Flor and Miranda Steal the Show by Jennifer Torres

Author:Jennifer Torres
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2018-06-12T00:00:00+00:00

Miranda

(4:15 P.M.)

My legs wobbled like strawberry jelly, and my jaw ached from screaming, and I could’ve stayed on the Gravitron for another ten turns.

The operator would’ve let us stay on, at least for a third ride. I could tell by the way he held his arm out like a challenge as we followed the other riders toward the exit. Flor must not have seen him, though. She pushed me right out the door.

For a little while, when the ride was spinning the fastest, it almost felt like being onstage, the music thumping, all of us floating, my voice getting all jumbled up with everyone else’s. Junior and Ronnie would have loved it. Well, Ronnie would have pretended like she didn’t. She would’ve complained about her hair getting tangled, or people stepping on her toes or something. But she would’ve loved it. She would have lined up to ride again. Dad would’ve never gotten on in the first place, but more than anyone, I wished he had been there. Maybe he would have seen that sometimes the best thing you can do is lean back and let go.

“Amazing,” I said again and again as we stepped, blinking, back into the bright afternoon. My voice sounded far away. Hollow, and a little scratchy. I hoped it was just my ears readjusting to the quiet.

“Hey, does my voice sound weird to you?”

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I stretched open my jaw. I cleared my throat. “Like… hoarse?” I was going to have to be more careful if I wanted to have any voice left that evening.

“You’re not losing your voice, are you? Was it from the screaming, do you think?” Flor looked over my shoulder, back at the Gravitron, as we walked away from it. “Maybe we should get on again, I mean if you liked it so much.”

“Probably shouldn’t.” The words sounded sandpapery rough at their edges.

“Well, then what do you want to get on next?” she asked. “Bumper cars? Log Jammer? You don’t mind getting a little bit wet, do you?”

I didn’t mind at all. My head was baking under my ball cap, and any makeup still left on my face after I’d washed earlier had definitely melted down my cheeks by then. A spray of cold water would have been perfect. Perfecto. I looked up where Flor was pointing and watched a log-shaped boat tilt over the edge of a steep chute of fast-running water and drop.

Everyone inside screamed—it sounded like birds twittering from where we stood—as water splashed over the log.

Still. Discipline, I heard Dad say. Sacrifice. I shook my head. No more screaming. My voice needed rest. “Does anyone sell hot tea around here?” I looked around for a booth that wasn’t candy-colored.

Flor wrinkled her nose. “There’s always a big pot of coffee in the cafeteria tent. It’s hot, but it smells like a burned-out campfire, and Mamá always says it’s as thick as mud. Later on, when the sun goes down, some of the food stands will start selling hot chocolate.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.