Next Door to a Star Read Online Free
Author: Krysten Lindsay Hager
Grandma, but Lily was covered with spit and some red juice stuff she had spilled in the car, so Grandma handed her off to Aunt Faith.
“Aren’t you a sticky baby?” Aunt Faith said as Lily blew spit bubbles at her. “Aw, so cute.” Grandma pulled a tissue out of her sleeve to wipe Lily’s hands. I was tired after sitting so long, but Grandma wanted us to go out to lunch so we all piled back into the SUV. We went to a restaurant and sat at a table overlooking the lake, and I split a pepperoni and mushroom pizza with Aunt Faith. I hadn’t tried thin crust pizza before, and it tasted like a chewy cracker. Clark started whining about getting dessert. Grandma didn’t think Lily and Clark needed any sugar, but she sighed and went along with it.
“Hadley, order something white in case you spill,” Grandma said, pointing to my white Forever 21 sweatshirt.
“You can have whatever flavor you want,” Aunt Faith said, rolling her eyes. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I asked for a chocolate and vanilla twisty cone. Grandma handed me a bunch of napkins and told me not to drip.
After lunch, Uncle Stu, Aunt Maggie, and Grandpa played soccer with Clark and some neighbor kids. Clark had only been here for five hours and he had already made three new friends. Even Lily had found a toddler who was almost as sticky as she was. Meanwhile, I sat with Grandma, who kept telling Grandpa not to “be so rough” with the kids.
“Hadley, do you want me to take you over to see Simone?” Grandma asked. “I mentioned to her mother you were arriving today.”
I did, but my outfit was wrinkled and my skin was super greasy after being in the car all afternoon.
“I’d rather meet her another day when I don’t look like I spent hours riding in a car,” I said. Of course, even if I took three hours to get ready and had Jennifer Lopez’s stylist do my hair, I’d still look like a blob next to Simone.
Uncle Stu took us to the beach on Saturday. I played in the sand with Lily while Clark took off with his new friends. There were two girls who were lying out in the sun. One of the girls was Asian with long, dark hair and the other girl had curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. They both had deep tans, halter top bikinis, and were reading Teen Vogue and InTouch . My dad wouldn’t let me subscribe to any magazines because he thought they were a waste of money, so I had to buy them when he wasn’t around.
I watched the dark-haired girl pull on a hoodie with “Juicy” on the back as they walked over to the snack stand and came back with what appeared to be a big red snowball in a cup.
“Hadley, do you want to come with me to get a snack or something to drink?” Uncle Stu asked. I followed him to the snack shack. I wanted the snowball thing, but when I ordered a sno-cone, the girl behind the counter told me they didn’t have sno-cones and held up a red Popsicle instead. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I started to reach for it until I saw some guy eating what I wanted.
“Wait, what’s he having?” I asked.
“Oh, a Tropical Icy. What flavor do you want?” she asked.
“Red,” I said.
“Cherry?” she asked, raising her eyebrow like I was stupid. Okay, so red wasn’t a flavor, but I guess I didn’t look too dumb since she was the genius who didn’t realize a Tropical Icy was like a sno-cone. I went back to my beach towel and tried to figure out how to eat it. It came with a spoon, but the other girls had eaten it like an ice cream cone. I tried it and slurped all the color and flavor off. I watched the two girls reapplying their tanning oil and changing sides so they would tan even on both sides. Something about them made me wish I were invisible. They could have been models, and there I was with a toddler who was always covered in spit and my uncle with his attractive farmer’s tan.
***
Clark and his friends went out on the lake the next day. Uncle Stu invited me to go along, but being trapped on a boat
“Aren’t you a sticky baby?” Aunt Faith said as Lily blew spit bubbles at her. “Aw, so cute.” Grandma pulled a tissue out of her sleeve to wipe Lily’s hands. I was tired after sitting so long, but Grandma wanted us to go out to lunch so we all piled back into the SUV. We went to a restaurant and sat at a table overlooking the lake, and I split a pepperoni and mushroom pizza with Aunt Faith. I hadn’t tried thin crust pizza before, and it tasted like a chewy cracker. Clark started whining about getting dessert. Grandma didn’t think Lily and Clark needed any sugar, but she sighed and went along with it.
“Hadley, order something white in case you spill,” Grandma said, pointing to my white Forever 21 sweatshirt.
“You can have whatever flavor you want,” Aunt Faith said, rolling her eyes. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I asked for a chocolate and vanilla twisty cone. Grandma handed me a bunch of napkins and told me not to drip.
After lunch, Uncle Stu, Aunt Maggie, and Grandpa played soccer with Clark and some neighbor kids. Clark had only been here for five hours and he had already made three new friends. Even Lily had found a toddler who was almost as sticky as she was. Meanwhile, I sat with Grandma, who kept telling Grandpa not to “be so rough” with the kids.
“Hadley, do you want me to take you over to see Simone?” Grandma asked. “I mentioned to her mother you were arriving today.”
I did, but my outfit was wrinkled and my skin was super greasy after being in the car all afternoon.
“I’d rather meet her another day when I don’t look like I spent hours riding in a car,” I said. Of course, even if I took three hours to get ready and had Jennifer Lopez’s stylist do my hair, I’d still look like a blob next to Simone.
Uncle Stu took us to the beach on Saturday. I played in the sand with Lily while Clark took off with his new friends. There were two girls who were lying out in the sun. One of the girls was Asian with long, dark hair and the other girl had curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. They both had deep tans, halter top bikinis, and were reading Teen Vogue and InTouch . My dad wouldn’t let me subscribe to any magazines because he thought they were a waste of money, so I had to buy them when he wasn’t around.
I watched the dark-haired girl pull on a hoodie with “Juicy” on the back as they walked over to the snack stand and came back with what appeared to be a big red snowball in a cup.
“Hadley, do you want to come with me to get a snack or something to drink?” Uncle Stu asked. I followed him to the snack shack. I wanted the snowball thing, but when I ordered a sno-cone, the girl behind the counter told me they didn’t have sno-cones and held up a red Popsicle instead. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I started to reach for it until I saw some guy eating what I wanted.
“Wait, what’s he having?” I asked.
“Oh, a Tropical Icy. What flavor do you want?” she asked.
“Red,” I said.
“Cherry?” she asked, raising her eyebrow like I was stupid. Okay, so red wasn’t a flavor, but I guess I didn’t look too dumb since she was the genius who didn’t realize a Tropical Icy was like a sno-cone. I went back to my beach towel and tried to figure out how to eat it. It came with a spoon, but the other girls had eaten it like an ice cream cone. I tried it and slurped all the color and flavor off. I watched the two girls reapplying their tanning oil and changing sides so they would tan even on both sides. Something about them made me wish I were invisible. They could have been models, and there I was with a toddler who was always covered in spit and my uncle with his attractive farmer’s tan.
***
Clark and his friends went out on the lake the next day. Uncle Stu invited me to go along, but being trapped on a boat
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