Cali Boys Read Online Free Page A

probably thrown her a party if she’d gotten anything above a C-minus, maybe even a D-plus. She’d been a consistent underachiever who’d barely made the grade her whole academic life, and had barely passed the ninth grade. She’d been too busy for school; that’s what Shooby had told her.
    â€œSo, I hear you’re going to the motorcycle show, too, and I thought we could go together.”
    Jacobi’s brows lifted again, and she tilted her head. “How do you know my business?”
    â€œEasy,” Alissa said. “Our mothers have been talking. My mom was swapping how-to-keep-your-lawn-green secrets with your mother, in exchange for how-to-make-red-beans-and-rice secrets, and they were figuring out how to get us to be friends, too, I guess. They even talked about sending me to some film school your mom wants you to go to. Boring stuff.” She waved her hand. “But I don’t mind. I don’t deal with many people around here—too bourgeois and stuck-up for me—if you get what I’m saying. And from what my mom tells me, your family’s not like that. So, we’ll be cool. So you wanna roll? The show should be hot. It always is ...”
    Jacobi stood there holding her purse and her tongue, then stepped off the porch and made her way to the street, listening as Alissa went on with the speed of her words increasing with each step. She didn’t let Jacobi get one word in, and had pronounced bourgeois correctly— boozh-wah , not boozh-ee . She just kept rattling on and on, and Jacobi kind of liked it, since she wasn’t much of a talker herself. Around Alissa, she knew she wouldn’t have to say much, and that made her comfortable. Until her face cleared and her breasts sprouted, as far as she was concerned, the less she was noticed, the better.
    â€œYou know, you dress like you’re from the Valley.” Alissa continued the one-sided conversation. “It’s cute, though. I kinda like the shoes ...”
    â€œOh my, not another one! Orphan Annie has a new friend. A friend with a huge camera around her neck,” a girl yelled out, pulling Jacobi’s attention.
    Alissa grabbed Jacobi by the arm, then picked up the pace. They no longer walked, they marched. “Don’t look back. If you don’t pay them any attention, they’ll go away.”
    Jacobi couldn’t help herself. She turned her head, and about twenty feet behind them were a few girls. Ones she knew she could take on, alone if she had to. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was possible. She’d bet a dollar to a dime the clique of girls hadn’t rumbled before like she’d had to back in Lancaster.
    â€œDon’t look,” Alissa urged, walking even faster.
    â€œWho’re they?” Jacobi asked, out of breath and baffled by the girls’ nastiness. It was hard for her to keep up with Alissa’s long strides, so she slowed. She wasn’t running from anyone.
    Alissa pulled her arm, trying to make her keep pace, but Jacobi refused to move. “Only my biggest enemy. Yummy. The others are her friends. For now. Next month they’ll be on her people-to-hate list, too. C’mon, Jacobi. Let’s go.”
    The girls caught up with Jacobi and Alissa, and were now in front of them. They’d moved quicker than Jacobi believed they could, and now Jacobi wasn’t too happy about the switch. From the nasty look the head girl wore, coupled with her huge size, Jacobi would have given anything to still be in front of them, moving as fast as she could to reach her destination. Jacobi held her head high despite her nervousness and came face-to-face with the girl, who had to be at least three times Jacobi’s weight. The girl’s arms were the size of Jacobi’s mother’s thighs, her hair was all over her head, crusty sleep crumbles were in the corners of her eyes, and she had chalky stuff around her mouth. Even with the distance