Elliot's already waiting for me on the neon-green carpet, his shaggy hair flopped in front of his dark chocolate eyes. "When did you get down here?" I ask, handing him the cookies. He looks at his wristwatch/stopwatch/compass. "Approximately eight minutes ago. So what's the Code Red-Hot Chili Peppers emergency?" "Sarah Rosen's dad is getting married." His expression remains unimpressed as he stuffs the entire cookie into his mouth at once. "That really seems more like a Code Sweet Green Kiwi," he says. "Well, it's not.

Not even a Code Hot-and-Sour Pickle." I pull back my hair and hope all the rebel strands find their way into my ponytail holder. Elliot shakes his head. "I'm serious," I say. "Sarah Rosen's dad getting married means I'm the last remaining student in the entire Dennisville Middle School without a family for the Winter Family Festival Parade." "Well, um, I hate to state the obvious, but you have a family. Your B&B is even called the Greene Family B&B." I say nothing.

Elliot continues. "I think your dad and gram would be surprised to learn after all these years that they're not your family. What will they call the B&B?" "You don't get it. Sarah and I were the only two who went from a family of three to a family of two. The only two who went from a mom and dad to no mom. The only two who made cards for our grandmothers and aunts on Mother's Day, the only two who learned how to put our hair into a non-lumpy ponytail by ourselves, the only two whose tights always ripped because we didn't know the nail-polish trick. Now, in just a few months, it'll just be me.".