Reunited Read Online Free Page B

with Alice at her side, she’d be able to hit a few graduation parties after all.
    “Mom!” Tiernan yelled, her voice straining under its own forced sweetness. “Tell Alice I’m ready for her.” She took a quick look in the mirror, admiring herself in the costume of the girl she used to be.
    “Knock, knock,” Alice said in a timid voice. Some wrath. All it took was one look at Alice’s face for Tiernan to see that her secret about that night at the freshman dance was still safe. Then why was Alice here?
    “Howdy, stranger,” Tiernan said.
    “Nice T-shirt,” said Alice.
    Oh, this old thing? Tiernan thought, but instead said, “Yeah. It’s funny, seeing you when I’m wearing this.”
    “Well, considering why I’m here,” Alice replied, “it’s totally beshert .”
    Tiernan was surprised Alice had hung on to that Yiddish word she’d taught her all those years ago. She also wondered what she meant by it. But before she had a chance to ask, Alice was off and running.
    “So, I was watching MTV yesterday—well, I wasn’t really watching it, but I had it on and—I don’t know if you heard about this—I mean, it’s been on the radio but I’m not sure what station you listen to, but anyway . . .”
    Alice had always been a fast talker, but whenever she felt uncomfortable or nervous, she bordered on unintelligible. Unfortunately, Tiernan’s Alice decoder had grown rusty over time.
    “So I was looking on Mapquest and I figure it’s about a five-day drive to get to Austin. And I thought we could share the driving once I show you how to handle the stick shift. Plus, I was thinking we’d alternate between staying at motels and sleeping in the van.”
    Tiernan thought cozying up to Alice might get her out of the house for a night or two—but a full-fledged ten-day vacation? Jackpot! Sure, it would be awkward to go on a road trip with her ex–best friend to see a band she hadn’t listened to in years, but it still beat living with the dragon lady under house arrest. Just as long as she wasn’t stuck in a van with Summer Dalton for ten days (and Alice said she wasn’t coming) the whole thing would be totally bearable. Who knew? Maybe they’d even end up having some fun.
    Tiernan climbed onto her desk so she could see out the high basement window. Sure enough, there was the Pea Pod parked in front of her house. Her getaway car.
    “You’re sure Summer’s not coming?”
    “She can’t,” Alice said, shaking her head. “She’s going away with her boyfriend.”
    There was only one possible catch in this impossibly perfect plan. What if her mother said no? Tiernan was still grounded,and, as a rule, Judy’s punishments were nonnegotiable. Unless Tiernan didn’t try to negotiate. If she just slipped away under the radar, by the time her mother figured out she was missing, she’d be halfway across the country.
    Technically, it wasn’t running away. She’d give Judy a courtesy call from the road. Let her know there was no need to slap her picture on a milk carton or anything drastic like that. And how angry could her mother get if she was hanging out with Alice Miller? That was like the woman’s wet dream.
    Tiernan stared at the Pea Pod. All she needed now was her retainer and her natural hair color and it’d be eighth grade all over again.
    “So,” Tiernan whispered so her mother wouldn’t hear, “anything special I should bring along? Some back issues of Tiger Beat ? Maybe my old training bra?”
    “Well,” Alice said, deadpan, “if it still fits.”
    Tiernan smiled. Unlike her friendship with Alice, her love of Level3, or any of the other stuff she’d be putting on for this trip, the training bra was probably the one thing she hadn’t grown out of.
     

 
    “UNADULTERATED”
    THE SCULPTORS WHO CARVED YOU OUT OF STONE
    HAVE GONE AND LEFT YOU ALL ALONE
    THEIR WELL-ETCHED DETAILS ARE YOUR LEGACY
    BUT THEY’RE NOT WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO BE
    DADDY SPLIT,
    YOUR MOMMA’S GONE,
    YOU’RE