Rebecca's Rashness by Lauren Baratz-Logsted Read Free Book Online Page A

too."
    "Then what's the point in even making a list?" Zinnia said, looking crestfallen. "Why make a list if everyone who is going to be invited and who is therefore likely to come is already here?"
    "I don't know." Durinda shrugged. "I only know that it's the thing to do. You know, from watching Mommy do it. You want to have a party," Durinda said with another shrug, "you have to make lists."
    "I was thinking maybe we should invite a few other people to my celebration," Rebecca said, "maybe liven things up."
    "But who else is there to invite?" Marcia said. "All of the most important people, except for Mommy and Daddy, are already on the list. Or they would be if Annie would only write their names down."
    "What about Will Simms?" Zinnia suggested. "We could invite Will Simms. We all like Will Simms."
    This was true. All summer long, since school had ended, we'd been wanting to invite him over to play but hadn't felt that we were able to. There's a lot you can do when you're eight little girls living home alone. You can run the household. You can acquire powers and gifts. You can try to solve the mysteries of the universe. But one thing you can't do, unless you are very careful about it, is invite friends over, because if their parents discover there is no adult supervision, objections might be raised. But now we had adult supervision, in the form of the Petes.
    "Put Will's name down!" Durinda said.
    "Put Will's name down!" Jackie said.
    "Put Will's name down!" Georgia said.
    "Put Will's name down!" Marcia said.
    "Not a bad idea," Rebecca said, "even if I didn't think of it myself."
    Petal didn't say anything. She just spun in a happy tizzy, daydreaming of Will.
    "Put Will's name down!" Zinnia said, even though she'd already suggested him once.
    "All right, all right," Annie said. "No need to shout at me. Didn't you see me put it down just as soon as Zinnia suggested it?"
    Mrs. Pete looked at us all closely. "Do you all have a... crush on this Will Simms?"
    Sixteen cheeks blushed crimson. Eight heads shook violently.
    We refused to respond any further to that remark.
    "What about Mandy Stenko?" Zinnia suggested. "If we invite one classmate, I suppose we should invite the other classmate."
    There was somewhat less enthusiasm for this suggestion than there had been for Zinnia's last one, but eventually we agreed that Annie should add Mandy's name to the list. Mandy had been much better of late, and anyway, she was really no competition for us in terms of Will's affections.
    Not that we were competing over him or anything.
    "These are both fine suggestions, I suppose," Rebecca said, "but I was thinking of inviting someone a little more... dangerous. "
    "We could invite the McG and the Mr. McG," Zinnia suggested. "They could be dangerous, in that they might bring a homework assignment with them."
    Zinnia had instantly become our expert on making up guest lists. Well, she was our party girl.
    "That's not who—" Rebecca started, but Annie cut her off.
    "Yes, I think I will add their names," Annie said. "Perhaps if we invite them to a party in the summer, they'll take it easy on us in the fall."
    Georgia snorted at this.
    "Fine," Rebecca said, "you can invite them to my party, but I still think we should invite a few more... dangerous people to liven things up."
    "Like who?" Jackie asked mildly.
    "Like the Wicket," Rebecca said.
    Seven jaws, plus Pete's and Mrs. Pete's, dropped.
    "Like Frank Freud," Rebecca said, "just as soon as I can locate where he's living now."
    Seven mouths, plus Pete's and Mrs. Pete's, snapped shut.
    And then everyone except Rebecca began to splutter.
    "But we can't do that!"
    "That would be insanity!"
    "That would be death! " Guess who on that one?
    "Yes, we can do that," Rebecca said, "no, it wouldn't be insanity, and no, it wouldn't be death. What it would be is smart."
    " Smart? " those of us who weren't scared out of our wits shouted.
    "Yes, smart," Rebecca said. "Keep your friends close and your enemies