Project Best Friend by Chrissie Perry Read Free Book Online

bedroom door, Bob grinned and threw up her hands at the same time, as though she was happy with her new room but also in despair at the state of it. Penelope peeked inside. There was a bed in the centre of the room, but that was all. Nothing was unpacked. Twelve rather large boxes were stacked in the corner.
    Bob shrugged. ‘It’s going to take fifteen forevers to get my stuff sorted,’ she said.
    Penelope tilted her head. She wasn’t fond of sayings that didn’t make sense. A while ago, Oscar had said he was going to put 110% into a school assignment. Penelope had pointed out how silly that was. (Now, since the sausage incident, she kind of wished she hadn’t.)
    Penelope let Bob’s ‘fifteen forevers’ go without comment.
    Getting sorted was something she excelled at, and it would not take her even one forever to do it.
    ‘Would you like me to help?’ she asked.

    ‘Seriously Penelope, you are a legend! I could never have made my own room look this awesome on my own!’
    Penelope smiled. Bob’s bedroom was coming along nicely. Her clothes were colour coded, which was important, since the clothes rack was exposed.
    Bob’s personal knick-knacks were all out on display, including an interesting array of plastic moulded animals. Penelope had arranged them carefully on the shelf in front of the bay window, making sure that no predator was close to its prey.
    As well as making the room look great, Penelope had also found out many things about Bob. She now knew, for instance, that Bob’s mother had a Very Big Job and that the family had shifted several times because of it. She knew that this was the first house Bob’s family had ever owned, and that this was because Bob’s mother had landed the Very Biggest Job, so (hopefully) they would not have to move again.
    She also knew that Bob was feeling quite frustrated (and Penelope could definitely relate to this) because she couldn’t find her collection of books. She would have to hunt forever if she was going to bring her favourite book to class the next day. (Penelope offered to lend Bob one of hers, but Bob said thanks for the offer, but that it wouldn’t be right.)
    So far, Bob didn’t know much about Penelope, though. It had been so nice working on the bedroom and listening to Bob chatting away that Penelope had quite forgotten, even about the video on her phone.
    Penelope opened the second-last box and pulled out a print. It was a painting of a bridge over a pond covered in lilies. It was quite a nice painting, although secretly Penelope thought it might be better if it was a little less fuzzy.
    ‘Do you want it here?’ she asked Bob, indicating some bare wall space.
    Bob shook her head. ‘Not there,’ she said. ‘That space is reserved.’
    ‘What for?’ Penelope asked.
    Bob’s grin was contagious, even though Penelope wasn’t sure why she was grinning.
    ‘I’ll show you,’ Bob said.
    The next thing Penelope knew, Bob was doing a handstand against the wall. She was a bit worried, since the walls were white and Bob’s bare feet looked a little grubby, but she decided not to say anything. It was Bob’s room, after all.
    ‘Come on! Go next to me!’ Bob’s upside-down voice was squeaky.
    Penelope bit her lip as she took off her shoes. So far, going with the flow had been a good idea – this afternoon, at least. She couldn’t ruin it now.
    Although she hadn’t done a handstand in quite some time, Penelope found it quite easy. In fact, her arms felt very strong. Her hair almost touched the floor. Bob’s, on the other hand, remained exactly as it looked the right way up. Her face, though, was bright red as she turned it towards Penelope.
    ‘This is very relaxing, right?’ she said. ‘Sometimes I do this to get calm. Different thoughts come into my head upside-down. Like, right now, I’m realising that I’ve been talking too much and you know loads about me, but I hardly know anything about you. So …’
    The ‘so’ was said with a little