:whispers: I will finish this…. I will finish this…. Trust me. I will… or at least keep adding to it. I'm back and new chapters are coming. Thanks to everyone who supported this in my absence.

Dear Claire, Margo, Vanessa, Adam, Byron, Jordan, Mom, and Dad,

Whoo! I almost used a whole postcard writing your names down! I hope you guys aren't missing me too much. Mexico is so dibble. Today I met a very nice boy and he's going to help me with this little problem I'm having. Nothing to worry about, I've got it all taken care of.

Love,

Mallory

This Mexico trip was a disaster. A big stale disaster. I had embarrassed myself in front of Ben, and let me tell you information travels fast at SMS. Kids clucked when they walked by me, flapping their arms and bobbing their heads up and down. I was so mortified I didn't even want to leave my room. But I had to, because I wanted to raise more money than anyone else. If I could get the respect of my BSC friends back, I could slowly begin my climb back up the social ladder at SMS!

I got up early the day after our emergency meeting and got dressed extra dibble. I started with my white tights with the little red hearts on them. I had borrowed a black leotard from Jessi, which I wore over that. And then I put on a pair of green corduroy shots that stopped just above my knee. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, which was pretty difficult because the rubber bands kept breaking and getting caught in my curls. I finally got it on the sixth try though.

I put on my glasses and took a moment to admire myself in the mirror. I looked about 14, a very mature 14. I needed to look mature today for when I set up my caricature stand. The leotard and ponytail made me look dibbly artsy. Finally, I decided to apply some makeup, a little green eyeshadow, and some pink rouge. I puckered up my lips and applied some "Fiesta Red" lipstick and it was all systems go.

I got in the elevator and went up to the older girls' floor. I needed to borrow some art supplies, and I knew Claudia had brought a whole separate suitcase full.

When I got off on their floor I noticed a line of girls coming from out of their room all the way into the hallway.

"What's going on?" I asked as I walked through their open door. Claudia was sitting on the floor organizing something, Abby was lying on her bed with a notepad, and Stacey was standing in front of a girl studying her carefully.

"Stacey's started her own fashion consulting service to make money for you-know-what," Abby said, jotting down notes as she wrote.

"I'm giving makeovers and dating tips for twenty bucks a person," Stacey added, filing through her makeup case. "A lot of the younger girls are already in line… Too bad we're trying to reserve our cash Mallory, I'd help you out."

"Ha," I said, remembering the day before. "Well, I plan to raise more money than anyone with my caricatures. Speaking of which, Claud, may I please borrow some art supplies?"

"Nope, sorry Mal. I'm stealing your idea and setting up my own characters stand," Claudia said, picking up a heavy bag full of art supplies. "I'm gonna need all this stuff."

"You mean caricatures," I said dejectedly. "Well what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you guys can work together," Abby suggested. "Like, Claudia can draw pictures of people and you could write stories about them."

Claudia stood in the doorway and stared at me for a moment. "Um… Well… I guess..." she said slowly.

"That's okay," I said, stalking out of the room, pushing past her. "I can think of something on my own!"

I rode the elevator down to the lobby. "Boy," I sighed. "Being eleven sure is trial sometimes."

I decided to go on a walk hoping that I could get some money making ideas on the way. After about an hour of walking I was still without and idea, and thirsty.

I stopped at a restaurant to get a soda. "Sprite, por favor," I said to the waiter, sitting down at one of the tables outside. I closed my eyes and rested my chin on the edge of the table while I waited.

"Hmm, maybe I could get a job at a restaurant," I thought. I had seen some kids my age and younger working at places.

"Esta bien?" I heard a voice ask. I opened my eyes and looked up to see a figure standing over me. A male figure.

"Um, yeah, er, si," I answered, straightening my glasses.

"Oh, you speak English?" The boy said, sitting down.

"Yes," I answered uncomfortably. I looked around nervously to make sure no one I knew was around. Ben Hobart was still my sort-of-boyfriend, I didn't want people to think I was cheating on him.

"My name is Julio," the boy said in accented English. He was about 5'6 and thin. He had dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. He wasn't bad looking, but I did have a sort-of-boyfriend. And Julio looked to be about fifteen years old, which is way too old for me. That's practically a man!

"My name is Mallory," I answered cautiously.

"Hola Mallory," he replied smiling. "Que pasa? You looked sad, no?"

"Well…. I'm here on a class trip," I began as my soda arrived.

"Oh really, where do you come from?" Julio interrupted.

"Connecticut," I answered. "Stoneybrook, Connecticut."

"I have never heard of that place," Julio said, his dark eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, it's near Stamford," I offered, taking a sip of my Sprite.

"Oh," Julio replied. "So, where are all of your friends?"

"Probably somewhere being jerks," I blurted out. With some prodding and a couple more sodas I had explained the events of our trip. Mary Anne's sunburn… Dawn's prison sentence… I didn't tell him the whole story about the chicken cutlets though.

"Wow, this sounds heavy," Julio replied as I finished the tale of this totally stale trip.

"Yeah, now we have to raise $5000 to bail our friend out. The only problem is, I don't know any good ways to make money!" I said with a sigh.

"Well I could help you," Julio said with a smile. "I work for a courier service and we're always looking for new people."

"Really?" I asked in shock. "How much would I get paid?"

"Well, we've got a pretty big job we need done. It could be about $500 American dollars if you get it done."

"This is perfect!" I thought to myself. I could raise more money than any of the babysitters!

"Where do I sign up?" I asked Julio excitedly.

"Come with me, it is close by," he answered, getting up from his chair.

I left a couple dollars on the table to pay for my sodas and left with Julio. We got on a bus that took us out of the city.

"What is your family like?" Julio asked as we rode out of town.

"Oh, well I have seven brothers and sisters," I said, knowing he would be impressed.

"Wow," he replied raising his eyebrows. "Your family must be very wealthy to have so many children."

"No, my father is a lawyer, but he doesn't make that much money," I said frowning a little. "I mean, there almost wasn't enough money to send me on my last trip to Europe! But my parents were nice enough to sell our living room furniture so I could go."

"Wow," Julio said with a smile. "What is… living room?"

I spent the rest of the trip trying to explain to Julio what a living room was. But then I also had to explain what a rec room was. And I think I really blew his mind when I told him my house had three levels. It was good to know that I, Mallory Pike could educate people around the world.

We got off the bus in a run down looking neighborhood. The houses were all as big as the Rodowsky's tool shed. We walked down the dirt road until we got to a small shed-house with a bunch of kids Julio's age hanging around out front. They greeted him warmly as we walked up to the front door, and stared at me quizzically. I stood up as tall as possible and pursed my lips together tightly, trying to look as mature as possible, like one of the models in Mary Anne's Teen Steam magazines.

I gingerly followed Julio into the smoke filled house. The windows on the house had all been boarded up, and the only light in the room came from a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"Julio!" an older man greeted us. "Que pasa?"

Julio answered in quick Spanish. I looked up and smiled when he motioned to me and mentioned my name. He and the older man went back and forth for a few minutes, I could really understand what they were talking about.

I looked around the room carefully while they talked. There were a few scantily clad women leaning against the walls looking me up and down. The all seemed to be really tired for some reason.

The older man Julio had been talking to disappeared into another room.

"He wants to hire you!" Julio said, smiling at me. "But he wants to send you out on like a test job first. Don't worry, you'll get paid for it."

"How dibble!" I answered with a squeal. "But um, why is it so dark in here? And what are all these sleepy women doing here?"

Julio looked around the room. "Oh… well, I'll put it this way. Taco, that man I was just talking to, he's like… A doctor. And this place is like his hospital. And we all deliver his medicines. You understand?"

"Oh I see," I said nodding knowingly. "I know a doctor back home in Stoneybrook. I baby-sit for her daughter sometimes."

"That's great!" Julio said, smiling again. "Well now it's like you get to be the doctor."

"Wow", I thought to myself. First education and now healthcare. I was on my way to a humanitarian award for all the great things I was doing in Mexico. This was way better than some stale makeover service!

Taco returned from the other room with a small black plastic bag. Julio took it, nodded and led me out of the house.

"Okay," he said, handing me the bag. "This needs to be in Mexico city by sundown tomorrow. The address is on piece of paper in bag, don't open it unless you are alone. Deliver, get money and come back. Theres money for the train in there. Tomorrow morning, swallow the little sacks and when you get halfway to destination, theres some chocolate for you to eat. It will help you."

"Si," I said uncertainly. "But um, if I swallow the package, how will it get delivered?"

"Trust me, okay?" Julio said smiling.

This was dibbly exciting. Julio gave me the bag and we said our goodbyes. I took the bag and shoved it into the large pocket of my Saddle Club backpack. It would be safe there. Within moments I was back on the bus to Mexico City.

I sat in the back row away from everyone else. I was dying to take a peek into the bag. I unzipped my backpack slooowly, and opened up the bag. I felt just like a secret agent or Encyclopedia Brown or something.

First I saw the piece of paper, it had pretty good directions of where to get off, so I wasn't worried. I looked at the other contents of the bag. I couldn't really figure out what it was, just a bunch of tightly wrapped plastic packages. A lot to swallow though, I'd better skip dinner tonight. It was worth it though; I'd show everybody up when I came back with $500!