My Life as a Diamond by Jenny Manzer

Author:Jenny Manzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459818330
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

The door to Hank’s house flew open before we even rang the doorbell. I held my sleeping bag in front of me, still rolled up. Hank and I grinned at each other. Then he realized being so eager was uncool, so he made his face more deadpan, and we fist bumped.

“Bye, Mom,” I said, giving her a quick squeeze and scampering after Hank, my backpack with my pajamas and my swim trunks (my swim trunks!) bumping against my leg. Hank and I went to his room so I could inspect Mandy, his new tiger salamander. Mandy was black with yellow stripes and had beady licorice-black eyes. I heard Mr. and Mrs. Ottenburg talking to my mom—Welcome to Redburn. Is Caspar allergic to anything? All that grown-up stuff.

Hank leaned forward to pull Mandy from the tank. While Hank held the creature I ran one finger down its back, which was cool and damp.

“Is it a girl or a boy?” I asked, admiring the salamander’s markings and webbed feet.

“I don’t know. We got it off the Internet from someone who was moving to England. It was already called Mandy.”

“Hi, Mandy,” I said. Mandy froze, like a salamander mannequin. What was Mandy thinking?

“Mandy eats roaches and flies,” said Hank, putting Mandy back in the tank. “Hey, wanna go swimming now?”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing my bag. I headed for the bathroom before Hank could say anything. Hank’s bathroom had one of those fuzzy mats, moss green, and I stood on it, staring at my toes as I changed. They didn’t look like girl toes or boy toes. They were just toes.

I wore my swim trunks and a thin practice jersey from my old team. I didn’t feel like baring my chest, not yet. I hitched the swim trunks up, then pulled them down slightly, so they rested on my hips. I liked them.

“Caz, let’s gee-oh go!” shouted Hank. “I’m boiling!”

A minute later he was charging out to the backyard to do a cannonball into the pool. A second later I followed, flying feet first into the cold, rippling water.

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