk to school. Besides, the Blue Bomb got us where we needed to go. She deserves to retire as a permanent member of the family and relax. I'm done with driving. Besides, now we live in a-"

"Walking Town. I know, I know...."

I think the real reason DiDi doesn't like to drive a lot is because she hates her driver's license photo. I mean, she does all this talking about what's really important and what's silly, but truth is DiDi can be downright vain. She says it's the worst picture of anybody in the history of everything and won't even let me see it-which honestly I could give a hoot about. I'll bet if she ever got pulled over by the police and had to pull it out, she'd start crying. Good-looking people sure can be crazy. It kind of makes me glad to be just okay.

I looked at Trip's KOB and read it about a hundred more times. Then I carefully folded it back up and put it in an old shoe box and stuck it way up on a high shelf in our closet where DiDi keeps all these old papers and records. Then took it back down and snapped a big rubber band around the whole thing. And then another and another. That KOB was my private business, and all I know is that if DiDi found a note from a boy saying how he really, really liked me, she would go really, really Grammatical.

My Turn Over a New Leaf Turnovers

Million-Dollar Bacon * 8 tablespoons light brown sugar * 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper * 1 package (1 pound) thick-sliced bacon

Turnover Filling

* 1 pound cooked chicken * 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter * cup tiny-diced carrots * cup tiny-diced onions * cup tiny-diced celery * cup tiny frozen sweet green peas * 1 small can (11 ounces) Mayflower condensed Cream of Chicken Soup * About 11 ounces half-and-half (enough to fill the soup can) * Salt and pepper

Turnovers

* 1 egg * 1 tablespoon milk * 2 packages Mayflower empanada dough Sometimes you find yourself in a mess. Whole pile of dry chicken and no idea what to do. Well, just Turn Over a New Leaf.

Anyone can say they make a nice turnover or even a chicken pot pie, but my turnovers are the only ones with my special Million-Dollar Bacon.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Mix together your brown sugar and cayenne. Set your bacon strips flat on a foil-covered nice cooking sheet. Then, one at a time, put a spoonful of the sugar mixture on each slice and spread it evenly over the top. Carefully flip each one over and repeat on the other side. When all your slices are coated, put the sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, till the bacon is sizzling and dark golden brown. Let it cool for just a minute, then put the slices on a plate to rest before they get too stiff and stuck to the pan.

Then take two big forks and shred your chicken. Put the b.u.t.ter in a pan over medium-high heat. Saute your carrots, onions, and celery till they're nice and soft, about 10 minutes. Add the peas and chicken and your can of soup.

Fill the empty soup can with your half-and-half and add that, too. Let everything warm up together, then lower the heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beat the egg and the milk in a small bowl. Now take your empanada dough disks and put a nice big spoonful of your chicken filling on each piece, a little to one side and leaving a -inch border. Break up your Million-Dollar Bacon into pieces and cover the chicken mixture with it. And don't be shy, because that Million-Dollar Bacon is what gives those turnovers a real kick.

Dampen the edges of each empanada with the egg wash and fold the dough over. This is the pretty part. Crimp the edges all around with a fork and score the top with a knife till it looks just like a beautiful leaf. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheets in the 400F oven till golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn the pans halfway through.

Makes 10 to 12, depending on how fat you stuff them.

Trust me. They taste like a million bucks.

Enjoy!

twelve.

After the first few weeks of school, I was already happier than I ever thought I could be. Trip and I spent all our time together. He loved all my stories about DiDi and Lori and the funny things that happened back in South Carolina. I talked and talked, and he listened and left me KOBs. I treasured every last one.

Haha! I liked that story you told today.

Where do you get golden bullets, anyway?

I think you're the first person I've ever really felt like I could talk to.

I'm glad you're here.

Each one was marked Wait till you get home to read, so I had something to look forward to before I started my homework.

The only thing that didn't thrill me was that hanging out with Trip and Billy meant I had to hang out with Mace and her friends. Chase was nice to me every once in a while when she forgot maybe she wasn't supposed to be, but I have to admit, whenever I was around them, I'd get this little twinge inside. Those girls were together all the time. Sitting together and giggling and walking around with their arms linked and their friendship bracelets flashing. It made me wish I had some girlfriends of my own.

Someone I could talk to about boys.

Someone I could go to when I wanted to ask questions like: What do you do when you really, really like someone and they tell you they really, really like you, too? Not to mention they send you secret notes all the time. Does it mean you're boyfriend and girlfriend? The only girl I ever hung out with was DiDi, and there was no way that talk was ever going to happen with her.

So I was really looking forward to the Club & Activities Fair. I knew there was a club that Mr. McGuire thought I should join, but mostly I was thinking that if I looked for clubs I liked, I'd probably find a couple of girlfriends I liked, too. There were four seventh-grade cla.s.s groups at Hill Prep, and so far, I really only knew one of them.

The day of the fair, I walked into the field house (which is just a fancy name for a gym) and it was packed with students. There was every kind of club you could imagine. Sports Boosters. Mathletes. Theater. School Paper. Arts Magazine. Robotics Club. Each one had big signs in bright letters. You could tell some of the tables were the popular ones and others were quiet.

And then I noticed a small table to the side.

The Stargazers.

My hand reached up and touched the star on my forehead.

"Hey, G! G-Girl!"

I looked around. It was Billy over at the Sports Boosters Club, which was the table with the biggest crowd. They actually had three tables pushed together and a giant banner flying overhead. Trip was standing there, smiling. He gave me a little wave and beckoned me over. He looked so cute in his soccer uniform, kicking a ball around with kids from the boys' and girls' teams. Everyone was laughing, and the girls looked fun with their pretty ponytails flipping around. It was a no-brainer for my Recipe for Success.

I started toward Trip, then stopped and glanced back at the Stargazers. Just two girls, sitting there, huddled together. The homemade poster taped to the front of their table was decorated with shiny stars and words in the shapes of constellations. Someone opened the double doors that led outside, and the poster flew up and tore away from the table. I ran over to help. I held it for a second and it was like something electric was running through my fingertips.

"Hi," I said, handing the poster over, and, before I realized it, I was saying, "Can I join?" I looked down at the signup sheet. It was handwritten on this black construction paper in silvery marker. There were just three names on the list: Haven Chang and Allie Middleton and Faculty Advisor: Mr. McGuire.

"R-really?" said one of the girls. She was wrestling with the tape, trying to get the poster to stay on the table. "I mean, sure. It's-it's still early-that's why we don't really have anyone else yet, but I think we'll get more. And-um-we do a lot of really cool stuff, like trips to the observatory-midnight campouts, museums, movies... lots of stuff. Cool stuff. It's-it's really cool."

She seemed kind of like one of those nervous types, standing there reciting all her club facts, but I liked the look of her. She had this nose with a sort of b.u.mp. DiDi calls them Just You Wait Noses. Meaning when she's older, she'll go from kind of awkward to totally beautiful in a really different and glamorous way. I nodded to both girls. "Hi, I'm G-"

Dang it all.

"G?" the girl with the nose asked.

I sighed. "I mean Leia."

"Oh. Hi. I'm Haven."

"I'm Allie," the other girl chimed in. She had a really smiley face with dimples. She was strapping enough tape on her side of the poster to keep it there for all eternity.

"Well, it's really nice to meet you both," I said, and I picked up that pretty silvery pen and wrote my name on the list. Leia Barnes. Seeing it there in my curliest cursive, surrounded by those sparkling constellations, I thought it looked just right.

"Well, well, look who's gazing at stars. How very appropriate." Mr. McGuire stepped up to the table, looking pleased.

Both girls smiled and the air around us just seemed to become relaxed and comfortable the way things always did when Mr. McGuire was around. I was glad to know he was part of it.

"Fellow Stargazers, keep up the recruiting. I'm going to run and break up that little tussle at the Mathletes table. You know the kind of burgeoning criminal minds that come out of that lot." He saluted us and took off.

"G-Girl!" I looked up. Billy was still flagging me down and Trip was looking over at the Stargazers table. I waved and turned to go. "Okay, just let me know when we have meetings or something," I said to Haven and Allie.

Both girls had stopped smiling. It wasn't too hard to figure out why. With me and Mr. McGuire leaving, the population of their club was about to be cut in half.

"Are you the girl who tripped over Trip the first day of school?" Allie asked.

"No-yes, I kind of-" I gave up. "Yeah, that was me."

Gossip again. I was trying to figure out if it was the nice kind or the Dead Drunk Donna kind, when Allie said, "You're so lucky. He's definitely the cutest boy in school. Is he totally into you now?"

My face reddened. "Oh, I don't know...."

I really, really like you.

Was he?

"I bet he is! Don't you guys hang out all the time?"

I think I got even redder. Haven rescued me. "Did you write your number? We'll let you know when we start meetings."

"Thanks. I am really, really glad I signed up." And I was. Just because I didn't like my name didn't mean I wasn't going to try and be a scientist like Mama would've wanted. I thought about the breeze that had blown that poster practically into my hands. Like part of Mama just wanted me to be a Stargazer. It was almost magical.

"G!"

I didn't want to break the spell of that feeling, but I moved toward the Sports Boosters.

There were shouts of "Hi, G!"

Mace crossed her arms. "What did you just sign up for? Not the Mutants from Mars, I hope."

Trip was talking and joking with a bunch of the boys and didn't hear.

Mace cleared her throat and spoke up again. "Uh, Galileo, was that the Mutants from Mars table I just saw you at? Your hairdresser mama will be so proud."

I saw Trip turn toward us. Billy leaned over to see what was going on.

The magical feeling of Mama I was holding on to disappeared, and my throat suddenly got tight. I was used to Mace putting me down, but I didn't have a snappy comeback today. I'd only told Trip all about Mama being gone, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to have everyone know, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Before my mama died, she always wanted to study the stars, and I just-" I straightened up and looked Mace in the eyes. "I just want to follow in her footsteps." It sure didn't sound like something that would come out of any Recipe for Success. It wasn't snappy or zingy. But it was the truth.

Mace opened her mouth and then shut it.

I guess Dead Mama territory is a place even mean girls won't go.

"Your mom died? That's so sad," said Chase. "I'm sorry."

Laney glanced at Mace, then gave me a small smile and nodded at me.

Trip was watching me.