Amber Brown Is on the Move by Paula Danziger

Author:Paula Danziger
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Nine

“Ta-da! Help has arrived!”

That’s Brandi. She’s standing in my doorway.

“And not a minute too soon from the looks of things. Amber, haven’t you done any packing at all?”

That’s Kelly. She is looking over Brandi’s shoulder into my room.

I shrug, feeling a little embarrassed. “I kept waiting for the packing fairy, but she never showed up.”

“Well, the first thing we need is more boxes,” Brandi says.

“No problem there. Didn’t you see the stacks piled right outside my door waiting to be made up? We’ll have to get Max’s tape gun, though.”

“Not necessary,” Kelly says. She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a tape gun. “We still had this around from our last move. I figured it would come in handy.”

It turns out it’s fun to make boxes. I like seeing things that are flat turn into things that aren’t flat. And the tape, which is two inches wide, makes a cool ripping sound as it comes off the big roll.

“Turn it over,” Brandi says when I get the first box ready for taping. “That’s the top. You don’t want to tape that up yet.”

I look at her. “What difference does it make which end is the top and which is the bottom? It’s a box.”

“The top has places for you to write what’s inside,” Kelly explains. “See, there’s a line for your name, another line for what’s in it. That way the movers will put the boxes in your room, which is where you want them, and you’ll know which boxes you want to unpack first.”

She sounds a lot like Max now. I decide not to mention that.

Kelly is in her take-charge mode. “You need two boxes and a garbage bag going all the time. One box is for things to keep, one is for things to donate, and the garbage bag is for stuff too junky to give away. We’ve moved three times, and the important thing is not to take too much with you. In our family we have one rule for moving: Throw out, throw out, throw out.”

“I feel more like throwing up,” I say. “I don’t want to throw anything away. I love my stuff.”

Brandi laughs. “So do those crazy people you see on TV who can’t walk through their houses because they’ve got so much junk. You don’t want to end up like them, Amber. Most of this stuff you’ll never miss.”

“That’s what Justin said. But I don’t get it. I’m moving into a bigger house. Why do I have to get rid of anything? I’ll have room for all my stuff.”

Kelly says, “What you need is room for new stuff. Look, Amber, some of the things you’ve got around here are pretty babyish.”

“They are not.”

Brandi laughs again. “Really? What about this?” She goes to my shelf and picks up a plastic duck on wheels that quacks when you pull it behind you.

I laugh. “You’re quacking me up. Okay, that is pretty babyish. But it was my favorite toy when I was two.”

This causes Kelly to start singing “My Favorite Things.

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