The Steps by Rachel Cohn

Author:Rachel Cohn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Chapter 15

I never thought Lucy would have the guts to pull off such a stunt.

I was wrong. Way wrong.

I woke up the next morning, seated upright, my body gently rocking. As I opened my eyes I saw a conductor walking through the . . . train aisle? “Last stop, Melbourne, ten minutes,” the conductor said.

Melbourne? Huh? Where was I? And why was Lucy’s sleeping head on my shoulder? I looked down at the light weight I felt on my chest as I breathed—and when did I get well-developed boobies?

Then I remembered. Lucy and I had run away. She had masterminded an incredible escape. We would be arriving in Melbourne to visit her Granny Nell any minute.

We had started the night before by walking in on Jack and Penny, who were making out on the sofa in the candlelit living room. They were listening to sexy soul music, and they obviously didn’t remember that Lucy and I were both mad at them. “Good night,” we called out over the mood music. “Happy New Year!” They were so into each other they didn’t even look up. And can I tell you that it was just past eight o’clock in the evening, and they didn’t even notice that we were saying good night so early? Disgusting.

We placed a sign on Lucy’s bedroom door that said, PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB US UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING OR YOU WILL RUIN OUR SCIENCE PROJECT. THAT MEANS YOU, ANGUS! As an extra precaution we placed pillows under our blankets in the shape of sleeping bodies. Lucy figured it would be after breakfast before anyone even noticed we were gone.

Lucy pulled out two short dresses from her closet. She handed me Kleenex to fill our training bras. We also dug into a pile of Penny’s discarded makeup, and we applied lipstick, eyeliner, and eye shadow.

“Just trust me,” she said. “We’re teenagers going to a New Year’s party. Play the part.”

We climbed out her bedroom window and walked toward the ferryboat station. “My feet hurt, I can’t walk anymore,” I said. Lucy had also made me wear a pair of play high heels. “Can’t we take a cab to the train station instead of the ferryboat?”

“Genius, we’re twelve years old. We don’t have loads of money.” Lucy’s hair was moussed up into a blond skyscraper.

“I do,” I said. Bubbe had given me a wad of emergency money at the airport in New York. She said it was for an “emergency,” but we both knew it was for shopping. And in Australia, because of the currency exchange rate, I actually had almost a third more money than Bubbe had given me. I put my fingers in my mouth and whistled like I was in New York again. Ten minutes later a cab came by after dropping some passengers off up the street.

“Bubbe always says to put your money where your mouth is,” I told Lucy.

She rolled her eyes and got in the cab.

Lucy directed the driver to the train station. He

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