Some Kind of Wonderful by J. Minter Read Free Book Online Page A

asked.
    "What you have to do is this," SBB hissed. "Lock up this little steamer trunk—I love it, by the way, I'll take two—and crate
     my friend and me out to a loading van in the back. Don't forget Flan's little duffel out there, too. Your driver will take
     us home and we'll avoid any ugly situations with the press. Okay?"
    "I'm afraid that's not possible," Angie said, biting her lip and looking back toward the cash register. I could see my old
     friends staring at us, whispering curiously.
    "Look, Ange, I'm on strict doctor's orders to indulge my panic attacks, and this is the way I choose to indulge this one. If it's going
     to cost me, it's going to cost me. I'm happy to write you a check."
    Angie raised her precisely tweezed eyebrows at us.
    "Would you like an autographed copy of the / Do Till Timbuktu DVD?" SBB was flailing. "You look like a Patrick Dempsey fan; I can get him to stop into the store. I'll take three steamer trunks if you want. Just lock us back up in this trunk and get us home. Capisce?"
    "Fine," she sighed. "I'll . . . see what I can do. But I want that DVD."
    When the doors closed around us again, even I felt safer.
    "How did you do that?" I asked her.
    "You just have to know what you want, Flan. Secret of life," she said in her last bit of Texas drawl. Then she sighed and
     turned serious. "I'm so glad you were here, Flanny. I don't know what I'd have done without you. Promise me we'll always be
     close to each other's hearts."
    SBB put her arms around me, and I leaned into her. Yes, she's totally insane, but she's also my best friend. Soon I felt the
     lift of a dolly carting our trunk to the back of the store.
    "Of course I promise," I said. "We're steamer sisters now. And that's a bond that lasts forever."
    "Steamer sisters! Oh my God, Flan, I love that!" SBB hammered on the side of the trunk with her little fist, and I swear I could see her eyes
     glowing in the darkness. I was a little scared, sure, but in a good way.

Chapter 6
    SIT BACK, RELAX, AND ENJOY THE SCENE
    I t was Monday morning, and things were looking up.
    After being carted back like a zoo animal to SBB's pad by one very grumpy UPS driver yesterday afternoon, I thought I might
     be permanently scarred. Luckily, from my cushy seat today on our all-business class flight to Nevis, the claustrophobic memory
     of the steamer trunk debacle was fading fast.
    I stretched out my legs and reclined my leather seat back. I was next to the window with Judith beside me. Meredith was across
     the aisle. As we waited at the gate for the plane to finish boarding, a flight attendant came by with hot hand towels, toasty
     spiced nuts, and virgin Bloody Marys.
    "Anybody want an Airborne?" Judith said, opening her backpack to reveal a pharmacy's worth of drugs.
    Meredith stuck an eye out of her aromatherapy eye mask and said, "You're not supposed to mix pills with Bloody Marys."
    "Hello—virgin means no vodka. It's totally fine," Judith said, popping two of the pills. "Airplanes are basically breeding
     grounds for infectious diseases."
    She wiggled the white container at me.
    "No thanks," I said. "I'm good."
    "Don't blame me when you develop strep throat," she said, and began rooting through the seat pocket in front of her. "Ugh,
     does anyone's magazine not have the crossword puzzle filled in already?"
    It was funny the way people's quirks seemed to magnify while traveling. We hadn't even taken off yet, and already I was thinking
     it might be a long five-hour flight.
    I sat up straight in my seat to scope out what my parents and Feb were up to a few rows ahead. Feb was already passed out—that
     girl can fall asleep anywhere. She had opened the door literally right as we were getting into the car to drive to the airport,
     and she didn't even pack—she just got into the car with us and fell asleep. My mom was on her second mimosa, and she was nuzzling
     her nose into my dad's. Ew. I slouched back down in my seat.
    "Hey, Meredith," I called