A Farewell to Charms Read Online Free PDF

lock-picking kit in your room.”
    I froze. Why hadn’t I hidden that? At least she didn’t find my manual. “That wouldn’t happen if she wasn’t so crazy about cleaning. You’d think with her being so tired, she could cut back on her vacuum rampages.”
    Dad snorted. “Mom’s not tired.”
    “She’s napping right now.”
    “Oh.” He cut me a look. “You noticed.”
    “Yeah, I’m quick like that.” Why’d he act like a nap was something scandalous? I’d be tired too if I was a mom and doing all those pageants and going Mrs. Clean on our house all day. “So I appreciate it, but maybe she could nap more and leave my stuff alone.”
    “True, but…do I need to worry about you? You aren’t”—he laughed softly. Nervously—“turning to a life of crime, are you?”
    “No, I’m just sharpening my Girl Scout skills.”
    “But you were never in Girl Scouts.”
    Life of crime. He was so far off, and yet so right. I leaned over the seat and pecked him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Dad. Whatever it is I’m doing, I’m very well paid.”
    I shut the door and ran over to the back of Crystal Palace. Reed’s tandem bike was propped up against the wall. I couldn’t believe he was biking in this cool weather. I gave his horn a little honk. He poked his head out and grinned.
    “Took you long enough. Awesome shirt, by the way.”
    I was going to wear this shirt every day for the rest of my life. And, wow. Reed had a nice smile. Was his smile always that nice? And why couldn’t I tone down my own goofy grin around him? This was highly unprofessional.
    I followed him inside. The skating rink was empty, but music was playing and the disco ball was turning. “It’s senior citizen skate day.” Reed shook his head. “I keep telling the owner, Chuck, that it’s a bad idea. No one ever shows. But it means I have some extra time to get things going for this event. Come on.”
    I expected a room filled with colorful balloons and crepe paper, but the large party room was packed with shoe boxes. I removed a lid, and another. Ice skates. “Wait,” I said, my heart sinking. “What party is this?”
    “Some festival happening next month. Chuck is one of the organizers, so we run the ice-skating rink. I’ve got to clean all the skates, check the laces, that kind of stuff. And we have to decorate the ticket booth, and Chuck’s sister is on the decorations committee so he also volunteered me for that. It’s still a month away, but with Thanksgiving next week and Christmas stuff, he wants us to get as much done as we can. It must be some party.”
    “It’s the Winter Ball,” I said.
    “Please tell me you did not just make that up. This town has a ball ?”
    “You’ve lived in Sproutville for five months now, Reed. Why does this surprise you?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve been to galas and balls all around the world, just never thought I’d have the opportunity to attend one in Sproutville.”
    “You were right before—it’s more like a festival with a dance attached.” I swung my leg over the side of the picnic table and started unlacing a skate. “They do snow sculptures in the park next to the community center, and the madrigal group sings with a band. There’s a forest decorated with lights, the school kids make snowflakes, and there’s punch and—”
    “Punch? Red or pink?”
    “Don’t make fun.” For all its quirks, Sproutville was my home. It was okay if I found fault with it, but Reed was still a newcomer, a very well-traveled newcomer, and I imagined he looked at this place like the Podunk capital of the world. “It’s tradition. Everyone in town dresses up, there’s glitter and snow, and it’s pretty magical.”
    “Why do they dress up?”
    “Oh, for the dance.”
    “Are you going?” he asked.
    He wasn’t asking if I was going because he wanted me to go with him. He was making small talk. Wasn’t he? “Like I said, everyone goes.”
    “Huh.”
    Want to know what I wished my