Read Online Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom - Free Book Online Page B

Odenia showed us to the door. Lacey Jane and Rudy burst excitedly outside, but I hung back.
    â€œI’m supposed to babysit Rudy,” I said. “What will I do with him tomorrow?”
    â€œBring him. He can watch TV in my spare room. Or play in the backyard. You can keep an eye on him.” She paused. “What else is troubling you, Rebel?”
    I glanced out where Rudy was spinning himself silly. “Why do you really want to give us these lessons? Like you said, you don’t know me.”
    She leaned in closer. Her breath smelled like cinnamon. “No, but I do know Lacey Jane. I’ve watched her grow up. She used to be a happy, sweet child. But after her mama died last winter, that girl’s been nothing but a bundle of sorrow.”
    You could have knocked me over with a wisp of dryer lint. Lacey Jane had never breathed a word about her mother being dead! That explained why she didn’t talk about her mother. A pinprick of guilt jabbed my side like a runner’s stitch. I felt sorry for her but I didn’t want to feel too sorry. It wasn’t like we were going to be best friends.
    I wondered if I should say anything, and decided right then and there I wouldn’t. Lacey Jane would tell me when she was ready. Besides, I felt uncomfortable talking about dead people. Animals dead for thousands of years, no problem. But people—especially somebody’s mother—well, that was different.
    â€œBalance on the ball of your foot,” Miss Odenia said. “Don’t put your heel down first. I know it feels strange, but it’s the way pageant girls walk. Try it, Lacey Jane.”
    Lacey Jane raised up on her toes. “Like this?”
    â€œNot so high.”
    Lacey Jane took a few wobbly steps. “I keep wanting to put my heel down.”
    â€œPractice and you’ll get it.” Miss Odenia eyeballed me next. “Okay, Rebel. Before you can walk you need to learn correct posture.”
    Me? Hadn’t she seen how Lacey Jane pitched forward like she was dropping off a diving board?
    But I sucked my stomach flat to my backbone and stiffened my legs like bed slats. My skirt promptly dropped to the floor in a crumple of denim.
    Lacey Jane fell about laughing. “Oh, the judges will love that!”
    I yanked my skirt back up. “I didn’t bring any dresses,” I mumbled. “This miniskirt of Lynette’s is the only thing that fits. Sort of.”
    â€œIs that why you were late?” Lacey Jane asked.
    â€œMmm-hmm.” People didn’t need to know every thing about me.
    â€œYou could’ve borrowed one of my dresses.” Lacey Jane smoothed her bright yellow sundress. Her barrettes and ankle socks matched, natch.
    â€œMistakes happen even in pageants,” Miss Odenia told me. “You picked up your skirt without any fuss, which is good. Now, shoulders back and down. Chin up.” She prodded and pulled me into position like a life-size Gumby.
    I clutched the counter. “I feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa!”
    â€œYou’re not. You’re actually standing straight for a change. Okay, girls, one at a time, walk for me. Don’t toe out, Rebel. None of that slew-footed business. Make like you’re following an invisible line. Long strides. Lift your legs! Point your fingers down—your fingers want to curl naturally, but that doesn’t look good.”
    By the time I pageant-walked from one end of Miss Odenia’s living room and back again three times, I had cramps in my calves. Then Lacey Jane took her turn. She turned her toes in so far that her knees locked.
    â€œAgain, only this time, smile. Always smile at the judges. You first, Rebel.”
    I remembered everything she told me—chin up, shoulders down and back, balance on balls of feet, follow invisible line, long strides, fingers pointing down. But I tromped on the back of one of my flip-flops and nearly landed on my