Read Emmalee for Free Online Page B

concentration to stay
with the class.  Even then, there were a couple of times I had
to call on Elton’s superior intellect to help me follow along. 
Thank goodness he is next me.  Who knew World History would
be so much harder than last year’s American History?
               
By the end of class my brain was fuzzy.  I was relieved to see
Hannah looked the same. 
It’s nice to know I’m
not the only one who looks like they needed a stiff lemonade.
               
“Let’s go to Sonic for lunch, okay?” asked Hannah
as she approached.  “I could really use a fresh
lemon-berry slush right now.  You know something cold and sharp
to freeze my brain good and snap it out of this zone.”
               
“Man, how do you do that?” I gasped as I placed my book
in my bag.
               
“What?”  She grinned.
               
“Read my mind!  Seriously, how was it we didn’t get
to know each other sooner?”
               
Hannah laughed.  “I don’t know.  Give me a few
more days and I’m sure I’ll start wondering how I ever
could’ve lived without “Emma the Great” before
now.  But let’s let the oddness of our friendship wear off
first.  I’m still freaking out we’re even getting
along.”
               
I blinked. 
Okay, she’s smiling.  I’m gonna
take it as a compliment.
  “Meet you at the car?”
               
“Sure, give me five again.”
               
I tried not to let it bother me as I slowly walked toward the parking
lot, but between Hannah, Chase, and Elton’s stunned look, it
was becoming fast apparent that I was acting beyond what people
thought I should act like.  And it hit home once again, that
maybe people really did think I was a snob. 
But I wasn’t. 
Was I?
    Chapter Five
    “Can I call 911?  Cuz
you’re scorchin!”
     
               
               
“Emma!  You really don’t have to buy me clothes. 
Seriously, I have my own money, remember?”
               
“Will you stop?  Besides what girl doesn’t love new
clothes?”
               
“Um…?”  Hannah paused and thought a moment. 
“All right, I give, no one that I can think of.  All girls
love new clothes.”
               
“Exactly.”  I snickered as I climbed out of my red
Mini Cooper, fully decked out with a large British Flag decal on the
roof and two miniature flags on the side mirrors.  It was Friday
afternoon—just after school--the perfect time of day to go
shopping.  “Anyway, think of it as doing me a favor,
really.”
               
“A favor?  Yeah, right!”  Hannah smirked as she
shut her door.  “How is buying me new clothes doing you a
favor?”
               
“Well, ever since my stepdad stayed home sick from work like
six months ago he’s been on a do-gooder kick.”  I
clicked the lock and switched my purse to my other shoulder while I
waited for her to come around the car. 
               
“How sick was he?”
               
“No, it wasn’t that.  It was just during his
randomly boring afternoon he managed to thumb through the TV channels
and caught this old rerun of Oprah.  It was an episode all about
giving to people.  I walked in on him crying like a baby. 
I’ve never seen my stepdad so emotional before.  Anyway,
later that night he sat me down and told me he’d come up with a
plan for our family to give back.”
               
“A plan?  You’re kidding, right?” 
               
“No, sometimes I wish I was.  So here’s the deal. 
I get $350 a month put in my bank account that I can’t touch
unless I’m giving something to someone else.  Then I have
to report and tell about my experience to my parents.  Well,
tada!  That’s where you come in.  I heard on the
radio last week how Animas Animal Rescue Shelter had already met
their quota for this