The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Castellucci Read Free Book Online Page A

experienced at accepting apologies and was afraid that she would do it clumsily.
    “You should be,” Tessa said. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew for sure that she had accepted it wrong.
    Lulu left the room and slammed the door.
    The apology hadn’t changed anything.

 
     
    chapter
    ten
     

 
     
    chapter
    eleven
     
    Right after Lulu kissed Charlie at the carnival, it was discovered that her feet had grown two sizes. Lulu’s mother took them shopping and Lulu got four new pairs of shoes—all of them beautiful. Tessa begged for a new pair, too. But their mother pointed out that now that Tessa had all of Lulu’s shoes as well as her own, she had many more shoes than her sister. Tessa would have to settle for the hand-me-downs. Lulu brought all her old shoes and dumped them into Tessa’s closet.
    Even though they were a little over a year apart, Tessa and Lulu always had been almost the same size. Sometimes one of them had a little spurt and then the other caught up. And then it was the younger sister’s turn to grow. But one thing that had always remained the same size was their feet. In the past, they had always been able to share shoes.
    “Here,” Lulu said. “I don’t need these anymore.”
    This was the beginning of the end. Lulu’s feet were bigger than Tessa’s, and somehow, in Lulu’s size, the shoes were always cuter.
    When Lulu grew another two inches, it became clear that Lulu had sprouted and Tessa had leveled off. Lulu gave her older sister all of her cast-off sweaters, skirts, and dresses. Tessa was a smoldering coal ready to light up at any moment. It was confusing to look up at her younger sister. It made her angry sometimes.
    Their mother would tell them to go shopping.
    “Girls, why don’t I drop you off at the mall today and get Lulu some new things?” she’d said. When they got there she’d give Lulu some cash and tell her to spend it wisely.
    Tessa would put out her hand for her cash, and her mother would look at her as though she should know better.
    “I need new things, too.”
    “Tessa, we’re not made of money,” their mother said. “You’ll have to make do with what you have. Besides, you’ll have all of Lulu’s old clothes.”
    At the mall, Lulu would skip from store to store, trying on everything aided by Celina, who acted as stylist, pulling things that made her look chic.
    “You’re going to be the best dressed freshman this year,” Celina said. “Everyone is going to want to be your friend.”
    Tessa would finger the things she wanted but couldn’t buy. She’d act impatiently and hurry them out of the store. She’d pretend she couldn’t find what they were looking for when Lulu and Celina called upon her from the dressing room to find a different size. She’d go to the food court and sit with all the bags while they went to just one more store.
    Tessa believed that Lulu was stealing her place. Now Lulu was tall. Now she was close with Celina. Now she had Charlie. Tessa thought that Lulu was stealing everything that was rightfully hers. Especially the new shoes.
    Once, they got to Celina’s house before Charlie and the boys came over, and Tessa faked a headache. She didn’t want them to see her in her same old clothes. Not while Lulu and Celina were changing into their fresh new outfits and looking like they were closer than ever. How could she enjoy burgers and a movie in her same old clothes? She couldn’t.
    “Feel better,” Celina said.
    “See you at home,” Lulu said.
    If there were such a thing as a dark cloud over someone’s head, Tessa had one. It was a stormy little thing. With hail and lightning and thunder. And no silver lining.
    Tessa stood in the hallway of Celina’s house. It was filled with bookcases and knickknack holders made of modern wood that curved. It looked both old and futuristic at the same time. She felt further away from her best friend and her sister than ever. She thought she would go straight home. But