Once Upon a Toad Read Online Free Page A

vanished. “Oh,” she said cautiously, exchanging a glance with Juliet. “That’s nice.”
    Now it was my turn to laugh. I knew exactly what they were thinking. “Don’t worry,” I told them. “We’re nothing at all alike.”
    Rani flashed me a grin. “That’s a relief,” she said. “Olivia is, well—”
    â€œAnnoying?” I suggested helpfully.
    â€œBig-time,” she agreed.
    Now that the ice was broken, the four of us started to chatter away.
    â€œMr. Morgan said you guys are pretty new to Portland too?” I said to Rani and her brother.
    â€œYep,” said Rajit. “We moved here from L.A. at the end of last summer.”
    â€œOur parents are originally from Mumbai, though,” added Rani, answering my unspoken question.
    â€œIndia! Wow. Have you ever visited?”
    They both nodded. “Our grandparents still live there, and a bunch of our aunts and uncles and cousins,” said Rani. “We’re going back again this summer.”
    â€œHow about you, Juliet?”
    â€œNative Oregonian,” she mumbled through a bite of tuna fish sandwich. “They call us Webfeet. Because of the rain, get it?” She pointed to the cafeteria window, which was streaked with droplets.
    They asked about my family, and I told them about my dad and Iz. Their eyes widened when I explained that my mother was an astronaut.
    â€œReally? No kidding?” said Rani.
    â€œShe’s on the International Space Station right now. That’s how come I’m here in Portland.”
    â€œWow,” said Rajit. “That is totally awesome.” He flashed me another smile, and I smiled back. “How long will you be here?”
    â€œThrough the end of the school year.”
    â€œThat’s a long time to be away from home,” said Rani.
    I glanced across the cafeteria at Olivia. “Tell me about it.”
    Rani and Rajit and Juliet wanted to know all about NASA, and how I liked living in a high-rise building. I took my cell phone out of my backpack and showed them some pictures of our condo, and of my mother in her astronaut suit, and of my friends.
    â€œWho’s that?” asked Rani, pointing to a boy with reddish hair and a gap-toothed grin.
    â€œA.J. D’Angelo,” I told her. “He’s my best friend. He lives two floors down from us back in Houston.”
    â€œDoes he play in the youth symphony, too?”
    I laughed. “Nope.” A.J. might be a computer genius, but he couldn’t carry a tune in a paper bag. Not that he didn’t try—he played trombone in our middle school band.
    By the time the bell rang a few minutes later, I was on my way to having three new friends.
    â€œWhat classes do you have this afternoon?” asked Rani as we cleared away our lunches.
    I pulled my schedule from the pocket of my jeans and consulted it. “Uh, PE and then science.”
    Her face lit up. “Me too! Come on, I’ll show you where the lockers are.”
    I followed her out of the cafeteria feeling a lot more cheerful. It didn’t even bother me when we passed Olivia and Piper in the hall and I noticed them whispering. Who cared what they thought?
    The cheerful feeling lasted right up until the moment when Ms. Suarez, our PE teacher, blew her whistle.
    â€œOkay, girls!” she hollered. “Let’s beat those rainy Monday blues with a little hoops fun. Team captains—Olivia Haggerty and Taylor Brown.”
    My heart sank. Basketball? How about a slam-dunk game of humiliation instead? When you’re barely five feet tall, basketball rarely qualifies as fun. I was about to go down in flames.
    And my stepsister was happy to shove me into the fire.
    Olivia and Taylor flipped a coin for first pick, and Olivia won. She looked straight at me and smiled. It was not a nice smile.
    â€œRani Kumar,” she said.
    Rani gave me a regretful look and crossed the gym to