The Brightest Stars of Summer by Leila Howland Read Free Book Online Page B

her, it was time to get started on her plan.
    Marigold was going to give herself a makeover, inside and out, and she was going to record it in her digital diary. The haircut was just the beginning. She would return to school with a new look and a new attitude, and maybe even start going by the less distinctive name Mary.
    This summer she was going to practice how to be more ordinary. After all, changing over the summer was something that people did. Girls had left the sixth grade looking like kids and returned in September as full-blown teenagers. Even though Marigold was on the late-bloomer side of the whole looking-like-a-teenager thing, why couldn’t she go away and return as the kind of girl everyone wanted to be friends with? She tapped her iPad on and started to make a list of things she thought she needed to do in order to transform.
    1. Be more ordinary.
    2. Dress casual.
    3. Don’t show off or try to get attention.
    4. Find something else to love besides acting.
    She leaned back in her seat and examined this list. It was shorter than she would’ve liked, but she wasn’t sure what else to do to make sure she stopped behaving like she thought she was “sooooo great.” Shedecided that this was okay for now. Maybe not being a famous actress wouldn’t be so bad. There were lots of people who didn’t care about being actresses or looking like movie stars, and they seemed perfectly happy. She glanced over at Zinnie, whose eyes were glued to the pages of her enormous novel about dragons. There was a small stain on her T-shirt, and even though Marigold had taught her how to do her hair, she still just always put it up in a messy ponytail. Marigold opened her list again and added under the first point: Dress more like Zinnie.
    Can I go that far? Marigold wondered. Probably not. That’s a little too extreme, but I bet I can find something in between.
    And in Pruet there was Peter Pasque, the red-haired boy who’d taken her sailing last year. He didn’t care about acting or Hollywood. He hated the spotlight. When he’d sung “Rocky Raccoon” last year at the talent show, his face had turned bright red and he’d looked totally miserable.
    She smiled as she thought of the two of them sailing close to the beach and how fun it had been when the wind picked up and it had felt like they were flying. Now that she was thinking of him, she remembered that he’d told her that at first he’d thought she was stuck-up. They’d lost touch once school started, but he would be so happy to see that she was on her way to being perfectly average. And if he was her boyfriendagain this summer, she’d definitely have stuff to talk to the Cuties about.
    â€œHi, girls,” the flight attendant said as she came around with the beverage cart.
    Marigold quickly shut her iPad and put it in her seatback pocket. Technically, it was hers and she didn’t have to share it, though it was going to be hard because her sisters always wanted to get into her stuff. Zinnie had brought her laptop, and Marigold hoped that would keep Zinnie from trying to use the iPad and discovering her diary.
    â€œWhat would you like to drink?” the flight attendant asked.
    â€œCranberry juice, please,” Zinnie said.
    â€œApple juice, please,” Lily said.
    â€œSparkling water and a cookie to share, please,” Marigold said.
    â€œYes, ma’ams, coming right up,” the flight attendant said, and she gave the girls their drinks and a cookie the size of a dinner plate. “Oh, and someone on the last flight left this behind, and I thought you older girls would be interested.”
    She handed Marigold the latest issue of Young & Lovely magazine.
    â€œThanks,” Zinnie said, reaching for it and quickly turning it upside down on her tray table. But it was too late. Marigold had seen the cover, which had the Night Sprites cast on it. Marigold felt a twinge in herchest so