Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth

Author:Chris Woodworth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

11

Ellen tucked my hair behind my ear. Again. I yanked it out. Again. “It looks better that way!” she said. I ignored her because, really, how many different ways can you say “Leave me alone!” By my count I was up to about twelve.

She pulled a mirror out of her purse and checked her makeup. “Are you sure I look good?”

Again, how many times can you say something?

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Maybe she didn’t believe me because my reassurance sounded fake even to my own ears. Her new boots weren’t broken in so they were really stiff. Her jeans were snug and no girl with scrawny legs should wear skinny jeans unless she wants to be compared to walking chopsticks. But I kept my mouth shut so she wouldn’t cry and ruin her eye makeup, which had taken her exactly eighteen minutes to get just right. I know. I timed her.

When we got to Alexa’s, she stiff-walked her way to the front door, panting. I thought maybe she couldn’t breathe very well with those tight jeans until she squeezed my arm and squealed, “This is so exciting!”

Oh, yeah! I thought. Almost as much fun as that pop quiz in math.

Alexa opened the door and Ellen immediately stopped smiling. She put one hand on her jutted-out hip and said, “’Sup?”

Looking her up and down, Alexa said, “So you came.”

“Of course. I said I would, didn’t I?” Ellen walked past her like she owned the house. That left me standing on the porch.

Alexa eyed me as she leaned back against the opened screen door. “What do you want?”

That just burned me, so I said, “Pizza delivery. Except I got hungry and ate yours.”

I wanted to leave right then but Ellen’s face went completely white. “She’s my guest,” she said.

Alexa sneered. “When I said ‘guest,’ I meant boyfriend, but whatever.” She swung her hip against the screen door so it opened even farther and walked into the house, leaving me to grab the door before it slammed shut.

She walked past Ellen like she wasn’t even there. Ellen’s face had gone from ghostly white to deep red and I felt sorry for her. She tried to smile but her lips shook a little. She whispered, “It’s okay, Ivy. She didn’t mean anything. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worried!” My whisper was louder than hers but I was mad. “You’re the only one here who cares what she thinks.”

Alexa started down the hall and looked back over her shoulder at Ellen. “Are you coming?”

Ellen mouthed to me, “I’ll be back soon.”

She turned and copied Alexa’s slow, hip-rocking way of walking. Or tried to as best a skinny girl can in too-stiff boots. Just inside the front door was what was obviously the “party room.” All the furniture was pushed against the walls and a table was covered in food. I walked in and picked up an MP3 player and went through the 300-plus songs on the playlist. I wanted to see if it worked the same way as the iPod Shuffle that Aunt Maureen got me.

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