Sellout Read Online Free Page A

long stay in the city.
    “Well, Tilly, that would give NaTasha the kind of chance you’re talking about.” my dad finished. “It’s NaTasha’s decision, of course.”
    A few weeks?
    There was a space next to Tilly on the sofa. I eased into the room, trying not to draw any attention. My foot caught the piano bench instead, and it crashed loudly onto the hardwood floor.
    All three of them snapped their heads in my direction. No one moved a muscle. It was like I was some science experiment they’d mixed together and were now waiting for the reaction.
    Tilly looked tense and tired, but she smiled. I glanced at her hands. Whenever she wasn’t talking, her hands spoke for her. Tilly had her fists squeezed so tight, her knuckles were white, like she’d been making biscuits and rubbing her hands in grease and flour.
    “Tilly, was it really that bad?” I whispered. Tilly nodded and walked past me to the stairs. I’d never stayed with Tilly longer than one week. But now things were different. Spending the entire summer in Adams Park was out of the question. Maybe a few extra weeks away would help to make everything okay again.
    All night I dreamed of tripping Stephanie with my scarves. I woke up covered in sweat and more embarrassed than I had been after the recital.
    The doorbell rang early and I already knew who was at the door. I wasn’t in the mood for any company, but there was no way Heather was going to leave without seeing me. As soon as I opened the front door, she grabbed me by the elbow and marched me up to my room.
    “What the hell happened last night?” she asked, collapsing onto my bed.
    I wanted to leave the whole recital incident behind me. But Heather’s eyes were glued to me, and I knew that wasn’t an option. Her expression was harsh, like I’d personally offended her.
    “I don’t know what happened,” I told her. “You know as much as I do.”
    “Were you messing with the scarves?” she asked. I didn’t like having my best friend sound like a judge or having to defend myself. I glared at her.
    “When would I have had the time?” I asked her. “In between double turns?”
    “Well, scarves don’t just jump out of hair all on their own,” she said.
    “You’re the one who gave them to me in the first place,” I reminded her. She sat up quickly, like I had threatened to expose her dirty little secret.
    “I tied them as tight as they would go and you know it,” she said. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. We sat in silence for a few minutes. No need to argue about the scarves. The damage was already done and there was no turning back.
    “You think Stephanie will ever forgive me?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Heather shrugged, but remained quiet. “Well, good thing I’m leaving town then.”
    I pulled my black-and-white carry-on luggage bag out of the closet and opened one of my dresser drawers.
    “What am I supposed to do for a whole week at the start of summer when we are supposed to be doing everything together?” Heather said. “Oh my God, it feels like you’re leaving forever.”
    “It isn’t forever, Heather, it is only a week tops,” I lied. No way could I tell her I might extend my stay. “And you know I leave at the same time every year.”
    “A week is forever, though,” she said.
    I started to unzip my bag, but Heather stopped me, falling across it and clutching her heart with one hand and her forehead with the other. She was the definition of drama queen. She could sniffle and make her teacher send her to the nurse’s office. If her parents’ car got nicked in the parking lot at the mall, in Heather’s version of the story, they had a near-death experience.
    “Who am I going to shop with?” she asked. “Who am I going to eat with? Who am I going to talk about the guys with?”
    Since I could remember, Heather and I were attached at the hip. Spending a few weeks apart and only being able to talk on the phone would be hard.
    “They do