Bitter End by Jennifer Brown Read Free Book Online

on the lookout for (Ricky Martin and the Spice Girls were at the top of the list). “We haven’t started yet.”
    “But you will be punished,” Zack said in his game show announcer voice.
    Bethany rolled her eyes. “He has an Oreo in his sock,” she said.
    “Ew,” I said, flopping on the bed next to Zack. “I’m not eating it if that’s what you’re thinking.”
    “Nice, Spoiler Sally,” he said to Bethany. “You got any soda?”
    “In the fridge,” Bethany said absently, flipping through a stack of maps. “Bring me one.”
    “Me too,” I added.
    “Oh, well, I do live to serve, after all,” he said, hopping off the bed. “Hey, Mrs. M!” I heard him bellow when he left the
     room.
    I took my chance while he was gone.
    “Beth,” I hissed.
    “Hmm?” she responded, scratching her chin and studying the map. “Hey, you know, I think there’s this dinosaur museum or something
     on the way there.”
    “Bethany!” I said again, louder this time. “Quick, while Zack’s not in here.” I motioned for her to sit on the bed next to
     me.
    She looked up and shut the notebook, then sat next to me. “What?” she said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, and resting
     the notebook in her lap.
    “Guess who called me.”
    “Who?”
    “Cole.”
    Her eyes widened. “Seriously? Hot Guy Cole?”
    I nodded, unable to keep my smile at bay.
    “What did he want?”
    I shook my head. “English class. He had a question about this Ray Bradbury novel they’re reading. But then we talked about
     stupid stuff, too. You know, like that assembly we had last week. That kind of thing.”
    Bethany looked confused. “So why is this a big deal?”
    I flopped back against her pillow and groaned. “I don’t know,” I said. “I just… it’s not, is it?”
    “Not unless you like him.”
    I giggled and smacked her with a Dr Pepper pillow. “Shut up; you know I kind of do,” I said.
    Her eyes got big. “You’re finally admitting it?”
    Holding back a huge laugh that wanted, for some reason I didn’t even understand, to burst out of me, I nodded slowly. “Yeah,”
     I said.
    “And you think he likes you, too?”
    Again, I nodded, feeling like a big happy dork with my smile.
    “That’s awesome,” she said. “He’s really cute, Alex. You should make your move.”
    “No way,” I said, hitting her with the pillow again. Pieces of her hair floofed up, and she had to wrangle them down again.
     “And don’t tell Zack. You know how he gets. The whole world would know tomorrow.”
    “Oh, please, Zack is the last person I would tell,” she said. But then we could hear Zack coming down the hall, talking to
     one of Bethany’s little brothers. Bethany opened the notebook again just in time for Zackto open the door, carrying the entire twelve-pack of Dr Pepper.
    He stood in the doorway eyeing us. “Okay, I missed something,” he said.
    Bethany and I hovered over the notebook as if it was the most absorbing thing we’d ever seen in our lives.
    “Uh-huh. Just so you know,” he said, shutting the door with his foot and digging cans of soda out of the box, “I’m not going
     to any girly spa and wearing a short robe and cucumbers on my eyes while we’re out there, if that’s what you’re planning.”
    Bethany and I glanced at each other and cracked up.
    “But you can get massages at those places,” I said.
    “Yeah,” Bethany agreed. “With lots of oil and maybe a hot masseuse walking on your back. Topless.”
    Zack tossed Dr Peppers onto the bed and flopped down next to them. “Alex,” he said, smacking the back of my head as if he’d
     just had a brilliant idea, “I think I just thought of your punishment!”
    “Ew!” I said, rolling away from him. “I am not coming near you with my bare feet. Or bare anything else, for that matter.”
    “Come on, Alex,” he teased. “Best friends share everything. It’s in the rule book. Rule number seventy-seven: Best friends
     don’t keep things from