Project: Rescue Chelsea by Melody Carlson

Author:Melody Carlson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zonderkidz

chapter eight

As the girls hung together—swimming and splashing and joking and playing—Carlie worked hard to maintain her position as Chelsea’s friend. Was she her best friend? Who could tell? But she went out of her way to say nice things to and about Chelsea. Still, the harder she tried, the less Chelsea seemed to notice her at all.

In fact, it seemed that most of Chelsea’s attention was focused on Morgan just now. And Carlie almost got the feeling that Chelsea was testing her out.

“What’s your dad do?” she asked Morgan as they were lounging around on the deck, drying in the sun.

“I don’t know,” said Morgan.

Chelsea looked shocked. “You don’t know?”

All the girls got quiet now, as if they were holding their breaths so they could listen to her answer. As far as Carlie knew, Morgan had never mentioned her dad to any of them before. Of course, none of them had ever asked either.

“My parents split up when I was really little,” said Morgan. “All I know is that my father was from New York and he was really into his music—more than he was into being a husband or a daddy.”

“So you never see him?”

“Nope.” Morgan rolled over onto her stomach, propping her chin in her hands. Carlie could tell that this was making her uncomfortable. But what was Chelsea’s point?

“Was he black?” asked Chelsea. “Or African American? I mean, your skin doesn’t seem as dark as your mom’s, and I was—“

“Can you guys believe it’s only eleven days until school starts?” said Carlie suddenly, making a feeble but desperate attempt to change the subject.

“I can’t wait!” said Amy with real enthusiasm.

Carlie groaned. “That’s right, Amy loves school! Can you believe it, Chelsea?”

“No way!” Chelsea turned her attention to Amy now. “Only geeks love school.”

“She’s not a geek,” said Morgan in a flat voice.

“No, she’s just a brainiac,” teased Emily. “Ask her a math question and you’ll see how fast she can answer it.”

“I’ve heard that Asian kids are supposed to be really good in math,” said Chelsea.

Amy seemed to bristle at this comment, but then she just smiled. “Well, your dad’s a banker, Chelsea, I’d suppose you’d be good at math too.”

Chelsea laughed. “Hardly.”

“Well, if you ever need tutoring, you’ll have to give me a call,” offered Amy.

“Yeah, right.” Now Chelsea reached over and flipped one of Morgan’s braids. “How do you take care of these anyway?”

“Huh?” Morgan studied her for a moment.

“You know, how do you wash your hair and stuff?”

Morgan kind of laughed, but it didn’t look like she thought it was funny. “Probably the same way you do, Chelsea, you know, with shampoo and water.”

“Hey, did I tell you guys I’m getting my hair cut?” asked Carlie, although she knew for a fact she had already told them.

“Yeah,” said Emily quickly. “But you didn’t say how you’re getting it cut. What are you going to do anyway?”

“I’m not really sure,” said Carlie. “I was thinking I should ask Morgan, since she’s our local design and fashion expert.

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