BSC08 Boy-Crazy Stacey Read Online Free Page B

windows and making grocery lists, Mary Anne
    and I made sandwiches and served them up at the table in the kitchen.
    As we were finishing lunch, I made the mistake of asking, "So what do you guys want to do this afternoon?" "Go to the beach," said Mallory. "Go to the arcade," said Jordan. 'Go swimming," said Adam.
    to Trampoline Land," said Nicky. ke sandcastles," said Claire.
    M G G loves
    "
    //
    Lcok for shells, look for shells, washed to
    shore
    obviously.)
    Ma Mary saids sort o "He "Ye "W "Stao don't every go on see th The
    on the Ferris wheel," said Margo.
    to Ice-Cream Palace," said Byron, who
    o eat.
    y the ocean swells," (That was Vanessa,
    y Anne and I glanced at each other. Anne raised her eyebrows. "Well," she
    owly, "maybe we can do everything. . . a
    w?" asked the kids, h, how?" I asked.
    '11 go exploring," replied Mary Anne. y and I haven't been here before. Why ou take us on a tour? You can show us ling. We probably' won't have time to rides or play games, but at least we can ? town." triplets were the first to okay the idea,
    and the others quickly followed. Fifteen minutes later, Mary Anne and I were herding the Pike kids out the back door and down the street.
    "Where do we start?" I asked.
    "The main drag," replied Adam promptly.
    "Yeah, that's good," said Mallory. "We'll walk right through town, and then go over to the boardwalk and come back home that way."
    Walking "right through town" took just under two hours. At least one Pike wanted to stop at nearly every place we passed. Nicky wanted to see how much it cost to jump on the trampolines this summer. Byron wanted to see if the price of ice-cream cones was the same, and whether Ice-Cream Palace still had bing cherry vanilla. Mallory and Vanessa ducked into every souvenir shop along the way. They exclaimed over the little animals made of shells (which were pretty cute) and Sea City hats, towels, mugs, T-shirts, shorts, and postcards.
    We almost had tears when we passed a penny candy store called Candy Heaven and Byron discovered two quarters in his pocket and started buying up — but only for himself. The others wanted candy, too. Luckily, Mary Anne and I had just enough change to buy each of them a jawbreaker. And Mary Anne bought a tiny chocolate teddy for herself, but
    I had to go without, of course. When we left Candy Heaven, all you could hear was slurp, slurp, slurp, and exclamations of, "Mine's turning blue now!" or, "Hey, look! Mine's yellow!" or, "When mine gets smaller, I'm going to bite it in half and look at all the layers."
    We proceeded along the main drag.
    "There's Burger Garden!" said Byron, as we passed a tacky-looking restaurant. It was surrounded by a "garden" of plastic flowers. The eat-out tables were in the shape of mushrooms, and the waiters and waitresses were dressed like animals.
    "Ask Claire what this place is called," whispered Jordan.
    "What's this place called?" I asked her.
    "Gurber Garden."
    Jordan hooted. "She never says it right!"
    We continued on our way. "There's Candy Kitchen," said Margo. "That's where we get fudge. It's yummy-yummy!"
    "And there's miniature golf," pointed out Jordan.
    "That looks like fun," I said. "They didn't have miniature golf in New York City. Have you ever played, Mary Anne?"
    "A couple of times. There's a miniature golf course near Shelbyville in Connecticut."
    I kept looking, I looked so long that Adam said hopefully, "Maybe we could play now."
    "Sorry, kiddo," I told him. "I wish we could, too, but we don't'have any money. I'm sure we'll come back, though. It would be fun to play sometime."
    We stood around and watched a while longer. Then we continued with our exploring. It took us another hour to walk along the boardwalk, and finally we ended up on the beach in front of the Pikes' house.
    "Can we go in the water?" asked Nicky.
    I looked at my watch. "Nope. Sorry," I said. "It's five o'clock. The lifeguards are getting ready to leave. Besides, you guys aren't wearing your bathing