First Time Read Online Free Page A

never know,” I say to the mirror.
    I try to smile that mysterious, come-hither sexy smile the models in the hair and makeup commercials do. You know, that sort of half smile they have. I think it looks a little better than the one I do when I’m not thinking about it. My natural one is all teeth. There’s nothing about my regular smile that would make anyone say, “Who is that girl?” I’ve been practicing a little bit. Not sure if I have it down right, though.
    I apply a little blush, a brush of eye shadow, a dab of mascara, some lip-gloss. I brush my hair until it’s gleaming. Then I practice my smile one last time and give my hair a Charlie’s Angels toss.
    That’s when my cell phone rings. It startles me. I almost don’t answer it for a second. I don’t know why. I just stare at it ringing on my counter. It’s got to be Lynn. She’s probably calling because she got here early and is out in front of my house. My phone rings again. I grab it quick before it diverts her to my message box.
    “Hello?” I say, slightly breathless.
    “Hey, Haley,” Lynn says, super cheerfully, which immediately makes me suspicious. “What are you doing?” she chirps.
    “What do you think I’m doing? I’m getting ready. Actually, I’m pretty much ready right now. Where are you? Are you here already?” I ask even though I’m pretty sure she’s not. I can feel it in my gut.
    There’s a pause on the other end of the line.
    “Um...” Lynn says. “Haley?” She’s using that hesitant little-girl voice that might work on mothers and boys, but it definitely doesn’t work on me.
    “Please don’t tell me you’re flaking out on me,” I say.
    “It’s just...” She’s talking over me now, her words rushing out. “Chad called, and he wants me to go to a party with him. I mean, this is the first time he’s asked me out. Like to go somewhere...”
    “You and Chad drove all over town yesterday after school.”
    “But that doesn’t count!” Lynn interrupts. “Not really. That wasn’t like a date or anything. It just happened.”
    “Well, what did you tell him?” Lynn doesn’t answer. “Did you tell him we already have plans?”
    I hear Lynn clear her throat. “Not... exactly.”
    “What did you say?” I already know. I want Lynn to have to say it out loud. Be truthful about the fact that this is the second day in a row that she’s blown me off for Chad.
    “I said that I’d go to the party with him.” There is a silence now. Because really,there’s not much else to say. I wait for a second or two more, in case Lynn decides that it would probably be nice if she invited me to go to the party with them. Since it is a party and not a date-date, like dinner for two. But she doesn’t. She just says, in an I’m-so-miserable-this-is-such-a-hard-choice voice, “I’m so sorry, Haley. I really like this guy, and it might be the only time he asks me out.”
    “Whatever,” I say and hang up the phone. I catch my reflection in the mirror, all dressed up and nowhere to go. “Great. This is just great.”
    I stomp out of the bathroom, flop on my bed. I wish I was a little kid again so I could bang my heels on the wall, over and over, wail my head off, until my mom came upstairs to see what was the matter. And then, after she’d comforted me, we’d go downstairs and make a big batch of sugar cookies. We’d use the heart-shaped cookie cutter, and she’d let me be in charge of sprinkling the red sugar crystalson the top. I miss those days. When everything was simple. Thinking about it fills me with this odd sort of longing.
    There’s a knock at my bedroom door. “Come in,” I say, half sitting up. Maybe Mom and I can go to the movies or something.
    The door swings open, but it’s not Mom who steps inside. It’s Larry. He shuts the door behind him. My stomach drops.
    “Haley...Haley...Haley,” he says.
    I feel scared. Don’t know why. “What are you doing in my room?”
    He doesn’t answer.
    “Could you