Page 79 of The Fake Out

“His date was the coolest eighth grade girl in school. She skipped classes, bragged about kissing boys, had been caught smoking cigarettes behind the football stadium, and she’d had her ears pierced. Twice.” Betsy leaned down so her face was next to Chris’s. “The whole school was talking about it. There was no way Vanessa Snow—see, even her name was cool?—would ever have been seen with a sixth grader.

“But she showed up to the dance and spent the whole night with Chris. I heard she even forewent her cigarette break to dance a slow dance with him. He became a legend that night.”

“Cora danced with me twice, thank you very much,” Chris said. “My plan worked.”

“Oh, it worked. But it cost Mr. Hot Stuff here his entire life savings,” Betsy said. “Didn’t it?”

“Fifty-four dollars and eighty-six cents,” Chris said. “Every last cent I had.”

I shook my head, confused. “But why?”

Aggie piped up. “He paid her to go to that dance with him.”

I tried to swallow my laughter but was not successful. “No, he didn’t.”

Betsy nodded. “He sure did.”

Chris sprawled in his chair, hands behind his head. “It was a good business decision. Besides being my first date, I also got my first kiss.”

“What did that cost you?” I asked.

“Not a single dime.” His smile was downright wolfish. “She gave that to me for free.”

THIRTY-FOUR

How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice.

—KAILEY H.

After dinner, Millie asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with her. She and I moseyed down a path that took us to a pasture on the other side of the house.

I noticed two brown dots off in the distance. “Are those horses?”

Millie nodded. “One is named Custard and the other is Pudding.”

“Do you get to ride them?” I asked.

“Not as much as I want. The rule is someone has to ride with me.”

“I bet being the youngest is the worst.”

“It’s not so bad. Being born with a broken heart on the other hand…” Her smile melted as her voice trailed off.

What was I supposed to say to that?

Millie blinked her baby blues. “I made it weird, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

“No. No,” I reassured her. “Of course not.”

Grinning, she turned around, so she was walking backward. “I totally did. My mom says I know exactly how to get the sympathy vote. It’s a talent. You should see how many times I get to choose the movie on family nights with a little cough.”

It was hard not to smile back at her. “You are diabolical.”

“Thank you.” She took a deep bow. “Some people get really freaked out when I say stuff like that. You spend a lot of time in hospital beds when you’re a kid, you find ways to amuse yourself.”

We continued our ambling walk along the fence line as the orange sky melted into the horizon.

Millie paused and leaned against the fence. “We had a sister meeting.”