Read Claudia's Big Party for Free Online Page A

white shirt with full sleeves, and a short vest that I'd covered with bright-colored buttons and bows. My hair was braided with strands of ribbons that matched the decorations on the vest.
     
    Then I looked at Josh. How could I tell him that maybe he'd overdressed a bit? I didn't know if I'd ever seen anybody in the Rosebud Cafe wearing a tie, unless it was somebody's dad. Josh also had on a denim shirt and khaki pants. The outfit wouldn't be bad at all if he lost the tie.
     
    "You didn't have to dress up for me!" I teased, pulling on the tie.
     
    Josh stepped back and adjusted the knot. "You'll strangle me if you keep pulling on it like that." "Come on in." I stood aside, then shut the door after him.
     
    "Hi, Josh," my mom called, sticking her head around the corner.
     
    "Hi, Mrs. Kishi. Thanks for letting me come over," he said.
     
    "Our pleasure." Janine was watching television in the den. "We'll go someplace else," I said, backing out.
     
    Too late. Janine stood up, causing the remote control to fly into the air. It landed at Josh's feet.
     
    "Your electronic wand, milady," he said, handing it back to her with a bow.
     
    Janine laughed - a little too loudly, I thought. "Thank you, gallant sir," she answered. "You're more than welcome to join me. I was channel swimming, trying to find something fit to watch." "I think you mean channel surfing, Janine," I corrected her.
     
    Josh plopped down on the sofa. When I sat down beside him, he rested his arm along the back, barely touching my shoulders. "You have some big plans tonight?" he asked Janine.
     
    "I might bake some cookies," she replied. We hadn't gotten around to it the night before. 'Any special kind you guys like?" 'Anything with chocolate in it," I said.
     
    "Maybe when you're through with dinner, we could make some chocolate-chip cookies." Two nights in a row with nothing to do but hang out and bake cookies? That seemed odd even for Janine. "We're going to Stacey's after dinner," I reminded her. I thought I felt Josh's arm stiffen when I mentioned going to Stacey's, but he was smiling when I glanced at him.
     
    "Janine, could you help me for a minute in the kitchen?" Mom called.
     
    Thank you, Mom, I thought.
     
    Josh and I settled back on the couch as Janine left, promising to come back as soon as she'd finished helping Mom.
     
    "What did you do today?" I asked him, leaning back against his arm.
     
    "Rescued my cat from a fate worse than death." "Is he okay?" I asked.
     
    "Only his pride is wounded. There's another cat in the neighborhood. We call it the 'puffy' cat because it has hair out to here." Josh held his hands wide apart. "It hangs around our house all the time, waiting for my cat to come outside. I've never been sure whether it wants to play with him or fight him. Then today I decided it wasn't waiting for my cat at all. It was waiting for us. I think it's jealous of all the attention we give our cat." "How did you figure that out?" I asked.
     
    "Because all it wants is to be petted. As soon as any one of us steps outside, it starts meowing and rubbing against our legs. Except for Dad. Dad's yelled at it before and it doesn't like him much. In fact, one of the neighbors asked why Dad was so mean to the poor cat. He's not mean. He's just trying to make it go away and leave our cat alone." I laughed, imagining Mr. Rocker chasing the "puffy" cat away.
     
    "You guys ready to go?" Dad asked from the doorway.
     
    Josh whirled around, then smoothed his hair and straightened his tie again.
     
    When he reached the car, Josh held the back door open for me, then climbed in beside me. He was quiet on the way to the restaurant, answering Dad's questions but not saying much else.
     
    "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Kishi," Josh said as we climbed out of the car. His voice broke slightly when he said "Kishi," but he