BFF* by Judy Blume Read Free Book Online

a sofa. “Do you like it here or do you think I should hang it over my desk?”
    â€œOver your desk,” I said. “I just can’t believe that you didn’t tell us!”
    â€œWould it have made a difference?” Alison put the posters on her bed.
    â€œNo,” I said, “but …”
    â€œBut what?” Now she looked directly at me, waiting for me to say something.
    â€œNothing …”
    â€œGet down, Maizie!” Alison shooed her off the bed.
    Maizie growled.
    â€œShe can’t stand it when people gush over my mother,” Alison said. “She’ll try to bite anyone who does. You wouldn’t believe how many times she’s tried to bite reporters.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYes,” Alison said, taking the comforter out of its plastic bag. “Give me a hand getting this on the bed.”
    The comforter had tiny rosebuds all over it. And the lamp shades, which had been my idea, were made of the same fabric. Rachel said the lamp shades were unnecessary and too expensive, but Alison bought them anyway. At the time I thought it was to please me, since everything else had been Rachel’s idea. But now that I knew Alison’s mother was Gena Farrell I wasn’t so sure. I mean, Gena Farrell is famous! She must be very rich.
    I helped Alison hang her posters. I wished I had thought of push pins when I was hanging mine. They don’t take the paint off the wall and they make such tiny holes that no one would ever notice them.
    When we’d finished Alison said, “Do you know how to play Spit?”
    â€œSpit as in saliva?” I asked.
    Alison laughed. “Spit as in the card game.”
    â€œThere’s a card game called Spit?”
    â€œYes.” Alison opened her desk drawer and took out a deck of cards. She shuffled, divided them into two piles, then explained the rules of the game.
    By the time Rachel got there Alison and I were in the middle of a really fast hand and couldn’tstop laughing. “We’re playing Spit,” I told Rachel.
    â€œWhat?” Rachel said.
    â€œIt’s a card game.”
    â€œYou want me to teach you?” Alison asked Rachel.
    â€œNo …” Rachel said. “I came over to help with your room but I see it’s all done.”
    Alison collected the cards and wrapped a rubber band around them.
    â€œDoesn’t it look great?” I asked Rachel.
    â€œActually, it does,” Rachel said. “It looks just like a flower garden. Maybe I should be an interior designer.”
    â€œDid you recognize Alison’s mother?” I asked Rachel.
    â€œNo, should I have?” Rachel asked.
    â€œShe’s Gena Farrell,” I said.
    Maizie began to bark.
    â€œWho’s Gena Farrell?”
    â€œAlison’s mother!”
    â€œI got that part,” Rachel said. “The part I didn’t get is
who
is Gena Farrell?”
    â€œThe TV star,” I said.
    â€œActress,” Alison said, correcting me.
    â€œThe actress,” I repeated. “You know … she’s on
Canyon Crossing.”
    Maizie jumped off the bed and began nipping at my feet.
    â€œQuit that,” I told her.
    â€œI warned you,” Alison said.
    â€œI’ve never seen
Canyon Crossing,”
Rachel said.
    â€œYes, you have …” I told her. “Last year we watched it at my house … more than once.”
    â€œI don’t remember,” Rachel said.
    â€œIt’s been cancelled,” Alison said. “Mom’s doing a new series. It’s called
Franny on Her Own
. It won’t be on until February. They’re shooting in New York now. That’s why we moved east. Leon’s the head writer. He gets to decide what happens to all the characters.”
    â€œThat’s so exciting!” I said. “What’s it like having Gena Farrell for a mother?”
    â€œShe’s the only mother I’ve ever known.”