Something Girl by Beth Goobie

Author:Beth Goobie [Goobie, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Family, General, JUV000000
ISBN: 9781551433479
Google: 3NsW9lh5ytgC
Amazon: 1551433478
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2005-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Moonlight was shining through the door of the fort. It lit Jujube around the edges so she looked like an alien.

“You all right?” she asked.

It felt as if the pain in my back and legs had gone to sleep. I couldn’t feel anything except a dull ache in my back. Still, I had a funny feeling something was wrong. I lay very still, trying to figure out what it was.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Pretty late,” said Jujube. “After ten, I think. Mom’s working the nightshift. I called your house earlier — your dad said you were out.”

Right away, I got worried. When Jujube’s mom worked the nightshift, a neighbor lady slept over at their house. If she noticed Jujube was gone, there would be trouble.

“Jujube,” I said, “there’s no point in both of us flunking school. Why don’t you go home and go to sleep?”

“I want to know how you are,” she said.

I couldn’t see her face, but I knew that tone of voice. When Jujube talked like this, there was no point in doing anything except what she wanted. So I tried to sit up, but a pain shot up my back as if two hands were tearing it apart. I fell back and held my breath, hoping the pain would go away. Then I heard loud groans and realized they were coming from me.

“Froggy?” Jujube’s voice went up into a high squeak.

I didn’t say anything. With all that pain in me, I was just thinking hard, trying to make it go away. When my back stopped hurting, I would figure out what to do next.

“I’m going to get Rick,” Jujube said.

“No!” I shouted, but she was already gone. I could hear her footsteps running away, and then there was only the sound of the river out there in the night. It was swishing around, slow and steady — kind of like the pain in my back.

Then, somewhere off in the night, I heard a whine start up. At first I thought it was a mosquito, but it got closer and closer, louder and louder. Finally I figured out what it was. I tried to get up, but the pain shot through my back again and I couldn’t move. When the ambulance pulled up outside the fort, its siren was the loudest thing I’d ever heard. Through the doorway, I could see flashing red lights. Then the siren shut off.

I heard Jujube say, “She’s over here.” Footsteps started coming through the trees.

“In here,” said Jujube. Suddenly someone lifted the metal sheet that made up one side of the fort. The inside of the fort filled with red flashing lights. A woman leaned over me. She smelled like soap, the kind my mom used.

“You all right, kid?” she asked.

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to get up and walk away. All I could think of was how much trouble this was going to cause. There was no way I could hide the problem this time. My dad was going to get it big-time, and it was all my fault.

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