Read Online Sea Change by Aimee Friedman - Free Book Online Page A

a treat is to sit here and chat with you, Amelia.”
    I hovered at the entrance to the kitchen, bewildered. What was up ? In no way did Mom appear as if she wanted Delilah to leave.
    “So Virginia and Jackie are both too hungover to play with us,” CeeCee announced, setting her BlackBerry on the table, and Delilah made a tsk-tsk noise. “What?” CeeCee asked, blinking at her mother. “ I know how to hold my liquor.”
    “That you do,” Delilah confirmed proudly, raising her glass of orange juice to CeeCee in a toast. “You’re a LeBlanc, after all!”
    I tried—and failed—to imagine having the same conversation with Mom. Or with anyone’s parent. But Mom only chuckled and rolled her eyes.
    “Amelia,” CeeCee was saying, “Miranda wanted to be sure you’d be all right with her joining me today for a girls’ outing. I know you have to paint the study and all…”
    “We don’t have to paint.” Mom chuckled, and glanced at me. “You know, the repairmen are coming to look at the roof and the plumbing, anyway. You girls go and have a good time! Just be sure to call me if you’ll be out past dark.”
    I stared at Mom, attempting to eye signal to her that I didn’t want to spend the day with CeeCee, but she had already returned to eating her hush puppy. Great.
    “What are you two beauties up to, then?” Delilah asked, taking a sip of juice.
    “It’s Miranda’s call,” CeeCee said, fixing the strap of her dress. “But I was just thinking how pathetic it is that we don’t have more shops on the boardwalk.”
    “Don’t let the Illingworths hear you say that,” Delilah advised, and Mom laughed—sort of nervously, I thought. “The boardwalk is their pride and joy.”
    At the mention of the Illingworths and the boardwalk, I remembered something Virginia had said at the party yesterday, and my spirits buoyed.
    “The science center!” I exclaimed. “Isn’t there a marine center on the boardwalk?” I asked CeeCee, whose face fell.
    “There is?” Mom asked, and Delilah nodded. “Who knew? I thought nothing had changed on this island, but I guess there are always new additions.” She smiled at me, her expression encouraging. “That sounds right up Miranda’s alley!”
    “What do you think, CeeCee?” I asked, leaning against the doorjamb and grinning. “Too boring ?” Swinging by this science center while simultaneously irritating CeeCee seemed like the ideal Selkie Island activity.
    CeeCee heaved a great sigh, pushing her chair back from the table. “Okay, okay, you’re the boss. The science center it is. But afterward we’re getting popcorn shrimp at A Fish Tale and laying out on Siren Beach.”
    Siren Beach. Without warning, I thought of the strange boy from yesterday, and I felt my cheeks flush. Would he be there again?
    But why did it matter? There was another boy to focus on, after all.
    “Deal,” I said, walking over to CeeCee. “And later we can try to meet up with our…picks,” I added boldly. CeeCee’s lips parted in surprise, and I raised my chin, pleased. Who was boring now?
    The Selkie Island Center for Marine Discovery was located in a modest, pale green house on the edge of the boardwalk, several doors down from The Crabby Hook. A gleaming plaque on the center’s side announced that it was A G IFT OF THE I LLINGWORTH F AMILY. As CeeCee pulled open the screen door, I glanced at the handmade flyers taped to the windows. One flyer stated that the center’s hours were from noon to six, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Another flyer advertised sea creature beach walks, and a third announced an exhibit on baby alligators. Nothing fancy, but I hadn’t been expecting the Museum of Natural History.
    The air-conditioned foyer was full of little kids and chitchatting parents. On the wall was an underwater photograph of coral reefs, alongside a sign that read D ISCOVER OUR COLLECTION OF POLKA-DOT BATFISH! I sighed contentedly, feeling more at home in the center than I did at The