Cali Boys Read Online Free

reason; bad taste, maybe?—look for him.”
    Her mother’s eyebrows rose higher, then she purposely moved them up and down. “Ah, you noticed. I had Botox, sweetie. All the women around here do it. And sorry to disappoint you, sweetie, but no. She’s here for you.” Her mother smiled wider, apparently glad someone was visiting Jacobi. “Now, don’t be rude, Jacobi. She seems really nice. She’s a ... bit ... well, uh, different, but nice.”
    Jacobi gave herself the once-over in the mirror, wondering what different meant and hoping God had already cured her boob and acne problem. But no-go. He hadn’t worked as fast as she would’ve liked on the physical thing, so maybe that meant He had her covered on the creative request for a good documentary idea. She looked to the ceiling, closed her eyes for a second, and gently reminded Him of her prayer, then grabbed her purse and video camera. She was heading out to the motorcycle show to meet Shooby. Today was supposed to be their day alone, which, at first, she thought was unusual because she couldn’t remember their ever being together without the crew being around. But he’d stressed that they—and they alone—needed to hook up because he had something to tell her. She only hoped it was that he felt the same as she did. She fingered her new camera, thinking that filming a few minutes of the bikes and people would be good, too. Maybe she could get Shooby to commentate, like a television journalist, before they snuck away together, so she figured meeting this Alissa girl couldn’t be a total waste of time since she had to leave through the front door anyway.
    Alissa was tall with electric orange hair. Really, really tall with legs that stretched from the ground to eternity, and an equally long neck. Those were the first things Jacobi noticed when she peeked out the window to size up her visitor. Superlong legs, an ostrich-length neck, and hair that looked like a blaze of fire. Then she noticed the girl’s pleasant demeanor. Jacobi couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the Alissa girl seemed welcoming.
    â€œHey,” Jacobi said as politely as she could when she stepped out onto the porch into the hot sun, adjusting her camera around her neck.
    â€œHi!” Alissa replied, perkier than Jacobi had ever heard a person be. “I’m Alissa. Your next-door neighbor. That’s a cool camera. Videographer?”
    Jacobi brightened, nodding her head to Alissa’s question and zooming in on a splatter of orange-red freckles that dotted her pale face. She had one of the lightest complexions on a black girl that Jacobi had ever seen, making Jacobi wonder about her heritage. Still, Alissa’s appearance didn’t deter Jacobi from her uppity mood. Malone, a boy she thought was cuter than any other guy who walked the planet, also lived next door. Maybe he was Alissa’s brother. She didn’t see a resemblance, though. In fact, besides looking like she could glow at night, Alissa reminded Jacobi a lot of herself. Plain. She wasn’t ugly enough to be considered ugly, and definitely was not pretty enough to be considered average. She was just there.
    As if reading her thoughts, Alissa nodded her head and pointed in the direction of Malone’s house. “Yep. I live over there. I’m your other next-door neighbor. Malone’s sister, in case you were wondering.” She laughed.
    Jacobi nodded and laughed with her.
    â€œAnyway, I thought I’d come introduce myself. I would’ve done it sooner, but I was on punishment.” She shrugged. “I go t a B in math. You know how it goes. They acted like I wasn’t going to be promoted to the eleventh grade because of it.”
    Jacobi just nodded, noting that Alissa was a year ahead of her in school. No, she didn’t know how punishment for getting a B on your report card went. Her parents would’ve