Home Free by Sharon Jennings Read Free Book Online Page A

looked up.
    â€œIt’s pretty good.”
    I felt all electric inside. Then I tried again to convince her to be the princess.
    â€œSILENCE! How DARE you question ME you stupid TOAD?! I’LL teach you to open your mouth in MY presence! I’LL cut you up into little pieces and eat YOU for SUPPER!”
    I stared at Cassandra.
    â€œSee? I’d be a great evil witch,” she said.
    I thought about her yelling like that at Paula or Susan or Debbie Oldman and I agreed she could be the evil witch.
    â€œWhy don’t you be the beautiful princess?” she asked.
    I remembered the time Mr. Morgan suddenly decided that we all had to recite a poem in front of the whole class instead of just to him privately and how I got hot and sweaty and heard this buzzing in my ears and how I forgot the very first line and everyone just stared at me.
    â€œOh, I couldn’t. I … I just like writing.”
    â€œThen you’re the director. You have to tell everybody what to do.”
    I liked that.
    So we went outside to my trees in the backyard, and we talked about what to do next. Cassandra knew a lot.
    â€œFirst we figure out who gets to be in the play.”
    So we went calling on other kids to ask them to join the play. Linda said she’d be the handsome prince, but only if Nancy was the beautiful princess. We said that was okay because Nancy is very pretty and has long black hair justlike Snow White, and Linda is tall and thin with hardly any hair at all. Nancy said okay, too, but she wasn’t going to play doctor if Linda tried that again.
    By the time we got to Paula she’d heard about our play from Linda already and said she didn’t want to be in our stupid play if she couldn’t be the beautiful princess. How presumptuous!
    Cassandra smiled at her.
    â€œBut we want you to be the witch’s pet toad. You’d be just right.”
    Paula shrieked. “Do you know who I am, you stupid orphan? I can have you killed!”
    â€œI know all about you, Paula. And I’m going to pay Ronnie and Donnie a whole dollar to beat you up once and for all!”
    Paula ran away.
    Cassandra laughed. “Let’s ask Ronnie and Donnie to be my pet spider and toad. I bet they’d like that. Then they’d be our friends.”
    On the way to their house, we saw Laura Butterfield. She was sitting outside by herself and I showed her Cassandra Jovanovich.
    Cassandra sat down. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at Laura.
    â€œI want you to be in our play. I want you to be thebeautiful flower fairy who helps the beautiful princess,” Cassandra told her.
    I’d never thought of this. But now I looked at Laura and knew this was just right. Very appropriate. She was tiny and pale with long skinny arms and legs and lots of long blond hair that was almost white. She looked just like a fairy in a picture book.
    Laura smiled and I could see where the new tooth was growing in. We asked her to come with us.
    We all went to Debbie Walker’s house and she said she’d be the beautiful princess’s best friend and she said her dog, Tinkerbell, should be the fire-breathing dragon in one scene and the magic horse at the end.
    Then we all went to Ronnie and Donnie’s house. I couldn’t believe Cassandra was doing this, but she did. She went right up to the door and banged. Both of them came outside.
    â€œPaula wants you to beat me up, but I want you to be in our play. I’m going to be the evil witch and I need a toad and a spider.”
    Ronnie and Donnie didn’t say anything. They just stood staring at Cassandra, which wasn’t very considerate or appropriate, considering Cassandra was new.
    And then Laura Butterfield stepped forward.
    â€œPlease,” she whispered. And she looked so fairy-likethat I could tell Cassandra had picked the right person. And just like that, Ronnie and Donnie agreed to be in the play.
    Everyone said they’d come to my