here?”Finn asked.
“Excuse me?”I said.
“Is Nora your replacement Charlie? I’ve noticed the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. Are you new BFFs?”Finn asked.
I rolled my eyes at Nora, and she grinned back at me.
“Come on, Nora. It’s time to put the Let’s Ignore Finn plan into action,”I said.
Nora and I continued to walk down the hallway. Undaunted, Finn joined us.
“If you keep spending so much time together, we’re going to have to merge your names, like Bennifer or Brangelina. Mirora? No, that doesn’t sound right. Noranda? That’s not good, either. It would be a lot easier if you could change your name to Brad or Ben, Nora. Then you could be Biranda,”Finn said.
“I sort of like Mirora. It sounds like the name of a high priestess,”Nora mused.
“But Noranda sounds like a prescription skin cream,”Finn remarked. “The kind that zaps zits or hemorrhoids.”
“Or, we could just keep our regular names,”I suggested.
“You’re no fun. So, where are we heading?”Finn asked.
“Out to Miranda’s car,”Nora said. “Or, as I’ve decided to rename it, the Stinkmobile.”
Finn laughed appreciatively. I was momentarily taken aback. I think it was the first time I’d ever heard Nora make a joke.
“Classic,”Finn said. “That car needs to be fumigated.”
“I took it to the car wash this weekend and had them pipe in a deodorizing fragrance,”I said.
“I love that stuff. What did you get? New-car smell? That’s my favorite,”Finn said. “If I could, I’d go around smelling like a new car. I wish they’d make it into a cologne. Do you think someone sells that?”
“No,”I said.
“Note to self: invent a cologne with new-car smell,”Finn said.
“What fragrance did you really get?”Nora asked.
“Strawberry-banana,”I said. “I thought it sounded nice and fruity.”
“Did it work on the stink?”
“Not really,”I said sadly. “The stink is still there, only now with an undertone of artificial strawberry-banana smell. Which, I have to say, is really not much of an improvement.”
“Awesome,”Finn said with relish.
“I told Miranda she could market the smell as a weapon. Find a way to get it into an atomizer, and then spray it at a mugger or something. It would work better than pepper spray,”Nora said, to Finn’s growing hilarity.
What? She’s never said that to me , I thought.
“That’s brilliant,”Finn said. “And then the cops would have an easy time tracking down the bad guy. All they’d have to do is follow the odor.”
Nora giggled appreciatively.
“Thanks, guys. That’s just so helpful,”I said dryly. “No, never mind me. I’ll just suffer with my stinky car while you two laugh at me.”
“Oh, come on, M,”Finn said. He threw one arm around my neck and another around Nora’s. “We kid because we love.”
“And because we really want you to do something about the stink. Seriously, it’s so bad that whenever I’m in your car, I want to stick my head out the window like a dog,”Nora said.
“Ha, ha,”I said as Nora and Finn cracked up. “Don’t forget, without me, you’d be walking home, Nora.”
“No, she wouldn’t. I’d drive you home, Nora,”Finn said.
“Aw, thanks, Finn,”Nora said.
“Wait, no, I take it back. I wouldn’t drive you home. I’m meeting Phoebe at Grounded,”Finn said. “By the way, M, tell Hannah I got her Web site up and running today during calculus class.”
“During class? Didn’t Mr. Gordon notice?”
“Dunno,”Finn said. “I had on my headphones, so I couldn’t really hear what he was saying.”
I rolled my eyes, while Nora snickered. She seemed to think he was kidding. I was pretty sure he wasn’t.
“Let me know what Hannah says when she sees it,”Finn said.
There was something in his tone—and, when I turned sharply to look up at him, a mischievous glint in his dark eyes—that told me he was up to something.
“What did you do?”I
“Excuse me?”I said.
“Is Nora your replacement Charlie? I’ve noticed the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. Are you new BFFs?”Finn asked.
I rolled my eyes at Nora, and she grinned back at me.
“Come on, Nora. It’s time to put the Let’s Ignore Finn plan into action,”I said.
Nora and I continued to walk down the hallway. Undaunted, Finn joined us.
“If you keep spending so much time together, we’re going to have to merge your names, like Bennifer or Brangelina. Mirora? No, that doesn’t sound right. Noranda? That’s not good, either. It would be a lot easier if you could change your name to Brad or Ben, Nora. Then you could be Biranda,”Finn said.
“I sort of like Mirora. It sounds like the name of a high priestess,”Nora mused.
“But Noranda sounds like a prescription skin cream,”Finn remarked. “The kind that zaps zits or hemorrhoids.”
“Or, we could just keep our regular names,”I suggested.
“You’re no fun. So, where are we heading?”Finn asked.
“Out to Miranda’s car,”Nora said. “Or, as I’ve decided to rename it, the Stinkmobile.”
Finn laughed appreciatively. I was momentarily taken aback. I think it was the first time I’d ever heard Nora make a joke.
“Classic,”Finn said. “That car needs to be fumigated.”
“I took it to the car wash this weekend and had them pipe in a deodorizing fragrance,”I said.
“I love that stuff. What did you get? New-car smell? That’s my favorite,”Finn said. “If I could, I’d go around smelling like a new car. I wish they’d make it into a cologne. Do you think someone sells that?”
“No,”I said.
“Note to self: invent a cologne with new-car smell,”Finn said.
“What fragrance did you really get?”Nora asked.
“Strawberry-banana,”I said. “I thought it sounded nice and fruity.”
“Did it work on the stink?”
“Not really,”I said sadly. “The stink is still there, only now with an undertone of artificial strawberry-banana smell. Which, I have to say, is really not much of an improvement.”
“Awesome,”Finn said with relish.
“I told Miranda she could market the smell as a weapon. Find a way to get it into an atomizer, and then spray it at a mugger or something. It would work better than pepper spray,”Nora said, to Finn’s growing hilarity.
What? She’s never said that to me , I thought.
“That’s brilliant,”Finn said. “And then the cops would have an easy time tracking down the bad guy. All they’d have to do is follow the odor.”
Nora giggled appreciatively.
“Thanks, guys. That’s just so helpful,”I said dryly. “No, never mind me. I’ll just suffer with my stinky car while you two laugh at me.”
“Oh, come on, M,”Finn said. He threw one arm around my neck and another around Nora’s. “We kid because we love.”
“And because we really want you to do something about the stink. Seriously, it’s so bad that whenever I’m in your car, I want to stick my head out the window like a dog,”Nora said.
“Ha, ha,”I said as Nora and Finn cracked up. “Don’t forget, without me, you’d be walking home, Nora.”
“No, she wouldn’t. I’d drive you home, Nora,”Finn said.
“Aw, thanks, Finn,”Nora said.
“Wait, no, I take it back. I wouldn’t drive you home. I’m meeting Phoebe at Grounded,”Finn said. “By the way, M, tell Hannah I got her Web site up and running today during calculus class.”
“During class? Didn’t Mr. Gordon notice?”
“Dunno,”Finn said. “I had on my headphones, so I couldn’t really hear what he was saying.”
I rolled my eyes, while Nora snickered. She seemed to think he was kidding. I was pretty sure he wasn’t.
“Let me know what Hannah says when she sees it,”Finn said.
There was something in his tone—and, when I turned sharply to look up at him, a mischievous glint in his dark eyes—that told me he was up to something.
“What did you do?”I
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