Indigo Blues Read Online Free Page A

Nah, mustard yellow and maroon
will only make my skin look jaundiced. Trust me. I once
wore a yellow dress to a holiday party and all night people
kept asking me if I was sick.
    Tripp wears a lot of red, my favorite color. Coincidence? I think not. Maybe I'll wear red crystals that'll draw
attention to my beating heart and make him instantly fall
in love with me. Okay, now I sound all psycho, like Adam.
I quickly take off Cat's necklace and slip it into my backpack. I climb into bed and pull the covers over my head. A
second later, my phone beeps. I just received a text, but I
don't even check who it is. I don't want to know.

    I hustle downstairs and head straight to the kitchen. I
have exactly three minutes to get out the door if I want to
make it to school on time. My family's seated at the table
munching away. At my seat are a blueberry muffin and a
glass of orange juice. The whole kitchen smells like baked
blueberries.
    Still standing, I gulp down some juice and pull a piece
of the muffin top off. "Thanks, Mom, you're the best."
    "Just want to make sure you eat something nutritional,"
she says.
    "Are you okay?" Eli asks me.
    Dad glances up from the paper. Mom stops mid-chew.
    "Yeah, why?"
    Eli blurts out, "You're wearing two different sneakers."
    I look down. One's gray, one's light blue. One Nike.
One Adidas. "Whoops. Didn't notice that."
    Eli pulls out his notepad and jots something down.
    I shake my head, but don't have time to deal with him.
Instead, I grab the muffin and run upstairs to change. Eli
yells after me, "Hurry up, I don't want to be late!" Ever since
he started high school, it's like I have a personal alarm clock
up my ass.
    I quickly switch my shoes. That would've been really
embarrassing. It's not like I could play it off as a fashion
statement-I think that the whole mismatched sneaker
thing went out in the '90s along with acid-washed jeans. Once I found a pair of those pants in the back of Mom's
closet and nearly puked.

    Eli's waiting for me at the front door with his backpack
slung over his shoulder. I stop short and yell good-bye to
Mom and Dad.
    "Drive safe," Mom says.
    I roll my eyes as usual, but thankfully she doesn't see.
    Eli stares down at my feet. "Okay, they're the same
now.
    "Thanks. What would I do without you?" We head to
my car. Hmmm, let me ponder that thought. Without Eli,
I could keep all my personal information to myself. But I
wouldn't have a fashion-faux-pas checker, or someone to
watch TV with and just be plain old goofy with. So I guess
for now he's a keeper.
    We're about to get in the car when a Channel 33 truck
pulls up in front of our house. A man in a blue sweater
vest, who I don't recognize, steps out.
    "Get in the car, quick." I motion to Eli.
    "Don't worry, I'll handle this." He steps back.
    "Just get rid of them," I say through clenched teeth.
    That is really a new low, showing up at my house. Haven't
people ever heard of calling? I get in the car and start it up,
but roll down the window enough to listen to Eli tell them
off.
    "My sister's not ready to talk."
    "I understand, but we just have a few questions."
Sweater Vest taps his microphone against the side of his leg.
I don't see a cameraman, but I'm sure there's one in the van.

    Eli shakes his head. "Not a good day. We're going to be
late for school."
    "We could come back in the afternoon."
    I honk my horn. I'm not wasting any more gas on this
nonsense.
    Eli takes control of the conversation. "Give me your
card and we'll call you."
    The guy thanks Eli and walks back to his truck. Eli
hops in the car and reads the card. "Ari Fish. Funny name."
    "Give it to me," I say. He hands the card over and I toss
it out the window. "Sorry, Fish man, not going to happen."
    "Yeah, why would you want to give your first interview
to a lame station like that?" Eli laughs.
    No need to explain to Eli that there will be NO interview. Period.
    Due to my ban on the radio and the fact that I left