Imagined Love by Diamond Drake Read Free Book Online Page B

person?” Jade laughed loudly, as she pointed at her friend.
    “No, see the sun was in my eyes,” Katrina laughed. “Or maybe I got that eye disease . . . you know, cadillacs!”
    “No, you got brain disease! How else could you sit there talking to somebody and not know it wasn’t me? I mean for real, Katrina, that girl don’t even look like me. Stupid!” Jade giggled.
    “What girl?” Honor chuckled.
    “You know, what’s her face? Ain’t her name Ruby? No wait, Crystal or Gem, right?”
    Jade laughed again. “You know her name is Jewel.”
    Honor was next to burst out laughing. “Don’t you hate when people say you look like somebody you think is ugly?”
    She and Katrina looked at each other then looked at Jade and laughed. After ten minutes of incessant laughter, the boys went into the girls’ bedroom to find out what in the world was so funny. Landon was annoyed by all the cackling and told them to shut up. Robert and Alonzo, however, took any chance they could to get a glimpse of Jade. They both thought she was pretty but only Robert was vocal about
    it. In the two days since she’d come to their house he had complimented her on nearly everything from her eyes to her shoes to the fact that her ears weren’t pierced like every other girl’s was. At one point Cicely told Robert to go sit down and quit making a fool of himself. Jade thought he was sweet but it was Alonzo, the one who acted completely disinterested in her, who she adored.
    “Come on, Jade. Let’s get started on your homework” Cicely called from downstairs.
    “Oooh, she is so phony! Since when do she help people with homework?” Katrina whispered.
    “Jade probably should be helping her . . . ole dumb self,” Honor added.
    “Ma!” Alonzo called, as he prepared to tell on his sisters.
    “Be quiet,” Honor hissed. “Why you always trying to tell on somebody?”
    “Give me a dollar and I won’t tell.”
    “Where I’ma get a dollar from? You know I ain’t got . . .”
    “Ma!”
    “Here,” Jade said, as she handed Alonzo a dollar. “Don’t tell, okay? She was just playing.”
    He snatched the dollar bill from her hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “Thanks. You lucky, Honor. Next time you better watch your mouth,” Alonzo warned then left the room.
    “Wow, thanks, Jade,” Honor said, as she gave her a hug.
    They all were impressed, but Katrina saw what happened as an opportunity of which to take advantage. Jade would come to regret her actions that day. She’d soon learn that sometimes it didn’t pay to be nice.
    A short while later Landon opened the door for Willa and gave her a big hug. It wasn’t hard to tell he had a little teenage crush on her and Cicely cautioned him to watch himself. Once again Willa thought she was overreacting but was too tired to speak about it. Besides, she was more interested to learn why Cicely was doing homework with Jade and not her own kids.
    “So Katrina didn’t have homework?” Willa asked.
    Cicely stumbled over her words as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. She was grateful when the phone rang and jumped up from the kitchen table to answer it. “I’ll be right there,” she said then placed the phone back on the receiver. “I’ll be back in a minute, Willa. My friend Mary needs my help right quick. Don’t go nowhere, okay? I wanna hear how your day went.”
    “You mind if I use your phone?”
    “Girl, please, of course not. Help yourself to whatever you need. I’ll be right back,” Cicely said then walked a few doors down to talk to Mary.
    Jade had finished her homework and went back upstairs with the girls. Willa was about to make a call but it was obvious Landon was lingering in the kitchen
    because he wanted to talk to her. So she asked how he was doing and what he wanted to be when he grew up. Willa was impressed to hear how much thought he’d given his future. Her interest was piqued when he told her about his dream to plan events for a living.