Girl vs. Boy Band by Harmony Jones Read Free Book Online

grilled cheese, which was even soggier than she’d feared. “But they fight constantly. It’s exhausting.”
    Mimi snatched the pudding cup and dunked a plastic spoon into it. “Yeah, that’s how my brothers are. Willie is always trying to clobber Jake, and then Michael jumps in and it’s a free-for-all. Nobody ever gets hurt, but it drives my mother crazy!”
    â€œMama chalked it up to their exhaustion and all,” said Lark. “But I don’t know. It felt like maybe there was something else going on. Something deeper.”
    â€œDeeper, huh?” Mimi gulped down the spoonful of pudding and reached for a tater tot. “Well, how were they to
you
? Friendly? Flirty? Or too full of themselves to even acknowledge your existence?”
    â€œFriendly, I guess,” said Lark. “But, Mimi, they’re going to take over my music room for their homeschool classes. It’s like I don’t have any personal space in my own house.” She dropped the disgusting sandwich back onto the plate. “They eat like there’s no tomorrow and they hog the bathrooms and use all the hot water. If I don’t die of hypothermia from taking freezing cold showers I’ll probably starve to death.”
    Mimi laughed. “Now you know how I feel!”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI have three older brothers and one younger sister, remember? You’ve basically just described every single morning of my whole entire life.”
    Lark smiled. “I never thought about that before. Maybe your first film should be about life in a large family.”
    â€œNot a bad idea. Although I’m not sure whether it would fall into the category of screwball comedy or horror movie.”
    â€œC’mon,” said Lark, biting into a carrot stick. “Is it really that bad?”
    â€œNah. You know I love my sibs. I guess that’s the difference in our situations. You have to put up with a bunch of guys you don’t actually love.” She raised one eyebrow and grinned. “Or do you?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œBe honest . . . when you met the really gorgeous one . . . Ollie, right? Were there any sparks flying? Any soul-searing romantic moments when your eyes met his?”
    â€œNo!” cried Lark, feeling her cheeks flush. “And for the record, our eyes only met twice. First when I was half-unconscious, and then when he confessed to eating my tuna sandwich . . . so if there were any sparks flying, they were sparks of fury, not romance. Besides, they’re all older than me.”
    â€œNot by that much.”
    â€œStill, it’s hard to feel crushy about a guy who steals your zit cream.”
    â€œOllie stole your zit cream?”
    â€œWell, one of them did. I’m not sure who.”
    â€œI guess I see your point,” said Mimi with a shrug. “Anyway, what would be the point, right? You’ve already got your crush.” She smiled in the direction of the super-popular table, where Teddy Reese was offering a tater tot to a giggling Alessandra Drake.
    Teddy was in eighth grade, which made him seem miles more sophisticated than Lark could ever hope to be. With his dark hair, blue eyes, and ready smile, he was by far the best-looking boy in school. It didn’t hurt that he was also an honor student and the star of the soccer team. Mimi liked to say that Teddy was “the all-American boy, right out of central casting,” whatever
that
meant. All Lark knew was that he was perfect.
    Her face turned even pinker. “Teddy doesn’t know I’m alive,” she lamented.
    â€œWell, I bet he’ll take notice when everyone finds out you’re living with the world’s next super-hot boy band,” Mimi observed. “Little advice? When that info goes public, you might want to leave out the part about the zit cream.”
    Lark laughed. “Yeah. Good call.”
    Mimi took