Mission (Un)Popular by Anna Humphrey Read Free Book Online Page B

expression—about a straw and a camel’s back. Maybe you know it. If you don’t, what happened next is a good example of how it works. Basically, a camel can carry a lot of straws without even caring. But eventually, no matter how chilled out the camel is, or how light each straw is, there’s a limit to how much any desert-dwelling animal in its right mind is going to put up with. My mom was the camel. That last thing I said was one straw too many.
    â€œI’m floored,” she began. She wasn’t yelling, but her eyes were narrow. “Did you just say what I think you said?” It didn’t seem like she actually wanted an answer. “I know you’re upset because Erika won’t be going to your school this year, but that’s not an excuse for this behavior. Bryan is part of your family. I don’t want to hear you say a thing like that again.”
    She turned to go. “He’s not,” I muttered under my breath. “You’re the one who married him, okay?”
    I obviously hadn’t muttered quietly enough. “No. It’s not okay, Margot,” my mother snapped, turning back. “It’s really not okay.” She picked up CosmoGirl and threw it. The pages made a loud slapping sound as they hit the carpet.
    I sat up straighter. My mother never yells. And she definitely never throws things.
    â€œOkay. Fine. I’ll watch them,” I said quickly. Then I couldn’t help adding: “But only for half an hour. And he has to stay until the next commercial break.”
    She shook her head like she was just too annoyed with me to discuss it anymore. “Thank you, Margot,” she said, already on her way out. “I appreciate your help.”
    After Bryan got back from the convenience store, I went straight to my room—partly to avoid my mother, but also to try on the Parasuco jeans with this long brown waffle-material top I thought would look okay. There was no way around it: school would be starting the next day, and it would probably suck, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try to look decent. I packed my new binders into my same old green backpack, opened the package of hamster erasers, and tossed aside the waffle top, settling instead on a gray-and-black-striped Mexx shirt that Erika gave me because she never wore it anymore. It was a bit weird and bunchy at the bottom, but it was the best thing I had.
    I was just sharpening a few pencils when there was a knock at my door.
    â€œCan I come in?” my mom asked. Then, as usual, came in without waiting for an answer. She straightened out my butterfly quilt, sat on the edge of the bed, and traced a wing with her finger.
    â€œMargot,” she said finally. “I want to apologize. I overreacted this afternoon. I’m sorry I threw your magazine.” I listened warily. I kind of deserved the apology, but it wasn’t like her to admit her mistakes. “It wasn’t all about the babysitting. You help out so much with the girls. Bryan and I appreciate it. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
    I picked some clothes up off my computer chair, dumped them on the floor, and sat down. This seemed like it might be a long talk.
    â€œI do want you to treat Bryan with more respect,” she said, “but the real reason I was frustrated had more to do with some news we got on Friday that I was still trying to process. Some bad news.”
    Mom looked really worried. I gulped, bracing myself for it. Had she predicted her own imminent death in a tarot reading? Was Grandma Betty sick?
    â€œBryan’s contract for the travel insurance commercials got canceled.”
    â€œWhat?” I exclaimed. Just the month before, TC Travel Co. had told him he had the “trustworthy” look they’d been searching for. “I thought they loved him for that part!”
    â€œThey did,” Mom said with a small sigh. “They still do. But Bryan had a