AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Liz nods. “Yeah. You don’t mind, do you? I like her. I think she’ll be fun. I gave her the choice, of course. She said she was up for something new. She doubts her mom will even notice she’s different.”
Laughter wafts from the other end of the deck. We look up. Two college guys are walking over to us. One of the guys is wearing a Yankees hat.
Hailey pushes herself up on her elbows.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods, and then, her hand no longer shaking, points to the guy in the hat and whispers, “Dibs.”
I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend
CLAUDIA GRAY
Part One
VACATION CHECKLIST
sundress
sandals
black bikini in case I am feeling brave
purple one-piece in case I am being chicken
stovetop autoclave
sunglasses
crushed clamshell
snake venom
moth wings
iPod
SELF-IMPROVEMENT GOALS
This year at the Outer Banks I will:
be nicer to Theo, who Mom swears looks up to me even if he shows it by putting dead starfish in my shoes
review stuff with Mom alone after coven meetings so I don’t forget it all before we get home
ignore Kathleen Pruitt’s bitchery because I am too good to stoop to her level
“I know you’re methodical, but this is ridiculous.”
Cecily Harper looked up from her notepad to see her father standing in the doorway, arms folded across his chest and a smile on his face. She underlined her last words with a theatrical flourish. “You know, making lists is one of the seven habits of highly effective people.”
“Honey, I’m used to your lists,” her father said. “You started making them as soon as you could spell. But your suitcase—you packed all your clothes by color.”
She looked at her open suitcase on the bed. The whites were nestled at one end, the blacks at the other, with the brighter shades in between. Shrugging, Cecily said, “Well, how do you do it?”
Affectionately he tousled her hair. This was slightly annoying, because she’d just fixed her ponytail, but Cecily didn’t worry about it for very long. She was much more worried about the fact that her father had caught sight of something unusual in her suitcase.
He picked up the vial of moth wings and frowned. “What is this?”
