Fetching Read Online Free Page B

live with a bunch of them, but I do bathe.
    â€œWell, you know what?” I say now. “I’m tired of being picked on. We’ve got to do something about it. We need justice.”
    â€œOh, so we’re talking about revenge, right?” Joey leans forward. “Cool. What do we get to do?”
    â€œNothing,” Phoebe says sternly. She puts her hands on the table. “Look, I don’t want to get suspended or anything.”
    â€œYeah, I don’t either,” Delia says. “I can’t believe Brynne’s like this now. We used to be such good friends.”
    â€œYeah, in fifth grade !” Mandy says.
    â€œMaybe you should just try to talk some sense into her,” Phoebe suggests.
    â€œSometimes you’re so naïve,” Mandy tells Phoebe.
    Delia shrugs. “I guess it’s worth a try. She hasn’t always been such a monster. I mean, she used to spend like every weekend at my house. We even played Scrabble together.”
    â€œJust because she used to play Scrabble with you doesn’t make her a saint, you know,” I remind Delia.
    â€œWell, Clue too. She liked Clue,” Delia adds. “And you know what? She actually used to let me win sometimes.”
    Something about her words makes me uneasy. Am I jealous maybe?
    â€œOkay, fine. I don’t care. That’s settled. Now let’s play Yahtzee,” Joey says.
    â€œNo way. Scattergories,” says Mandy, getting out the game. Delia rolls an E .
    â€œHow come we never play Yahtzee anymore?” Joey complains.
    Just then, we hear “Did someone say ‘Yahtzee’?” All of us—including our club sponsor, Ms. Greenwood, in the back of the room—look to the door to see her and her wavy auburn hair glide into the classroom. Brynne is here.
    â€œI’m so sorry I’m late,” she gushes, approaching the table.
    â€œYou’re not here for the Bored Game Club,” Mandy says. And then adds, “Are you?” Like it might, in some crazy parallel universe, be possible. She’s usually a little smarter than this.
    â€œOh, well, I like games,” Brynne answers, her blue eyes widening. Her head bobs as she rattles off her list. “I like Monopoly. And checkers. And cards.”
    Phoebe looks at her and back to us. “We like Boggle here,” she says. I think she’s falling for it. She is probably the smartest, most academically gifted person I know, and yet . I sigh.
    â€œOh, I love Boggle.”
    â€œYou do?” Phoebe asks. Mandy gently puts her hand on top of Phoebe’s, as if to try to bring her back to reality.
    â€œWell, sure. And Clue. And Candy Land. And…”
    I glance over at Delia, whose eyebrows are pulling together with concern. The Scattergories timer dings, but words beginning with E have been forgotten. There’s only one word running through my mind. It, however, begins with a big fat B .
    â€œYou really like Yahtzee?” Joey asks, hopeful. Oh, no. Him too? “What about Stratego?”
    â€œStraget…Strate…” Brynne tries. And then a laugh roars out of her, like a ripping lung, and she doubles over.
    â€œMiss Shawnson!” Ms. Greenwood’s voice belts out from the back of the room. “I suggest you. Get the heck. Out of here!”
    â€œ Oh. Em. Gee. ” Brynne is still laughing as she stumbles to the door. “You all are such— dweebs !” There’s a ripple of laughter outside the door from Brynne’s portable, eavesdropping audience.
    â€œMiss Shawnson!” Ms. Greenwood rips off her glasses and stands up. Her head wiggles like an angry bobblehead.
    But Brynne’s gone—we hear the scuttle of her and her fan base running down the hall.
    â€œNever mind her,” Ms. Greenwood says. She takes a deep breath, pulls a hand through her gray, fluffy hair, and sits down. “Carry on,” she tells us with a flick of her hand. As if the