Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis Read Free Book Online Page A

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Chapter 11
    J ust because Colleen was busy with her boy didn’t mean that she could forget about her other important responsibilities, like her position as the head of the St. Mary’s youth group snack committee. Tonight was Father William’s birthday party, and she had to be focused.
    This morning, she and her mom had gotten up at 5:00 to make four dozen chocolate marshmallow cupcakes. And this afternoon, Colleen would go to the church to get everything ready. Kaitlin had promised to help her. They had been talking all week about how they would arrange the flowers and balloons and set up the food table so it looked like a page out of one of Colleen’s mom’s magazines. Colleen would never want to brag, but she and Kaitlin were really talented at arranging baked goods. Maybe they’d start a business one day.
    But just as Colleen and her mom were walking out the front door, the phone rang, and it was Kaitlin saying, “I’m not coming.”
    Colleen couldn’t believe it!
    â€œYou have to come!” Colleen said, but Kaitlin kept saying she wasn’t in the mood, and finally Colleen’s mom went outside and started the car, and Colleen had to go.
    She hung up in shock.
    How could Kaitlin just call her and cancel, like Father William’s party was an orthodontist appointment? And how could Colleen be at the party by herself?
    Because this wasn’t a regular youth group party. Other kids from church were coming, kids who never came to youth group, like Will Keeler, whose dad had donated the rose bush they were planting in Father William’s honor, and Brandon Mahoney, who followed Will everywhere.
    What if Will and Brandon turned the party into a huge joke? What if they thought youth group was for dorks? What if Brandon made up a mean name for Colleen, like rotten cookie Colleen or gross snack Colleen . . . Colleen wasn’t good at making up mean names, but Brandon was a genius at it. It was Brandon who thought of the name Emma-Jean Spaz-arus. And a few months back he had drawn a picture of a really fat man on Mr. Petrowski’s blackboard with the words Mr. Pigtrowski written under it.
    Oh gosh! What would Colleen do?!
    She had to get the party ready, that was for sure. She loved Father William and would never want to disappoint him. But maybe she could get everything perfect and then call her mom and say that she felt dizzy and that her stomach hurt. It wouldn’t be a lie because even thinking about the party was making Colleen’s head spin and her stomach twist.
    And so that was Colleen’s plan.
    Her mom dropped Colleen and the cupcakes off at the church. Colleen worked by herself to set up the room so it looked really gorgeous. By 6:30 she was finished, and there was still half an hour before the party, plenty of time for her mom to come and pick her up.
    She started walking to the church office to use the phone.
    But wait . . .
    Suddenly she didn’t feel like she was all alone. She looked around, and there was nobody with her in the room. But she had this feeling that someone was right there, watching over her, and not in the creepy horror movie way.
    Her boy. That’s who it was.
    He seemed to be right there with her. And he was reminding her that she’d been so excited about this party, and that not even Brandon Mahoney would be mean on Father William’s birthday.
    Colleen took a deep breath. The room looked amazing and Father William would be so happy.
    And with her boy close by, Colleen didn’t have to worry about a thing.

Chapter 12
    D inner was always a notable affair at Emma-Jean’s house due to the superb meals Vikram created. But this evening was especially festive because of a special guest: Ms. Wright.
    Emma-Jean had long suspected that her language arts teacher would fit in well at their dining table, and her instinct had been correct. Since their first meal together in March, Ms. Wright had developed a close