Read From Bad to Cursed for Free Online

“Adrienne.”
    “She’s a freshman, right?” I asked.
    My sister gritted her teeth. “Yes.”
    “Did you know her at your old school?” Mom asked.
    “What is this, an interrogation?” Kasey asked, dumping the food off her fork and setting the fork on the edge of her plate. “She’s normal. She has a dog named Barney and two brothers in college. Her parents are divorced. She and her mom moved here from Phoenix in June. What else do you want to know? Her blood type?”
    Dad chewed tranquilly, then swallowed and picked up his water glass. “Well, she sounds great.”
    “Alexis, how’s photography class?” Mom asked. I could imagine the line in the Harmony Valley discharge brochure: Ensure that the patient’s siblings don’t feel over looked. Try to distribute your attention equally, when possible.
    “Oh!” I said. “Outstanding.”
    Her forehead crinkled happily. “Really?”
    “Yes, because I’m transferring out.”
    “After a week?” Dad asked. “You have to give it a chance.”
    “First of all,” I said, “I did. Second of all, it’s not a film class. Ninety percent of the kids are shooting digital. And I don’t have a digital camera.”
    “Maybe you should ask Santa,” Dad said.
    “I’m sure Santa won’t have room for a camera in his bag,” I said, spearing a bite of cauliflower. “Since it’s going to be filled with a car.”
    Dad smirked. “Or maybe eight tiny reindeer.”
    I twirled my fork. “Or maybe eight tiny cylinders?”
    “Or maybe a bicycle,” he said.
    “Great idea,” I said. “Then you could bike to work, and I can drive your car.”
    Dad laughed, his head tipping forward so the overhead light reflected off his bald spot.
    “Any more back-to-school parties?” Mom asked.
    Oh, Mom. You give her an inch, she’ll take a road trip. She’d been so astonished by my friendship with Megan and my coupleship with Carter that she expected me to vault to the top of the social standings any day.
    “Yeah,” I said. “Megan’s having one Friday.”
    Then Mom drew up all of her Mom energy and achieved a perfect Awkward Mom Moment. “And Kasey’s invited?”
    Dead silence spread over the table.
    Kasey kept a very close eye on her food.
    “I’m sure she…must be,” I said.
    “Thanks, but I have plans,” Kasey said, her nostrils flaring. “With Adrienne.”
    “That’s wonderful,” Mom said, beaming. Dad nodded along. It was a little pitiful, to be honest. “Is it a sleepover or a regular party?”
    “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Kasey said. “I don’t want to talk about anything. I just want to eat. Can you pretend I’m not here?”
    Mom’s chest pulled back into her body, as if she’d been punched.
    “No problem,” I said. “We survived without you for ten months. I’m sure we can make it through dinner.”
    When second period arrived Tuesday, I reported to the library, where I found I was the only student enrolled in second-period study hall—and that “study hall” was a euphemism for “help the new librarian organize the whole entire library.”
    Arranging thousands of books in numerical and alphabetical order might not seem like a good time, but compared to wandering around campus with Daffodil/ Delilah, it sounded like heaven.
    And Miss Nagesh, the new librarian, was practically drooling about having someone to help her. Though, from the way she kept talking about how desperately she’d begged for help, and how great and generous it was of Mrs. Ames to send me, I started to get the feeling I’d been played. Still, I was too relieved to care.
    I promised I’d start organizing the next day if she’d let me work on my Young Visionaries contest application that day. Miss Nagesh was all for it.
    And as soon as Mom got home from work, I borrowed her car and hit the road.
    It was 5:17. The deadline for entries was 6 p.m., and the address was about twenty miles away. Even if I ignored Mom’s “the speed limit is the limit , not the