The Wrong Side of Right by Thorne Jenn Marie

Author:Thorne, Jenn Marie [Thorne, Jenn Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

20

Saturday, July 26

Two Days Until the RNC

101 DAYS UNTIL THE GENERAL ELECTION

The next morning, Libby brought fancy coffees to the suite for Nancy and me, and I thanked her with a guilty smile—when Nancy had asked me where the best coffee in LA was, I’d blurted, “The Bean and Steam on Franklin,” before realizing they were sending Liberty clear across town to fetch beverages just as easily purchased from the Starbucks in the hotel lobby.

At least it had given her a chance to see the city. Spying loose wisps of hair around her usual tight bun, I wondered if she’d driven over with the windows down, and felt a surge of envy that lingered until she too ducked away, leaving Nancy and me with two lukewarm cups of the best coffee in LA. The senator and Meg were out to a private breakfast, Gabe and Gracie lolling on the sofa watching Saturday morning cartoons, so we had the terraced deck to ourselves.

“Your dad and Meg are meeting with delegates tomorrow,” Nancy told me, pushing her half-full latte away with a grimace. “So we thought you and Gracie and Gabe might want to go out and do something fun, just the three of you.”

If I could raise one eyebrow, I would have. “Just the three of us—plus security, you mean?”

She smiled, caught. “And a camera crew. Ours this time. Any ideas? The beach maybe, or a studio tour? That could be fun, right?”

“How about Magic Mountain?”

I’d been hoping to go back ever since the end of the school year, when Penny told me I’d missed out on their junior trip. The twins were tall enough to go on a lot of the rides. And I couldn’t wait to introduce them to Penny.

“Great idea.” Nancy nodded and started making notes on that ubiquitous legal pad of hers.

“Maybe I could invite some friends along too?”

Her smile evaporated. “Just the three of you. Did I not make that clear?” She laughed lightly, but there was no warmth in it. It was like she was mocking me.

I froze, thrown by her mood change. The stress of the campaign must have been getting to her more than I’d realized.

Penny and I had talked for months about going together. It wouldn’t be the same without her. But with tensions this high, did I really want to risk a blowout over a trip to an amusement park?

“Yeah, okay,” I said. “The three of us sounds great.”

• • •

I didn’t find out until the next morning that this would be a first for the twins. They’d never been to an amusement park in their lives—never even gone on a roller coaster.

“I mean, we’ve done spinny rides,” Gracie said, trying to save face.

Gabe nodded sagely. “We went on lots of rides at the Iowa State Fair and I almost threw up but then I didn’t.”

“Good man,” I said. When he blinked up at me, I caught a proud gleam in his eye that hadn’t been there before.

The camera crew was young—local volunteers who worked in the film industry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.