Read Online Learning to Swim by Cheryl Klam - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Cheryl Klam
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the walls! I had been in love with Keith McKnight for forty-seven days! He was the coolest guy around and he had
personally
invited me to his party at
his
house. His girlfriend was out of town! And he had brushed the hair out of my eyes like he was into me or something. All of that mattered way more than Barbie's new case of love lunacy. Right?
I willed myself off the couch and forced myself to turn off the TV. Then I stepped outside into the blistering ninety-five-degree heat and began walking. A half hour later, I was covered in sweat and my mascara was dripping down my face. But it didn't matter. Because I had reached my destination, and it wasn't Keith's house.
Although Keith's house was only about a hundred yards away.
“What are you doing here?” Alice asked as she sat in her gliding rocking chair, drinking a Mountain Dew and doing a Sudoko puzzle. Her black hair was wet and set in tiny rollers. She was wearing a pink sleevelessterry-cloth “housecoat” (which was just another term for bathrobe) and the fuzzy purple slippers I'd given her for her birthday.
This was another drawback to having a best friend who was old enough to be my grandma. She couldn't go to Keith's party. If she'd been my age, I would've made her go with me. And then I would've gone. Really.
8
One of the great things about Alice was that she kept her kitchen stocked with the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. As she said, you just never knew when there might be an emergency. And me showing up on her doorstep in my new party outfit, ranting about my mother when I was supposed to be at Keith's party, was an emergency. So Alice responded accordingly, immediately turning on the silly circus TV show and whipping up a batch of raw cookie dough. We then grabbed the binoculars and planted ourselves on her lopsided sofa in front of the window so that we could have the best of both worlds: we could watch TV while experiencing Keith's party (without actually having to attend). As we took turns using the binoculars, I carefully explained to Alice why I hadn't gone. In a nutshell: I had no earthly idea.
“You were just nervous,” Alice said, eating aspoonful of dough. “And having your mom leave you high and dry like that, well, it threw you for a loop. But it's okay. There'll be other parties.”
“Tell that to Barbie. She's going to go nuts when she finds out I didn't go. She thinks this was my big break.”
“Big break for what?”
“To be popular.”
“Oh, please.” Alice rolled her eyes. “It's a party. And from the looks of it,” she said, as she trained the binoculars on Keith's kitchen, “not a very good one.” She handed me the binoculars. “Pizza from Romero's? Yuck.”
I twisted around to get a better view of the kitchen. We had been watching the house for the past hour, and with the setting of the sun and the turning on of lights (his), our view had improved dramatically. The back of Keith's house was almost all floor-to-ceiling windows, so Alice and I could see inside with all the clarity of HDTV. Suddenly, I saw Keith walk into the kitchen. Although my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, I was almost immediately distracted by the miniskirted big-busted girl hanging on his arm and looking at him like an affectionate puppy. As I watched the girl silently jabber away, Keith stopped in front of the window and turned toward the water. I focused the binoculars back on him, and for one brief, terrible moment, it looked as if he was staring right at me. I rolled off the couch and hit the floor.
“What?” Alice asked, ducking down with me.
“Keith,” I whispered. “It looked like he saw me.”
Alice peeked over the couch. “Nah. The only way he could see you is if we were all lit up and he happened to have a pair of binoculars handy.”
“Who's that girl with him?” I handed Alice the binoculars as I crawled back up onto the sofa.
“I don't know,” Alice said, scanning the house. “I didn't get a chance
personally
invited me to his party at
his
house. His girlfriend was out of town! And he had brushed the hair out of my eyes like he was into me or something. All of that mattered way more than Barbie's new case of love lunacy. Right?
I willed myself off the couch and forced myself to turn off the TV. Then I stepped outside into the blistering ninety-five-degree heat and began walking. A half hour later, I was covered in sweat and my mascara was dripping down my face. But it didn't matter. Because I had reached my destination, and it wasn't Keith's house.
Although Keith's house was only about a hundred yards away.
“What are you doing here?” Alice asked as she sat in her gliding rocking chair, drinking a Mountain Dew and doing a Sudoko puzzle. Her black hair was wet and set in tiny rollers. She was wearing a pink sleevelessterry-cloth “housecoat” (which was just another term for bathrobe) and the fuzzy purple slippers I'd given her for her birthday.
This was another drawback to having a best friend who was old enough to be my grandma. She couldn't go to Keith's party. If she'd been my age, I would've made her go with me. And then I would've gone. Really.
8
One of the great things about Alice was that she kept her kitchen stocked with the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. As she said, you just never knew when there might be an emergency. And me showing up on her doorstep in my new party outfit, ranting about my mother when I was supposed to be at Keith's party, was an emergency. So Alice responded accordingly, immediately turning on the silly circus TV show and whipping up a batch of raw cookie dough. We then grabbed the binoculars and planted ourselves on her lopsided sofa in front of the window so that we could have the best of both worlds: we could watch TV while experiencing Keith's party (without actually having to attend). As we took turns using the binoculars, I carefully explained to Alice why I hadn't gone. In a nutshell: I had no earthly idea.
“You were just nervous,” Alice said, eating aspoonful of dough. “And having your mom leave you high and dry like that, well, it threw you for a loop. But it's okay. There'll be other parties.”
“Tell that to Barbie. She's going to go nuts when she finds out I didn't go. She thinks this was my big break.”
“Big break for what?”
“To be popular.”
“Oh, please.” Alice rolled her eyes. “It's a party. And from the looks of it,” she said, as she trained the binoculars on Keith's kitchen, “not a very good one.” She handed me the binoculars. “Pizza from Romero's? Yuck.”
I twisted around to get a better view of the kitchen. We had been watching the house for the past hour, and with the setting of the sun and the turning on of lights (his), our view had improved dramatically. The back of Keith's house was almost all floor-to-ceiling windows, so Alice and I could see inside with all the clarity of HDTV. Suddenly, I saw Keith walk into the kitchen. Although my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, I was almost immediately distracted by the miniskirted big-busted girl hanging on his arm and looking at him like an affectionate puppy. As I watched the girl silently jabber away, Keith stopped in front of the window and turned toward the water. I focused the binoculars back on him, and for one brief, terrible moment, it looked as if he was staring right at me. I rolled off the couch and hit the floor.
“What?” Alice asked, ducking down with me.
“Keith,” I whispered. “It looked like he saw me.”
Alice peeked over the couch. “Nah. The only way he could see you is if we were all lit up and he happened to have a pair of binoculars handy.”
“Who's that girl with him?” I handed Alice the binoculars as I crawled back up onto the sofa.
“I don't know,” Alice said, scanning the house. “I didn't get a chance
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