Texting 1, 2, 3 (Volume 8) (Dear Know-It-All, Band 8) - Softcover

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Rachel Wise loves to give advice. When she’s not editing or writing children’s books, which she does full-time at a publisher in New York, she’s reading advice columns in newspapers, magazines, and blogs—and is always sure her advice would be better! Her dream is to someday have her own talk show, where she could share her wisdom with millions of people at once, but for now she’s happy to dole out advice in small portions in Dear Know-It-All books.

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Texting 1, 2, 3

Chapter 1

BREAKING NEWS: YOUNG GIRL MELTS ON SIDEWALK DURING RECORD HEAT

It’s hot. Right now as I sit on my front steps waiting for my BFF, Hailey Jones, and her mom to take us to the air-conditioned mall on the third day of an awful heat wave, it’s the kind of hot that makes me wonder if I could actually dissolve into a unrecognizable blob of goo by the time Hailey gets here. Breaking News: Young Girl Melts on Sidewalk During Record Heat is what I’m thinking.

It’s also the kind of hot that makes me wish for a chill in the air and sweaters and, believe it or not, school. School just goes with fall. School also goes with seeing my forever and ever crush, Michael Lawrence, every day. I haven’t seen him since the town’s Fourth of July fireworks display, which was awesome. Hailey, Michael and his friend Frank, and I all went together. I couldn’t really call it a double date since Hailey says she doesn’t have a crush on Frank, but he definitely has a crush on her and maybe one of these days Hailey will like him back. Hailey says he’s a really nice guy, but his hair is too dark and his ears are too big for her taste. I think she’s actually afraid to like someone she knows has a big crush on her. But that secret’s just between me and me.

Anyway, the way we decided to go together is because we ran into each other at the movies the night before and all decided to go together to the fireworks, so it was a group decision. I don’t think that officially counts as a double date. Still, Michael and I shared a cotton candy and sat pretty close while the fireworks were happening. I couldn’t tell what was making my heart beat faster—the fireworks or sitting on a picnic blanket in the dark with Michael Lawrence!

Since then though, I haven’t seen him, like, at all. It’s been more than six weeks. He went to baseball camp, Hailey went to soccer camp, and I went to journalism camp. Hailey couldn’t understand why I’d want to spend any part of my summer writing. But journalism is my passion, just like soccer and sports in general are hers. I got to brush up on my reporting skills and learned lots of cool stuff about being a reporter. One thing I learned is that I should finish the story before I think of the headline, which is hard for me. I love headlines. Martone Believes Life Is a Series of Headlines. So I guess I need to have a little more patience when it comes to putting my stamp on the story.

The only thing that bums me out about the start of school is that I’ve finished my tenure as Dear Know-It-All, the anonymous (I think!) advice columnist. It was a year-long gig, and since I did it all last year, my time is up. I can’t imagine not doing it, but I guess I’ll have more time to focus on the other writing I do for the paper. I also did NOT get to be editor in chief this year. I was hoping I would, but instead Jessica Kelly won the crown. Mr. Trigg said that I would make a great editor in chief and was one of the best reporters the Voice had ever had, but I still needed a little more experience under my belt. Jessica has been on the paper a year longer than I have, is super-organized, and a little bossy, which is maybe kind of how you need to be as editor in chief. So I get why Mr. Trigg chose her. It is an all-consuming job. I have to admit I was a little nervous about having that much responsibility, but I’m also disappointed because I was really up for the challenge. But Mr. Trigg said, “Ms. Martone, there’s still plenty of time to see great things from you,” so I guess I just need to wait.

I’ve been obsessing about who the new Know-It-All will be all summer, but I guess I’ll never know since it’s top secret. I managed never to blow my cover, as far as I know. That wasn’t an easy job, but I really grew to love it and found that every time I had to give advice to someone else, I learned something new about myself. Still, it was a lot of stress. Maybe it will be good to focus on other things now. Like not melting.

Finally, just in the nick of time, Hailey’s white car pulled up. The sun glared on it so brightly, I had to shield my eyes just to look at it. I was sweating after walking the twenty feet to the car.

“Ugh, I’m surprised I didn’t melt!” I said, slumping down into the backseat. The AC was blasting in the car. “It feels so good in here.”

“I know,” Hailey said from the front. “You have AC in your house, though, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but my mom is always turning it off when we’re not in the house.”

“Us too,” Hailey’s mom said. “It costs a fortune!”

“Well, at least walking around the ice-cold mall is free,” Hailey said. “Unless you buy stuff.”

“And speaking of buying stuff, my mom gave me some money for a back-to-school outfit,” I said, holding up my shoulder bag as if Hailey could see the money inside.

“I did the same for Hailey,” Mrs. Jones said. “I used to love getting together the perfect back-to-school outfit. It would take me weeks,” she added dreamily.

“Yeah, well, I just want to be cool and comfortable,” Hailey said, rolling her eyes, ever practical. She wasn’t one to fuss over her clothes unless a boy was involved.

I just nodded, but secretly I wanted to get the cutest outfit I could possibly find for Michael. Since he hadn’t seen me in a while, it was a chance to wow him a little bit. It’s not that I wanted to look different, just a little new, I guess. I should have asked my older sister, Allie, for some advice. She always looks great.

For the first half hour at the mall, Hailey and I walked around sipping slushies and letting the frozen air sink into our bones. Once we felt refreshed, we headed over to our favorite store to check out the latest trends.

“I don’t know,” Hailey said as I tried on a red tank top with ruffles down the front. “It’s not really you.”

“Yeah, but what if I wanted to try out a new look?” I said, looking past her in the mirror and flipping my hair from side to side. I knew it was a little much, but I felt like taking a risk.

“I think what you’re looking for is the You-Only-Better top, not the Who-Are-You? top, which is what that is,” she said, pointing at me. Then she held up a blousy white cotton shirt.

“Nah, kind of boring,” I said, waving the white shirt away. I already had a few blouses like it.

“What about this one?” Hailey said, and held up a purple tunic-style tee with a really cool green design embroidered on the front.

“Hmmm,” I said. “It would look nice with those leggings.” I pointed to a simple black pair. I grabbed it from Hailey and tried it on. It was supercute, and the green embroidery highlighted my eyes.

“Perfect! You only better,” Hailey said.

“Why not just me? Why the better part?” I asked.

“I’m just kidding with you, beauty queen,” Hailey said, grinning. She went and tried on a white T-shirt, the kind that she had a million of.

“It looks good,” I said, but...