Geek Charming by Robin Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

somewhere like that.”
    I glared at him.
    “Or not,” he added.
    “The Leaf Queen is a very important tradition at Castle Heights,” I explained. “Nine out of the last ten Leaf Queens have gone on to be prom queens. Everyone except for Adriana Castelli and that’s because she happened to be in rehab at the time. And just today I saw the greatest dress. It’s pale pink with—”
    “Well, the only place you’re going to be wearing that dress is here in the house if you don’t let Josh make his documentary,” said Daddy. “So I’ll leave you kids to figure out the details.” He stopped in front of Josh and put out his hand. “Nice meeting you, Josh. Good luck with your project. I’m very impressed with your drive.”
    “Thanks, Mr. Schoenfield,” Geek Boy said as he shook it. “I really appreciate your offer to sponsor it and, you know, pay for the film and stuff like that.”
    “Daddy, you’re paying for this?!”
    He shrugged. “Why not? It’s a tax write-off. See you kids later.”
    As soon as he left the room, I flopped down on the other end of the couch, which made Geek Boy move even farther into his corner, as if he were afraid of getting cooties.
    I was so mad I wanted to scream. “I can’t believe you came over to tell on me,” I said. “What are you, seven?”
    “I came over here to try and talk things out with you,” he said defensively, “but you weren’t here, and so we started talking, and before I knew it, the Nate ’n Al’s guy was here.”
    I shook my head. “I can’t stand parent kids.”
    “Huh?”
    “Parent kids—kids who suck up to parents.”
    He shrugged. “I don’t suck up to them—they just always seem to really like me. In fact, back in third grade, when I was best friends with Toby Wasserman—”
    I put up my hand to stop him. “Okay, halt. Listen, while I’d really like to play This Is Your Life with you, I don’t have the time right now. So three days a week for one month—” I started counting on my fingers. “That’s—”
    “Twelve days,” he said. “No, wait—actually, because October is a long month, it’ll actually be fourteen days, because it’s a month with five weeks rather than—”
    I put up my hand once more . “Okay, halt again. If we’re going to be working together, which it looks like we are , you’re going to have to stop with the Wikipedia stuff.”
    “Fine,” he mumbled, reaching for a piece of white of a black-and-white.
    “Although I’m impressed,” I said.
    “You are?” he asked, surprised, as he chewed away.
    I got up and went to my purse for another piece of gum. “I mean, pretending to love Neil Diamond just to bond with my dad? That’s pretty genius. How’d you find out about that anyway?”
    “Huh?”
    “How’d you know he’s a Neil lover?” I asked as I shoved another two pieces in my mouth.
    “I didn’t. When I rang the doorbell your dad answered and he saw my bumper sticker.”
    “Yeah, but how’d you know to put the bumper sticker on?” Holding my nose, I picked up the rest of the black-and-white with a napkin and threw it in the bag of garbage. It was bad enough I was going to have to do this stupid thing—I certainly wasn’t going to risk gaining weight as well. I sat back down on the couch.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I mean you don’t actually like Neil Diamond.”
    He was quiet.
    “Omigod—you do like Neil Diamond. By any chance, are you aware of the fact that you’re the only one under fifty who would ever admit that?”
    He shrugged. “If you take the time to listen, his lyrics are pretty amazing. Almost on par with Bob Dylan or Neil Young. ‘I Am . . . I Said’? That’s as deep as it gets.”
    “Excuse me,” I said, “but ‘ I am, I said/To no one there/ And no one heard at all/Not even the chair’ ? How is a chair supposed to hear? It’s a chair!”
    “Oh. So you’re familiar with Neil’s lyrics?” he asked, surprised.
    “Of course I’m familiar with