Seeing Cinderella Read Online Free Page A

trooped up the aisle, and I felt a familiar feeling—like something was coiling around my chest and squeezing tight. Jealousy. Not that I wanted people watching me —but sometimes it was irritating having a best friend who was really smart and really pretty. Wasn’t there a rule somewhere that said you could be one or the other, but not both? And how come I didn’t get to be either?
    I studied Ellen’s new friend. She kept giggling and tucking her hair behind her ears as she sashayed up the aisle. She reminded me of when Sarah dressed up in Mom’s clothes and pranced around, just waiting for someone to tell her she was beautiful.
    “Hey, look,” she said loudly, “there’s Raven.”
    Raven turned, and I saw her face pucker like she had just sucked a lemon. But Ellen and her new friend didn’t seem to notice; they plunked down next to Raven and began whispering to her.
    Ellen knew Raven? And who was the Golden Girl? And most important, why hadn’t Ellen looked for me?
    “Excuse me?” an accented voice said above me.
    I looked up. A girl with mocha-colored skin and hair the color of coffee beans grinned at me. She seemed familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.
    She smiled and looked right at me as she pointed to the empty seat and said, “May I sit there?”
    This was very different from the girl who asked me that same question in English class earlier. She had smiled halfheartedly, and looked at the door while she spoke. Like in a sea of unknown faces, she had weighed her options, and decided I might have potential. But, if someone else walked into class, someone with better hair, or better clothes—someone who looked like they might one day become middle-school royalty—then she might change her mind.
    But this girl continued to smile right at me as she repeated her question.
    “Sure,” I said, snapping back to attention and moving my backpack.
    “I think my uncle lives next door to you,” she said, sitting down. “Esteban Garcia? I just moved here from Mexico—he said I could come live with him. My name is Ana,” she said, pronouncing it like Ahn -a.
    “Okay.” I had seen Ana before—in the front yard while the two Garcia boys chased each other with squirt guns. At the time, I just thought she was their new babysitter.
    “I’m Callie.”
    “I’ve seen you in your window, writing,” Ana said. “Did you have school in the summer?”
    “Summer school? No, I just like to write. Stories and stuff like that.”
    Ana looked impressed. “I love stories. You must show me yours sometime.”
    “Sure,” I said. Ana settled in and I looked at the front row again.
    I felt stumped as I watched Ellen—like I was staring at a puzzle with missing pieces. How had Ellen managed to make a whole new group of friends in the last six hours? I slipped on my glasses, waited for the screens to appear, and then stared at the Golden Girl’s thoughts.
    At first there was an image on the screen hovering next to her—a picture of a pudgy girl with dull blond hair and green rubber-band braces. Then the screen changed and words scrolled across: I can’t believe I have two new friends already! I love science class! How awesome is it that we can all be lab partners? Don’t be an idiot, Stacy, and forget their names: Ellen Martin and Raven Maggert. Ellen Martin …
    Okay, so Ellen had science class with Raven and Stacy the Golden Girl. So what? I sat with two other kids in science class too. That didn’t mean I was going to suddenly start ignoring my best friend.
    I looked at the screen hovering by Raven: I can’t believe these morons are my lab partners. Then Raven glancedat Ellen and smirked: Maybe I could get the uptight one to do most of the work.
    I grinned and turned to Ellen’s screen, expecting to see a ton of thoughts about how middle school totally rocked: I am sick of all these ridiculous classes! What’s the point? If I do well, I’ll just end up at Tara’s stupid college anyway. I am so tired of