Chirp: Chapters 16–25

The enamel pin had a bright American flag on it, with an outline of a girl on a balance beam and, above that, five delicate gold Olympic rings.

And when Mia asked around, everybody said yeah, Phil was super friendly and kind of awkward and okay, maybe a little touchy, but that was just how Phil was.

“Maybe,” Gram said. “It would be nice to have a good turnout in case this is our last hurrah.”

“Yep. But that’s how things worked back then. Welcome to the patriarchy.” Then Anne Marie Spangler waved her hand through the air as if the patriarchy were a fruit fly she could flick away.

“Great! Keep that momentum!” Maria shouted.
Mia let go again and grabbed the next ring.

They listened while Dad-on-the-recorder explained how devastating that virus could be to a cricket farm and how that had just happened to a farm in Quebec.

Mia ran through that scenario in her head. It seemed slightly less terrifying than the processing plant ordeal. It also seemed like it might work.

Mia ran through that scenario in her head. It seemed slightly less terrifying than the processing plant ordeal. It also seemed like it might work.

Anna thought she could get that fixed, but she said it was fine even if it was still a little wonky. Prototypes were always like that, and as long as the basic idea was there, they’d be okay.

It was supposed to be ninety today, and the car was already sweltering.

“No!” Mom said. “It’s his fault. No one else’s. Mia, people who come after kids like this are experts at manipulating them. Making them think they need to stay quiet. But you spoke up.”

“Sometimes courage is quiet,” Gram said. “You were brave to speak up today, Mia. But you were brave before that, too. Sometimes getting up in the morning and being you, no matter what’s happened to you and no matter what anybody says, is the bravest, most defiant thing a woman can do.”

Zoya was helping Julia and Dylan proofread their business plan.

Anna finished her last stroke and jumped up to sing “Defying Gravity,” using the purple nail polish jar as a short, stubby microphone.

“We just do show tunes as a side gig,” Clover added, and they all laughed.

As soon as they walked in, Syd made a beeline for Mia.

One of the judges stepped up to the podium. “First, I’d like to congratulate all of you,” he said.

“Sorry,” Clover said. “I really thought we had a chance.” She gave Mia and Anna half-hearted fist bumps.

“That’s true,” Anne Marie said, “because the competition was set up with a specific rubric and point structure. But when it comes to real-world investing, we look at more than that.”

He looked at Mia over his shoulder. “And you know what? I never even needed these infected crickets because your grandmother’s just a delusional old lady who’s going to run her little business into the ground all by herself, and then I’ll be able to take over her lease and expand my warehouse. But thanks for the entertainment.”

Daniel and a bunch of Lake Monsters players were lurking in the trees around the warehouse. She couldn’t believe she’d thought he might be behind the sabotage.

Gram nodded. “After they listened to the recordings, they went to Bob’s house and set up surveillance. Late last night, they saw him leave with a bin and followed him to a big trash bin behind the hospital. They recovered the dead crickets, and when they confronted him at his house later, he confessed.”

“I love to see local businesses thriving,” Mayor Obasanjo said.

“That’s our best endorsement yet,” Gram said, laughing, and went to let Syd out of the office. Syd had been banished so she wouldn’t launch a waddle-bark attack on the guests.

She leaned forward into an arabesque. She did a tuck jump and landed. She wobbled just a little. And then she found her balance.