It's Not Easy Being Mimi Read online

  How It All Happened

  My Friends and Me

  Iffy

  The Periwinkle Tower

  How I Got My Hat

  Shopping

  The Bucketcake

  Yoshi’s Birthday Party

  Boris

  Bad

  My Bad Mood Ring

  The Triangle

  Ambushed Once

  Ambushed Twice

  Green Bubble Gum

  Accused

  The Invitation

  Potato Castle

  Tonya’s Barrette

  Marvin’s Brain

  Worse

  Driving Steggo

  Cheerio

  Thanksgiving

  Rat Duty

  What Happened to the Advent Calendar

  Uh-Oh

  Confession

  Gold Tooth

  Worser

  Loitering

  Dress Rehearsal

  Disaster #1

  Disaster #2

  Baby Gifts

  Disaster #3

  A Surprise

  The Grand Finale

  Looking Up

  A Miracle on Wheels

  Our Vacation

  PS

  About the Author and Illustrator

  For Tom

  My Friends and Me

  Mimi

  That’s me! Even though I have a cat, a car, and a yellow sombrero, what I really want—more than anything in the whole world—is to have a twin. An identical twin.

  Yoshi

  is my smartest friend. He loves books and carries at least one with him at all times. The only problem is that he can’t read yet. But he can play the ukulele.

  Tonya

  loves mirrors. She has a thousand combs and barrettes, and she always wears a tiara. She gives us lots of advice about everything.

  Hunter

  lives down the street. He’s crazy about baseball. No one has ever seen his left hand because his baseball glove is permanently attached.

  Sofie

  lives up the street. She has so many after-school activities scheduled that she often falls asleep standing up. When she dreams, it’s about horses and ballet.

  Uncle Albert

  is Yoshi’s uncle who lives in Japan and sends great presents.

  ? ? ?

  Wait a minute. Where did this guy come from? Does anyone know who he is?

  Iffy

  The Periwinkle Tower

  Hi, I’m Mimi!

  I live with my cat, Marvin, in a tall apartment building called the Periwinkle Tower. It stands on a hill in a little town called Pueblo del Mar. That’s Spanish for “village by the sea.”

  Marvin and I live on the top floor, in apartment 4. Yoshi lives in apartment 3. Tonya lives in apartment 2.

  Apartment 1 is empty, but Mr. Bosco, the super, says someone’s moving in soon. I’m hoping she’ll be someone interesting who likes doing exactly the same things I like to do. It would be so much fun to have a friend in the tower who was like an identical twin.

  This story begins a little before Thanksgiving. That’s when things started getting iffy.

  How I Got My Hat

  Saturday morning I raced downstairs to visit Yoshi. I tripped where the carpet was coming loose and almost squashed Marvin. Yoshi heard the crash and flung open his door.

  “Mimi, you need a haircut. You can’t see a thing.”

  He got out his scissors and went to work.

  Oops! One side was shorter.

  He started over again. “Don’t worry. I can fix it.”

  Yoshi trimmed and trimmed. Then he stopped.

  He stuck his head out the window. Hunter and Sofie were digging a tunnel in the backyard, and Tonya was supervising.

  Yoshi gave the emergency whistle.

  “If anyone has a spare hat, please bring it up RIGHT NOW!”

  Sofie, who was wearing her horseback-riding helmet to dig, was at the door in a flash. “But why . . .”

  When she saw me, her eyes got huge.

  “Mimi, this helmet will look beautiful on you,” she said, holding it out. But it was too small.

  Hunter burst in right behind her. “You can borrow my lucky baseball cap,” he told Yoshi, “but I need it back.”

  Then he looked over at me. “Oh.” He handed me the baseball cap. “Here, Mimi. You can keep it.” But it was not my color.

  Tonya stuck her head through the doorway. “Is Marvin here? If he is, I can’t stay. I’m allergic to cats.”

  Suddenly she gasped. “Mimi! What happened to your hair?”

  Everyone could see that the tiara Tonya was holding was not going to help at all, but she made me try it on anyway.

  I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Everybody just stood there.

  Nobody knew what to say.

  “Wait!” Yoshi said. “My uncle Albert sent me a hat. It’s in my closet.”

  I tried the hat on.

  It was perfect. Better than hair.

  Tonya sneezed. “I’d better be going,” she announced.

  Sofie, Hunter, and Tonya cheered as they slid down the banister.

  “Bye, Yoshi!” I yelled as Marvin and I ran back upstairs. “See you tomorrow at your birthday party!”

  Shopping

  I had no idea what to give Yoshi for his birthday. He’s the boy who has everything, especially since his uncle Albert sends him great presents all the time, even when it’s not his birthday.

  The next day after breakfast I went shopping. I searched high and low.

  Then I saw it: THE WESTERN BEAD BELT SALE. I hit the brakes.

  Almost everyone from Pueblo del Mar had lined up around the block. They all wanted western bead belts.

  By the time my hat and I had squeezed through the door, the belts were all gone! The cashier apologized. “They’ve been selling like hotcakes.”

  I was heartbroken. A western bead belt would have been the perfect gift.

  Just then an angry man stormed into the store.

  “This belt doesn’t fit me!”

  He held up the most beautiful western bead belt I had ever seen.

  Size small.

  After the cashier promised to special-order a different size for him, the man calmed down. He left the beautiful belt by the register.

  It was just Yoshi’s size.

  The Bucketcake

  Soon as I got home, I slipped the western bead belt out of the tissue paper. Just for fun I tried it on.

  A perfect fit.

  I decided to keep the belt and bake Yoshi a bucketcake instead.

  A bucketcake is just like a cupcake only much bigger. I mixed up all kinds of good things and shoved the bucket into the oven.

  Then I lay down in a sunbeam to make Yoshi a birthday card.

  * * *

  The party music from downstairs woke me up. Oh no! What time was it?

  I raced to the oven. But the door was already open, and the bucketcake was escaping.

  The bucketcake was so big that I had to scoot it out to the middle of the floor to decorate it.

  Downstairs the birthday party was in full swing. It was time to dash down with the bucketcake. But it wouldn’t fit through the door!

  I pushed the bucketcake across the room and set it on the windowsill. I tied one end of my jump rope to the bucket handle and held the other end as tight as I could.

  I gave the emergency whistle. “Happy birthday, Yoshi! Open your window and look up! Your cake is arriving by airmail!”

  I edged the cake off the sill.

  Everyone clapped and shouted as I lowered the bucketcake into Yoshi’s arms.

  Yoshi’s Birthday Party

  I skipped down the stairs to Yoshi’s party, watching out for the torn
carpet. Marvin had been invited too, and he ran ahead of me.

  Marvin saw Tonya and headed straight for her lap. Tonya jumped up. “I’m allergic to cats.”

  Yoshi thanked me for the bucketcake. “I like your new belt!” he added.

  Then Tonya said, “But it looks like a boys’ belt.”

  I was so late that Yoshi had already opened all his presents. Hunter was throwing the baseball he’d given Yoshi up and down. “Think fast, Mimi!” He threw the ball at me, and it knocked my sombrero off.

  “I’m still not used to your new haircut, Mimi,” said Tonya.

  She handed me a party hat, but I decided to stick with my sombrero.

  Yoshi’s uncle Albert had sent takeout containers of candy sushi for everyone. And after we ate the candy, we could each take home a pair of the colored chopsticks.

  As I looked around for my candy sushi, I saw a boy I didn’t know.

  He had a pair of yellow chopsticks in his right hand and a pair of purple chopsticks in his left hand. There were two takeout containers in front of him.

  The boy was eating candy from both containers.

  Boris

  Sofie waved the toy horse that she had given Yoshi. “Mimi, have you met the new boy? Boris just moved into apartment 1 this morning.”

  My heart sank. This was not the twin I’d been hoping for!

  “Hi, Boris. Are those my chopsticks you’re using? Purple is my favorite color.”

  His face turned bright red. “You can have your chopsticks,” he said. “But the candy sushi is all gone.” I picked up one of the containers in front of him just to make sure. Empty. Except for a big wad of green bubble gum stuck to the flap.

  Yoshi set out a dish for Marvin and put a tiny piece of cheese on it.

  Boris reached for the cheese, and I had to push his hand away.

  “No, Boris! It’s for Marvin. Cheese is his favorite food!”

  Everyone talked at once. Sofie lit the candles on the bucketcake. At least I’d get to have a piece of my own cake.

  As we sang “Happy Birthday,” I studied Boris out of the corner of my eye. Four friends were enough, I decided. I didn’t need a fifth.

  “Mimi, this cake looks so good,” said Sofie, after Yoshi blew out the candles. She handed me a big piece with lots of frosting.

  “What are those lumps all over the cake?” asked Tonya.

  “Chocolate-covered raisins. The best candy on the planet.”

  Sofie showed me the toy horse. “You can braid her tail if you’d like. Tonya, may we borrow your comb?”

  Tonya handed it to me. I had just finished detangling the tail when a game of treasure hunt started, so I handed the comb to Sofie.

  “Kitty, kitty, kitty!” Sofie called. Marvin acted like he didn’t hear her, so she scooped him up. She ran the pink comb through his fur. “Look how handsome he is!”

  Tonya screamed.

  “You’re using my comb on a cat!”

  All in all, the party was tons of fun. On my way out Yoshi picked up a goody bag with my name on it. He looked inside the bag and frowned. “I’m sure there were some caramels in there with your chocolate-covered raisins. And now they’re gone.”

  Boris breezed out the door with his head down.

  Bad

  My Bad Mood Ring

  I scrambled up to my apartment and dumped out my goody bag. Empty caramel wrappers. A few chocolate-covered raisins. But wait! Something shiny and smooth clattered to the floor.

  A mood ring! And did it ever look stunning on my finger. I’d always wanted a mood ring. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

  In bed that night I got out my flashlight to check my mood. The mood ring was blue. Blue meant sad.

  During the night I had a bad dream. In my dream all the cheese disappeared from the refrigerator. Marvin slipped out the window to search for more. I couldn’t find him anywhere.

  * * *

  Monday morning I woke up late. But I was so happy to hear Marvin crunching his breakfast that I didn’t care. I kissed him good-bye, opened the window, and slid down the drainpipe to my car.

  When I got to school, everyone was folding paper and cutting out snowflakes.

  “Are we getting ready for the Christmas pageant already?” I asked.

  “You mean the holiday pageant,” said Tonya.

  “Mimi, would you like to be in charge of the scenery?” asked our teacher, Mr. Dayberry.

  I jumped up and down. “Yes!”

  Painting was so much fun that I forgot all about my mood ring. I was just about to paint the star of wonder when I remembered. It was time to check my mood.

  Yellow? That was strange. Yellow meant careless. I wasn’t feeling careless at all. Was something wrong with this mood ring?

  I sat up. SPLAT! My foot knocked the can of paint over. Yellow paint oozed out across the field and fountain, moor and mountain. Not to mention my dress. I felt another tear roll down my cheek. Two tears in one week!

  The Triangle

  Yoshi grabbed the roll of paper towels off the snack table. We had just about finished wiping up the yellow paint when Ms. Marzipan tapped her baton on the door and rolled her piano into the room.

  Time for music. I cheered up. I glanced at my ring. Red? That was funny. Red meant mad! It was my turn to play the drum, and that always put me in a good mood.

  But this time Ms. Marzipan let the new boy choose, and Boris chose the drum.

  Tonya got a tambourine, Sofie got castanets, and I got stuck with the triangle. I do not care for that instrument.

  “Boris, let’s trade,” I suggested. But Boris said he didn’t feel like it.

  We sang a song we had learned especially for the new kid.

  “Getting to know you,

  Getting to know all about you . . .”

  With each word I got angrier. Finally, when Ms. Marzipan wasn’t looking,

  I pushed the triangle down over Boris’s head.

  “Getting to know you,

  Getting to feel free and easy . . .”

  And then the triangle wouldn’t come off !

  Boris told Ms. Marzipan he didn’t want to stand beside me anymore. He didn’t feel free and easy around me.

  Ms. Marzipan finally got the triangle off Boris’s head. Then she made me apologize to Boris and go sit down by myself. When Mr. Dayberry returned, I saw her whisper something to him.

  Then he took me outside for a little chat. “Mimi, you’re having one of those days. Please tell me this mood you’re in won’t last all week.”

  I wiped away another tear. “It’s not me, Mr. Dayberry. The mood ring made me do it.”

  I yanked the mood ring off my finger and threw it down.

  Mr. Dayberry smiled and took my hand. As we headed back inside, I looked over my shoulder. I had to check on the ring one last time.

  Violet! Violet meant happy. For once the mood ring was right.

  Ambushed Once

  When I got home from school, I heard a tapping sound.

  I flew up the steps past Yoshi’s door, and there was Mr. Bosco, installing new carpet. This time it was bright purple.

  “Thanks, Mr. Bosco. That’s my favorite color. And it’s perfect with the periwinkle walls.”

  “I’m glad you like it, Mimi,” he said. “Since I have to replace the carpet between your and Yoshi’s apartments so often, I buy what’s on sale.”

  I heard Marvin meow, so I stepped over Mr. Bosco’s toolbox and headed on up.

  But Mr. Bosco stopped me. “Mimi? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. The new boy, Boris, seems lonely. Would you consider making friends with him?”

  “Not in a million years” is what I wanted to say. But instead I said, “I’d better go check on Marvin.”

  Ambushed Twice

  It was a big mistake to have wished for a twin.

  The very next day after snacks, Mr. Dayberry pulled me aside.

  “Mimi, you and the new boy, Boris, seem to have a lot in common. . . .” />
  I could see Boris behind Mr. Dayberry’s back. He was hunched over the snack table, stuffing the last of the cheese crackers into his pocket.

  “What do we have in common?”

  “You like to play the drums. Boris does too. And you love to draw. Boris loves to draw too. Would it be all right if he helped you with the scenery?”

  I must have felt a tiny bit ashamed about what had happened yesterday with the triangle, because I said yes.

  That afternoon as I was repainting the fountain, Boris walked over, dragging a humongous piece of cardboard.

  “Mr. Dayberry said I could help you. I like dinosaurs. Is it all right if I make a stegosaurus?”

  At least he’d asked politely, so I said okay.

  Tonya wandered over.

  “Mr. Dayberry! Boris is making a dinosaur. Did dinosaurs visit the manger?”

  “Mimi and Boris are the artists, Tonya. Let’s let them do their job.”

  Mimi and Boris are the artists? I did not like the sound of that at all.

  Green Bubble Gum

  Ms. Marzipan had recess duty. We kept our distance.

  Boris sat over on the slide by himself eating chips. I wasn’t going to say anything bad about him; I wasn’t, I wasn’t, I wasn’t, I wasn’t.

  Then I heard my own voice say, “Have you ever noticed how Boris smells like a submarine sandwich?”

  “That’s a good smell, isn’t it?” asked Yoshi.

  I couldn’t stop. “Have you ever noticed how Boris always has crumbs on his shirt?”

  “Oh, Mimi!” said Tonya. “I meant to tell you yesterday. You have a big wad of green bubble gum on the back of your sombrero.”

  That did it. I knew exactly whose gum it was. I marched over to Boris. He looked up and smiled.