Out of My Shell by Jenny Goebel

Author:Jenny Goebel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Lanie was normally a noisy and active sleeper. Her feet would find their way to the backs of my knees. Her elbows would catch me in the ribs. She’d mutter stuff I usually couldn’t understand. After I made up that bit about the squidopus, it got even worse. She squirmed and whimpered in her sleep, and one night I caught her swatting at her own arms and moaning, “No, no, too many tentacles.”

When that happened, I did my best to comfort her. I even tucked her stuffed sloth under her arm, but the nightmares continued, making me feel about the size of plankton.

The night I broke the light, however, it was me doing all the tossing and turning. Lanie never could keep a secret. It was only a matter of time before she tattled. I had to get ahead of the storm.

During my nighttime restlessness, I decided to do two things. One, confess to breaking the light, and two, try to enlist my grandparents to help with the turtle and the Beachcomber. Grandpa had a peacekeeper’s heart, though. I wasn’t sure he’d be that effective. Grandma was fiery enough, but I didn’t know which way she’d fall. She might take Mr. Shaw’s side after she learned about the broken light. Either way, I was running out of options.

I expected Grandpa, but it was Grandma I found in the kitchen first thing the next morning. She was making a packet of instant oatmeal. “You know the turtles …” I started.

“What, dear?” she asked.

Just as I opened my mouth to repeat myself, Grandpa entered behind me. Good, I thought, now I can explain myself to both my grandparents before Lanie has a chance to rat me out. “The turtles.”

“Yes?” Grandma said, but a bewildered expression was blooming on Grandpa’s face, which drew her attention away from me. It was then that I noticed the piece of paper in his hands. She took a step toward him. Then Aunt Michelle, the twins, and Mom appeared out of nowhere, and I was forgotten in the crowd.

Grandpa’s voice was incredulous, and a hair louder than normal, when he spoke. “Mr. Emerson left a note on our door. He thinks one of the kids threw a rock at the Beachcomber and broke the security light by the pool.”

A tiny gasp escaped my throat, then my airways shut down. So much for getting ahead of the storm. It was right on top of me.

Time seemed to stand still as my family digested the news. Then, in perfect synchrony, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Aunt Michelle turned their attention not to me but to Cisco and Diego.

“It couldn’t have been … I didn’t turn my back on them for a second yesterday,” Aunt Michelle said. “I’ll talk to Mr. Emerson—tell him he’s mistaken.”

Grandma squeezed her hand. “You do that,” she said.

I released my breath, thinking the storm may have swept on by when Lanie’s voice rang out loud and clear with accusation. “It was Liv!” I turned and there

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