Read Online Brilliant by Rachel Vail - Free Book Online Page B

Ramon had told me he’d had for dinner the night before, anyway, and it made my stomach clench. It was hard to get enthusiastic about the pops and whirs with that in mind, you know? Or maybe I was just feeling sour and self-righteous.
    Maybe I was sad about Gosia leaving, and about not crying when she pulled away, as Allison and Phoebe had.
    Maybe I just didn’t feel like sitting on a blanket with my family.
    Independence Day , I kept thinking. So let’s blow some stuff up. Woo-hoo. Then get some ice cream and straggle home.
    Because what says independence more than pointless destruction?
    I smiled; I said, “Yeah, that grand finale was amazing.” I said, “No, thank you,” to the extra fifty-cent sprinkles. Jelly was there with her family, so we all said hello to them. Her brother, Erik, talked with Mom about how much he was loving quantitative analysis at college while Jelly and I chatted with Ziva Marks, a friend of ours from school. She was having a few people over in two weeks, before she left for a summer program at Johns Hopkins, where she’d be studying journalism. We talked about SAT prep and how many APs we were going to take in the coming year, and the AP Latin teacher’s reputation as a space cadet.
    There was no reason I should feel claustrophobic, chatting with friends under a clear summer sky with ice-cream cones in our hands. Okay, Ziva Marks is a total, unabashed nerd, with her terribly cut hair and schlumpy clothes, all giggly about weird stuff like memorizing the periodic table and the names of every Webkinz stuffed animal ever made, but really she is a sweet and generous friend, with a hilarious sense of humor if you catch her references. And Jelly Chen is a smart, witty, lovely girl, and my best friend. Jelly Chen is just like me—polite, focused, responsible.
    Ah. No wonder I was light-headed and sweating. I wasn’t a big fan of myself at that moment, either. Anyway, I was tired and sticky and just really ready to go home. But my family was lagging as my two closest friends discussed whether it would be more fun at Ziva’s party to play Pictionary or watch a West Wing marathon. Maybe instead we should just watch 1776 again?
    “Whatever,” I said. “Any of those.”
    “They’re all fun!” Ziva squealed. “Maybe we’ll do a little of each? And eat those little pretzels shaped like portcullises?”
    “I love those!” Jelly shouted. “Wowzers!”
    “I gotta go,” I said. It was not just seeing Allison and Tyler talking up the hill, or him chasing after her when she stepped away from him. What was he telling her? God, no .
    Phoebe and Dad were talking to Phoebe’s boyfriend, Luke, and his dad in front of the hardware store. Dad’s laugh ricocheted off the store windows and joined the echoes of the fireworks. Mom and I leaned against Dad’s car and waited for the rest of them.
    “So Jelly’s having a party?” Mom said. “That should be fun.”
    “No,” I said. “Ziva Marks. Not Jelly. Allison!”
    I told myself not to think about it, not to wonder why I was so annoyed at Mom for getting it wrong or about why I was dreading this nerd-fest of Ziva’s, despite the fact thatI actually fully love The West Wing and Pictionary and 1776 and little pretzels shaped like portcullises.
    “But you’ll go with Jelly? Is that what you said?”
    I just said, “I guess. Sure. Are we ready to go? Allison! Come on! Let’s go!”
    “It’s nice that she’s around this summer,” Mom said. “You always liked Jelly; you should hang out with her.”
    “I do hang out with her, Mom!”
    “And isn’t Ziva the one who won the spelling bee?”
    “That was Jelly,” I said. “Ziva won the geography bee.”
    “I thought you won that,” Mom argued.
    “We tied,” I said. Tyler was holding Allison by the arms and whispering to her. I thought my head might spontaneously combust, so I shouted, “Allison! Come on!”
    “Shut up, Quinn!” Allison yelled back. But she did yank herself away from