Read Online Imaginary Enemy by Julie Gonzalez - Free Book Online Page B

him away.
    “Well, see ya,” I said, turning to quickly join my friends.
    “So who are those weird guys?” asked Madison.
    “Weird is right. They’re my neighbors. The whole family’s strange.” I glanced up and realized my voice had carried. Sharp met my eyes. I looked away.
    And then he was standing beside me. “I don’t know what kind of head trip you’re on,” Sharp whispered in my ear, “but I sure don’t want a ticket.” He thumped my shoulder and walked away.
    After that, the dance lost all glamour and dazzle. It just felt noisy and crowded. I loved the deMichael family and regretted what I’d said. But I was afraid of what my school friends would think if I hung with them.

Cassidy
    L uke started seeing a girl named Cassidy who dressed like a hippie. She got on my nerves from the get-go, laughing at every cheesy thing Zander said, acting like my mother was the empress Josephine, and shamelessly sucking up to Carmella by remarking on how cute and smart she was. Luke spent so much time with Cassidy that we rarely saw him without her hanging on his arm. He brought her to the house all the time. Mom and Dad thought that was really nice. But I didn’t want her around. It was irrational: I was jealous. Maybe I felt displaced. Luke and I had always shared a special bond, and I felt she got in the way of it. Had stolen it, even.

    “Since when do you play soccer?” Chord asked.
    “I don’t. This is my Halloween costume. I’m a soccer player.”
    “Creative. Daring. Risky. You’re really going out on a limb,” he said sarcastically.
    “Funny, Chord,” I replied. “I told Carmella and Harmony I’d take them trick-or-treating. Want to come with us?”
    “Sharp and I are going to a party,” said Chord.
    “I’ll go with you,” said Sharp, shrugging. “Maybe I’ll go to the party after. Let me get suited up.”
             
    “What in the world are
you
?” I asked when Sharp reappeared a few minutes later.
    “Blue.”
    “Blue?”
    “My favorite color. It’s one of the primaries, you know.” His hair was sprayed an electrifying cobalt and his face, neck, arms, torso, and hands were painted to match. He was only wearing jeans and sneakers.
    “Well, you’re definitely blue,” I said.
    He grinned. “Jazz and Zander are coming, too, okay?”
    “Fine. The more, the merrier,” I answered.
    “We’re escaped convicts,” Jazz announced when he and Zander appeared in tattered stripes with handcuffs dangling from their wrists and charcoal smears on their faces.
    Carmella, a medieval princess, and Harmony, who said she was Charles Darwin but could’ve been any bearded man in a tweed jacket, were dancing around the front yard. “Come on. Let’s go,” begged Carmella.
    “If you don’t hurry all the good candy will be gone,” whined Harmony.
    We made the rounds through the neighborhood, laughing and eating candy. As we turned the corner to our block, I asked Sharp, “Is that what you’re wearing to the party?”
    “Party?”
    “With Chord?”
    “He’s already gone.” He shrugged. “I decided to ditch. I’ll just hang out here.”
    “What’d Chord go as?” asked Zander.
    “A soccer player,” said Sharp.
    “Ugh!” I groaned, remembering Chord mocking my costume.

    Emma, Madison, and I rounded the corner laughing and planning our sleepover. “Mom bought stuff so we can make cookies-and-cream milk shakes,” I told them.
    “Yum,” said Emma.
    “We should add some peanut butter,” I suggested.
    “Peanut butter? Gross. That sounds disgusting,” protested Madison.
    “I bet it’d be good,” Emma said. “We should try it.”
    “Yeah. At least it’d be different,” I said as we approached my house. Zander, Jazz, and Sharp were standing in the driveway attempting to juggle tennis balls but mostly just looking like fools.
    “I brought a bag of chips and Samantha’s bringing a big box of Nerds,” said Madison.
    “Speaking of nerds,” I said loudly, gesturing