The Graham Cracker Plot Read Online Free Page B

Grandma?”
    â€œBecause she lives thirty minutes away, and there aren’t any kids by her town house for you to play with.”
    â€œSo? Kari works all day. It’s spring break. We’re gonna be home all day with nothing to do.”
    â€œYou’re staying with Kari because she’s my best friend, and it’s easy. If you need anything from home, all you have to do is walk fifty feet. If you need any help while Kari’s working, Mrs. Mundez is six trailers away. She’s a sweetheart,” Mom said. Then she acted like she just thought of the best reason ever. “And you’ll have someone to play with!”
    â€œGreat. A whole week with Graham.”
    She was still yackity-yacking when I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. Mom sighed and texted something on her phone. Probably to Alex. Probably something like, Can’t wait to be alone!
    And me with Graham for a week. A person could go crazy in a week, you know.

 
    DEAR JUDGE HENRY,
    Everything fell apart the day Mom and Alex left.
    Graham and I were on spring break, so we had to hang out at his place all day. With nothing to do. Nothing! His mom told us to watch movies and make a frozen pizza for lunch while she worked, but Graham can never sit through an entire movie.
    â€œYou wanna go outside?” he asked every fifteen minutes. His bangs were greasy and hanging past his eyes. He’d brush them aside, and they’d fall into his eyelashes again.
    â€œIt was rainy and cold the first time you asked, and it’s still rainy and cold,” I said. “I could cut your bangs.”
    â€œRemember when we used to play horse race and I’d always win?” He looked so proud of himself.
    â€œRemember when we used to play arm wrestling and I’d always win?” That shut him up for about ten minutes. Then he said, “Whatcha want to do?”
    â€œMy grandma’s a stylist so I’m naturally good at hair cutting.” This sounded like a good idea. His hair was shaggy and gross, and I’d been thinking I could go to beauty school and open a shop with Grandma. She could work on the old people, and I’d work on the young people. We’d be both hip and classic and make a fortune.
    â€œI’m bored. Why are you just sitting around?” Graham stood on the couch and bounced. “I wanna go outside or play a game. Mom won’t let me use the computer when she’s not here because she’s afraid I’ll give it a virus. But we could guess her password. Wanna guess her password? I bet it’s Maggie. That was her first dog. Half the people in the world use their pet’s name for a password.”
    I crossed my arms and said, “You need your bangs cut.”
    â€œMy mom wouldn’t like it.” He jumped to the floor and dug around in his pocket. “I’m going to show you something that my uncle gave me. It’s super cool. And I don’t tell people about it, but because we’re trapped for a whole week, we’re going to need it.”
    Graham opened his fist and showed me an old penny.
    â€œSo what?” I said. “You can’t buy anything with a penny.”
    â€œIt’s not just a plain old penny. Look at the date on it—1919. It’s old. Really, really old!”
    â€œSo?”
    He pushed his bangs back and sighed. “It’s so old it’s become an Idea Coin. You know my uncle who lives in Michigan? Well, he gave this coin to me when we went to see him. My uncle said an old coin with the same numbers—like this, with a nineteen and a nineteen—gets special powers because they’ve been in so many pockets and purses. It’s picked up the idea energy from thousands of people over a hundred years. Hold it in your hand, squeeze it real tight against your head, and a cool idea will come to you.”
    â€œYour uncle told you that?”
    â€œYup.”
    â€œWere you bugging him about