Rattled by Lisa Harrington Read Free Book Online

that it cost almost as much as my T-shirt kind of took away from the flavour.
    We met up with Dad at the assigned time. I sat in the back so I could sulk in private. Jilly was going to ask Sam out. And of course he was going to say yes. I closed my eyes, focusing all my energy on Jilly, wondering if maybe I could put a mild curse on her or something. Like if she would come down with a smallish illness, nothing life-threatening, just potent enough to put her out of action for a couple weeks. I opened one eye. She still looked fine to me.
    I sat up a little straighter as we pulled into the driveway. Sam and Megan were leaning on their porch rail. They both looked up when they heard our car doors slam, and began to walk towards the street, motioning for me to come. I met them halfway.
    â€œWe can go,” Megan said.
    â€œGo?” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
    â€œYour waterfront tour thing, we can go,” Sam explained.
    â€œ Really ?” I didn’t bother to hide my surprise. “That’s great!”
    â€œYeah, it is great.” Megan looked kind of surprised herself. “We can work it all out later. I just wanted to let you know.”
    â€œSure,” I nodded.
    I watched them go back inside, while I stood in the middle of the street clutching the plastic bag with my gaudy T-shirt inside. I tried to imagine the conversation that must have gone on between them and Mrs. Swicker while I was at the mall. Whatever it was, it worked. If someone had asked me if I thought they’d be allowed to go out for a whole day with me , I’d stake all 307 dollars in my savings account on the answer being no.
    My mouth broke into a satisfied smile. I was glad I was wrong. It gets boring being right all the time.

Chapter 8
    I couldn’t believe it. Not sure what I couldn’t believe more, the fact that our downtown expedition finally came together, or that their freak show of a mother was coming with us.
    See, when Mrs. Swicker gave them the green light to go on the condition that she take us, I was under the crazy impression that she was offering to drive us down and pick us up. I actually thought, Hey, what a team player, anything’s better than the bus. But noooo , she meant she was staying with us for the whole time, the whole time.
    I almost called it off when Sam and Megan explained it to me. I begged Mom to talk Mrs. Swicker into letting us go on our own. But she said Mrs. Swicker probably wanted to see the sights too. For some reason she just wouldn’t believe me when I told her Mrs. Swicker was some kind of alien being sent to earth to wreak havoc. She had the nerve to say I was overreacting.
    I think Sam and Megan sensed my disappointment. They had looked at me with a kind of pleading expression in their eyes. I couldn’t back out. Secretly I fantasized, hoped they were planning on making a break for it, hiding away on the closest yacht or cruise ship that happened to be tied up, declaring immunity or whatever it was you did when you defected to another country. I wasn’t going to be the one to muck up their escape plans.
    Finally realizing it was Mrs. Swicker’s way or no way, I decided to suck it up and stay positive, even if it killed me.
    I usually worked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so I suggested a Tuesday, a weekday, explaining that the weekends were just too crowded. Real reason? Jilly would be babysitting, and I knew Mom would want me to include her if we went on a Saturday or Sunday. Except for the Mrs. Swicker thing, everything was coming together just as I’d planned, me and Sam would walk along the boardwalk, take in the sights, gaze out over the ocean…oh yeah, and Megan too.
    The Swickers’ van came to a stop as we got closer to the downtown core.
    â€œI thought you said it wouldn’t be that crowded on a weekday,” Mrs. Swicker said, real snarky.
    â€œWell, I really meant less crowded,” I responded