Codes and Crises

Abstract

Missy saw two things as soon as she rounded the corner of the Sixth Grade Hall at Cherry Hill Academic Prep School or “CHAPS” as it was fondly called. CHAPS was more than just a middle school. It was an entire school campus made of four large buildings including the elementary school or The Lower School and the high school or The Upper School plus an administration building. CHAPS had a reputation, at least among parents, for having strong academics and a great STEM program. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. In her six years in attendance, Missy had come to feel that this was not really the case. In her experience, all the students seemed to care about were sports and popularity; two things she knew nothing about! The CHAPS schools shared a set of offices, a gymnasium, an auditorium, and a cafeteria, which were all housed in the Gates Admin Building, named for a famous and wealthy CHAPS alum, not Bill Gates, though that was one of many school myths that circulated every year. The campus included several sports fields and green areas, and one big, inconvenient, disruptive and unfair rule: no cell phones during school hours. That meant that all cell phones remained locked in lockers or switched off in backpacks all day, every day, no exceptions. Even if they were allowed, as soon as you made it past the main parking area, all signals disappeared and connections dropped. The whole CHAPS campus seemed to be in a bubble of bad reception.

Missy saw two things as soon as she rounded the corner of the Sixth Grade Hall at Cherry Hill Academic Prep School or “CHAPS” as it was fondly called. CHAPS was more than just a middle school. It was an entire school campus made of four large buildings including the elementary school or The Lower School and the high school or The Upper School plus an administration building. CHAPS had a reputation, at least among parents, for having strong academics and a great STEM program. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. In her six years in attendance, Missy had come to feel that this was not really the case. In her experience, all the students seemed to care about were sports and popularity; two things she knew nothing about! The CHAPS schools shared a set of offices, a gymnasium, an auditorium, and a cafeteria, which were all housed in the Gates Admin Building, named for a famous and wealthy CHAPS alum, not Bill Gates, though that was one of many school myths that circulated every year. The campus included several sports fields and green areas, and one big, inconvenient, disruptive and unfair rule: no cell phones during school hours. That meant that all cell phones remained locked in lockers or switched off in backpacks all day, every day, no exceptions. Even if they were allowed, as soon as you made it past the main parking area, all signals disappeared and connections dropped. The whole CHAPS campus seemed to be in a bubble of bad reception.

As Missy got closer to her locker, the first thing she noticed was a giant sign that ran the length of the wall: “RED?CE. ?EUSE. RECYCLE. WHAT’S MISSING? U R!”

That brought a smile to Missy’s face. She liked codes and puzzles, and that was an easy one! Her smile quickly turned into a pucker when she noticed the second thing.

Missy scrunched her eyebrows and pressed her lips together in concern. The neon green sticky note glittered from the center of her locker. She knew that could mean only one thing—an AJ Dupre crisis!

AJ and Missy had known each other since the first grade in CHAPS, when they met in Mrs. Works’ class and sat next to each other. AJ and her family had moved from Pennsylvania to New Jersey when AJ’s mom had taken a new job at a pharmaceutical company.

Having a love of puzzles and codes, the two developed many secret languages and various ciphers during elementary school. Missy rarely had occasion to use any of them; meanwhile, AJ had a knack for uncovering urgent scenarios and specific cases to employ their special language.

Missy speed-walked down the hall and peeled the note off her locker door. She looked at the notation and decoded the message.

• H2O 4A 911! –AJ:(

Missy quickly translated: AJ has an emergency, and she’s not happy. Meet by the water fountain near the Discovery Lab (which took up rooms 4A, 4B and 4C).

Missy was experienced with AJ’s emergencies. They ranged from what Missy thought of as truly urgent, like forgetting a homework assignment or to study for a quiz, to the frivolous such as needing to share news about a friend or an upcoming event, to a fashion faux pas like leaving the house dressed for the wrong day. Whatever the crisis, as AJ’s best friend, Missy always tried to help. Last year, Missy managed to tutor AJ on a whole math chapter in the ten minutes before class began; and just last week, she had swapped sweaters and one sock with AJ and managed to improve both their looks. Whatever the crisis, AJ and Missy could find a workable solution together.

When Missy arrived at the water fountain, AJ was surrounded by a swarm including Morgan, Mahdavi, Danny and Kate. Missy calculated the severity of the crisis based on the number of people being consulted. Five heads to solve one problem. This must be really serious, Missy thought.

As Missy approached the huddle, AJ’s head popped up. AJ was the tallest girl in the sixth grade. As a soccer player and runner, she was lean but not willowy, with a mop of long, red curly hair that she tamed back with headbands and elastics in elaborate configurations.

“You’re here!” AJ reached out her arm and pulled Missy into the huddle. “Great! We need you!”

Missy was relieved to see AJ had remembered #FITSD. AJ’s rhinestone-studded neon shades sat upon her head like a princess crown and matched her bejeweled ballet flats perfectly. “Hey guys,” Missy whispered, greeting the others. “AJ, what’s the crisis?”

AJ beamed, “You cracked my message?”

“I did. What’s going on?” Missy asked.

AJ peeked above the huddle and scanned the hall before speaking. Then she ducked down and in a hushed voice she started her story, “I was just telling the girls and Danny . . .” AJ’s voice trailed off, as a teacher approached the water fountain and took a sip.

“You won’t believe it! The fashion club has its first competition in a mere two weeks!”

The crowd gasped.

“Shucks!” Danny said. Missy noticed that Danny had embraced #FITSD too. He wore aviator sun glasses and had somehow painted the tip of his nose white, which made Missy smile.

“Seriously?!” Kate interjected. In her crouched position, Missy could not see the whole of her outfit, but she knew it would be a replica of the school’s old uniform, which had not been enforced since the second grade. “I knew it would be soon, but gosh!” Kate said.

“We have to get organized! I’ll die if we fail!” AJ said dramatically.

“How can we possibly get our looks together so quickly?” Morgan asked. Morgan was dressed neatly, as was her usual style. Like Kate, Morgan wore a tan skirt and a blue golf shirt, but Morgan’s nod to #FITSD was a small sunburst pin attached to the collar of her white cardigan.

“OMG! Can we make it work?” Mahdavi asked.

Missy looked at the faces of the people huddled around; each was stunned silent. Her mind was spinning as she calculated the number of days and hours of free time they each would have between now and the competition.

“We’ve got time!” Missy shouted arriving at her conclusion. Missy startled the others and caught the eye of Mrs. Towers, the gym teacher, heading down the hallway toward them.

“Eight minutes until the bell, kids,” Mrs. Towers said tapping her watch as she passed by them. Mrs. Towers always wore workout gear in school. Every day she wore the same uniform of a gray t-shirt sporting the CHAPS Knights team logo with black running pants and black trainers. She kept her long, blond hair pulled back into a low ponytail. Missy imagined Mrs. Towers, who stood at least six feet tall and was rail thin, could have been a beautiful fashion model with her hair and make-up done up and wearing the right clothes.

Doesn’t she get bored wearing the same dull clothes every day? Missy wondered to herself, as she watched Mrs. Towers turn the corner. Then Missy ducked her head back into the huddle.

“Really? You think we can get enough work done in such a short time,” AJ whispered to Missy.

Morgan spoke up, “Well, at least we have some weekends. I bet we can put something together in time.”

They all nodded, regaining their confidence. Missy also reassured the group, “By my calculations, we’ve got plenty of time!”

“Our first official fashion club meeting is Monday,” Kate said, “but I’m sure we can make a plan and work over the weekend to be ready by the competition.”

“Okay,” Missy said. “Look at us!” Missy spun around and then pointed to Danny’s shades and Mahdavi’s colorful scarf. Danny snapped his fingers in a zee configuration to reinforce Missy’s statement. “We are Fashion Forward —all the way!” Missy said and high-fived with AJ, then Danny.

“Okay! AJ said, relieved her crisis had been managed. “Let’s meet in the cafeteria at lunchtime and figure out what we need to do next.”

“Great!” Missy and Morgan said in unison. “JINX!” they both sang out just as the bell rang.

Eleven-forty-eight. Twelve minutes to the lunch bell, Missy calculated. The morning seemed to drag on. Even while Ms. Jameson taught a lesson on calculating ratios, one of Missy’s favorite topics, Missy found it hard to concentrate. Her mind kept drifting to visions of the fashion club’s first fashion competition. She pictured Ms. Jameson wearing a high-tech gown that lit up when she walked and gestured toward the whiteboard. Ms. Jameson was generally all buttoned-up, preferring to wear dark colored pantsuits or skirts and coordinating blouses. Ms. Jameson was anything but flashy.

“Missy?” Ms. Jameson called on her. “Missy, can you answer?”

“Uh. What?” Missy said startled. “I mean, excuse me. I didn’t follow the question.”

Ms. Jameson raised one eyebrow at Missy, and then called on an eager James Kim to answer the question. “The answer is one-twenty-fourth,” said James confidently sneering at Missy.

“Of course it is,” Missy scolded herself under her breath for not paying attention. She wrote out the equation in her math notebook. She listened closely as Ms. Jameson dictated the class’s homework, then carefully packed up her planner and notebook just as the lunch bell rang.

When Missy stood up to leave, Ms. Jameson motioned for Missy to come to her desk. Missy thought for sure she was about to get a lecture on daydreaming in class. Instead, Ms. Jameson said, “I hope you’re planning to come to the math club meeting after school on Monday, Missy! We could really use your skills on the team.”

“Oh,” Missy said, “I’m still thinking about it.” Missy didn’t want to disappoint Ms. Jameson, but there was no way she would be joining math club. Missy was certain that would permanently tag her as a super geek. Missy fidgeted with her pack, said goodbye and slipped out of the room.

She scrambled through the crowded hallway dodging people making their way back to their lockers in order to get to the cafeteria as quickly as she could without breaking the school’s no-running-in-the-halls rule. The more she thought about it, the happier she was. Math club would be impossible to attend because she committed to the fashion club and they met at the same time. That was her out—a scheduling conflict! Missy was relieved that she now had a great excuse.

When she arrived, the line for hot lunch at the cafeteria counter already wound its way back and around the turnstile. So Missy opted for a cold lunch and picked up a pre-made sandwich and a bag of fruit crisps. She swiped her cafeteria card at the register and headed toward the table where she could see the others were already gathering.

Morgan caught up to her and touched her arm to get her attention. “Hey, Miss! I was just talking to Ms. Jameson. I think I’m going to go to the math club meeting on Monday, and split my time so I can also go to the fashion club meeting. You wanna join me?”

“What?” Missy asked. “Uh. No. I don’t think so,” she stammered suddenly feeling panicked that her great excuse might not be so great after all.

The girls made their way around the maze of cafeteria tables and settled at the one that Danny had reserved with his backpack, both of his shoes and his sweatshirt. Missy and Morgan sat on the long bench opposite Danny, AJ and Mahdavi who were already seated at the table. Missy pinched her nose and picked up one of Danny’s shoes by the laces. She passed it across the table to him. “Thanks for saving us seats,” she said in a nasally voice.

“Sure thang, y’all. It was my pleasure,” Danny said with a southern accent that always made Missy smile. Danny started at CHAPS in sixth grade. His family had moved from South Carolina where he had been home-schooled. He was tall for his age with a mop of dark brown hair cut fashionably floppy, copying all the current teen icons. He had tested up a year. So, even though he was barely eleven, Danny had been placed into sixth grade. Danny seemed to love CHAPS and all his classes. Missy liked how he wanted to meet everyone and try everything. When Missy had asked Danny about his accent, he exclaimed, “That’s no accent. That’s just southern charm.”

AJ started speed-talking, which she did whenever she was excited. Missy could tell that no one was following her.

“AJ. AJ,” Missy spoke up. “Slow down. Let’s go back to the beginning.”

AJ took a breath and started speaking normally again. “Okay. This is what we know,” AJ glanced at her smartphone hidden on her lap under the table where she had input her intel, “We have exactly ten and one-half days to get organized and design and create three to five separate looks.” As she spoke, AJ’s words sped up and merged together. Missy gave her a slow-down signal with her hands.

“Right,” said Morgan. “And the competition category is ‘True to You’ according to Mrs. Frisch, our fashion club mentor who happens to be my homeroom teacher.”

Kate slid onto the bench, knocking off Danny’s remaining shoe. She used her foot to push it across the floor to Danny’s side of the table. “I found out that we can work as a group or in pairs. I read the rules on the library computer and that was clearly stated.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Missy said. “Since there are six of us here, we can work in teams of two, so we will have at least three looks, and maybe more if there are others in the club who we don’t know yet.”

Danny scratched his head. “Let’s pair up then.”

AJ grabbed Missy’s hand. Kate nodded to Morgan from the end of the table.

“Okay Mahdavi! We’ve got this, girl,” Danny said and flicked the edge of her scarf in the air.

With the teams decided, Danny asked, “I’m just wondering . . . where do we get our supplies? Like material and zippers. You know, buttons and notions and et ceteras?”

“OMG!” AJ put her head on the table. “I hadn’t even thought of that!”

Missy felt a surge of energy that pumped from her toes to her head. “I know!” she shouted pointing at the sign in the cafeteria. It was the twin to the sign she’d seen earlier that morning above the lockers.

AJ raised her head and looked at Missy, “What?!”

They all swiveled in their seats following Missy’s gaze to read the sign. Mahdavi giggled. “That’s cute, but I don’t get it. How does ‘er’ answer the question?”

“Not ‘er,’ YOU ARE,” Danny said. “Get it? The letters U and R are cut out of the words Reduce and Reuse?”

“Hah!” Mahdavi laughed. “That’s hilarious. I guess they want us to recycle more.”

“Exactly!” Missy said. “Look at my OOTD.” Missy stood up and spun around for the second time that day. “It’s completely made up of upcycled clothes! These shorts were my old jeans that got too short for me as pants. This shirt was a plain boring t-shirt. And, I totally customized these kicks,” she said standing on one leg and showing off her painted sneakers.

“Wow!” said Danny. “That’s a great idea! I bet we all have clothes that don’t fit or hand-me-downs that need updating or other items that could just use some PIZZAZZ!”

“You Are right!” said Morgan, exaggerating a wink.

Missy got the joke right away and repeated, “U R—no you are!” and they all laughed.

“I’ll have to see,” said Kate tentatively, “but maybe . . .”

“Perfect!” said AJ. “Problem solved!”

FormalPara Fashion Hack

What is upcycling?

Upcycling is a way of turning old and discarded materials into something special, giving the item a new life through your transformation.

FormalPara Fashion Hack: T-Shirt Pillow How-to

Turn a well-loved tee into a new pillow. Find an old t-shirt that you loved for the color or its graphic but has lost its shape or no longer fits you or has a small stain. Turn it inside-out and draw a square around the area you want to feature on your pillow, then sew along that line, leaving about a four-inch section unsewn. Use that opening to turn the t-shirt inside-right and stuff it with batting or strips of cut up discarded clothing. Sew up the hole then hot glue oversized buttons or other embellishments. And, enjoy your upcycled pillow!