The Kissing Diary Read Online Free

Mary any more than Rosie did. Mary had called her dumb in the third grade, which had morphed into Dumb and Dumber Summer for the whole year.
    â€œIt was broccoli rabe, and it smelled disgusting,” said Sarah.
    â€œIf we’re going to forget about anyone,” said Summer, “let’s forget about Mary. Besides, Rosie, you eat green! You ate lime Jell-O at my house the other day!”
    â€œRobbie eats Jell-O every day,” said Rosie. So much for forgetting about Robbie Romano.
    â€œMy sister says, sometimes if you ignore the boy, he’ll come back,” said Lauren forgivingly.
    â€œLike a boomerang,” said Summer, which was no help at all, as Rosie envisioned Robbie whizzing through the air and knocking her over.
    â€œHe can’t come back. I never had him in the first place,” Rosie said.
    â€œLike in The Wizard of Oz! ” said Summer. “Dorothy says, ‘If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard, because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with!’ I love that show!” Summer wrinkled up her forehead. “Then again,” she said, “Robbie hasn’t ever been in your backyard, has he?”
    â€œHe used to say hello and goodbye, which was way better than being hated!” Rosie reached for her eleventh vanilla wafer.
    â€œAsk your brother what he thinks,” said Lauren. “He’s a boy. While you’re at it, find out if I should ask Tommy Stone to the dance.”
    â€œTalk to Jimmy?” said Rosie doubtfully. Certainly she could ask him about Tommy Stone. Lauren’s crush was Robbie’s opposite. Perhaps that was why she and Lauren got along. Lauren liked boys who were outgoing and funny, although Rosie secretly thought that they were noisy show-offs. Take Tommy, for instance. When he walked into the cafeteria, you knew he had arrived. He made barfing noises standing over the sloppy joes until somebody laughed, usually one of the boys in his little trio, either Tony Baskin or Eddie Duval. Or he’d take Eddie’s baseball cap, jam it on Tony’s head, and say, “Much better! A fashion plus.” If someone dropped a plate and it landed with a clatter, Tommy was the first one to hoot and holler until everyone joined in. Rosie couldn’t see herself liking a hooter or a hollerer. She liked the quieter boys who surprised her with their funniness. The ones who didn’t try so hard to be noticed.
    Rosie reached for the cookie box and ate her twelfth vanilla wafer. She closed the box. Thirteen cookies would be a mistake. She had had enough bad luck.
    Lauren changed the subject. “Can you believe Mrs. Geller is ruining the weekend with a project?”
    Sarah sighed. “Build a castle. It sounds so messy. My mother’s going to freak. Why can’t we just draw one?”
    â€œI’m going to build mine out of sugar cubes,” said Summer.
    â€œI’m going to write a letter of protest,” Rosie said, shaking her head. Just a few hours before, in history class, the teacher had given them an assignment to build a medieval castle and label its parts. History wasn’t Rosie’s favorite subject, but she sat next to Robbie, so it was the highlight of the day. He mumbled so low that she could barely hear him, “She’s got one color missing in that Crayola box called a brain.” Rosie laughed so loudly that everyone looked. Everyone but Robbie, who cast his eyes at the ceiling, examined the floor, doodled in his notebook, or stared straight ahead. When Rosie bumped into him later in the hallway, his blank stare was so chilling that she didn’t exist.
    â€œMrs. Geller ruined the weekend all right,” said Rosie, thinking that more than her weekend had been ruined.
    *   *   *
    The rest of the week wasn’t much better. Robbie continued ignoring Rosie. Rosie continued to