Is She for Real? Read Online Free

talk to. Nate had never met a girl like her before.

    On the bus on the way home, Lissa found a seat next to Bethany. Nate had soccer practice, so he wasn’t on the bus. Lissa and Bethany got off the bus together and looked at each other.
    â€œThere’s my house, of course,” Bethany said, and pointed.
    Lissa laughed. “There’s my house, of course,” she said. “I’m so glad a kid moved in there. Mr. Reiney was nice, but there was never any fun in the neighborhood.”
    â€œTa-da!” Bethany said, and threw her arms up in the air. They both cracked up.
    â€œHey, the Warwick Inn,” Bethany said, seeing the sign. “Cool.”
    â€œKind of,” Lissa said. “But not really, you know?”
    â€œReally? I think it would be so fun to live in a B and B. My parents like to stay in them sometimes. I like the breakfasts,” Bethany said. “They’re always really big.”
    â€œWell, you’ll love our place, then,” Lissa said. “Hey, Olivia and Lily are coming for a sleepover on Friday. Why don’t you come too?”
    â€œI’d love to,” Bethany said without hesitating. Lissa was impressed by her confidence. She wasn’t sure that she’d have been able to make new friends so quickly at a new school. But Bethany just seemed so at ease.

Spring had finally sprung in Old Warwick. The magnolia tree in front of Lissa and Nate’s house was in full bloom as Olivia marched happily down the path leading to the front door. She was carrying her purple backpack and her pillow in its purple pillowcase.
    Lissa has adored Olivia ever since first grade, when their class went on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History and Lissa had gotten scared of the big dinosaur. Other kids were giggling because Lissa was afraid, but Olivia quietly took her hand as they all walked by the giant creature. Olivia also never made fun of Lissa for sleeping with a teddy bear or being afraid of birds that swooped too close to her head.
    Olivia was the most rational and logical of the threeof them, and the least likely to get spooked by ghost stories, which made her the perfect person to sleep next to at sleepovers. No matter what Lissa told her mom, the truth was, they did tell ghost stories sometimes.
    Moments later Lily arrived, her mom dropping her off in the driveway with a wave good-bye. Lily was the most naive of the three, the most likely to get spooked by ghost stories, and also the only one of the three who didn’t roll her eyes at the Lady Warwick ghost story. She seemed to believe it wholeheartedly and took it very seriously. Lily even avoided the framed story about Lady Warwick hanging in the entranceway, claiming, “I think it’s probably bad luck to even read about her!”
    Lily had made friends with Olivia right away when she arrived in town in fourth grade, but Lissa didn’t really get to know her until fifth grade. It was later that summer that they had begun their tradition of burying each other in sand after the school year ended. This year would be the third annual “Sandy Lady” ritual at the beach. Nate laughed at the Sandy Lady ritual, but the girls thought his hobby of fishing off the pier was equally lame. Lame and gross, according to Lissa.

    It was seven p.m., the sun hadn’t set, and the girls hadn’t eaten dinner. Neither had Nate, so the Carlsons ordered pizza: one pepperoni and one plain, since Olivia had recently become a vegetarian. As they waited for the pizza to arrive, they used their phones to take pictures of one another climbing the big tree in the front yard.
    It was an excellent tree, and while Lissa had loved climbing it and playing in it when she was little, these days it was more of a photo op tree. The pictures were artsy and cool, and the girls took turns looking at one another’s photos and laughing. The best was one of Lissa and Lily hanging upside down off a low