Next Door to a Star Read Online Free Page A

with a bunch of eight-year-old boys was not my idea of fun. I plugged in the TV, but my grandparents didn’t have cable, so it was pointless. I had my laptop but the wi-fi in the house was weird and the internet kept going down.
    I checked out the bookshelves, but all of the books were for adults and none of them seemed interesting. I guess I appeared pretty pathetic because Aunt Faith suggested we go downtown and check out the stores. Mom had given me some money so I bought a Cary McKissack book, a glitter glue pen, and some Gummi cola bottles.
    “Don’t tell Grandma I let you buy candy,” Aunt Faith said. “She doesn’t mind baked goods and ice cream, but she doesn’t like us to eat candy for some reason.”
    I thought it was weird my aunt would worry about hiding candy from her mother. Even my mom didn’t care if I ate candy. We went to the juniors department next and found the perfect bathing suit. It was a purple tankini with silver paint splashed across it. It was much hotter than my plain blue suit. I took it into the dressing room along with a pair of jean shorts, some Capri pants, and a Juicy Couture t-shirt with a beach scene on it.
    “How does the suit fit?” Aunt Faith asked through the door.
    The suit definitely made me look older. It had a built-in bra, so it was like I needed a bra, instead of my old suit, which made me look like I needed an adult to help me cross the street. I opened the door and my aunt stepped inside the dressing room.
    “You certainly look more mature,” she said. “Are you going to get it?”
    “Do I look stupid in it?” I didn’t want to look like a little kid trying too hard.
    “You look cute. Is it expensive?” she asked.
    It was on sale and she told me to try on the other stuff while I was deciding. The jean shorts were a lot shorter than I expected, but all of my clothes were so boring. These were like something those girls on the beach would wear.
    “What do you think?” I asked.
    “A little short, but they’re cute.”
    I was hoping for “hot,” but I bought the swimsuit and shorts. Aunt Faith got me the t-shirt and Capri pants because they were the only things Grandma wouldn’t freak out over. I also had to promise not to let Grandma see me in the bathing suit.
    As soon as we got home, Grandma was waiting for us.
    “I talked to Mrs. Hendrickson this afternoon and told her all about you. She said you should come over to see Simone,” Grandma said.
    I felt a cold trickle of sweat run down my side.
    “Well, maybe tomorrow. I’m kind of tired after shopping, and I should probably wash my hair again before I meet someone—”
    “Hadley, don’t be silly. She said to drop over after lunch, so they are expecting you.”
    Well, this was what I had wanted, right? To meet and hopefully hang out with someone this summer? But part of me wished that someone wasn’t a TV star who was intimidatingly pretty. The whole thing about hanging out with Simone had sounded like a good idea in my head, but the reality of it was pretty terrifying. Plus, Grandma was acting like Simone actually cared whether or not some nobody from Goodacre came over to meet her.
    I went upstairs and put on my new jean shorts, but Grandma made me change so Mrs. Hendrickson wouldn’t think I “always dressed so provocative.” They were jean shorts, not bikini bottoms. Sheesh, but the Capri pants made my legs look better anyway.
    “Now have fun and take the hair out of your mouth. You’ll smell like a wet dog,” she said.
    I knocked on the door and Mrs. Hendrickson told me Simone was on the porch in back. I took a deep breath and walked to the back where Simone was sitting. Her long blonde hair was impossibly straight and shiny, and she looked like an adult in her tiny beige shorts and baby-blue halter top, while I couldn’t have seemed younger or less cool if I tried. She was stretched out on a wicker couch talking on the phone. She didn’t even look up at me, so I sat on a bench and