Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks Read Free Book Online Page A

tongue. “Ouch!” I said, tasting blood.
    â€œThe reason I’m so good at hypnotizing people is because I have ESP. It helps if you can read their minds first.” Audrey looked at me and pushed up her glasses. “You thirsty?” she asked.
    â€œI thought you said you could read my mind,” I said.
    â€œI can,” she told me. “I was just being polite.”
    Then she walked over to the pop machine and gave it a good swift kick in the side. There was a deep rumbling from within, and a second later an ice-cold bottle of orange Faygo rolled out.
    â€œHey!” I said in amazement.
    â€œHey, yourself,” she said, and did it again.
    She handed me one of the bottles. I twisted off the cap and took a long swallow.
    â€œSee, I knew you were thirsty,” she said.
    â€œI just like orange pop is all,” I told her, but I was beginning to wonder if I had misjudged Audrey Krouch.

9
    I’M NOT SURE EXACTLY HOW AUDREY MANAGED TO convince me that I should go over to her house and let her try to hypnotize me the next day after school, but she did.
    â€œOkay. See you tomorrow,” she said as we left the laundry shed after we’d finished our orange pop and I’d done my best to fold up the wrinkled laundry.
    Â 
    The next morning at the bus stop Audrey looked different. Her hair, which was usually uncombed and snarled in the morning, was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and instead of her usual jeans and T-shirt she was wearing a dress. You could tell it was new because the skirt stuck out stiffly, and she kept scratching her neck as if the collar were itching her. Of course she had her glasses on, and withher hair pulled back that way, her head looked smaller, which made the glasses seem even bigger and more ridiculous than usual.
    â€œHey,” she said.
    â€œHey, yourself. So what’s with the dress?”
    â€œWe’re supposed to dress up today, remember?” she said.
    I hadn’t remembered. But it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. I did a quick survey of what I was wearing and was relieved to find that at least everything was clean.
    â€œSo you’re coming over this afternoon, right?” she said.
    I looked around nervously at the other kids waiting for the bus, hoping nobody had heard what she’d just said.
    â€œI guess,” I said quietly.
    â€œWell, don’t be too enthusiastic about it or anything,” she told me. “I’m doing you a favor, you know. People pay hundreds of dollars to get hypnotized. Sometimes thousands.”
    â€œMy grandfather only paid a buck,” I told her.
    â€œYour grandfather got hypnotized?” Audrey asked, pushing her glasses up and leaning toward me with interest.
    â€œYeah, at a county fair.”
    â€œOh. Well, it probably wasn’t a professional then, just some clown in a turban.”
    â€œAre you going to wear a turban when you do it?” I asked.
    She snorted and pulled at her collar. “Of course not. That’s hokey.”
    â€œAre you going to wear that dress?”
    â€œAre you kidding? This thing is giving me hives. I’m bumping up, see?”
    She pulled the collar of the dress to one side and showed me her neck, which was red and blotchy.
    The bus came then, and we got on.
    â€œHey, Rear-end,” Larry said, grinning at me as I walked past. “How’s your crack?”
    I looked down and didn’t say anything, but Audrey, who was walking in front of me, suddenly whirled around and snapped, “Can’t you think of anything else to say? That crack thing is getting so old, it’s got wrinkles.”
    Larry was speechless, and so was I. Nobody ever talked back to him.
    â€œAre you nuts?” I whispered as I followed her down the aisle. When we reached the back of the bus, I quickly slid into my usual seat. Instead oftaking one of the open seats around me, Audrey slid in next to me.
    â€œHey, what are you