Ruby Reinvented Read Online Free

jobs.”
    â€œMaybe, but I don’t know how they sleep at night.” Mom’s face is flushed.
    I bite the inside of my cheek. “This is why I want to go to Maine.” I’m surprised by how quietly this comes out.
    Mom and Dad just look at me.
    â€œThis isn’t normal,” I say.
    Now Mom and Dad look at each other. I swear they have some secret mind-reading thing going on. Mom sighs, and Dad nods. It’s not an actual conversation, but I know they’re thinking the same thing.
    â€œOkay, hon,” Mom says. “We’ll look into this Midcoast Academy. No promises, though. We need to learn much more about it.”
    I lean over and give Mom a giant hug. I immediately know, deep down in my heart, that they’ll let me go. I try to hide my beaming smile as I think about the fact that I will soon be away from Sophie and Damon and Hollywood and paparazzi. I will soon be a student of Midcoast Academy.
    I will soon be normal.

Chapter
 4 
    I GO TO school the next day but fake feeling sick, hoping everyone will leave me alone. It doesn’t work.
    â€œHow was Sarriette’s?” Sophie asks during lunch.
    â€œHow’d you know I was at Sarriette’s?” I pull the lid off my bowl of fruit salad.
    â€œThere were pictures online. Your dad’s arm was blocking most of your face, but of course I knew it was you.”
    At least my face wasn’t showing. My parents hate it when my picture gets out.
    â€œSo your parents are home?” Sophie pops a piece of pineapple into her mouth.
    â€œYeah, till Friday.”
    â€œMaybe I can come over after school this week. We can hang out.” I stare at her. My blood boils as I look at herfake smile and her fake fingernails and the fake BFF necklace that I gave her for Christmas. I want to tell her that I know. I want to tell her that she isn’t fooling me. I want to tell her that she’s evil and rotten and mean. I want to tell her, but I don’t. I do, however, notice that she’s got lettuce in her teeth. I don’t tell her that, either, and knowing that she’s walking around with green teeth calms me down a little.
    Somehow I make it through the rest of the day, and my parents are both on the deck when I get home.
    â€œHow was school, Bea?” Dad asks. He’s standing over a pitcher of iced tea and pours me a glass.
    â€œNot great.” I take a sip. “Did you get a chance to look at the Midcoast Academy website?”
    â€œYes,” Mom answers. “And while it looks lovely, you can’t tell everything from a website. I think we need to visit. Maybe we can do that next month when Dad and I are home for a few weeks and—”
    â€œI can’t wait another month,” I interrupt her.
    â€œIt’s just a month, hon.” Mom takes my hand.
    â€œThat’s another month I’d have to spend at school.” Tears fill my eyes, and no matter how hard I try to suck them back into my head, it’s no use. They spill out.
    â€œOh, hon.” Mom stands up and pulls me into a hug. “What is going on at school?”
    I have no choice. If I never want to step foot in that school again, I know I’ve got to talk. In between sobs, I tellthem everything. I tell them about Sophie and Damon and how they think I’m lame and boring and ugly.
    â€œBea.” Dad takes my shoulders. “Those kids are just insecure and mean. I hope you don’t believe what they said.”
    I don’t know what I believe. All I know is that the thought of going back to that school and seeing Sophie’s awful face makes my insides feel all twisted up.
    â€œYou are a beautiful girl, inside and out.” Dad smiles and his eyes crinkle. “Your real friends will see that.”
    â€œThat’s just it,” I say. “I don’t have real friends here. That’s why I want to try something new.”
    â€œI know, hon, but we won’t have