Book 5: Picture perfect

Does this scene even appear in the book? And is Lara wearing overalls? Oh well, they look cute and friendly.

Lara finally figured what to do in the mixed media art competion. She'll use painting and her photos from New York. Lara has been into art her whole life, but she hasn't any experience with photography until now. Barbie and Lara waits for their friends in the school studio. Lara and Nichelle flick water at each other and start a water fight. A bit surprising, as they always seemed like the most mature and "cool" ones out of the bunch. They all go to Eatz, and after that, they'll go to the cinema. Tori likes action movies, Barbie likes romantic movies, Nichelle and Ana likes thrillers, Chelsie likes all Troy Marcus movies, and Lara likes European films. For once, they agree on the newest Troy Marcus movie, Angel Fire. MIH will have a principal-for-a-day as voted for by the students. But how will they promise that the guest principal has time and wants to do this? Tori and Ana goes ahead on their in-lines to buy tickets for everyone. The girls barely make the movie, but Lara has to call her parents first. Lara hears her parents arguing slightly in the background. She says she won't be home for dinner. Her father asks her if she has seen his dictionary as Lara's mother keeps moving it.
Since arriving in New York, her parents have been fighting more and more. Lara's mother, an Italian fashion designer, enjoys the life in New York, but Lara's father, a German professor, isn't that happy in New York. Lara's mother, Lucia, is more whimsical and disorganized. Lara's father likes peace and tidyness and to sit quietly with his books. Much like me. Opposites atract? Lara is so engrossed in thinking about her parents that she kind of loses track of the movie. She's starting to get a headache, but then she enjoys some chocolate truffles and the movie. After the movies, the girls start to sing songs from the school musical on the way home. They see one of Lara's mother's designs in a shop window. Chelsie and Nichelle thinks she's so lucky to have such cool parents and live in Soho. They will go to the New York Freeze for ice cream. Chelsie talks dreamily about Troy and says that she has submitted Troy Marcus's name for principal-for-a-day.

Lara's easiest subject is maths, so she thinks about her art project. She will paint the Statue of Liberty and the ferry with a young girl standing on the deck. Lara volunteers at Rainbow House, a homeless shelter. Chelsie is also a volunteer. She was very moved when a mother and her children come in, the two middle children are playing with dolls they receive there, but the eldest, a girl of about 11 or 12 takes care of her baby brother. Lara thinks a lot about the family, she sketches the girl and wonders about where they went and if she could do more for them. Lara takes Latin, where she's so tired of hearing about Cesar's travels. Then there's off to early lunch with Tori, pizza and tater tots. They joke around about the food. Tater tots makes me think of the Duggar snark I've read on the internet. Lara and Tori run up to the newspaper office before classes. Troy won the poll and Chelsie is allowed to write to him to ask him if he has time to visit the school. Lara makes a sketch of Van Gogh with a tater tot in his mouth.

Lara will make three paintings, the Statue of Liberty one, one of the outside of Rainbow House and one of the inside and mesh it with her photographs. Lara asks the residents of the shelter for permission to take their pictures. She works on the project, where painting and photography blends well together. Lara is tired, but she will continue to show the judges and other people how meaningful Rainbow House is. Chelsie tells Lara very excitedly that Troy will visit the school. Chelsie is the school's hero, as she even receives roses with a printed card from Troy Marcus.
The school has to fix everything that's not working, like the escalator, in two weeks time, before Troy Marcus is coming here.

Lara has her own little attic platform to sleep and paint in. She likes it very much, the only thing that's annoying is that she has to climb down the ladder again if she forgets to bring any of her stuff. Lara feels miserable listening to her parents arguing. Friederich, her dad, works so hard on his latest article that he has barely time for his family. Lara catches him awake in the middle of the night, working. She asks how he will teach his students. "In my sleep" he replies. Lara makes them cocoa before she goes back to bed. Lara's father says that he has to make the footnotes perfect before the deadline. Lucia doesn't ever care about deadlines and asks if he puts the books and deadlines before his own family. Her parents met at the Sorbonne. Her mother was a art student and her father an assistent professor. They fell in love when Lara's father dropped his book on Lucia's foot in front of the Mona Lisa. Friederich stays perfectly calm, but accidentally provokes Lucia even more by asking if she has seen one of his books. Lucia throws her hands up in frustration and says that she'll take Lara out to the deli. She reminds Friedich to eat, but he says that he'll warm up some leftover (toaster? :D) strudel.
Lara and her mother eats corned beef sandwiches and bring home some for Friederich, too. Lucia has been gone a lot lately, but Lara gets along fine and think it's probably for her latest fashion show. Lucia is very emotional and tells Lara that her parents will always be there to support and help her. Lara tells her mother that she will see Angel Fire again with her friends in honor of Troy's visit. She goes home with Papa's sandwich first. He misses orderly Munich a lot. Papa hasn't eaten anything and he feels like his project is going nowhere. He then asks Lara if she wants to go out with him for ice cream tonight. She asks if he could go out with her and her friends after the movie, but then Papa thinks Lara should go out and enjoy herself with the girls.

Lara has a terrible day. She hears her parents arguing again early in the morning, but they're all fake happy when she gets up in the morning. She is late for the train and misses half of her first class. She feels the beginning of a headche in her algebra class, but finishes an algebra problem on the blackboard correctly. Luckily, she has gotten a care package from her grandma with chocolate, which she sneaks a bite of in Latin class. Lara's off to meet Tori, who's being told off by Merlin for skateboarding in the hallways. They share some chocolate and Tori tells Lara about the time her parents had a huge fight on her mom's birthday because her dad forgot to give her chocolate. Lara finds a message for her from Nichelle under the loose floor tile asking Lara if she wants to have some fries with her after school tomorrow. Lara writes back that she of course wants to do that and she would also like some advice on her art project. The note also contains the vaguely femmeslash expression "For you I'll drop the brush anytime." All day Lara feels weird and she has a hard time paying attention.

Mr Strauss and Mrs. Morelli sit at the kitchen table, waiting for Lara. They look really serious and both speak at once. They tell Lara that they'll get a separation and will live apart for a while. Her father will live in the faculty housing at NYU. Lara runs angrily out, her parents goes after her, and she hops in a cab, asking the driver to take her to MIH. Lara thinks she has no money at first, but finds a ten dollar note in her pocket, telling the driver to keep a tip. The cab driver then says that Lara should keep the rest as he has kids of his own and wouldn't like them to be out in the city without any money at all. The school is locked at first, and Lara has no subway pass with her, so she can't go home. She knocks on the door, the school is closing early today because of construction work. Poogy lets Lara in to get a book in her locker in the fifth floor. Lara remembers that she has some emergency cash in her locker. Lara sits on the floor, crying, before she thinks that she can't speak to her friends now, but she has to tell them some way, so she writes notes for her friends, asking them to meet her tomorrow for help and advice, and leaves them under the floor tile. Poogy notices that the tile isn't completely in place, so he glues it back. This is just one of the many reason that the note-under-tile system is failtastic.

Lara's parents were really worried about her last night. She was so exhausted that she went to sleep with her clothes and shoes still on. She has slept to 11.30 and has already missed three of her classes. Her parents are also sitting asleep in the living room. Lara covers them with blankets so they don't get cold, and she's careful not to wake them up. After that, she puts on some of her dirty clothes as the closet where the clean ones are would make too much noise to open. She writes a note for her parents, explaining that she has gone out with some friends after school, but will be home after dark, so they could talk then. She wonders which pieces of furniture each parent will take. It's almost 1 PM now, so Lara will be go out and eat, then go to school to meet her friend sat 2.30.
Trouble is, they have no time to meet her, and when they tried to leave her a note, the tile were cemented shut... Lara eats lunch at a pizza restaurant before running back to the school. There she gets confused. Why could none of her friends meet her today, and why does they seem to take the whole thing so lightly? They think shopping is more important than her! Lara runs crying to the art room. She paints the lonely girl on the ferry painting in her likeness, then she throws the brush down and runs out in the rain without a raincoat. With her shoes full of ice cold water she buys a ticket to the ferry...Lara hops on the ferry and sits on a coil of rope on the deck. The weather is horrible.

After the meeting, all the other girls think about Lara and goes up to find her. But she isn't in the art studio and they have no clue about where to find her. Poogy goes by and tells them that he saw Lara crying and writing many little notes. The girls remember Lara saying something about a note, so they borrow some tools from Poogy to open the tile. Then they read the notes Lara left and they understand why she was so upset. The girls tries to find out where Lara can have gone. Poogy remarks on the likeness between Lara and the girl in the painting. They ask him to keep the tile loose and takes a cab to the Staten Island Ferry. The girls jump on the ferry and find no Lara inside. Barbie braves the weather and finds Lara on deck. Lara tells Barbie that she thought none of them cared about her at all. The girls wrap Lara in their coats and scarfs and comforts her until she tells them the whole story.

Today is the big day. Troy's people have been over the school and now his head publicist, Marie, is here. She's very sweet to Chelsie and tells her that she picked her letter because she was very impressed by it and it was Marie who sent the roses, only because Troy was really busy.
Chelsie and Lara has become really close lately. Aww, I think a Lara/Chelsie friendship is really sweet as they're both sensitive and can bond over their creative interests.
Troy is basically a huge a-hole to everyone from the time he arrives. He will meet Chelsie infront of all the cameras. He puts his hand on Chelsie's shoulder, her feelings change as he tells Chelsie to change as her yellow dress does not flatter him. Or somebody else should give him the key. Chelsie is hurt and Marie says that she'll fix it. She just gives Chelsie Barbie's dark blue sweater to put on over her dress and says that Troy won't notice anything. Marie sees how hurt Chelsie is and tries to comfort her, then she tells Troy that all thorns were removed from the rose. Troy bosses Chelsie around, but Marie and Lara supports her. Chelsie shall deliver him the ceremonial big gold key he gets as principal for a day. Troy will give her rose in return. He is totally fake and has to read Chelsie's name and the school name from cue cards, but the school goes wild for him as they don't know how the real Troy are. He think Mrs. Simmons and Merlin are caterers, so he tells them to get him a salad. Lol. Troy charms the school as only Marie, Chelsie and Lara has seen his real behavior. Merlin will go to the principal's office with an organic salad for Troy.
The announcement system is on(by "accident"?) and everyone hears Troy complain about the school and food. Merlin defends the school and all the kids get mad at Troy.
Chelsie un-invites Troy and gives Marlin the key. Merlin saves the day for the students, and I think that's really sweet that the slightly boring and geeky inspector sticks up for MIH pupils. So then there are three awesome adults in the series, and one semi-decent. With some lessons in awesomeness Merlin could turn out well. Marie quits her job as Troy's publicist.

The day of the grand exhibition. Lara is a finalist and now she goes back and forth between Mama and Papa, which are still living away from each other, but have stopped fighting. Lara now knows that her friends will always be there for her. Third place goes to some one who has combined clay and laser lights(creative!). Second place winner combined papiermache with a cube filled with live bees(huh?). Lara wins the grand prize of $5000 and decides to donate it to the homeless center. Unbelievable.

The article covers the art show and writing an entertainment section. I think you all remember that equation now, right?

This book in one word: Interesting.