Marked (The Pack) Read Online Free Page B

our secret, but you probably want to be sure and not tell anyone else.”
    I made a mental note not to tell these kids anything I didn’t want the whole world to know. When I finished cleaning up Katie, I blotted at the half dried paint on the others who’d been splattered by her and were now whining about paint on them and their birdhouses.
    “I think you should leave these spatters of paint on yours Jessie. It looks kind of cool. Maybe we could add some more and it would look even better.”
    Jessie seemed unsure, but I knew the splotches of paint were already dry and couldn’t be wiped off. Besides, they were neat, and I was certain with a few more splatters the birdhouse would be a work of art. Well, okay, that was a stretch, but it wouldn’t be bad at all.
    Flicking the paintbrush, I helped Jessie splatter some paint on the roof. “See that’s not bad, huh?”
    Jessie grinned and kept going until I had to stop her. There was splatter painting, then there was a mess. Something I learned in one of the many arts and crafts classes my mom had sent me to in the past.
    I stepped back with Jessie to admire our handiwork while it dried, then moved on to another kid who wanted me to help paint a “trim” color around the windows. I tried not to giggle or ask her why a six-year-old knew what the heck a trim color was on house.
    I’d never worked with young children before, but I was beginning to get the hang of it, or at least I seemed to be. No one had thrown a fit or been injured since I started. That was good, right?
    I checked my wrist watch. “Okay guys, time to let all this dry and eat lunch.”
    “What’s for lunch ‘Lexis.” Katie had been interested in lunch for awhile. She was a skinny kid so she was probably hungry.
    “I don’t know, maybe the same thing you normally have.” I helped them arrange their birdhouses in the center of the table to dry.
    “Chicken nuggets and macaroni is my favorite, think we’ll have that?”
    I shrugged, then gathered the group and led them to the dining room. Katie hung on to one of my hands and Jared, a boy with long black hair and brown eyes, grasped the other. Kids hanging on to me was a new experience, and though I’d never admit it to Aunt Louise, I kind of liked it, a lot.
    I got the midget crew settled at a table and spotted Channing, Jana, and Celina. They’d crammed their kids at a couple of tables so the three of them could sit together. They waved at me and I started toward them. My shirt tightened across my chest. The black haired boy, Jared, had a death grip on my shirttail.
    “You’re not going to sit with us?”
    “I’m going to…” I stopped to take a breath.
    “Please sit with us,” Jared begged.
    “I thought I might sit with those girls.” I pointed in the direction of Channing’s table.
    Katie stepped in front of me. “You’re ‘posed to eat with us in case we need help.”
    I frowned. “Katie, you’re six. You don’t need help eating.”
    “We might.”
    “But those girls aren’t eating with their class.”
    “They don’t never do what their ‘posed to do, not like a teacher should. You’re the teacher, ‘Lexis, you need to eat with us.”
    I sighed. I was probably going to ruin my chances for the summer. “Okay, I’ll sit with you guys.”
    I waved at my three new friends like I hadn’t understood they wanted me to sit with them and slid into the chair next to Jared. Between the questions and spilled food, I scanned the rest of the dining room. My aunt and the other adults sat at a table to one side of the room. The teenage leaders had been banished to eat with the little kids. Typical.
    I spotted Myles a few tables away and waved. He waved back. At the table just past Myles’ was a girl with dark red-brown hair, one of those beautifully unusual colors that only a few people have. Other than that she was fairly average with freckles, no make-up, and a kind of forgettable face. Not that there was anything wrong with