Sewing in Circles (8 page)

The following day, she showed the new designs to her friends and explained the latest about the gift fair situation.

“I want to stay away from earrings and necklaces, so I'm not directly competing with Allie,” she continued.

Zoey noticed that Priti didn't seem as excited and enthusiastic about her designs as usual.

“What's the matter?” she asked.

“Well, it just seems a little . . . I don't know . . . hypocritical, is all,” Priti said. “I mean, when my cousin's friend in India copied the sari you made me to wear to my cousin's wedding and sold the knockoffs in her clothing store, you freaked out because she was copying your work and making a profit.”

She leaned forward, as if to emphasize her point.

“But now you're doing exactly the same thing with these bracelets,” Priti said. “Copying someone else's design to make a profit. I don't want to get into a fight like we did last time, but I don't
understand why one is okay and the other isn't.”

Zoey was taken aback—and, truth be told, upset—by her friend's criticism.

“I'm not a hypocrite!” she protested.

“I don't want to make things weird again,” Priti said, clearly distressed. “I just want to understand why there's a difference.”

“I can see Priti's point,” Kate said, ever the diplomat.

“Me too,” Libby said. “But I also love the bracelets Zoey made for us, so maybe I'm a hypocrite too.”

“I mean . . . well, when I got upset before, it was early on,” Zoey explained. “And now I've learned from being in the fashion business for a while that people make copies all the time. It's just the way it is, and Daphne Shaw told me to accept it as a compliment when people copy my designs.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Priti said. “Now I understand better.”

“It would be different if I were claiming these were the authentic bracelets and charging the full price,” Zoey said. “But the ones I make are my
interpretation of the popular design, and I would be selling them at a lower price.”

“That's true,” Libby said.

“I like yours better, anyway,” Kate said.

“I'll try to think of something else to make and sell at the fair,” Zoey said, feeling unsure of what to do. “I just have to figure out whatever it is in a hurry, because there isn't much time left! Plus, I still have to send more pieces to Daphne Shaw, but I'm stumped about how to design something that shows off my creativity or whatever. I thought
anything
I made was creative.”

“I wonder if the clothes for the fair were too basic, since you meant them to be crowd-pleasers, you know? She probably just wants to see your personality in the clothes for her shop,” Priti said, then got an idea. “What if you pull the pieces from your closet that feel the most like you, the ones that are
so
Zoey?”

While Priti laughed at her own pun, Zoey hugged her. “Thank you, you're brilliant!” Zoey finally said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I couldn't wrap my head around what Daphne might be looking for, but I think you're
on to something. And if I choose the pieces I really love, it means they fit well and have appeal. I know just the pieces I'm going to pick and mail!”

“See, it'll work out,” Libby said.

That night, after scouring her closet for Daphne-worthy designs, Zoey decided on a few pieces to give to her dad to mail in the morning. Dad and Marcus were watching a ball game in the living room when she came downstairs with the clothes, so she waited until she saw that it was a commercial break before she got their attention.

Zoey said she'd made a decision for the second round of ideas for Daphne's shop and showed them her choices.

“You're sending your favorite skirt?” her dad asked.

“How will you live without it?” Marcus added. “It's practically your uniform.”

Zoey cringed at the thought of uniforms. “Well, I decided to send things that were both creative and wearable, and most of all, very me. These are things
I usually want to wear, so hopefully, Daphne will think other people will want to wear—and buy—them too,” Zoey said. “Besides, I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to give the skirt a break in my clothing rotation.”

“That's my girl!” Dad said. “I'll pack and mail these first thing in the morning.”

Dad and Marcus gave Zoey high fives, and then the game came back on, so Zoey headed over to her work area. She was relieved to have found pieces she could really feel good about sending to Daphne—pieces that represented her as a designer and a person. To get a head start, in case Daphne liked one of them, Zoey had made patterns based on the pieces she'd sent, and got to work cutting out fabric in a variety of clothing sizes.

When she needed a break from that, she switched gears and focused on the gift fair dilemma. She looked at all the accessories she'd made in the past, trying to figure out if maybe she could use them instead of the bracelets for the gift fair. Some were much more complicated and time-consuming to make than the bracelets, and others were about the
same, but she didn't think they'd sell as well. She still had to make a few more clothing items in different sizes for the gift fair. Even though she liked the clothes, she was a bit worried they might not be good enough for the fair, since they weren't good enough for Daphne. The truth was, she just didn't have time to sew new outfits, and deep down, she liked what she had made, anyway. So she decided to focus on the accessories.

Do I let quick and easy win over any niggling worries I have about copying the bracelets?
she wondered.

She was going to have to make a decision—and soon.

Switchbacks and Roundabouts

Have you ever been on one of those roads going up a mountain where there are lots of switchbacks or hairpin turns? Sometimes they're even called “dead man's curves,” but that freaks me out! It can make you kind of dizzy. But also, it's exciting, like you're
on a roller coaster. That's what it's been like around here lately—and it inspired the roundabout shirt and tote bag. I get excited, then go around a corner and get disappointed, then get excited again, then hit another bend. . . . I hope the road ahead gets a lot straighter and less complicated soon!

“What are you making?” Priti asked Zoey in industrial arts the next day.

Zoey was on the lathe, chiseling a piece of wood into a cylinder.

“I'm trying to make wooden beads,” Zoey said. “I was thinking that if I can make enough of them, I could do wooden bracelets for the gift fair.”

She stopped the lathe.

“But at the rate I'm going, there's no way that's going to happen. It's taking waaaaay too long to make the beads, let alone varnishing them and making them into bracelets.”

“They do look pretty fiddly,” Priti admitted.

“That's it. I'm giving up on the bead idea.” Zoey sighed. “Time to turn to plan B. I think I'm going to
make some wooden trays instead. They'll be good for displaying things, and I can even sell them. They're kind of accessories, right?”

“Those will definitely be easier to make,” Priti said. “And they'll look good in your booth.”

Zoey took the wood cylinder off the lathe and went to find some wood to make a tray. As she was looking through the woodpile for a suitable piece, she overheard Emily asking Ivy about the bracelet Zoey had made her. Ivy had been wearing it constantly.

“Where did you get that cool bracelet?” Emily asked. “I've never seen that pattern before—and I know pretty much all the ones they make.”

“Oh, it was a gift from a . . . friend,” Ivy said. “Isn't it great?”

Emily took a closer look. “Wait—let me see the clasp. . . . That's not the same kind as mine. And it doesn't have the charm with the brand logo,” she said. “That bracelet is a fake. I guess whoever gave it to you as a present isn't
that
good of a friend after all.”

Zoey glanced at Ivy, who looked mortified.

“It's real. I'm sure it is,” Ivy said. “But I don't really like it that much, anyway.”

She tore the bracelet from her wrist and shoved it into her backpack. When Ivy looked up, she caught Zoey's eye and gave her an angry look.

Zoey felt terrible. She'd only made Ivy the bracelet because Emily had been harassing Ivy about when she was going to buy one, and after seeing Ivy at the food pantry and learning the secret about her dad losing his job, Zoey had wanted to try to make Ivy's life easier. Now her kind gesture seemed to have backfired.

I have to find a way to talk to Ivy after class and explain,
Zoey thought. She didn't know Ivy had thought the bracelet was store bought or that it would matter so much that it wasn't.

Finding Ivy wasn't so easy. It seemed like she was trying to avoid Zoey. It wasn't until the next day that Zoey finally spotted her going into the girls' room and followed her. All the stall doors were open, except one.

“Ivy?” Zoey called through the door. “It's Zoey.”

“What do
you
want?” Ivy said, sounding even angrier than Zoey expected.

“I need to talk to you,” Zoey said. “About the bracelet. It's okay, we're alone.”

The toilet flushed, and Ivy came out and went to the sink.

She gave Zoey a dirty look in the mirror. “Oh, you mean the
fake
bracelet? The one you made to humiliate me in front of Emily?”

“I didn't, I—”

“Do you know I purposely learned everyone's schedule at the food pantry, so I could make sure we never go to pick up food when Libby, Kate, or Tyler is there?” Ivy said, ripping paper towels out of the dispenser angrily and drying her hands. “And now you had to do this.”

“Ivy, I promise you, I would never do anything to embarrass you on purpose,” Zoey told her. “I was only trying to be nice!”

Ivy threw the paper towels into the garbage. “Yeah? How do you figure that?”