Page 8 of Didn't See That Coming

“Oh!” Eleanor Roosevelt cries. “It’s not for us, gosh no.” Sarah Jessica Parker shakes her head vehemently. “It’s for you seniors!”

“Uh-huh…Again, if anyone can run a successful matchmaking service, it would be you. But how many seniors do you know?” I can’t see anyone going for a matchmaking service run by two thirteen-year-olds, but I don’t say that out loud, because she’ll probably find it patronizing.

Instead of deflating at the very legit point I’ve just made, Eleanor Roosevelt’s grin widens. “Yeah, that’s where YOU come in, Ci Kiki.”

Uh-oh. “I’m…not following.”

“Well, you’re a senior. And you’re new. This would be the perfect way for you to get to know more people at Xingfa!”

“I—I don’t know…I’m going to be pretty busy with college apps—”

“Exactly!” Eleanor Roosevelt cries. How is it possible that her eyes are literally wider than before? I swear her face is70percent eyes right now. “This will be so good on your college apps!”

“Um, yeah, I don’t think that using a matchmaking service—”

“You wouldn’t just be using the service,” Sarah Jessica says. “As our first-ever participant, you’ll be granted a position within our company.”

“I don’t know—”

Eleanor Roosevelt holds up a thumb. “Organizational skills.” An index finger. “Communication skills.” Her middle finger. “Social networking.” Her fourth finger. “Marketing skills.” Her pinky. “And later, once we’ve conquered Xingfa, we can expand to other schools, and that shows entrepreneurial spirit. It’s going to blow your college app profile out of the water.”

“Uh…” Despite myself, I’m pretty freaking impressed. How are these kids only thirteen? When I was thirteen, all I did was play shooting games. Oh wait, I’m still doing that.

“But the icing on the cake,” Eleanor Roosevelt adds, “is our app.”

“Wha?” I can’t believe I’m the elder here and I’m the one who’s lost in this conversation.

She gestures with a flourish at Sarah Jessica. “You might not have guessed from how fabulous she looks, but our Sarah Jessica Parker is a programming genius. She’s going to make an app for it.”

Sarah Jessica curtseys. “I do like making apps.I’ve made a couple of them before, just to try my hand at it. It’s reallyeasy.”

I nod slowly. “Really easy to make a phone app, huh?” I echo, still struggling to follow what’s happening.

“Piece of cake. It’ll be like Tinder,” Sarah Jessica says with all the confidence in the world.

“Okay, I’m not even going to get into the fact that you two are way too young to know about Tinder.” I frown sternly down at them, and they roll their eyes. “But there’s also the fact that, uh, premarital sex is really—I mean—” I struggle for the right words. “It’s, you know, you—you kids are too young!”

“Oh my gosh, Ci Kiki,” Eleanor Roosevelt groans. “Of course it won’t be about the sex. Ew. I mean, it’s like Tinder but a lot more innocent. Like an innocent, parent-approved Tinder.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “George will kill me if you get into any trouble, you know that?”

Eleanor Roosevelt smiles sweetly up at me. “Then you better make sure I don’t get into any trouble.”

I know when I’m defeated. “All right, I’ll help you guys out with it, but I donotwant to be involved in the actual dating.”

“Are you sure?” Sarah Jessica says. “Going on dates will really help your social life.”

I toss my hair over my shoulder and wink at them. “I don’t need help finding dates.”

Eleanor Roosevelt raises her brows at Sarah Jessica. “See?” she says. “I told you Ci Kiki is the best.”

Sarah Jessica looks like she’s about to continue arguing, but just then, the bell rings.

“That’s the first bell,” Sarah Jessica says. “Means we’ve got eight minutes before classes formally start.”

“Okay, well, I’ve gotta run,” I say.

“We’ll revisit this later,” Eleanor Roosevelt calls out to me as I hurry down the hallway toward the Secondary School building.

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