Read Online Time to Fly by Laurie Halse Anderson - Free Book Online Page B

to hold some scrambled eggs and begins stuffing it in her mouth as she heads for the door.
    â€œDo you see what she’s doing?” I ask Gran indignantly.
    Gran sighs. “At least it’s real food for a change.”
    â€œHave fun playing hooky,” Maggie calls with her mouth full.
    â€œHave fun taking your math test,” I shout back as the front door slams.
    â€œThey’re so cute,” Mom says to Gran. “They remind me of the way Joanne and I used to fight, back when the MacKenzie sisters ruled the neighborhood.” She smiles, but her eyes are sad.
    Suddenly I feel a tiny bit sorry for being so mean to my mom. Joanne was Maggie’s mother—and Mom’s sister. I’ve never really thought about what it must have been like for Mom to lose a sister. She doesn’t talk about it.
    Maggie’s the nearest thing I’ve ever had to a sister. I look out the front window at her standing at the bus stop, gabbing with David. I think about her stubborn, upturned nose covered with freckles, and about how we can squabble all the time and still stay close, just the way siblings do.
    It would feel horrible to lose her.
    Mom invites me to stay at the table and have a cup of tea with her, but I have nothing to say that I haven’t already said. “Um, gotta take a shower,” I mutter as I leave the kitchen. She doesn’t comment on the fact that I was already dressed for school.
    For a while I just stand in the shower thinking, letting the hot water pour down on me. Then I wash my hair, even though it’s not really dirty. I get out and blow-dry it, even though I usually just let it air dry. After that I try on three different outfits before choosing one to wear.
    Anything to delay going down to face my mother.
    When I finally do get downstairs, Mom’s on the phone. She whispers at me, “It’s my agent. I’ll be off in just a minute, honey.”
    Who is she kidding? This is not going to be a five-minute call.
    Sitting at the kitchen counter, I scan through the classified ads for “Pets, Lost & Found,” hoping nobody’s looking for a lost parrot. I don’t want E.T. to be lost, I want him to be abandoned. So I can adopt him. I cross my fingers as I read.
    â€œLost parrot.” I bite my nail and read on. An Amazon. Good—that’s much bigger than E.T. I read on down the column. Everything else is a cat or a dog.
    â€œNo lost blue-crowned conures,” I inform Gran, who’s at the sink washing the breakfast pans. “Looks like E.T. will need a new home after all.”
    Gran shakes her head. “You may not be able to catch him, Zoe.”
    What Gran doesn’t understand is that E.T. likes me. I’m sure I can find a way to catch him.
    â€œHere, wipe the bacon grease off the stove, please.” Gran tosses me a soapy sponge.
    I wipe down the stovetop and counter, and then hand the sponge back to Gran. Mom’s still on the phone. I can sort of hear her muffled conversation through the closed door. I wonder what Gran thinks about this whole L.A. business?
    I take a deep breath. “Gran, do you think I should go with my mom to Los Angeles?” I’m not sure what I want her answer to be.
    She doesn’t answer right away, which tells me she’s not sure, either. Somehow it reassures me to know I’m not the only one feeling uncertain. Finally she says, “What I think about it isn’t as important as what you think. How do you feel about moving?”
    â€œNot good,” I state. “It’s not that I don’t want to be with Mom. And a new place could be kind of interesting, I guess. But I don’t want to leave you and Maggie and Dr. Mac’s Place. And I refuse to leave Sneakers.”
    â€œIt’s never easy to leave people you love.” Gran looks at me sympathetically. “On the other hand, living three thousand miles from your mother can’t be easy for you,