Three Girls and a God by Clea Hantman Read Free Book Online

following. “Please, we’ve got to get out of this class—this isn’t for us. Be real, Era.” I was begging.
    “Well, I dunno.” She was being wishy-washy. “It does sound hard, but…”
    “I demand it, Era—I’m serious. We’re out of here. Now.”
    “Fine,” Era said, throwing up her hands. “Jeez, you just shouldn’t have come,” she added, looking off through the window at Josh and the others and pouting.
    “Well, I’m glad I came to this class. I’m glad we’re switching back. Just imagine what would have become of you, your grades, our lives had I not stepped in and put a stop to this. Now let’s get out of here, before Sergeant Scary over there sees us!”
    I ran straight to the vice principal’s office as fast as I could. Era sulked behind me.

S EVEN
    I t’s me, Thalia, again.
    So Claire and I got out of last period kind of early (I think Mrs. Wing had some sort of hair appointment or something to get to—she was eager to rush us out of class before the bell rang). I walked with Claire to get a soda pop out of the machine, past poser Tim (he couldn’t even look at me), and then out to sit on the grass in the courtyard.
    “That sixteen-millimeter camera is totally lame,” said Claire. She was talking about our project for Mrs. Tracy’s media class.
    “No, really? I was looking forward to using that camera. Why is it so, um, lame?”
    “Well, for one thing, you can’t do any special effects—no zooming, no close-ups. It’s totally Jurassic. I could do this whole thing with my digital cameraand my computer in, like, a day. But no, with this camera everything takes forever and a day.”
    I had no idea what Claire was talking about. * I just nodded a lot. And smiled.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Cool. Yeah, I’m cool. That sounds cool. Uh-huh.”
    “Thalia, you’re funny sometimes. Is something the matter?”
    “Oh, no, it’s just that I’ve got to get a good grade on this film thing. I’m not doing so good in Mrs. Tracy’s class. And I cannot fail.”
    “Parents tough about grades, huh?”
    “You have no idea,” I said.
    Just then our friend Pocky came driving up, honking his horn. It was off-key. “You girls want a ride?” Pocky yelled from inside his bright yellow chariot. Er, car. His Mohawk bobbed up and down to some music I couldn’t hear.
    “Yeah, I’ll take one,” said Claire, who popped up and looked at me expectantly.
    That’s when I noticed my sisters walking toward us, and I could see from here that they were fighting. “Go ahead, Claire, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m gonna wait for my sisters.”
    “Have it your way. Ciao.” She jumped in the car, and they sped off.
    “What’s going on?” I yelled to Era and Polly.
    But they didn’t answer. They were too busy bickering.
    “Come join me,” I yelled.
    Still nothing.
    So I tried this whistle thing Claire taught me. I stuck my fingers in my mouth, curled my lip, and nothing. They continued to fight. Claire had made it look so easy.
    I got up from the grass, walked toward them, and waved my hand in front of their faces. They finally stopped long enough to look my way.
    “You are not going to believe what your sister did,” said Polly.
    “Last time I looked, we were all related. Now, talk slowly, one at a time,” I said.
    Era jumped in. “Polly actually joined the class, my survival class, to check up on me! She hasn’t learned a thing here on earth, still meddling!”
    “Well, maybe, but just take a stab at why Era joined this class—take a guess, Thalia, go on, guess.” But she didn’t give me time to guess. “Because the teacher is cute!” cried Polly.
    “He’s more than cute, Polly, he’s amazing, and I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” said Era.
    “It has everything to do with it! It’s your whole reason for being!”
    “Whoa, not fair, Polly,” I said. “Era might be a bit lovesick, and certainly she’s ruled frequently by her heart, but boys are not her