The Sugar Mountain Snow Ball by Elizabeth Atkinson

when you really, really need her?”
    â€œNormally I would dismiss that line of reasoning,” Eleanor said as she began to draw, “but I have to admit, magic could be involved. Otherwise, how could we have accomplished everything we’ve done so far?”
    â€œI know! It’s like she bonked us on our heads with her wand and made our dreams come true.”
    I took another bite and swallowed.
    â€œOh, I almost forgot, Ruby—look what I have.”
    Eleanor dug into her jacket pocket and revealed our latest brainstorm: a pink and purple phone cover that she was modeling on her emergency cell phone.
    â€œWow, it’s wicked cute! We’ll sell a million.”
    â€œI hope not,” she laughed. “Otherwise we’ll have to expand and hire staff.”
    I liked the sound of that: our very own company headquarters.
    â€œBy the way, I think I’ve saved up almost enough money to start ski lessons,” I told her. “I need to get really good so I can meet the Outers just like JB did. The Snow Ball’s only forty-one days away.”
    Eleanor didn’t say anything, which was always her response when I talked about JB or the Snow Ball. I couldn’t understand why she never seemed as excited for my dream as I was for hers, buying that expensive sewing machine. I was beginning to wonder if she was jealous of the idea of me hanging out with the Outers.
    â€œI called Sugar Mountain yesterday to ask how much it would cost.”
    Still no response as she continued to sketch.
    I finished up the banana, then tossed the peel in the trash can.
    â€œAnyway, the lady on the phone said they have this special package, called the Snow Bunny, where you get ski equipment, a private lesson, then a lift pass for the rest of the day, plus a hot chocolate in the lodge, which I can drink by the stone fireplace, just like my real mom did with my pop when they were in high school.”
    Finally Eleanor looked up.
    â€œHow much is the Snow Bunny?”
    â€œFor kids under twelve, it’s $129, which would still leave me with about fifty bucks left over.”
    â€œWait, Ruby, that doesn’t make sense.”
    â€œCome on, Eleanor,” I said. “Can’t you at least be a little happy for me? I mean, it’s not like we’re going to stop being best friends once I get to know the Outers.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about? I mean, your calculations don’t make sense.”
    She bent over and pulled a notebook from her backpack and flipped through the pages.
    â€œYou said $129? And you would only have fifty left? We’ve made more money than that. What happened to the rest of your profits?”
    â€œUmm . . . I guess most of it went to bribing the twins with junk, like parts for their Clink ’n’ Link collections, which I have to buy every time I drag them along to visit our customers, so they’ll be quiet and behave.”
    â€œBut you couldn’t have spent that much on Clink ’n’ Links. Maybe I made a mistake in my accounting system?”
    It was my job to collect our earnings from our customers whenever I dropped off new pieces, and Mim agreed to cash our checks and give us the money. But Eleanor was the one who counted it, recorded it, and then divided it between us down to the last penny.
    She flipped to the back of her notebook and pointed at the top of the page.
    â€œSo far we’ve made a total of $540.96 after being in business about ten weeks. We spent $37.42 on various supplies, which leaves us with $251.77 each. I still have to save $268.23, excluding shipping, before I can purchase the Pluckarama online for $520. But Ruby, you should have been able to start your lessons weeks ago.”
    â€œWell . . .”
    â€œWell, what?”
    â€œThere’s also this dress.”
    â€œWhat dress?”
    â€œA gorgeous dress, Eleanor! One that I saw in a catalog, which would be so perfect for the Snow Ball!