Pig City Read Online Free

silent agony as she waited for the chunk to melt down small enough to swallow. For the moment, it was all she cared about. Her eyes watered.
    Kristin pedaled her blue ten-speed bicycle to a stop on the sidewalk in front of them. She was out of breath.
    Laura swallowed what was left of her frozen chunk of root beer. Her mouth slowly warmed. “Did you bring it?” she asked.
    Kristin nodded. “In my backpack.”
    Tiffany looked around for a place to throw her popsicle stick, then finally stuck it in her shirt pocket. She walked behind Kristin and reached into her backpack with her sticky fingers. “Why’d you bring so many books?” she asked.
    â€œOh, you know Kristin,” said Allison, “always reading.”
    Kristin hated to read. She brought the books because she needed something to cover up her underpants.
    â€œGot ’em!” Tiffany exclaimed. She triumphantly held Kristin’s underpants high in the air. They were white with a pink waistband.
    â€œYou don’t have to show the whole world,” said Kristin. Her face was almost as red as her glasses.
    â€œTake them to the clubhouse,” said Laura.
    The four girls went through the gate to the backyard and on into the Dog House. There, Laura told Kristin the question that she had already answered: “Do you want to join Pig City?” She taught her the secret salute.
    Kristin was greatly impressed.
    â€œYou can’t tell anybody,” Allison warned, “even if they torture you or threaten to kill you.”
    â€œI won’t,” Kristin promised.
    â€œYour underpants are your insurance,” said Laura. “If you tell anybody anything about Pig City, anything at all, we will take your underpants to school and show them to all the boys.”
    Kristin gasped. “I won’t ever tell, never!” She would rather have been tortured and killed than have her underpants shown to all the boys.
    Tiffany got the treasure chest out from under the bed. Allison added Kristin’s name to the list.
    PIG CITY
    Laura
—
President
    Tiffany
—
Vice-President
    Allison
—
Secretary
    Kristin
—
underpants
    Allison put the list and Kristin’s underwear into the treasure chest, then Tiffany shoved it back under the bed.
    They didn’t show Kristin what they had each given as insurance. She wasn’t allowed to know. There was a good reason for that. If Kristin broke her vow of secrecy, and they showed her underpants to the whole school, she might try to get revenge by telling everybody that Laura was in love with Mr. Doyle or Tiffany was ticklish or Allison liked to pose in the nude.
    The four girls solemnly raised their fists to their noses.
    â€œWelcome to Pig City,” said Laura.

8
Debbie
    Debbie was hanging upside-down on the monkey bars. Laura, Allison, Tiffany, and Kristin looked upside-down to her.
    There were still ten minutes before school started. There was going to be a math test first thing. Debbie always hung upside-down before tests. She said that all her blood went to her head and helped her think better.
    They gave her the same choice they had given Kristin. “Yes or no?” asked Tiffany.
    â€œYes,” Debbie answered right away. She was good at making quick decisions, especially when all her blood was in her head.
    They told her to come to Laura’s after school. “You forgot to tell her to bring an extra pair of underpants,” said Kristin as they walked away.
    â€œEverybody has to have a different kind of insurance,” Laura explained.
    â€œWhat will Debbie’s be?” Kristin asked.
    â€œYou’re not allowed to know,” said Tiffany. “That’s why everybody’s has to be different.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” said Allison. “Laura will think of something good for Debbie.”
    Laura lifted her cap, shook her hair back, and put it back on.
    The class lined up, then filed into Mr. Doyle’s