Acting Out by Laurie Halse Anderson Read Free Book Online Page A

door and head quickly to the Herriot Room.
    The dog is beautiful—or should be. He’s a chocolate Lab with short deep-brown hair, and he must weigh about a hundred pounds. But he looks so weak. Luckily, Gran is the best vet around here, so he’s in good hands now.
    Gran is listening to the dog’s breathing and heartbeat. “Call Maggie to help with the family,” she instructs.
    “Do you want me to get their information?”
    “No, I need you here. Call Maggie,” Gran sayswithout looking up from the poor animal. I’m totally focused on the dog, but I can’t help thinking that it’s nice to feel needed.
    I call our home line from the clinic phone. Before I can get back to Gran, Maggie is rushing in to work with the family. She’ll get the dog’s health history and more information on what happened before they brought him here.
    Back in the Herriot Room, things look bad. The dog is still throwing up. Yuck, I will never get used to that. I whisk away the gross cloths and replace them with clean ones. I stand back, wondering what else I can do. But I know not to ask questions, that Gran will let me know what she needs.
    Maggie scoots in the room. “Three-year-old Lab. Been throwing up for a few hours. They said he looked drunk earlier. They imagined it was just something he ate. But he started crying about a half hour ago and walking stiffly so they decided to bring him in. Oh, his name’s Jinx. Do you want me to get his dad?”
    “Yes,” Gran says, “this is a very sick dog.”
    “Reminds me of Puff,” I say.
    Gran and Maggie nod. Gran begins an IV, and Maggie leaves to get the dog’s owner.
    “Okay, Jinx,” Gran coos to the dog, petting his neck. “Let’s find out why it all hurts so much.”
    An hour later, Gran has stabilized Jinx. She lets us have a break while she talks to the dog’s family, so my cousin and I head to the kitchen. Saving animals makes you hungry!
    Maggie pulls out the box of Pop-Tarts. “Want one?” she asks, taunting me.
    “Sure,” I say. Maggie is surprised. So am I. Curiosity has gotten the better of me, I suppose. How bad can they be? And Maggie loves them. It would be nice to share something with my cousin other than popcorn.
    The toaster springs up two lightly browned rectangles. Maggie hands me one wrapped in a napkin, warm and smelling of strawberry. It’s frosted and covered in red and pink sprinkles. I’m sure it doesn’t need all that extra sugar to top it off, but it does look pretty. Maggie pours us each a small glass of milk and flops down in the chair opposite me.
    “Oh come on, take a bite,” she says, and chomps a mouthful. I nibble the corner. It doesn’t taste like much. I take a bigger bite and the warm strawberry filling oozes pleasantly into my mouth. Uh-oh. It’s delicious. Now I know why Maggie and Gran are hooked on these things.
    “It’s…not bad,” I lie.
    Maggie raises her eyebrows and gets up andputs two more Tarts in the toaster. She sits back down and starts spinning her empty glass of milk on the table.
    “So what do you know about your mom’s movie?” she says, looking at her glass, not directly at me.
    “It’s an independent film with a small budget but some big stars,” I reply. I’ve gotten so used to people asking this question, the response comes automatically.
    “Is your mom one of the big stars?” Maggie stops spinning her glass and looks up.
    “Not even close. But she hopes this movie will get her closer to becoming one.”
    “Gran really hasn’t told me about it. I have the feeling she knows practically nothing about what’s going on.”
    “I know practically nothing, too,” I say, a little sullenly. Then I reconsider. “Well, maybe that’s not entirely true.” I take a sip of my milk and continue. “It’s a trilogy. I overheard her talking to her agent about the filming schedule. If the financial backing comes through, they’ll film the three movies one after the other without a break.”
    Maggie hands me