My Best Frenemy Read Online Free Page A

planned it.
    I fiddle with the edge of my same old sweatshirt and squeak the toe of my same old sneaker against the floor. I got new clothes for Christmas too. Stuff from the Mish Mosh, which is my favorite store at the mall. Skinny jeans and two sweaters. Bright red baby-doll shirt and a matching bag. But I was so excited to see Stacey and to show her my oil pastels, I forgot to wear any of it.
    Stacey jingles up to me and Randi. “Hi, you guys!” she says. She gives my arm a friendly squeeze.
    “Hi! ” I say back. “I like your new clothes. ”
    “Thanks! ” Stacey replies. “They’re from my dad. ” She does a little step-turn like a model on a runway.
    Brooke applauds.
    “Cute,” I say, doing my best grin. “When my dad picks out clothes for me I usually only wear them for pajamas. ”
    Stacey giggles. “I think my dad’s girlfriend helped him. Normally anything he buys me is too boyish. ”
    “Ugh, ” Brooke says.
    “What’s wrong with boyish?” Randi asks, sniffing her basketball.
    “Nothing, ” Brooke says, rolling her eyes.
    I study Brooke’s curly ponytail for a moment. “Did you get a perm or something? ” I ask.
    Brooke reaches up and unclips the springy curls from her regular hair. “Jade gave it to me,” she says, jiggling the ponytail. Jade is Brooke’s older sister. She knows a lot about hair and clothes because she’s in high school. “See? ” she says. “It’s faux. ”
    “Fur? ” Randi says.
    “Not fur, ” Brooke says back. “ Faux. You know . Fake hair? ”
    “Are you sure? ” Randi asks, giving the ponytail a poke. “Because I saw a dead squirrel on the way to school that looked a lot like that. ”
    Brooke huffs and clips the ponytail back to her head.
    Randi grins and bumps the basketball against her chin.
    Just then Meeka and Jolene arrive. They take a quick tour of Brooke’s new ponytail and Stacey’s new clothes. Then they do the step-turn thing to show us their new outfits.
    I brush my bangs over my paintbrush barrettes and slide my oil pastels into my back pocket.
    “Jade also gave me this, ” Brooke says, pulling a see-through plastic case out of her backpack. Six squares of eye shadow are lined up under the lid like little pads of butter. Light blue, bright blue. Light green, bright green. Light purple, bright purple. All glittery.
    Brooke opens the lid and takes out a little sponge-tipped stick. “The applicator has two ends, one for dark colors and one for light, ” Brooke tells us, all professional. She rubs one of the sponge ends across the bright purple pad. Then she looks at herself in the little built-in mirror while she glides the color across her left eyelid. Then she does her right eyelid. “Now for light purple under my eyebrows.” Pretty soon her eyelids are very purple and glittery.
    Brooke blinks at us.
    Stacey squeals.
    So do Meeka and Jolene.
    Randi grunts.
    “My mom won’t let me wear makeup yet,” Jolene says.
    “Mine either, ” Meeka adds.
    “Well, ” Brooke says, “I’m really only allowed to wear it for dance recitals and stuff, but that is just so unfair. I mean, I am ten now. ” She flutters her purple lids.
    “I’m almost ten, ” Meeka says. “Let me try. ”
    “Me too,” Jolene adds, reaching for the sponge stick.
    Brooke pulls back. “Everyone will get a turn,” she says. She looks the group over. “You first, Meeka.”
    Meeka does an excited little jump, lifts her chin, and closes her eyes.
    Brooke makes a bright blue trail of eye shadow across Meeka’s lids. “Jade says blue makes your eyes look bigger, ” Brooke informs us.
    “What’s wrong with the size of Meeka’s eyes?” Randi asks.
    “Nothing, ” Brooke replies. “But Jade says it’s important to enhance what you have. ”
    Brooke adds another layer of blue to Meeka. She lets the sponge slip past the corners of Meeka’s eyes and swoop up like bird wings.
    “There,” Brooke says, holding the little mirror up to Meeka. “Now your eyes