Weaving a Wish

By Arlene Stewart

In the second installment of the adorable Friendship Bracelet series, can the members of THREADS untangle their problems?

The members of THREADS have had an awesome summer making friendship bracelets with the patients at a local hospital. But with school starting, they are worrried they won't have time to continue their volunteer work. And with Olivia out of commission with a broken finger, Ethan dealing with friend drama, and Mu Mu struggling to accept his parents' separation, the group seems like it may unravel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Dec 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781492637721

Arlene Stewart

Arlene Stewart is a former life-style columnist for the Richmond-Times Dispatch and the author of several books on weddings and crafts. Along with her daughters, she created the long-running "Teen Quiz" series for Andrews McMeel Publishing. 

Book preview

ALSO BY ARLENE STEWART

The Friendship Bracelet

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Copyright © 2017 by Arlene Stewart

Cover and internal design © 2017 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Cover design by Ellen Duda

Cover image © Marta Locklear/Stocksy

Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

[phone]

Fax: [phone]

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Stewart, Arlene Hamilton, author.

Title: Weaving a wish / Arlene Stewart.

Description: Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, [2017] | Series: The friendship bracelet ; [2] | Summary: After a summer of making friendship bracelets with patients at a local hospital, the members of THREADS worry that time for school, along with various problems, may spell the end of their club.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017030947 | (13 : alk. paper)

Subjects: | CYAC: Bracelets--Fiction. | Handicraft--Fiction. | Friendship--Fiction. | Clubs--Fiction. | Voluntarism--Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S7456 We 2017 | DDC [Fic]--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030947

Contents

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

How to Make Your Own Arrow Friendship Bracelet

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Back Cover

For Sutton and Lucy, the sweetest things ever

Chapter 1

When her phone woke her up early Saturday morning, right away, Mu Mu Lin could smell trouble.

That was because it was Ethan—Ethan Fleckman. And Ethan never called. He always texted.

Hello, she answered in a groggy voice, glancing across at the gigantic clock next to her door. Seven thirty—yipes! Nobody calls at seven thirty on a Saturday.

Hey, did you get Olivia’s text? Ethan fired at her right away. She sent it to everyone in THREADS: you, me, Zoe, Austen.

Nope, didn’t read it yet, said Mu Mu, yawning and pushing aside the pink cover wrapped around her feet. What’s up?

She was supposed to do THREADS on Wednesday. Can you do it?

Sure, replied Mu Mu. But—

Ethan cut her off in his abrupt way.

Remember she met yesterday with a girl named Kylie Lew, a seven-year-old? You need to bring a few simple bracelets like the fishtail braid or double knot.

Mu Mu sat up, running her fingers through her long jet-black hair and then swung her feet over the side of the bed. OK, but wait—what’s happening with Olivia? she asked, trying to get her bearings. Why didn’t she call me?

She broke her finger last night. Read the text. Bye.

Usually Mu Mu would call out Ethan for his snippy attitude, except now she was way more concerned about her friend. Quickly, she clicked to her text messages.

Oh no! Olivia fell from a skateboard? Ouch! Double ouch! That’s got to feel super bad, thought Mu Mu. Especially ’cause Olivia already worried way too much that she was a klutz.

OMG! sorry about finger. TTYL XXXOOO, she texted back. She decided to call at nine, when she was pretty sure Olivia would be up. Not like Ethan, who doesn’t mind waking up people, she thought while searching the Internet for recovery for broken fingers. Only about a bazillion sites popped up. Uh-oh, looks like she is going to have to wear a splint for maybe three weeks, Mu Mu discovered after scanning through several sites.

Three weeks—that was a bad break in another way, because three weeks was really close to the first day of school. The first day of middle school. The first day of the first year of middle school. And from what Mu Mu had heard about Alexander Hamilton Middle School—with way over three hundred kids in sixth grade alone—well, it ain’t that easy.

And another thing occurred to Mu Mu: Olivia wouldn’t be able to make any friendship bracelets for THREADS. Oh, now I get it, she realized. That was why Ethan’s so bent out of shape.

Still, weird as Ethan could be, Mu Mu realized he did deserve some props for starting THREADS, especially since her two new friends, Olivia Jones and Zoe Santana, were in it too. Actually, there were five members altogether, counting Austen Dodd, Olivia’s crush.

Not the type to hang out in bed daydreaming or surfing the web, Mu Mu decided to go downstairs and see what she could whip up for breakfast. Maybe Dad’s hungry, she thought. Maybe he would like pancakes. How about my new recipe with sour cream and wild blueberries? Dad’s been grouchy lately—Mama said from business—so an awesome breakfast would definitely be a good thing.

The fluffy white bunny slippers her grandmother Waipo Su Su gave her last Easter were under her bedside table. She fished them out and slipped them on her feet, which were tiny, like the rest of her. In class photos, she was usually half a head shorter than everyone else, so people often made the mistake of thinking she was delicate, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. But her mama, who was a shrimp herself, had always told her it was far better to be underestimated but able to deliver than to be overestimated and disappoint people.

Ping went her text signal. Call U @ 9, Olivia had written. Whew, thought Mu Mu with relief. At least she is up and moving.

She padded over to the large mirror above her long white dresser and laced her hair into a thick braid, and then she headed to her bathroom to check out her new pink-and-green braces. That was another cool thing about getting to know Olivia that summer: they were brace buddies. Earlier in the summer, when they ran into each other in Dr. Justin’s office and discovered both had crossbites, somehow the ordeal became a whole lot easier. Could you believe braces right before middle school? Was anything worse?

On the back of her desk chair was her favorite hoodie, bright yellow with a big blue star in the middle. She pulled it on to prepare for the arctic blast downstairs, because no matter how many times her dad freaked out, her older brother, Chris, still snuck the air-conditioning to Chill to the Bone, thinking no one would discover it.

When she opened the door and stepped onto the balcony overlooking the open-plan kitchen and family room, bright sunlight poured in from the wall of windows at the far end by the patio. She walked over to the metal-and-glass railing and gazed down—there was her father, sitting at the island, sipping coffee, and reading the news.

Yo, Dad, she called out, her voice resounding in the vast open space.

A trim man with sandy-colored hair and blue eyes glanced up from the paper. Hey, good morning, bunny girl, he said, laughing when he saw her slippers. Come down here and make your father some of your famous blueberry pancakes.

Cool. I have a new recipe, Mu Mu replied, hurrying down the large staircase. She had to smile. Her dad knew how much she loved to cook. But not only cooking—she even loved thinking about food.

Actually, it had been Olivia who had first pointed out that Mu Mu thought about food a lot. But Olivia meant it as a compliment. You think about ingredients and preparation, not just wolfing everything down was how she had put it.

Once she hit downstairs, Mu Mu took a running start toward the sprawling center island and then slid to a stop right in front of the sink.

Her dad looked over and smiled. Then he pushed his empty mug her way and pointed to the coffee maker on the counter. Sweetie, can you get me another cup? he asked. Mu Mu fixed it just the way he liked—super hot with only a dash of milk—and put the steaming mug down before him.

Oh, thanks…and could you make Chris some pancakes? Mu Mu’s dad added. He should be up soon. We have tennis doubles at nine thirty.

OK, Dad, said Mu Mu, reaching across the island for the heaping basket of wild blueberries.

Ohhh, I’m already up, Chris groaned dramatically, shuffling into the kitchen still in his rumpled pajama bottoms and Alexander Hamilton High varsity tennis T-shirt. Way taller than Mu Mu, with their dad’s lean, muscular build and their mama’s dark, Asian hair and eyes, he took full advantage of his older-brother status to worm countless meals and snacks from Mu Mu. Truth be told, she didn’t mind at all. But she would never let him know that—far better that he thought he was getting away with something.

In one of his classic Chris moves, he opened the refrigerator, grabbed the OJ, and gulped it down right out of the bottle. Then he turned to her and said, Hey, is there any more of that good maple syrup, or did you finish it off, tick bite?

Cool it, Chris, replied Mu Mu, folding the sour cream into the dry ingredients. Mama bought two bottles at the farmers’ market, remember?

Well, throw in lots of blueberries. I’m starving. Had to power wash Waipo Su Su’s back deck again, he said, using the Chinese name for his grandmother on his mother’s side, the word that sounded like waypah. He took another swig of orange juice and added, Those creepy birds make a mess—but she keeps feeding them!

Chris, you should be happy to help out Waipo Su Su, their dad pointed out.

I don’t know why her lazy boyfriend, Lou, can’t do it, muttered Chris, resting his cheek on the cool granite that covered the island and gazing over at Mu Mu.

Their dad jerked his head up. Was he there again? he asked.

Yeah! And he just watched me work… Can you believe that guy?

That was sooo unbelievable, said Mu Mu, thinking, Chris doesn’t get that he usually watches me work too—like right now.

But without missing a beat, she mixed all the ingredients together before buttering the griddle. When that was sizzling, she carefully ladled the batter into large rounds and watched until bubbles rose on the surface and then flipped the pancakes over. Her dad liked his golden with crispy edges, so she let them cook an extra few seconds, but not too much.

One, two, three, four pancakes—she made a yummy-looking stack, drizzled them with the special light-amber maple syrup, and then started working on a heftier serving for Chris. A few minutes later, she put a plate before him piled high with a triple serving. Then she stood back, anticipating his reaction.

Mmm… he said, inhaling the amazing pancake aroma. Then he stuffed a super large forkful in his mouth, kind of like a squirrel stuffing its cheeks with acorns. Unable to stop herself, Mu Mu watched him chomp away, entranced by the dark-purple wild blueberry juice dribbling from the sides of his mouth, staining his lips and chin.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and broke out laughing. You look like a vampire! Hey, Dad, check this out. It’s Chris, the Undead Blueberry Pancake Eater, she said, handing him a napkin.

Her dad took off his glasses and looked over, shaking his head.

Grabbing the napkin, Chris swiped at his face. Very funny, girl pygmy. Maybe you should have gone to humor camp this summer, instead of spending all that time with your stupid THREADS friends, he muttered.

That’s enough, Chris, their dad said with a stern expression. THREADS helps the community, remember?

Yeah, and at least those blueberries dribbling down your chin are organic, added Mu Mu for good measure. From Applejack Farm. I picked them myself, just for you.

Only yesterday, Zoe and her parents had invited Mu Mu and Olivia to go foraging for wild blueberries. Over at Zoe’s house, there was always lots of talk about food. For one thing, her father wrote Put It Away, the popular food blog. When he heard about Mu Mu’s quest for the world’s best chocolate-chip