Read The Latte Rebellion for Free Online Page B

Justice wasn’t what they had in mind.
    I will say one thing about the evening: It sure blew the Inter-Club Council picnic out of the water.
    As it happened, I had to wait until Monday to talk to Carey. Her whole family went out of town to a wedding over the weekend—her alleged reason for not answering her phone Friday night—and I had to put in some face time with the relatives.
    Since Nani was still visiting, and my Nana had come up to join her for the weekend, my mom and dad threw a big dinner shindig Saturday night with all the relatives within an eighty-mile radius. I must have spent five hours washing pots and pans on Sunday, but that was painless compared to telling every single person at the party, from Mom’s brother Uncle Raj to Dad’s great-aunt Eva, that (a) Yes, I’m applying for colleges; (b) No, I don’t know what I want to major in; (c) The official list is Robbins, Stanford, Harvard, and Berkeley; and (d) I won’t hear the results until much, much later, so don’t ask. Going back to school on Monday was a relief after running the interrogation gauntlet.
    “These are funny,” Carey said, looking over the six poster ideas I’d scribbled on the back of an old practice quiz. We came up with four more slogans together during French class, texting them to each other and giggling when elderly Mrs. Vo wasn’t looking.
    Latte Rebellion Official Propaganda Slogans
    1. We are all around you and you don’t even know it.
    2. Ask not what the brown can do for you but what you can do for the brown.
    3. Fear the Latte.
    4. Lattes of the World, Unite!
    5. Wanted: Rebellion Sympathizers. Must love coffee.
    6. Buy our T-shirts! Please! We need money!
    7. The time is now. The color is brown.
    8. It’s all about the latte.
    9. Forget “got milk.” It’s time for the juice.
    10. Ecru. Tan. Sepia. Sienna. Mocha. You.
    “Yep, we are brilliant,” Carey said, laughing, after she re-read our ideas aloud in the car after school.
    “We are brilliant. It’s kind of too bad we decided to remain mysterious, really. We could seriously have a million-dollar idea on our hands. Even Bridget liked it, and you know how much of a cynic she is.” I drummed my fingers on the dashboard. “Speaking of which, Bridget is still on board. She said she’s fine with putting up posters around the university.”
    “Oh, cool! You know, Leonard said he thought it was a good idea, too. He’s going to love the posters.”
    “ Leonard? ” I nearly swerved into the adjoining lane.
    “You know, Leonard from Mocha Loco.”
    “When did you talk to Leonard ?” And why did she not tell me?
    “Oh, I didn’t talk to him. He posted to our online guest book. He said Latte Rebellion would make a great name for a café.”
    “He what ?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. Sure, he was butting in when nobody asked for his opinion, but on the other hand, maybe he’d be able to talk about it to his friends and get them to buy some shirts. I had to stay practical. “What else did he say?”
    “Not much. I emailed him to tell him thanks for stopping by the website, and then he emailed me back on Saturday.”
    “You’re emailing back and forth now?” This seemed to be happening way too quickly. And, to be honest, it wasn’t entirely welcome. All I could think of, dumb as it was, was that Carey and I were like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and Leonard was like Yoko Ono. “Isn’t that a little sudden?”
    “I can’t help it if you’re jealous,” she said smugly. “He is cute, isn’t he?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “So, maybe he has a cute friend for you.”
    “I do not need Leonard’s help, thank you very much.” I pulled up into the Wongs’ driveway but I didn’t get out of the car.
    “Don’t say I never offered you nothin’,” Carey said, poking me in the arm before getting out. I turned up my nose, pretending to be pseudo-miffed. In reality, though, I did feel a little miffed, and I pulled away from her house with a bit