Read Online Anastasia on Her Own by Lois Lowry - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lois Lowry
Tags: Ages 9 & Up
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wasn't
into
cooking, then."
"Don't even tell me what you're going to cook for your gourmet dinner," Sonya said, "because it'll make me hungry. All I had for lunch was an apple and two glasses of water. Practically zero calories."
"What're you going to wear?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know. I'm going to look through my mom's clothes and see if I can find something to borrow. It has to be purple. My color scheme is purple. Hey—that reminds me. I need some flowers. Do you guys know where I could find some flowers?"
They all glanced out into the snow-covered yard.
"There aren't any flowers this time of year," Sonya pointed out. "You'll have to use fake flowers."
"My sister has some fake flowers in her room," Meredith said. "Big ones, made of crepe paper. You want me to steal them for you?"
Anastasia thought about that. Crepe paper flowers didn't sound very romantic. She shook her head. "I don't think so. Only in an emergency. I'll call you if I need them."
Meredith sighed, and her breath made a puff of steam in the cold winter air. "You know, Anastasia," she said wistfully, "of the four of us—you, me, Sonya, and Daphne—you're the very first one to get into a real romance, with a dinner date and everything. We're all really jealous. You know how supercool Daph pretends to be? Well, even Daphne confessed during lunch that she wished she would have a real date, like you, instead of just yelling insults back and forth with Eddie at McDonald's every Saturday."
Anastasia nodded sympathetically. "The thing is, Steve just happened to become mature a little sooner than the other seventh-grade guys. They'll catch up pretty soon. Then we'll
all
have romantic dates every weekend."
She turned to Sonya. "Even Norman Berkowitz will become mature, Sonya. You wait."
Sonya stamped her feet up and down on the back steps. "I'm freezing," she announced. "My body chemistry is all screwed up since I haven't been eating anything. My body is living on my fat, and I'm freezing. My fat used to keep me warm."
"You're freezing because it's cold out," Meredith told her. "I'm freezing, too, and I ate two whole lunches—mine and yours."
"You'd better go," Anastasia said. "I'm freezing, standing here with the door open. Thanks for coming over."
She waved as her friends headed down the driveway, toward the street. Then she went back to the kitchen to write out her schedule for the next day. The bulletin board in the kitchen was becoming cluttered with revised schedules. But there was so much to do when you had a romantic date. She wondered how movie actresses and models managed—they had romantic dates
every night.
After Sam was in bed, and Dr. Krupnik was in the study reading the paper, Anastasia went to her parents' room and looked through the drawer where her mother kept make-up. Mrs. Krupnik didn't actually
wear
make-up very often; she said it made her face itch. But she had quite an assortment of things. Some of them, she had told Anastasia, were probably twenty years old.
Anastasia looked for everything that was purple.
Then she lined it all up on the table in front of the mirror and began the application.
First she took off her glasses and put deep purple eye shadow across her eyelids. With her glasses back on, though, she could hardly see it. If only she didn't have to wear glasses, Anastasia thought. Usually she liked the intellectual look that her glasses gave her—but for a passionate evening, she didn't want to look intellectual.
Maybe she could leave her glasses off on Friday evening. But when she removed them, experimentally, she realized once again that everything was a blur. It would never work. She wouldn't even be able to serve dinner. She would bump into the table, and she would spill things.
She sighed, and added more of the purple eye shadow so that it would show under the rims of her glasses.
There was no purple rouge, but she used the deepest red she could find, and smeared circles across her cheeks. Then she
into
cooking, then."
"Don't even tell me what you're going to cook for your gourmet dinner," Sonya said, "because it'll make me hungry. All I had for lunch was an apple and two glasses of water. Practically zero calories."
"What're you going to wear?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know. I'm going to look through my mom's clothes and see if I can find something to borrow. It has to be purple. My color scheme is purple. Hey—that reminds me. I need some flowers. Do you guys know where I could find some flowers?"
They all glanced out into the snow-covered yard.
"There aren't any flowers this time of year," Sonya pointed out. "You'll have to use fake flowers."
"My sister has some fake flowers in her room," Meredith said. "Big ones, made of crepe paper. You want me to steal them for you?"
Anastasia thought about that. Crepe paper flowers didn't sound very romantic. She shook her head. "I don't think so. Only in an emergency. I'll call you if I need them."
Meredith sighed, and her breath made a puff of steam in the cold winter air. "You know, Anastasia," she said wistfully, "of the four of us—you, me, Sonya, and Daphne—you're the very first one to get into a real romance, with a dinner date and everything. We're all really jealous. You know how supercool Daph pretends to be? Well, even Daphne confessed during lunch that she wished she would have a real date, like you, instead of just yelling insults back and forth with Eddie at McDonald's every Saturday."
Anastasia nodded sympathetically. "The thing is, Steve just happened to become mature a little sooner than the other seventh-grade guys. They'll catch up pretty soon. Then we'll
all
have romantic dates every weekend."
She turned to Sonya. "Even Norman Berkowitz will become mature, Sonya. You wait."
Sonya stamped her feet up and down on the back steps. "I'm freezing," she announced. "My body chemistry is all screwed up since I haven't been eating anything. My body is living on my fat, and I'm freezing. My fat used to keep me warm."
"You're freezing because it's cold out," Meredith told her. "I'm freezing, too, and I ate two whole lunches—mine and yours."
"You'd better go," Anastasia said. "I'm freezing, standing here with the door open. Thanks for coming over."
She waved as her friends headed down the driveway, toward the street. Then she went back to the kitchen to write out her schedule for the next day. The bulletin board in the kitchen was becoming cluttered with revised schedules. But there was so much to do when you had a romantic date. She wondered how movie actresses and models managed—they had romantic dates
every night.
After Sam was in bed, and Dr. Krupnik was in the study reading the paper, Anastasia went to her parents' room and looked through the drawer where her mother kept make-up. Mrs. Krupnik didn't actually
wear
make-up very often; she said it made her face itch. But she had quite an assortment of things. Some of them, she had told Anastasia, were probably twenty years old.
Anastasia looked for everything that was purple.
Then she lined it all up on the table in front of the mirror and began the application.
First she took off her glasses and put deep purple eye shadow across her eyelids. With her glasses back on, though, she could hardly see it. If only she didn't have to wear glasses, Anastasia thought. Usually she liked the intellectual look that her glasses gave her—but for a passionate evening, she didn't want to look intellectual.
Maybe she could leave her glasses off on Friday evening. But when she removed them, experimentally, she realized once again that everything was a blur. It would never work. She wouldn't even be able to serve dinner. She would bump into the table, and she would spill things.
She sighed, and added more of the purple eye shadow so that it would show under the rims of her glasses.
There was no purple rouge, but she used the deepest red she could find, and smeared circles across her cheeks. Then she
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