Read Online Al’s Blind Date: The Al Series, Book Six by Constance C. Greene - Free Book Online

mean, you’re always asking how tall some boy is and you never told me how tall Brian is, so all I’m doing is asking.”
    â€œNext time I write him, I’ll ask him,” Al said. I knew she was being sarcastic, but I said, “Yeah, good idea,” anyway.
    â€œWhat’ll we do about Sparky’s mom’s fête?” Al said. “We can’t go on dodging her. My heart won’t take the strain of taking the stairs every time we go in or out of the building. It’s crazy. What if we run into her in the elevator and she pins us up to the mat and says ‘Gimme a yes or a no.’ What then?”
    â€œShe’ll probably sic Sparky on us,” I said. “The mutt will start in on our feet and nibble his way up.”
    â€œI tell you one thing,” Al said. “If that mutt sinks one fang into me, I’ll give him such a case of indigestion he’ll never touch another bite of girl again as long as he lives. He’ll barf and pee and heave up such a storm his little insides will rumble for weeks.”
    â€œYou are really and truly gross,” I said. I love it when Al’s gross. She lets her imagination soar when it comes to being gross. It’s part of her charm.
    â€œWhat I want to know is what do we do about Polly’s cousin and the tea dance,” I said. “If we don’t go, Polly might get sore.”
    â€œDoes that mean she’ll cut off the invites to join her for Sunday lunch and other goodies?” Al said.
    â€œProbably.”
    â€œThen I tell you what. You go,” Al said, “and I’ll stay home with a good book.” And although we’d been fooling around, I knew she was serious.
    â€œYou mean go without you?” I said.
    â€œSure. You’re much more the thé dansant type than I am,” Al said. “I can see you now, spinning around the dance floor, one hand on your partner’s shoulder, the other clutching a cup of tea. You go and tell me how it went. I’d be like a bull in a china shop at a tea dance.”
    â€œYou would not,” I said. “That’s crazy.”
    â€œYes, I would. Believe me, I know my own limitations. Hey”—Al was suddenly jolly, changing the subject—“let’s ask Ms. Bolton is she wants to go to the health club today. I brought my sweats and you can wear your gym shorts. They’d be perfect.”
    I got mad.
    â€œWhy do you always have to go and spoil things?” I said. “We always do things together. I don’t want to go to the tea dance without you. Part of the fun is going together. You know that.”
    Al was silent. Then she said, “Have you wondered why all of a sudden we’re in demand? Everyone wants us for tea dances and fêtes for brilliant, darling nephews. Only we’re in demand by people who’ve never seen us. Polly’s cousin hasn’t seen us, and anyway, what does he know with one blue eye and one brown. And Sparky’s mom has never really seen us because she’s too vain to wear glasses, without which she’s practically blind. If Sparky’s mom could see us as we are, our true selves, she’d dump us fast. All of the above is true. The God’s truth. Respectfully, signed Mother Zandi.”
    â€œO.K.,” I said, after thinking about what she’d said. “My gym shorts are dirty but who cares. Let’s go. A good workout is good for the bones.”
    Al scrooched up her face and said, “Did Mr. Richards say that?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “I did.”

Eleven
    Ms. Bolton was game. Luckily, she had her workout gear stowed in her tote bag. We arranged to meet out front after last bell. Al and I were pretty excited. All of a sudden, it seemed a pretty daring thing to ask your teacher to go to a health club for a free tryout.
    â€œI sure hope she likes it,” Al kept saying.
    â€œHow about us?” I said. “Don’t you hope