A Picture-Perfect Mess Read Free Page B

customer right now, so we’ll save the rest of the story for later. Right, Brooke?” Aly said, grabbing her sister’s hand and pulling her toward the polish wall.
    At least twice a day the polish wall in True Colors needed reorganizing. Customers never seemed to put the colors back in the right spots, so the Deep Blue Sea ended up next to Lemon Aid, and Ruby Red Slippers ended up next to Plum Delicious. The same thing happened in the Sparkle Spa.
    Once the polish wall looked like a beautiful rainbow, the girls headed to the back. Joan—their favorite manicurist, Mom’s best friend, and the best baker in town—told the girls, “There are oatmeal craisin cookies in the mini-fridge.”
    â€œYum and thanks!” Brooke and Aly said together.
    Spread out on the pillows in the Sparkle Spa and munching on Joan’s cookies, Aly took out the mirror sketch. “No one liked our design, but we need to order the mirrors today, because it takes at least ten days for them to get here. That will give us time to hand them out before Picture Day.”
    Brooke took the paper and then pushed her yellow glasses back up her nose. She had three different pairs of glasses in three different colors. Brooke loved the idea of being able to choose either pink, yellow, or blue so they’d match her outfits. “I thought our design was really good,” she said, then sighed. “Oh well. Back to the drawing board.”
    Brooke ripped out a piece of paper from her math notebook and started sketching. Two minutes later she handed it to Aly.
    Sparkle at the Sparkle Spa!
    Call for a Picture Day appointment!
    â€œI like it, Brooke,” Aly said. “We’ll order them tonight.”
    Brooke eyed Aly. “Why are you in such a rush? What’s going on?”
    Aly wasn’t good at keeping anything from her sister.
    â€œTwo words: Suzy Davis. She came over to the tire swing today at recess and told us she’s starting a business for Picture Day. And she said our Special Occasion Manicures are lame.”
    Even though Aly didn’t want to believe it, once again Suzy was interfering with the Sparkle Spa. She sighed.
    But Brooke wasn’t sad. “Forget Suzy, Aly. We’ll do something even more special than Picture-Perfect Pinkies and the mirrors. Just to make sure our business is better.”
    Brooke began: “Glitter hair bows? Sparkle strings that you can loop into people’s hair?”
    Aly shook her head.
    â€œTemporary tattoos? Feathers?”
    Aly shook her head.
    â€œDaisy clips? Headbands?”
    Aly shook her head again and then looked over at the beads and bracelet-making materials tucked away next to the floor pillows. “Maybe this is boring,” she said, “but what about bracelets?”
    â€œDefinitely boring,” Brooke said.
    â€œWell . . . how about beaded necklaces with different charms? Like soccer balls or cleats or toe shoes for dancers or musical instruments and books and basketballs! Paintbrushes! And nail polish bottles!”
    â€œThat’s so cool!” Brooke said. “But can we afford to buy charms and mirrors? We might have to choose.”
    Aly ducked into True Colors and borrowed Mom’s phone to search on the Internet.
    The sisters searched and searched and finally found gold and silver charms that weren’t that expensive. The charms clipped right onto any type of necklace.
    But there was one problem: The charms wouldn’t arrive until two days before Picture Day.
    â€œWe’ll be the fastest charm clippers ever. And Lily, Sophie, and Charlotte can help. And whatever Suzy has planned, our necklaces will be better. Let’s start stringing the beads right away.”
    â€œRight away? Picture Day’s not for another two and a half weeks!” Aly said.
    â€œYou can never be prepared with too many necklaces,” Brooke said very seriously.
    Aly bit her lip to keep from laughing.