The Fifth Favorite by Gale Sears

Author:Gale Sears
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CrossLink Publishing
Published: 2019-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“Wait a minute, little miss. First, you were going out trick-or-treating with Frances, then you weren’t, and now you are?” her mom questioned, setting a bowl of spaghetti on the lazy Susan.

“Right,” Allie said, tying a tea towel around her neck and sitting down to the dinner table. She’d removed the cracked egg, the feather wings, and the hat of her costume, but she didn’t want to take the chance of getting red sauce on her sweater or tights.

“So, I don’t need to drive you?” her dad asked.

“Nope.”

“I thought Frances’s dad had something else to do.”

Allie took a deep breath and sighed dramatically. “Look, things kinda got mixed up because Frances and I had a fight.”

Her mom set a bowl of green salad on the table. “A fight? You and Frances never fight.”

“Well, we did.”

“What was it about?”

Allie wasn’t about to spill the beans about Frances’s mom saying that her mom didn’t have time for Halloween costumes or bake sales. Instead, she just shrugged and said, “Ah, nothing important. Some stupid thing, I can’t even remember. But we made up at school and now everything’s good.”

Stephanie came quietly into the kitchen and sat down. Mom ignored her.

“Hi, Miss Stephanie!” Dad said.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Your mom said you wanted to talk to me about your science club.”

“Oh, that’s okay. We can talk later. It’s just about fund-raising. Boring dinner conversation.”

Dad went back to reading his paper. “Okay, you just let me know.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Dad, we will definitely be talking.”

Allie knew what that talk would be about, and it had nothing to do with fund-raising. Allie wondered if her dad would really listen to what Stephanie had to say about Paul, or if he’d just minimize everything like Mom did. She didn’t want Paul to get in trouble, but she didn’t want him running around with that Mike kid, either.

Mom set a plate of garlic bread on the table and sat down. She glanced over at Stephanie. “I think we should say grace tonight. Stephanie?”

Stephanie glowered at the garlic bread.

Dad put down his paper. “Stephanie? Your mother asked you to say grace.”

Allie held her breath, waiting for Stephanie to say “Grace” in her most obnoxious voice. Nothing else—just the word “Grace.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Dear Lord, we are grateful for this food. Please bless it. And bless Paul, wherever he is. Amen.”

“Where is he, by the way?” Dad asked, after his “amen.”

“He went to the library to study,” Mom answered, turning the lazy Susan so that Dad could have first dibs on the spaghetti.

“Really?” Stephanie said in her fake sweet voice. “He went to the library on Halloween? Isn’t that great of him? Wow, he’s really taking your grounding to heart, isn’t he?”

“Stephanie, that’s enough,” Mom warned.

“What?” Stephanie asked, giving her mom a wide-eyed, innocent look. “I’m impressed by my big brother’s behavior. It’s admirable.”

“What’s that mean?” Allie asked, after taking a big bite of garlic bread

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Mom said.

Stephanie put salad on her plate. “It means, little sis, that Paul is doing great things to make Mom and Dad proud.

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