Dinner time was fast approaching, and the Howard household was once again a hub of chaos. Suze was in the kitchen, loudly chopping vegetables for her "world-famous" stir fry, while Lexi sat at the dining table, scrolling through her phone with a look of quiet amusement. Cassie, however, was pacing the living room, her mind fixated on a single thought: how to outdo Maddy Perez.

"She thinks she's so untouchable," Cassie muttered, her arms crossed. "I need to show her she's not."

Lexi didn't look up from her phone. "Why don't you just ignore her? Like a normal person?"

"Because ignoring her doesn't work!" Cassie snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "She always finds a way to humiliate me first."

Lexi sighed. "So your solution is… what? Another public meltdown?"

Cassie smirked. "No. Something subtle. Something brilliant."

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "Subtle and brilliant? You? This I have to see."

Cassie ignored the jab, grabbing her phone and pulling up Maddy's Instagram. She scrolled through the feed until she found a post from earlier in the day—a picture of Maddy standing outside a house with the caption: "Dinner at my favorite spot ."

"Gotcha," Cassie whispered, zooming in on the house number visible in the background.

"What are you doing?" Lexi asked, finally looking up.

"I'm going to pay Maddy a little visit," Cassie said, grabbing her jacket.

Lexi frowned. "Cassie, whatever you're planning, don't."

But Cassie was already out the door.


The neighborhood was quiet as Cassie approached the house she'd seen in Maddy's post. She double-checked the address, her heart racing with anticipation. This was going to be perfect. She'd catch Maddy off guard, say something cutting, and leave her speechless.

Cassie marched up to the door and knocked three times, her confidence building with each rap of her knuckles. The door swung open, revealing not Maddy Perez, but a confused-looking middle-aged man.

"Uh, hi," Cassie said, momentarily thrown off. "Is Maddy here?"

The man blinked. "Who?"

"Maddy Perez," Cassie said, enunciating as if that would help. "You know, dark hair, really into herself?"

The man shook his head. "I think you have the wrong house."

Cassie frowned, glancing at the house number. "No, this is the right place. I saw it on her Instagram."

"Instagram?" the man repeated, clearly bewildered.

At that moment, a woman appeared behind him, her face equally perplexed. "Who is this?" she asked in Mandarin.

Cassie's brain scrambled. She'd taken exactly one semester of Mandarin in middle school and thought this was her moment to shine. "Um… nǐ hǎo?" she ventured, giving a hesitant wave.

The woman squinted at her. "Do you need something?"

Cassie tried to think of another phrase. "Wǒ shì—uh, me—me looking for Maddy." She gestured wildly toward the house. "Maddy. Pérez."

The woman exchanged a look with her husband before turning back to Cassie. "There's no Maddy here."

Cassie's confidence faltered, but she pressed on. "You sure? Maybe she's… inside? In the kitchen? Eating noodles?"

The man's expression turned incredulous. "You think all Chinese people eat noodles?"

"No!" Cassie said quickly, her hands flying up defensively. "That's not what I meant. I just—um, zhè ge… zhè ge fángzi… looks like Maddy's post!"

The woman put a hand on her hip, her patience clearly running out. "You're just saying random words in Chinese."

Cassie laughed nervously. "No, no, I studied Mandarin! A little. In middle school. I got an A-minus!"

The woman didn't look impressed. "Congratulations. You're still a dumbhead."

Cassie blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the woman said, crossing her arms. "You're a dumbhead. Coming to someone's house and talking nonsense? Very dumb."

The man nodded. "She's right. Go home."

Cassie's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Before she could respond, the woman stepped forward and shut the door in her face.


Cassie stood on the porch for a moment, staring at the closed door in disbelief. This was not how she'd envisioned the evening going. With a defeated sigh, she turned and trudged back to her car.


When Cassie arrived home, Lexi was still at the dining table, now halfway through a plate of stir fry. She looked up as Cassie walked in, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Well?" Lexi asked, a smirk already forming on her lips. "How'd it go?"

Cassie dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto the couch. "Shut up."

Lexi grinned. "That bad, huh?"

"I got called a dumbhead," Cassie mumbled, covering her face with a pillow.

Lexi burst out laughing. "By who?"

"Some random lady," Cassie said, her voice muffled. "I thought it was Maddy's house, but it wasn't."

Lexi shook her head, still laughing. "You're unbelievable."

Cassie peeked out from behind the pillow. "You think Maddy's going to find out?"

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "Cassie, if there's one thing I know about you, it's that your mistakes never stay secret for long."

Cassie groaned, sinking deeper into the couch. She could already imagine the humiliation that awaited her at school the next day. And knowing Maddy, she'd find a way to turn this into yet another victory.

For now, though, all Cassie could do was accept her defeat—and maybe sign up for Mandarin lessons.