gold letters on the package.
“Who dropped it off?” I put the package down on the kitchen table.
“He didn’t say…” Annie furrowed her brow. “The guy didn’t say. Or maybe he did – I’m not sure. I was pretty distracted.” She giggled. “He was awfully cute.”
Every boy looked cute to Annie, I thought, but I didn’t say anything.
“Oh, you should have seen him, Bree,” Annie sighed, sitting down on the sofa. “Perfect golden skin – these bright blue clear eyes – his hair bleached by the sun. There was only one thing about him that was weird, though. His clothes. I thought he’d come from a Renaissance Faire or something – they were definitely not what you’d expect from a delivery-boy uniform.” She sighed to herself. “Weird. But he didn’t look shady or anything.”
“Did he ask you out?” I sat down next to Annie.
“No,” Annie sighed.
“Did you ask him out?” I turned to her.
“No…” Annie looked a bit miserable.
“Why not?” At twelve, the insecurities involved in teenage relationships hadn’t quite been made clear to me yet. “Or at least – ask him to hang out with you. Like – casually. See if you get along.”
All this seemed perfectly sensible to me. Then again, if my nemesis Clariss and her minions were anything to go by, I apparently had a sore lack of understanding about anything where boys were concerned.
“I didn’t get his number,” said Annie.
“Find out his name and call the delivery company – ask if there’s supposed to be a return address on this thing. Maybe he left the label in the van.”
“There wasn’t a van,” Annie said. “And besides – I already know his name. I asked him.” She shot me a mischievous smile. “Alistair.” She sighed. “Alistair – I think it suits him.”
“I’ve never met an Alistair before.” It was an old-fashioned name, I thought. Like something out of one of my mom’s books.
“Well, maybe you’ll get to meet one soon – if I’m lucky.” Annie walked over to the freezer to grab some ice cream. “Chocolate or vanilla.”
“Chocolate, please! And get a whole pint for me!” I laughed. “Logan says I’m a bottomless pit, but I told him – I’m growing!”
“ Logan ?” Annie was on me, eagle-eyed, as she filled a bowl of ice cream and added chocolate syrup. She walked over and placed the bowl in front of me. “Is he that boy who’s always hanging around here?”
“Uh-huh,” I was too busy shovelling chocolate chip ice cream into my mouth to notice the subtlety in her question.
“He’s pretty cute. For a twelve-year-old, I mean.” Annie thought about it. “When he grows up, he’ll be a heartbreaker.”
“Ew!” I sprang to my feet. “Logan’s not like… that .” I wasn’t sure what like that was, but according to the girls in my class, it involved a lot of awkward text messaging and some sweaty hand-holding. “He’s like my brother. I’ve known him since we were five.”
“Hey – if you don’t get the good ones now, they’ll all be taken up by the time you…” Annie stopped in mid-sentence. “Hey, Bree, where did you put that package again?”
“On the kitchen table, why?”
Annie looked up in confusion.
“That’s weird,” she said, rummaging around the kitchen. “It’s not there. In fact – it’s missing…”
Chapter 2
A nnie and I spent a good two hours hunting for the package, but neither of us could find it. Annie was convinced that I’d mislaid it in my usual,
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