Chapter 11: Fresh Lemonade 

June 5th

​

Today was the perfect day for a lemonade stand. The weather was hot, and I wanted to make some money for our trip to NYC at the end of the summer. So, I decided to set it all up. 

 

Clare’s out of town this week, so I called Simone and Shelby to see if they were both around. They said they “totally wanted to” and could get their parents to drive them over in an hour or two. Perfect! 

 

I pulled $15 from my piggy bank and walked to the store to buy the supplies. We needed plastic cups, napkins, and (of course) lemonade mix. Check. Check. Check! 

 

As I carried my supplies home, I passed a ton of people and thought they all could be our customers! 

 

So far, things were really lining up. 

 

Ty, Ruby, and Jasper were eating snacks in the living room when I came home. They were making a mess, per usual. “What’s that?” Ty asked, seeing my grocery bags. “Nothing,” I answered, trying to keep them out of it. 

 

Ruby hopped up and looked inside: “Ooo, what’s all this for? A lemonade stand? Are you doing it today? Do you need our help? We can make cookies to sell! I know the recipe! I’ll put a bunch of candy in them!” 

 

Jasper and Ty started chanting, “COOKIES WITH CANDY! COOKIES WITH CANDY!” Ruby joined in, making it even louder and more annoying. 

 

I thought about the last time I tried to make cookies, which tasted more like salt bombs (thanks to Ty and Ruby). And I thought about Ty and Ruby burying Clare in a giant snowball and ruining the splash contest for all the kids at the pool.

 

The twins and Jasper kept chanting, and I got more and more annoyed. 

 

“No! You know what? You guys can’t help. You’ll find some way to ruin it! Simone and Shelby are coming over, and I’m doing it with them. Why don’t you guys just sit in the corner, stop bothering me, or walk down the hill and go to Jasper’s house for once?” 

 

They stared back at me, totally quiet. 

 

I walked to my room and turned to add, “And by the way, no one puts a bunch of candy inside cookies! That’s gross!” 

 

Not long after, I heard the doorbell ring, and Simone arrived. I gave her a great big hug because I hadn’t seen her since school got out. We went to the big dining room table to make a poster that said ‘Lemonade!’

 

Simone’s great at art, so she wrote out all the letters. While we were adding drawings of lemons, Shelby came. I was so happy to see them both and reminded Ty, Ruby, and Jasper to leave us alone. 

 

In the kitchen, I stood on a chair to pull out the big pitcher from the top shelf; Shelby and Simone held the chair steady. Then we held it under the faucet and filled it with water until it splashed over, making us laugh. Shelby measured the yellow powder like a scientist, and then Simone stirred it like a mad woman! Voilà–the lemonade was made! 

 

We wanted to set up our stand on the corner of the street, where all the people walk. Shelby hoisted a small table to carry down the sidewalk, and Simone followed with the cups and napkins. I grabbed the big pitcher of lemonade from the kitchen to bring outside. 

​

But right as I was walking through the living room, Ty ran around the corner and smashed into me, splashing some of the lemonade onto my shirt and floor. Fudge came over to lick it up. I felt wet, sticky, and MAD. 

 

I was so angry, I yelled: “What the heck, Ty?? Why can’t you guys ever just LEAVE ME ALONE? Go to Jasper’s house! You guys are so annoying.”

 

He looked sad as he stared down at his feet and offered, “I’m really sorry, Joanie.” Jasper and Ruby stopped chasing each other. All three of them looked at me, then at each other, and packed up and left. I was glad to see them walk down the hill toward Jasper’s house. 

 

I felt a little guilty for being mean, but (honestly) I was happy to finally have them gone. I carried the pitcher down the street, where Shelby and Simone sat at our lemonade stand. “Finally!” I said as we all sat down. 

 

“Someone’s coming!” said Shelby.

 

“Ooo, I can see him.” Simone pointed, “It’s a bald guy walking up the hill. I can see his shiny head! He looks thirsty!” 

 

As he got closer, we started yelling out, ‘Lemonade! Fifty cents!’

 

He stopped to buy some. Our first customer! We felt excited to start making the big bucks.

 

A good amount of people kept coming up the hill. Clare’s neighbor Sarah walked by, bought a cup, and gave us a good tip. And about ten more people bought lemonade, some pushing strollers, some with dogs, and some with kids.

 

Others would just walk by and wave, pretending not to hear us shouting from ten feet away. We were doing great! We started talking about how we would use our money…

 

But then, something happened.

 

We saw an older couple with gray hair walking towards us, so we held up our sign and started yelling and singing about lemonade. But as they got closer, we realized they were already holding something that looked like lemonade…

 

“Hello there! Want to buy some lemonade?” Shelby asked sweetly as they walked by us, and she even held up a cup to show off our product. 

 

“Oh, well, we would…” said the elderly lady, “but you see, we already did!” she added, lifting up her lemonade cup and smiling, “Seems like you’ve got some competition down the hill.” 

 

“And would you believe it?” Her husband added with a big smile, “Those cute little kids are even selling cookies filled with candy! You should see it–everybody’s buying from them.” 

 

At first, I thought, ‘Wow, what a coincidence.’ 

 

But then it all made sense…

 

Ty and Ruby truly do RUIN EVERYTHING! 

 

Your Friend,