Read Online Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry - Free Book Online
Authors: Lois Lowry
Tags: Ages 9 & Up
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and then pointed to a cupboard. "There," she said.
Her mother put the yellow bowl into that cupboard. "I have an idea," she said.
"What?" Usually her mother had pretty good ideas.
"I could find out if they still make that Stanley-and-Sibyl wallpaper. And if they do, we could have your room papered with it. We were going to wallpaper that room anyway."
Anastasia thought. "I chose that paper when I was eight. You don't think it would be dumb to still want it when I'm twelve?"
"No. It wouldn't be dumb. It was pretty grown-up paper. I remember thinking when you were eight that it was a sophisticated choice."
"No kidding?"
"No kidding."
Anastasia grinned. "Okay. I'd really like that, to have Stanley and Sibyl back."
Her mother nodded and put away a few more dishes. "I forgot to tell you something. I'm sorry. Someone named Robert called, while you were off buying the goldfish."
"
Robert
called?"
"Yes. Who's Robert?"
Anastasia groaned. "Did he have a sort of squeaky voice?"
"Well, maybe it was a little squeaky. He sounded very pleasant, though."
Good grief. It was dumb Robert Giannini.
Typical
of
that jerk Robert Giannini to sound
pleasant
to somebody's mother.
"It's a guy who was in my class at school."
"Oh. Well, he wants you to call him back. I wrote his number on that pad of paper by the phone."
Anastasia made a face. "I can't call him. What would I say?"
Her mother looked surprised. Sometimes her mother didn't understand
anything.
"You would say, 'This is Anastasia. My mother said you called while I was out.'"
Good grief. What a dumb thing to say. Anastasia made another face and wandered off to the telephone. She stared at Robert Giannini's number for a while. She already knew what it was. She had looked it up in the phone book about a hundred times. Just because she was bored. Not for any other reason.
"Robert," she said, when he answered the phone, "this is Anastasia. My mother said you called while I was out."
"Yeah. Hi. I got your number from information."
"What did you call for? Is anything interesting happening in Cambridge? Have you collected any new stuff?"
"Cambridge is the same as ever. Everything's pretty boring here. It's hot. It's even too hot to ride down to the river."
"Yeah, it's hot here, too."
"Have you made any new friends?"
"Robert, I've only lived here for three days. I haven't had time. I've only made a couple of new friends." It was
only a partial lie. She had met Gertrustein, anyway. And she had
seen
some kids on the block, even though she hadn't met them.
"Girls or boys?"
Good grief. Robert was the kind of person who wanted to know
details.
It was awfully hard to give details when you were telling partial lies.
"One girl and one boy," Anastasia said. "The girl is actually a woman. She lives next door. And the boy lives down the street."
Now she would have to go down the street to where the boy was mowing the lawn and introduce herself. Then it wouldn't be a lie at all.
"Oh," said Robert. "How old is the boy?"
"I don't know. About thirteen or fourteen, I think."
"Oh." Robert didn't say anything else for a minute. Finally he said, "Guess what, Anastasia. I invented a system to tell the future."
Now
that
was interesting. All her life, Anastasia had wanted to be able to know about the future. The horoscopes in magazines and newspapers weren't good enough. They never gave details. But if Robert Giannini, the Detail Freak, had invented a system—well, that could be interesting. Anastasia sat down on the floor.
"Tell me about it," she said.
"You need a pencil and paper."
"I have some right here."
"Okay. First, write down the alphabet, and then write down numbers by the letters. 1 is A, and 2 is B. Like that, all the way through the alphabet. Z is 26."
That was easy enough. Anastasia did it on a piece of paper. "Okay," she said, when she was finished.
"All right. Now here's what you do. I'll tell you how I did mine and how it came out. First you write down your age. I'm
Her mother put the yellow bowl into that cupboard. "I have an idea," she said.
"What?" Usually her mother had pretty good ideas.
"I could find out if they still make that Stanley-and-Sibyl wallpaper. And if they do, we could have your room papered with it. We were going to wallpaper that room anyway."
Anastasia thought. "I chose that paper when I was eight. You don't think it would be dumb to still want it when I'm twelve?"
"No. It wouldn't be dumb. It was pretty grown-up paper. I remember thinking when you were eight that it was a sophisticated choice."
"No kidding?"
"No kidding."
Anastasia grinned. "Okay. I'd really like that, to have Stanley and Sibyl back."
Her mother nodded and put away a few more dishes. "I forgot to tell you something. I'm sorry. Someone named Robert called, while you were off buying the goldfish."
"
Robert
called?"
"Yes. Who's Robert?"
Anastasia groaned. "Did he have a sort of squeaky voice?"
"Well, maybe it was a little squeaky. He sounded very pleasant, though."
Good grief. It was dumb Robert Giannini.
Typical
of
that jerk Robert Giannini to sound
pleasant
to somebody's mother.
"It's a guy who was in my class at school."
"Oh. Well, he wants you to call him back. I wrote his number on that pad of paper by the phone."
Anastasia made a face. "I can't call him. What would I say?"
Her mother looked surprised. Sometimes her mother didn't understand
anything.
"You would say, 'This is Anastasia. My mother said you called while I was out.'"
Good grief. What a dumb thing to say. Anastasia made another face and wandered off to the telephone. She stared at Robert Giannini's number for a while. She already knew what it was. She had looked it up in the phone book about a hundred times. Just because she was bored. Not for any other reason.
"Robert," she said, when he answered the phone, "this is Anastasia. My mother said you called while I was out."
"Yeah. Hi. I got your number from information."
"What did you call for? Is anything interesting happening in Cambridge? Have you collected any new stuff?"
"Cambridge is the same as ever. Everything's pretty boring here. It's hot. It's even too hot to ride down to the river."
"Yeah, it's hot here, too."
"Have you made any new friends?"
"Robert, I've only lived here for three days. I haven't had time. I've only made a couple of new friends." It was
only a partial lie. She had met Gertrustein, anyway. And she had
seen
some kids on the block, even though she hadn't met them.
"Girls or boys?"
Good grief. Robert was the kind of person who wanted to know
details.
It was awfully hard to give details when you were telling partial lies.
"One girl and one boy," Anastasia said. "The girl is actually a woman. She lives next door. And the boy lives down the street."
Now she would have to go down the street to where the boy was mowing the lawn and introduce herself. Then it wouldn't be a lie at all.
"Oh," said Robert. "How old is the boy?"
"I don't know. About thirteen or fourteen, I think."
"Oh." Robert didn't say anything else for a minute. Finally he said, "Guess what, Anastasia. I invented a system to tell the future."
Now
that
was interesting. All her life, Anastasia had wanted to be able to know about the future. The horoscopes in magazines and newspapers weren't good enough. They never gave details. But if Robert Giannini, the Detail Freak, had invented a system—well, that could be interesting. Anastasia sat down on the floor.
"Tell me about it," she said.
"You need a pencil and paper."
"I have some right here."
"Okay. First, write down the alphabet, and then write down numbers by the letters. 1 is A, and 2 is B. Like that, all the way through the alphabet. Z is 26."
That was easy enough. Anastasia did it on a piece of paper. "Okay," she said, when she was finished.
"All right. Now here's what you do. I'll tell you how I did mine and how it came out. First you write down your age. I'm
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