Time to Fly Read Online Free Page B

I’ve never seen her do gardening, not to mention cooking, in my life.
    â€œâ€”and it’s in a terrific school district. You’ll be going to Beverly Hills High! Isn’t that wonderful?”
    I gulp. Isn’t that where those 902-whatever kids go?
    Maggie points frantically at my arm, and I realize I’ve been twisting the phone cord around my wrist and my hand is starting to turn blue.
    Slowly I untangle myself while Mom goes on and on. All about how there’s this wonderful deli within walking distance. How we’ll be so close to the beach. How maybe next year, if things go well, we could even put in a pool. “Practically everybody in L.A. has a pool, Zoe. You’ll love it here!” I know she must be excited, but doesn’t she realize I haven’t said a word?
    I should be as excited as Mom is. But I feel numb.
    I’m going home. But home is Manhattan. Or now I guess it’s Ambler, Pennsylvania.
    â€œWell, I have to run, sweetie,” Mom says hurriedly. “I’m due at the studio, and the traffic here is murder. Tomorrow I’m off for a few days, so I’ll talk to Gran about the arrangements then.”
    â€œThe arrangements?”
    â€œBye, honey! I love you!” She blows me a kiss over the phone, and then she’s gone. The dial tone hums in my ear.
    I hang up the phone and just stare at the floor.
    â€œZoe?” Maggie says. “What’s going on?”
    I glance up at my cousin—a cousin I barely knew a year ago. A cousin who’s as different from me as a dog is from a cat. A cousin who’s …like the sister I never had.
    â€œMom got a job,” I tell her. “I guess I’m going home.”
    Maggie’s mouth drops open. “You’re going back to New York?”
    I shake my head. “To L.A.”
    â€œL.A.?” she exclaims. “But that’s not your home! You stayed there for, what—five whole days at Christmas?” She kicks at the leg of the kitchen table with the scuffed toe of her sneaker.
    What’s she so mad about? I’m the one who has to go, not her.
    Maggie glares at the floor. “If any place is your home, it’s here with us.”
    She glances up at me, and a scared look passes between us. We’ve had our rough times. She had trouble sharing Gran with me when I first came, because Gran’s the only mom she’s ever known. But we’ve been through a lot together since then. Maggie’s problems with school…my trouble training Sneakers…sharing a bathroom (she says I’m prissy; I say she’s a slob). We cried together when Gran’s friend Jane lost her dog Yum-Yum to cancer. And we both understand what it’s like not to have a complete set of parents.
    â€œCome on,” she says roughly. “Let’s see if Gran has any news about those crazy parrots.” It’s like I can read her mind—she’s breaking up the scene before it gets too mushy.
    I follow Maggie into the clinic, but my thoughts are a thousand miles away. Three thousand miles, to be exact—the distance between Ambler and Los Angeles.
    A real home of our own… Mom and I have never had that. At least, we’ve never had a house. But isn’t a home more than that? Gradually I become aware of a dull, sad ache in my stomach. It’s like homesickness—the same sensation I had when I first arrived here. Except this time, it’s the thought of leaving here that hurts.

Chapter Four
    W e have no time to chat about the phone call. Gran has plans of her own. “We’re taking a little field trip,” she announces.
    â€œYes!” David pumps his fist in the air. He loves animals—especially horses—but cleanup chores aren’t his favorite part of working at Dr. Mac’s Place.
    â€œWhere are we going?” Sunita asks.
    â€œTo the zoo,” Gran explains.
    Now we all cheer. A zoo trip beats chores any