more. I feel like screaming, âListen!â because I want her to believe me and I know I can make everything all right if sheâd just listen to me.
So Iâm saying, âGramsâ¦Gramsâ¦
Grams!
â but when she finally turns to me and says, âWhat!â the phone rings.
And all of a sudden itâs dead quiet in the apartment except for the phone ringing off the hook. Grams looks at me and I look at her, and finally she picks it up and says, âHello?â real softly. After a second she pinches her eyes closed and Iâm thinking that Mrs. Graybill has already told Mr. Garnucci everything and that this is him calling to say that Grams had better start packing. But what Grams says is, âNo, she canât come to the phone.â
That throws me, but Iâm thinking, Okay, okay...at least itâs not Mr. Garnucci. It must be Marissa.
Grams says, âI donât care if it
is
an emergencyâshe canât come to the phone.â
So Iâm sitting there, wondering what kind of trouble Mikeyâs gotten himself into this time, when Grams says, âThe police? Why are the police looking for Samantha at
your
house?â She listens for another minute, then holds out the phone to me without a word.
NINE
Itâs Marissa, all right, and you can tellâsheâs dancing around with her cordless phone, biting on a fingernail, having a heart attack. âSammy, youâve got to come. Now! I told them you were in the shower. What is going
on?
They say you said you lived here! What am I supposed to
do?
â
âThe
shower?
â My brain races around for a solution, but all I feel is marbles crashing into each other, going nowhere. âAre your parents home?â
âNo.â
âWhat about Mikey?â
âHeâs in his room, feeding his fish. I told him if he came out, Iâd tell Mom and Dad about him going to Maynardâs when he was supposed to be sick.â
âOkay, okay. Iâll be right there.â
âHow in the world are you going to get here?â
âIâm going to run.â
âRun?â
âYeah. Leave the back door unlocked and tell them I take long showers. Iâll be there as fast as I can.â
I hang up and look at Grams. Sheâs sitting on the couch with her face buried in her hands, shaking her head. I run up to her and give her a hug. âGrams, Iâm really sorry. I promise Iâll explain everything when I get back.â
She looks up at me and whispers, âSamantha, you act like youâre running from the law.â
I let out a nervous little laugh. âActually, itâs kind of the opposite. Everythingâll be all right, I promise.â I give her a quick kiss on the cheek, and as Iâm leaving she says, âIâll be waiting.â
I wave and close the door, and then I start running. Down the stairs, through the lobby, across the parking lot, and down Main Street.
Now, I walk to Marissaâs house all the time. Before my skateboard got stolen I used to go to Marissaâs house almost every day. But Iâd never run to Marissaâs house. And I guess I started off too fast, because two blocks down Main Street the iced tea Iâd had at Hudsonâs locked up tight on my right side and wouldnât let go.
But I kept on running, holding on to my side like Iâd been shot, feeling a hot spot on my little toe where a blisterâs going to pop up any minute, and by the time I turn up Jasmine Iâm not running anymore, Iâm hobbling.
I hobble up the hill as fast as I can, wondering the whole time if itâs Officer Borsch whoâs waiting for me, and if it is, if heâs figured out yet that Iâm not really in the shower.
I cut through a neighborâs yard, then scrape myself up climbing over the fence into Marissaâs backyard. By now I just want to lie down and die, but instead I drag myself up to the house, turn on
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