Read Online My New Best Friend by Julie Bowe - Free Book Online Page B

exercise."
    Mom grins. "Sounds good," she says.
    I pick up my backpack and Jenna's clipboard and hurry out the door.
    A few minutes later, Jenna marches up to the bus stop like usual.
    "Here," I say, holding out her clipboard. "You forgot this yesterday."
    She takes the clipboard from me. "I don't even
need it anymore," she says. "I've got the whole dance memorized."
    "What dance?" Quinn asks.
    "For the parents show on Greek Day," Jenna says. "My club is doing it."
    "What club?" Tess asks.
    "The Do-Good Nymphs," Jenna replies, shaking back her green braids. She's wearing her nymph fish shirt again. "Everyone's in it. Even Ida."
    "Even me!" Rachel adds. "You're only in the dance, Rachel," Jenna says. "
Not
my club."
    Rachel ducks her head.
    I give her shoulder a nudge. "Lucky you," I whisper.
    "Me, Rusty, and Zane are doing the Trojan War for the program," Quinn says.
    "How can you do a whole war?" I ask.
    "We're just doing the part where the Trojans get tricked into thinking a giant wooden horse is a present from the enemy army. But really, the army is hiding inside it. We're gonna make a horse-shaped piñata, fill it up with plastic army guys,
and bust it open!" Quinn takes a hard swing with an invisible bat.
    Jenna huffs. "The Trojan War is a
legend,
not a myth."
    Quinn shrugs. "Same diff. We still get to bust open a horse!"
    The bus comes around the corner and Jenna steps up to the curb. Rachel tugs on my sleeve and hands me a sticky note with lots of scribbles on it. "There's no reason to worry," she says. "Everything will be fine."
    Jenna rounds up all the nymphs before school to show us the dance she has memorized. Then, at recess, she shoos some second graders out of the pigpen so we can practice. "Randi, you stand over there and pretend to eat your children. Stacey, Meeka, Jolene, and Brooke, do the dance I showed you this morning. Ida, you stand in the middle and try not to get in the way."
    Jenna makes us practice until the bell rings, which means I don't get any time with Stacey to talk about calling her dad tonight to tell him she's sick. At lunch, Jenna makes us eat quick and then patrol the lunchroom for food fights. During afternoon recess, we're back in the pigpen, practicing.
    Later, Mr. Crow hands out shoe boxes and craft stuff so we can make pretend shrines. Mr. Crow told us
shrine
comes from a Latin word that means
box.
It's a place where gods and goddesses get worshipped by their fans. My shrine is for the god Ares because Mr. Crow also told us the Roman name for Ares is Mars and I figure any guy who gets a planet named after him deserves to get worshipped.
    I'm busy gluing a cotton ball couch inside my shoe box so Ares will be comfortable when a note lands on my desk.
Did you remember to plug in the mermaid Cast night?
    S.
    I glance across the aisle at Stacey and her shrine for Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She gives me a sideways smile. I write my reply and toss it back.
Yep. Extra early. My dad hadn't even fallen asleep in front of the TV get.
    I.
    I squeeze a square of glue onto my shoe box floor and sprinkle glitter over it for a rug. Another note appears.
Meet me at the pigpen after School. Only don't let Jenna see you. She wanted me to come to her house this weekend to work on props for the dance, so I had to tell her I'm going to my dad's right after school and won't be back until late on Sunday.
    S.
    P.S. We are going to have so much fun!
    As soon as I finish drawing Ares on a craft stick and propping him up on the couch, Mr. Crow tells us it's time to line up for music. "Why didn't you tell Jenna you're staying with me?" I whisper to Stacey as we get in line.
    "Because she might mention it to her mom, and then it might get back to Kelli, and that might cause problems," Stacey whispers back.
    "I thought the mermaid would make sure we don't have any problems," I say.
    Before Stacey can answer, Jenna steps up to us. "Passing notes during class is against the rules," she says. "So is talking in