Read Online How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue by Jess Keating - Free Book Online

software…”
    â€œWoo?” Daz mumbled through his chubby, marshmallow-stuffed cheeks.
    â€œYou?” I guessed, translating Daz’s marshmallow talk.
    â€œNope.” Grandpa shook his head. “Someone even better! Sugar! We need your help with a very urgent homework matter!”
    Sugar skipped over to us, dancing around in her rain boots.
    â€œUrgent homework matters?!” Her perfectly made-up eyes widened with fear. “Fair warning—I’ve never liked math.” She wrung her hands together, with her pumpkin-orange nails sparkling in the sunlight.
    Grandpa smiled. “Ana wants to make a documentary for a project, to profile her influences. Think you could lend her a hand?”
    â€œYou?” My jaw dropped. “I mean.” I struggled to save face to not hurt Sugar’s feelings. She was super nice, after all. But homework help? “I assumed you were always a model, so you probably were good at being in front of a camera. Not…behind it?”
    Sugar batted her lashes. “It’s true that I got into modeling, but that wasn’t until I’d spent years behind the camera, doll.” She puffed up her already ample chest, practically giving Daz a coronary. “I went to school for filmmaking,” she said. “I’ve even been helping produce Shep’s latest documentary.”
    Mom, who had come over for a drink of water, stared at Sugar as she spoke. I could tell by her surprised face that she hadn’t expected that one either.
    â€œWow!” I said. “Would you mind helping me then? I want to film everybody, and I’ll need help with the camera and editing, and it needs to be done pretty quick—”
    Sugar lifted her hand. “Ana doll, you’re going to have the best documentary that school has ever seen! We can start right away!”
    I gave her my media handout as she took a seat at the picnic table to read it. I had to hand it to Sugar. Mom and Dad were irked when they’d met her for the first time because she’s loads younger than Grandpa. And yeah, okay, I had been too. But Sugar actually did fit into our family. Like, one time, Dad made me a hot cocoa with a teensy pinch of chili powder in it. I thought it would be super weird, but it was so good. That one little pinch of chili made it taste that much better. Maybe Sugar was like the pinch of chili powder in our family. She’s unexpected, but she sure brought out the flavor in us, you know?

Chapter 7
    Despite spending years away, salmon return to the rivers in which they were born to spawn.
    â€”Animal Wisdom
    How do they know how to do this?! Is some little corner store under the ocean selling salmon maps? Do they have an app? I get lost on the way to the gym sometimes, so how are they finding home from thousands of miles away?
    CLICK.
    Late that night, a sudden noise—a loud noise—jolted me out of sleep, making my heart hammer in my ears.
    â€œHuh?” I lurched up in bed, blinking at the inky darkness of my room. Darwin’s cage was still covered, so the noise hadn’t come from him. Go figure something always has to wake you up when you’re having an amazing dream of being at the Academy Awards with Ryan Gosling.
    I tugged my comforter closer to my chin as something in the hallway clattered. What was going on out there? Was it Daz? Chills ran up my spine as I peeked at my bedside clock. The time—twelve forty-two in the morning—flashed in neon red.
    Click.
    There it was again.
    Were we being robbed ?
    I snuck from my bed, stepping on the tips of my toes to avoid all the creaky spots in the floor. Opening my door the teensiest crack, I peered down the hallway to see if Daz’s door was open. It wouldn’t be the first time Daz got up to no good in the middle of the night.
    But Daz’s door was shut tightly. Shadows and light from the living room window swayed and twisted on the wall like ghosts.
    I