Carla Lewis walked through the door of her New York loft and yelled "I’m home!" Grabbing an apple, she walked down the hallway and into her room. Zipping open her backpack, she pulled out a sheet of Latin verbs.

" Why did I have to choose Latin to study?" she said to her turtle Celery. Celery had been a present to Carla when her parents found out she talked to the characters in her books.

Picking up the apple once more she walked down to her father’s office to see if he could help her study. But he wasn’t there. So she walked into her mother’s studio. Carla could hear her mother saying "Beautiful" as the camera shutter clicked. Carla walked through the open door just as her mother finished taking pictures of a model. Carla’s mother was a photographer for VOGUE magazine.

"Mom, can you help me with my Latin verbs?" asked Carla.

" Sure honey," said her mother, "This doesn’t look so complicated."

Carla rolled her eyes.

*****

That night at dinner, (while eating the lasagna Mr. Lewis had come home early to cook) the family discussed their recent plans.

"I just earned five dollars selling that bouquet of petunias to Madam LeBloom," said Carla.

"How many days a week are you working at Manhattan Candy?" asked her father.

"Only two."

"Good. Annie, are you done shooting the spring issue?"

"Almost. How’s that case coming along Edward?"

"It should be done by tomorrow when......" his voice trailed off.

Carla looked puzzled. "When what, daddy?"

Her father cleared his throat. "Lizzie’s apartment is being renovated and she’s coming to stay with us for a couple weeks."

"Really?" said Carla "That’s great!"

Lizzie was Carla’s 29 year old sister. She lived in an apartment on the upper west side with her roommate Karen. Lizzie drove a silver convertible.

" Is Karen coming too?" Carla asked.

"No," said her mother, "Karen is staying at her grandmother’s house."

That night when she was going to sleep, Carla said to Celery, " I can’t wait for Lizzie to get here."

*****

As she approached Blossom Junior High, Carla could already hear her best friend, Toni Martinez arguing about a kickball game. Toni had brown hair that was always braided. She was short, chewed gum and was not seen without a baseball cap. As Carla told Toni her news, Toni’s face lit up with delight. Carla knew she was hoping she could ride in Lizzie’s car. It was a fact that Toni wanted to become a race car driver when she grew up.

As for Carla, she didn’t know what she wanted to do. But she did know that going to first period Latin wasn’t on the list.

*****

As soon as she got home, Carla raced up three flights of stairs. When she opened the door, there was Lizzie chewing on a pear and reading The History of Art.

"Hey Carla" said Lizzie.

" Hi Lizzie. Where’s your convertible?"

"Parked around the corner. Listen, I’m gonna take a nap." And Lizzie walked away.

"Why does Lizzie want to take a nap?" said Carla to Celery "What about going to the mall? We always go to the mall when she visits."

*****

In the weeks that followed, Carla spent very little time with Lizzie. Lizzie was always sleeping or "Out". Lizzie spent a lot of time locked up in her room or calling people on the phone. She only showed up for mealtimes and Carla was beginning to give up trying to hang out with Lizzie. It looked like Lizzie didn’t want to do anything with Carla, so Carla started to feel left out and cranky.

One night, when Carla was in bed, she heard a strange noise. She got out of bed and walked down the hallway. She opened Lizzie’s door just a crack and saw Lizzie crying.

"Lizzie, what’s wrong?" said Carla as she sat on Lizzie’s bed.

Lizzie continued crying.

"What’s wrong?" Carla asked again.

"Well," said Lizzie, "You know I said I was renovating my apartment?"

Carla nodded.

"Well, I wasn’t. I was kicked out ‘cause I couldn’t pay the rent." Lizzie sounded like she was going to burst into tears again. "I quit my job with the wall decorators."

"I thought you liked that job." said Carla, puzzled.

" I did, until I realized they didn’t do much decorative wall painting. That’s what I really wanted to do. I can’t tell mom and dad because they’ll get mad at me; all that money they spent on art school."

"Well, you just did tell us," came a voice out of the dark. Carla and Lizzie looked up into the faces of their mother and father.

"Sweetie, why would we get mad at you if we want you to do what you want?" asked her mother, "We could help you find another job instead of you worrying over it yourself."

" I thought you might not want another mouth to feed," said Lizzie.

" That’s ridiculous!" exclaimed Mr. Lewis "You’re our daughter."

"And you can stay here as long as you want," said Mrs. Lewis, "Now go to sleep." They both gave Lizzie big hugs and left the room.

" Carla," said Lizzie, "Thanks for making me feel better ."

"I wish I could do something more." said Carla.

"You’ve done enough. I don’t expect any more. There’s nothing else to do." said Lizzie.

"Good night Lizzie."

"Good night Carla."

*****

Toni’s aunt was an artist, Carla remembered during science the next day. When Carla had last seen her she had been looking for an assistant. Was she still looking for one? It was time to write a note to Toni. Carla scribbled:

Toni-

A note was given back to Carla a couple minutes later.

She’s still looking. Her number’s 555-2341.

-T

*****

That night at dinner, Carla slipped a piece of paper to Lizzie.

" It’s Toni’s Aunt Linda’s phone number. She’s looking for an artist’s assistant," said Carla, coolly.

Lizzie threw her arms around Carla. "This is great!" "Mom, can I call right now?"

"Yes dear."

Lizzie was back in a minute. " She said to come for an interview tomorrow. This is so great Carla."

*****

That night when Mrs. Lewis was tucking Carla into bed, she said "That was a great thing you did for Lizzie. I’m very proud of you."

"Well," said Carla, "Lizzie said that there wasn’t anything else I could do for her. I just had to prove her wrong."

The End