LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

“I need to wear that one! I’m taller than you. Go find one that a shorter person wore.”

      Keiko came up to Taylor holding a tutu. “Taylor, try this one. It’s small, and Leonie wore it!”

      “Leonie Camden?” Taylor excitedly shoved the other tutu into Jessica’s arms. She tried it on and Keiko did her up.

      “It’ll need to be taken in,” Keiko said.

      “No, it’s fine,” Taylor said. She shot Jessica a worried glance to make sure she wasn’t trying to steal this tutu also. “This is so cool! Can you believe that Leonie did this dance once? I mean seriously,” she shook her head. “Thank you so much, Keiko!” She hugged her.

      “Can we go, yet, do you think?” Julian asked. He was getting bored and ripping apart tape that held the floor pieces together.

      “Yes,” Kageki said.

      “Don’t we have a speech thingy from the Demidovskis today?” Tristan asked, turning to Kageki.

      “No. The Demidovskis decided that they didn’t want to come today.”

      “Figures,” said Tristan. “Come on, let’s get out of here fast, before anyone decides they need us.” He ushered Kageki and Julian down the hall as fast as he could.

      “Where are you guys going?” Alexandra asked as Michael’s mother hooked her into a tutu.

      “Outta here, loser!” Tristan said, laughing.

      “Loser yourself!” Alexandra stuck out her tongue at him.

      As they got changed, Julian asked Tristan and Kageki if they wanted to hang out.

      “I want to,” Tristan said, “but I have so much physics homework and an in-class English essay tomorrow.”

      “Okay, I will,” Kageki said, shrugging.

      Julian felt a bit awkward as he and Kageki walked out together. They didn’t normally hang out without Tristan. “So, where do you want to go?”

      “I don’t really want to go anywhere, I’m too tired,” Kageki said. “Could we just go to your homestay? I love going to Mr. Yu’s. My homestay is so weird. My homestay mom gets really mad if people come over and I haven’t asked her like a week before.”

      “Sure,” Julian shrugged. “Come on, that’s our bus!” He broke into a run.

      As they walked up the street to Mr. Yu’s house, they talked about the weirdo on the bus who’d been giving out religious pamphlets and talking about Armageddon.

      “Guess what, Kageki. The world’s going to end tomorrow!” Kageki rolled his eyes. “What religion do you have mostly in Japan?”

      “Um … well, Buddhism and Christianity. But the Christians are more here, of course. So basically, in Japan, this is most common,” he shaped his hands into the sign of prayer with his fingers out stretched, “and here is more this,” he made the sign of prayer with his fingers crossed over each other.

      “Cool,” Julian said, making both signs. “My mom’s Buddhist.”

      “Really?” Kageki sounded surprised. “How come you didn’t know that already then?”

      “I don’t live with her. With Satya.”

      “You call your mom by her name?” Kageki asked as he followed Julian into his room.

      “Yeah,” Julian shrugged. “It’s her name, right? She says she wants to be addressed as a person, not as a role.”

      “Okay…?”

      “Her full name is actually Satyagraha.” Julian flipped open his laptop and signed onto Facebook. “Look, here she is.”

      “Mmm … she’s kissing that woman!” Kageki said. “Does your mom … like girls?” He leaned forward to take a closer look at Satya’s profile picture.

      “Um, she likes both,” Julian explained awkwardly. “Look …” He searched for another picture. “This is her boyfriend Luigi. He’s awesome. I got a scholarship from the Demidovskis for tuition at the academy, but I still had to pay homestay fees, and he paid them.”

      “But … he’s not your father?”

      “No, he’s been with Satya for less than a year,” Julian said, switching pages. “This is my dad, Will … and my half-brother River, and his mom, my dad’s girlfriend, Daisy.”

      Kageki stared at the picture, puzzlement creasing his face.

      Julian flopped onto his bed after dinner and phoned Will.

      “Hey,” he said, trying to keep his voice down. The walls were so thin that everyone could hear him if he used his normal voice.

      “Hey, how are you? Daisy’s just out taking River to his soccer practice, but you can call later if you want to talk to him.”

      “No, I wanted to talk to you, Will. I need to know if you want to come to the performance or not.”

      “Well, Jules, I don’t really know. It depends on your grandparents … I’m not sure if they are going to buy us tickets.”

      “But they’re not coming, right?”

      “No. I’ll get Daisy to phone them tomorrow.”

      “They’re your parents, you should call them,” Julian pointed out. “Anyway, goodnight Will. Love you.”

      “Sure thing, buddy,” Will said. He hung up.

      Chapter Nine

      Kaitlyn Wardle

      Really happy to be having RAD class again tomorrow!!

      Kaitlyn tucked her essay into her bag, the mark facing in so no one could see it.

      “Bus pass?” the driver asked, stopping her. She blushed, got it out, and made her way to the back of the bus. No one else from the academy was on the bus. Weird, she thought. I didn’t think I was catching the later bus. Kaitlyn looked out the window and saw Michael and Chloe come flying down the street to the bus. The driver opened the doors again and waited for them.

      “Where’s everybody else?” Kaitlyn asked when they’d sat down next to her. “Are we catching a different bus?”

      “No, they all got a ride with Anna,” Chloe said as she unpacked her lunch.

      “Her mom picked her up from school today,” Michael elaborated. “I guess they just didn’t have enough seats for you. Yum, can I have one?” he asked Chloe as she got out her baby carrots. She held the bag out to him. “Aren’t you eating any lunch, Kaitlyn?”

      “I’m not hungry,” Kaitlyn said, turning and looking out the window.

      “Are you sure?” asked Chloe and held out her bag of carrots. “You can have some of these if you want.”

      “We’re just concerned about you,” Michael added.

      “I’m fine,” Kaitlyn answered sharply, sending them a look that was scary enough to shut them up. “We have RAD class today right?”

      “Yeah, we’ve got Mrs. Mallard,” Michael answered. “You’ve had her before, right?”

      “Yeah. She’s coached me on all of my exams. I think she’s going to put me through my Solo Seal this year. “

      “Wow, you’re doing that really young,” said Michael. “Even Leonie didn’t do it when she was that young.”

      “I know,” Kaitlyn said with a smug little giggle. She pulled out a Ziploc bag of trail mix.

      “Oh, so you are eating lunch,” Chloe said with an exaggerated tone of relief. Kaitlyn glared at her.

      Kaitlyn

Скачать книгу