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don’t like these doughnuts,” he said, “especially in the morning.”

Saturdays
    Ever since Dad went to L.A. Mom takes Bruce and me to the office with her on Saturdays. She’s got a travel agency in town. Going Places is the name of it. Aunt Denise says Mom is a real go-getter. She says she hopes I take after her. I don’t know if I do or not. Mom had puppy fat like me when she was a girl. And we both have brown hair and blue eyes if that means anything.
    I reminded Mom this was the Saturday Rachel and I were going to shop with Alison, to help her fix up her room. “Rachel says it’s very depressing the way it is. It’s all gray.”
    â€œGray is a sophisticated color,” Mom said.
    â€œBut it’s so blah … it doesn’t suit Alison,” I told her. “Alison is a very cheerful person.”
    â€œShe sounds like a good match for you,” Mom said.
    â€œI think she is. I think we’re really going to get along.”
    â€œWhat about Rachel?” Mom asked.
    â€œShe wants to be Alison’s friend, too. She wants to help her get adjusted here. We’re meeting in front of the bank at one o’clock. Is that okay?”
    â€œI think we can arrange to give you the afternoon off,” Mom said. “But try and get as much as you can done this morning.”
    â€œYou know I’m a hard worker,” I said.
    My job is filing. Craig taught me how to do it. He’s one of Mom’s part-time assistants. He wears a gold earring in one ear and has a scraggly moustache that he’s always touching to make sure it’s still there. He wants to write travel guides to places like Africa and India when he’s out of college. So far he’s only been as far away as Maine.
    There’s no big deal to filing as long as you know the alphabet. The only thing I have to remember is that we file front to back here, which means I have to put the latest papers at the end of the folder, not at the beginning.
    While I was filing, who should come into Going Places but Jeremy Dragon, that good-looking boy from the bus. Only Rachel and Alison know my secret name for him. I named him that becauseof his chartreuse jacket with the dragon on the back. He wears it every day. He was with two of his friends. I recognized them from the bus, too.
    â€œCan I help you?” Craig asked them.
    â€œWe need some brochures,” Jeremy Dragon said, “for a school project.”
    â€œHelp yourself,” Craig said.
    â€œHow many can we take?” one of Jeremy’s friends asked.
    I came running up front then. “How about five apiece?” I said.
    Jeremy and his two friends looked at me. So did Craig.
    â€œAren’t you supposed to be filing?” Craig asked.
    â€œIn a minute,” I told him and hoped that he would go do something else. When he still didn’t get the hint I said,
“I’ll
take care of this, Craig.” I’ve heard Mom say that to him lots of times.
    Finally Craig got the message and said, “Oh …” and he excused himself to go back to the desk where he’d been working.
    â€œYou should try the Ivory Coast,” I said to Jeremy, handing him a brochure. “And Thailand … that’s a good one.” I handed him that brochure, too. “I also recommend Alaska … and then there’s Brazil.” Each time I handed Jeremy Dragon a brochure our fingers touched and I got a tingly feeling up my arm.
    â€œWe’re doing a project on marketing and advertising,” Jeremy said, “not on travel.”
    â€œOh,” I said, as his friends helped themselves to more than five brochures apiece. Then I quickly added, “If you ever do want to plan a trip this is the best travel agency in town. My mother owns it so I should know.”
    â€œWe’ll keep that in mind,” Jeremy said. He kind of waved as he went out the door.
    â€œMy name is