Double-Crossed by Lin Oliver Read Free Book Online

“This is a big chance for us to be seen, and to do something important at the same time.”
    â€œIt’s settled then,” Mr. Ballard said. “Next Saturday. Here at the club. Six thirty. I know you’ll come up with something great to help out the schools. Maybe we can even contribute something to this young man’s recuperation. Now, where’s that grandma of yours?”
    Without waiting for an answer, he hustled off toward the kitchen, passing Charlie and the girls as they streamed outside.
    â€œHi there, Sammie,” he said, and waved to Charlie.
    Spencer laughed, and I caught a short but wonderful glimpse of his dimple.
    â€œThat’s my dad,” he said. “He’s got a way of knowing everybody and knowing nobody at the same time.”
    â€œThat’s an interesting observation,” I began, but then noticed that Spencer had already left my side and was hurrying over to Charlie and the other girls, leaving me standing there with my interesting observation dangling in midair.
    You could say I felt like a total idiot, and you’d be right.
    So there we were, the three of us—Oscar, Alicia, and me—definitely feeling like outsiders in my own home. I heard a horn and turned to see Ben Feldman getting out of his dad’s Mercedes, dressed in his usual plaid Bermuda shorts, leather flip-flops, and polo shirt with the collar popped up.
    â€œText from Jared,” he said, waving his cell phone at me. “He says there’s a volleyball game starting.”
    Without another word, he blew by us and found Spencer and the SF2 girls. Together, moving like a single unit, they all headed out to the beach volleyball court. As they passed, no one stopped to ask if we wanted to join in.
    But that was okay, because we didn’t.
    We had our own party to go to.

One of Us
    Chapter 4
    â€œOh, crud! It’s only you!” Sara Berlin said, throwing open the front door to her apartment. “We thought you were the pizza!”
    â€œSorry to disappoint you,” Alicia said as we stood there in the hallway. “If I put some pepperoni on my face, would that help?”
    â€œOne hundred percent!” Sara laughed.
    â€œCome in, kids,” Sara’s mother yelled from inside. “Sara, where are your manners?”
    Four members of our Truth Tellers group were gathered in the living room. Bernard of the red hair, Keisha of the black hair, Etta of the green-streaked hair, and Will Lee of the short hair. Actually, everything about Will is short, but maybe that’s because he’s only in the sixth grade. He’s hoping for a seventh-grade growth spurt. When we do our Truth Teller monologues, he talks a lot about how annoying it is to be short, especially because he always has crushes on the tallest girls in class. Nobody laughs at him, though. We just reassure him that good things come in small packages.
    Sara’s mom was at the kitchen counter pouring pink lemonade into red plastic cups and handing them, one at a time, to Sara’s little brother, Timmy, so he could serve the guests. I had never met him, but Sara had told us in Truth Tellers that he is autistic. As soon as we came in, Timmy walked up to me and handed me a cup. Then he saw Oscar and stared at his leg a long minute. Without a word, he took the cup away from me and handed it to him.
    â€œ
Gracias
,” Oscar said, taking the lemonade.
    â€œDrink it!” Timmy said, jumping up and down and clapping his hands. “It will make your leg all better.”
    Oscar took a big swig as Timmy watched him, fascinated.
    â€œ
Delicioso
,” Oscar said. “Now I am stronger than Iron Man.” That seemed to make Timmy happy, and he skipped back to his mom to get another cup.
    â€œEverybody, this is my cousin Oscar from El Salvador!” Alicia said, holding out her hand to introduce Oscar like he was the star of the show. “He’s here to get an operation that we