Dead Ringer by Jessie Rosen Read Free Book Online

sixteen.”
    “Babysitting,” her dad said, again as if he’d read it in
some book.
    “Sure, babysitting,” Sasha parroted back.
     “Okay. Glad we had this talk,” he said. “Let’s say
that you can take the local bus within a ten-mile radius so long as you’re home
by…what? Ten o’clock?”
    “Yes, ten,” her mom responded. “That’s as late as most
weeknight babysitting jobs should go anyway.”
    “Okay,” Sasha said. “Cool. There’s a site I can use to
search for people looking for help.”
    As she spoke those words, a light bulb went off in Sasha’s
head that made it almost impossible to hold back the massive smile threatening
to creep onto her face.
    “Thanks, you guys,” Sasha said instead, and she really,
truly meant it.

Chapter 3
     
    Laura
     
    Laura took a deep breath. She wasn’t
quite ready to walk through Jeff Haskell’s front door, especially since, from
the sounds of it, the party was already in full swing and it was only ten
o’clock. She peered down at the billowy, Aztec-print crop top and ripped jeans
she’d chosen for this very first EHS social event, wondering if it would make
her stand out even more. I’m not supposed to care , Laura thought to
herself, but that was tricky now that there was Charlie to impress and Amanda
to avoid. Neither would happen if she continued to stand on the Haskells’ front
stoop. Laura turned the knob and walked in, head held high.
    It was Amanda who greeted her the minute she entered the
packed living room. “You came!” she said. “Charlie said you might! Let’s get
you something to drink!”
    Amanda didn’t know that Laura had heard what she said to
Charlie after lunch that first day of school, so she didn’t know that Laura
would see right through this welcome-wagon routine. But the best friend act
benefitted Laura in more ways than one. She could meet the senior class on the
arm of their lady leader and carefully dig for some clues about Amanda’s
deal with Charlie.
    Laura had to hand it to Amanda; she was an expert escort.
“Hey! Johnny, T, Kev. Come here. You need to know Laura immediately. She’s
brand new, from California, and couldn’t be cuter. Come fight over her.”
    Every intro was just as quick, cute, and smooth, so that by
the time Laura made one lap around the house, her number was officially entered
into ten guys’ phones. On more than one occasion she actually heard Amanda shut
down someone’s whisper about the Sarah similarities.
    “So what,” she said to some super-muscly dude wearing a
way-too-tight tank top, “You look like half the cast of Jersey Shore and
you don’t see anyone staring at you. Get over it.”
    Thanks to Amanda, Laura started to actually feel the
confidence she was channeling when she’d walked into to Jeff’s house. She could
be herself in her funky print top with her California attitude and find a way
to fit in with this tight-knit group that had been partying together for years.
    It wasn’t until Laura was finally guided out to the fire pit
tucked to the left of the pool that she got part two of the Amanda treatment.
    “So, which guy would you like?” Amanda said. She was barely
even looking at Laura as she took what seemed like a thousand photos of her
bare feet dangling in front of the fire pit.
    “What do you mean?” Laura said.
    “You met like a dozen guys tonight. Who do you want to
date?”
    “Oh. Um. I’m not sure,” Laura said. “Do I have to pick one
right now?”
    “Yes.” The sweetness in Amanda’s voice was officially gone,
replaced with that bossy tone Laura heard her use with Charlie.
    “And why is that?” Laura said. Dealing with Amanda required
an equally direct approach.
    “Because it will help you keep your mind off my boyfriend.”
    With that, Laura understood everything that had happened for
the past hour. It was the classic mean-girl power play. The only thing that
made her feel better was the knowledge that Amanda viewed her as enough of a
threat to