Read Online Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli - Free Book Online Page B

yellow wall. I seemed to be drifting, footless, into the light.
    Suddenly the front door opened. I dived behind the car in the driveway and crouched by the rear fender. I heard the door close. I heard steps. The steps matched the movement of a long shadow cast down the driveway. My breath stopped. The shadow stopped. I felt both ridiculous and weirdly, perfectly placed, as if crouching by that car was precisely what life had in store for me at that moment.
    Her voice came from beyond the shadow. “Remember when you followed me into the desert that day after school?”
    Absurdly, I debated whether to answer, as if doing so would—what? Give me away? I leaned into the smooth metal of the fender. It never occurred to me to stand, to show myself. Hours seemed to pass before I finally croaked, “Yes.”
    “Why did you turn around and go back?”
    Her tone was casual, as if she held conversations every night with people crouching behind the car in the driveway.
    “I don’t remember,” I said.
    “Were you afraid?”
    “No,” I lied.
    “I wouldn’t have let you get lost, you know.”
    “I know.”
    A little shadow detached itself from the larger one. It came toward me, wavering over the pebbled driveway. It had a tail. It wasn’t a shadow. It was the rat, Cinnamon. Cinnamon stopped at the tip of one of my sneakers. He stood, looking up at me. He put his front paws on top of my sneaker and nosed into the laces.
    “Are you getting acquainted with Cinnamon?”
    “Sort of.”
    “Are you lying?”
    “Sort of.”
    “Are you afraid of rats?”
    “Sort of.”
    “Do you think I’m cute? If you say sort of, I’ll tell Cinnamon to bite you.”
    “Yes.”
    “Yes, what?”
    “I think you’re cute.” I thought of adding “sort of” just to be funny, but I didn’t.
    “Do you think Cinnamon is cute?”
    The rat had climbed fully onto my sneaker now. I could feel his weight. I wanted to shake him off. His tail spilled onto the driveway. “No comment,” I said.
    “Oh my, hear that, Cinnamon? No comment. He doesn’t want people to know he thinks you’re cute.”
    “I think you’re getting a little carried away,” I said.
    “I certainly hope so,” she said. “Nothing’s more fun than being carried away. Would you like to carry Cinnamon away for the night? He loves sleep-overs.”
    “No thank you.”
    “Oh.” Her voice was mock-pouty. “Are you sure? He’s no trouble. He hardly takes up any room. All you have to feed him is a Mini Wheat. Or two grapes. And he won’t poop on your rug. Will you, Cinnamon? Go ahead, stand up and tell him you won’t. Stand up, Cinnamon.”
    Cinnamon stood on my sneaker. His eyes shone like black pearls.
    “Doesn’t he have the cutest ears?”
    Who notices a rat’s ears? I looked. She was right. “Yeah,” I said, “I guess he does.”
    “Tickle him behind his ears. He loves that.”
    I swallowed hard. I reached down with the tips of my two forefingers and tickled the tiny, furry spaces behind the rat’s ears. I guessed he enjoyed it. He didn’t move. And then, surprising myself, I moved one fingertip in front of his nose, and he licked me. It had never occurred to me that rats do that. His tongue was half the size of my little fingernail. I would have guessed it was rough, like a cat’s, but it wasn’t; it was smooth.
    And then he was no longer on my foot—he was on my shoulder. I yelped. I tried to swat him off, but he dug into my shirt with his fingernails. Meanwhile, Stargirl was cracking up. I could see the shadow shaking.
    “Let me guess,” she said. “Cinnamon jumped onto your shoulder.”
    “You got it,” I said.
    “And you’re thinking about how rats are supposed to go for people’s throats.”
    “I wasn’t,” I said, “but now that you mention it…” I clamped my hands around my neck. I felt something in my ear. Whiskery. I yelped again. “He’s eating my ear!”
    Stargirl laughed some more. “He’s nuzzling you. He likes you. Especially