Just Claire Read Online Free Page B

Wendy whooh hooh?”
    Eyes snapping, her manicured brows relaxed. “From this moment on you are invisible.” Wendy nodded toward where the first graders played. “I would think your sister is too young for first grade.”
    â€œI needed to bring her with me.” ClaireLee chewed on a fingernail. “My mother had a baby, and now she’s in the hospital.” There it was, like a rat out of a bag. She gasped at her own weakness to keep her life no one else’s business.
    Unzipping her tiny purse, Wendy pulled out a compact mirror and gazed at herself. “Don’t you have it backwards? You go into the hospital to have a baby.”
    Now, ClaireLee stiffened, ready to defend her family. “Daddy delivers our babies at home, but this time things didn’t go well.”
    â€œHow quaint.” Wendy opened her mouth and examined her teeth.
    â€œNo, not the word for it,” ClaireLee said. “It’s called home birth, like in the olden days.”
    â€œI wouldn’t know about such things.” Wendy rolled her eyes, making ClaireLee feel as if she were the ignorant one. “I live in the city where hospitals are close by.”
    Belinda said, “I’ll tell my grandma your ma needs prayer.” Wendy blocked Belinda’s face with a palm, but Belinda peered round Wendy’s fingers. “What’s your ma’s name? Did she have a boy or girl?”
    ClaireLee shuffled forward with the moving tether-ball line. “Her name is Dotty, and she had a boy.” She tapped Wendy on the shoulder. “You said I’d meet the Lavender Girls, so who are they?”
    â€œIt’s a group I started with Kaye Tyner and Valerie Shaffer.” She pointed at the front of the line. “They’re up there.” Wendy cupped her hands around her mouth. “Lavender Girls, say hi to ClaireLee.”
    The shorter girl waved, and ClaireLee returned the gesture. Which is the other girl? “What does Lavender stand for? The flower?”
    Smirking, Belinda gestured toward Wendy. “Her last name , of course.”
    Not expecting such an explanation, ClaireLee mustered up one word. “Cute.”
    Belinda squeezed ClaireLee’s shoulder. “Since I’m supposed to show ya around, you’ll sit with me at lunch.”
    Not wanting to hurt Belinda’s feelings, ClaireLee almost said okay. But she was fascinated with Wendy and her city lifestyle, and she wanted to get to know the Lavender Girls. The tether-ball line moved again, taking Wendy with it, and ClaireLee followed.
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    A t the lunch bell , ClaireLee’s stomach grumbled, and she found Lolly with their brothers in the outside hall.
    â€œLet’s sit together while we eat,” ClaireLee said to Lolly.
    Lolly gripped ClaireLee’s hand. “Yep, sure, Sissy Pie.”
    The sisters caught up with Wendy and her cronies, and their small group walked toward the aroma of sweet spices and baked bread. At the cafeteria door, ClaireLee swung her lunch pail back and forth. “I’ll save us a table.” After picking their spot, she flipped the latch of her pail and shared food with Lolly.
    ClaireLee bit into her peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a sack lunch plopped across the table. The two girls stared at each other until Belinda broke the silence. “Mrs. Reed said I’m supposed to show you around. Not those uppity city snobs.”
    Blinking, ClaireLee chose her words, so as not to excite Belinda. “The Lavender Girls seem nice.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not. Beware of them, ClaireLee.” Belinda’s tongue snagged a cookie crumb from her lip. “When lunch is over, I’ll walk with you and your little sister. We get an hour-long lunch and recess, and afterward it’s swim class in the school pool.”
    Hurrying to swallow her bite, ClaireLee said, “Is the water warm?”
    â€œYou betcha.” Belinda drank from her