Read Online Out of Order by Casey Lawrence - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Casey Lawrence
Ads: Link
over couldn’t be saved!” Kate opened the stall door again and poked her nose around it, looking apologetic. “I still don’t blame you for that. That step is a death trap.”
“Well, I guess we’re doomed to sit in here the whole rehearsal,” Jessa sighed, examining her fingernails. “Your name has probably already been called. Why’d you have to be a Barrett instead of a Williams or something?”
“Blame my mother for that one,” Kate groaned through the stall wall. I heard her plunk down on the closed toilet seat in resignation. “She’s the one who picked our fathers. Adams and Barrett, alphabet-starters.”
“At least she didn’t keep going and marry a Carter,” I joked, but it fell flat.
Jessa rolled her eyes toward me, pursed her lips, and then raised both her eyebrows in high arches, as if to say, “Really?”
“Yes, thank God my mother gave up on the institution of marriage after two failed attempts and instead became a total ho. Thank God I don’t have a whole alphabet of half siblings. Thank God I alone have to deal with her since Dustin moved out!”
I winced. Kate’s emotional state was on the rocks as it was, and we certainly weren’t helping. “I didn’t mean—”
Luckily, I was saved from stopping Kate’s meltdown by the reappearance of Ricky, who ran in with a pile of clothes in her arms. “I grabbed everything I could carry,” she panted, dumping her load on the counter between the sinks.
“From where?” I asked, eyeing the clothes suspiciously. The pile smelled a little off , even from a distance, and most of the clothes looked as if they belonged either to small children or to very large men.
“Lost-and-Found,” Ricky said, laughing as she picked through the pile anxiously. “Kate, get out here and choose something. Anything is better than what you have on now.”
Kate came out of the stall, looked at the pile of limp, vaguely strange-smelling clothes, and shook her head definitively. “No way.”
“Come on,” I said, seeing the ingenuity of Ricky’s plan. “We’ll find something you can wear in here.”
I began to help Ricky sort through the clothes, pushing aside tops and sweaters that had accidently come along for the ride when Ricky had grabbed as many bottoms as possible. There were several pairs of men’s jeans that Kate would drown in, damp-smelling gym shorts that went straight to the “no” pile, silk boxers covered in Bart Simpsons, and other unmentionables I couldn’t bring myself to touch, even just to move aside.
“This is disgusting,” Kate said, crossing her arms. “I’m not wearing used clothes. Unwashed used clothes. Dear God.”
“They really should wash these,” I agreed, skin crawling from having touched anything from the pile. I moved over to the only sink not filled with lost-and-found items and began casually washing my hands, trying not to appear frantic. “Some of those jeans might be okay?”
Kate raised an eyebrow and plucked a pair of nondescript jeans from the counter, holding them up to her waist emphatically. They, like every other pair on the table, looked about a half dozen sizes too big. No girl Kate’s size would lose a pair of jeans. Especially not a nice pair.
“Are there any belts?” Jessa said, mostly joking, but Ricky began to check under the remaining clothes for one, just in case.
“I didn’t see any, but—”
“It’s useless. You guys go to the rehearsal. I’ll just… go to the office and call my mom. Maybe the secretary won’t even laugh at my predicament.”
I doubted it, but I kept my lips pressed tightly together. The school secretarial staff was known for being extremely unsympathetic.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Jessa said, grabbing a thin floral sweater from the pile, one that looked both clean and fairly new. “Wear this.”
“It’s not going to be long enough to cover—” Kate began to protest, but Jessa was already shaking her head and motioning to Kate’s
“Well, I guess we’re doomed to sit in here the whole rehearsal,” Jessa sighed, examining her fingernails. “Your name has probably already been called. Why’d you have to be a Barrett instead of a Williams or something?”
“Blame my mother for that one,” Kate groaned through the stall wall. I heard her plunk down on the closed toilet seat in resignation. “She’s the one who picked our fathers. Adams and Barrett, alphabet-starters.”
“At least she didn’t keep going and marry a Carter,” I joked, but it fell flat.
Jessa rolled her eyes toward me, pursed her lips, and then raised both her eyebrows in high arches, as if to say, “Really?”
“Yes, thank God my mother gave up on the institution of marriage after two failed attempts and instead became a total ho. Thank God I don’t have a whole alphabet of half siblings. Thank God I alone have to deal with her since Dustin moved out!”
I winced. Kate’s emotional state was on the rocks as it was, and we certainly weren’t helping. “I didn’t mean—”
Luckily, I was saved from stopping Kate’s meltdown by the reappearance of Ricky, who ran in with a pile of clothes in her arms. “I grabbed everything I could carry,” she panted, dumping her load on the counter between the sinks.
“From where?” I asked, eyeing the clothes suspiciously. The pile smelled a little off , even from a distance, and most of the clothes looked as if they belonged either to small children or to very large men.
“Lost-and-Found,” Ricky said, laughing as she picked through the pile anxiously. “Kate, get out here and choose something. Anything is better than what you have on now.”
Kate came out of the stall, looked at the pile of limp, vaguely strange-smelling clothes, and shook her head definitively. “No way.”
“Come on,” I said, seeing the ingenuity of Ricky’s plan. “We’ll find something you can wear in here.”
I began to help Ricky sort through the clothes, pushing aside tops and sweaters that had accidently come along for the ride when Ricky had grabbed as many bottoms as possible. There were several pairs of men’s jeans that Kate would drown in, damp-smelling gym shorts that went straight to the “no” pile, silk boxers covered in Bart Simpsons, and other unmentionables I couldn’t bring myself to touch, even just to move aside.
“This is disgusting,” Kate said, crossing her arms. “I’m not wearing used clothes. Unwashed used clothes. Dear God.”
“They really should wash these,” I agreed, skin crawling from having touched anything from the pile. I moved over to the only sink not filled with lost-and-found items and began casually washing my hands, trying not to appear frantic. “Some of those jeans might be okay?”
Kate raised an eyebrow and plucked a pair of nondescript jeans from the counter, holding them up to her waist emphatically. They, like every other pair on the table, looked about a half dozen sizes too big. No girl Kate’s size would lose a pair of jeans. Especially not a nice pair.
“Are there any belts?” Jessa said, mostly joking, but Ricky began to check under the remaining clothes for one, just in case.
“I didn’t see any, but—”
“It’s useless. You guys go to the rehearsal. I’ll just… go to the office and call my mom. Maybe the secretary won’t even laugh at my predicament.”
I doubted it, but I kept my lips pressed tightly together. The school secretarial staff was known for being extremely unsympathetic.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Jessa said, grabbing a thin floral sweater from the pile, one that looked both clean and fairly new. “Wear this.”
“It’s not going to be long enough to cover—” Kate began to protest, but Jessa was already shaking her head and motioning to Kate’s
Similar Books
