Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out Read Online Free PDF

to a gymnastics contest in a minivan? Um, hello. Me.
    As soon as Uncle Jay stopped the car, I got out of it and ran upstairs to put on my best party clothes (purple shirt, jean miniskirt, yellow leggings, and orange cowboy boots) and try to get into a party mood. I put on some dance music and danced around my room, scaring my adorable kitten Mewsie, who crawled under the bed.
    But when I looked in the mirror, I realized the party clothes and dancing hadn’t done any good. I was still regretting not going with Erica and those guys to see Missy perform at the Little Miss Majorette Baton Twirling Twirltacular. The first events were due to start any minute.
    And I wasn’t going to be there to support Missy. Or to enjoy any of the delicious popcorn they’d be serving to the spectators in the middle school gym. Or to see any of the amazing twirlers, coming from as far away as out of state, in their beautiful twirling costumes, all competing for a chance to win golden trophies as big as me.
    I mean, yes, I was going to get to ride in a limo, and go to Glitterati, and do all this other stuff I’ve always wanted to do.
    But all of a sudden, the closer it got to the time for me to go, the less fun the idea of going seemed to get.
    What was wrong with me? All of my dreams were coming true! I was about to get to ride in a limo!
    “So, have you got everything?” Uncle Jay asked as I came down the stairs, dragging my overnight wheelie bag behind me, thump, thump, thump, one step at a time. “Your toothbrush, your pajamas, some clothes for tomorrow?”
    “Yes,” I answered. Kevin and Mark were pushing all the furniture in the living room back to make space for our family tent. Since Kevin was so upset about me getting to ride in the limo and stay in a luxury hotel, Uncle Jay had said they could have “boys’ time” while I was gone. “Boys’ time” meant they got to set up our family tent in the living room (since it was so wet outside) and pretend that they were world explorers, then watch adventure movies and eat adventure food, the kind you could only cook over an outdoor fire, such as campfire beans and hot dogs.
    Only Uncle Jay had said they could cook them in the fireplace in the living room instead of outside.
    I wondered what Harmony was going to say about this when she stopped by to check in.
    “Good,” Uncle Jay said. “What about your present for the birthday girl?”
    I stared at Uncle Jay blankly. “Didn’t Mom leave that with you?” I asked.
    Uncle Jay looked back at me just as blankly.
    “No,” he said. “She just left me a hundred bucks to feed you all.”
    “She didn’t say where Brittany’s present was?” I could feel something rising in my throat. What I felt was panic. I’d been right: Deciding to go to this party had been a terrible idea. “I can’t go to Brittany’s party without a present!”
    “Hold on, hold on,” Uncle Jay said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone. “I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. Let me call your mom and ask her.”
    Uncle Jay dialed the number for my mom’s cell phone, while I stood at the bottom of the stairs, icy fear gripping me. What if my mom forgot to buy a present for Brittany? I couldn’t go. I wouldn’t be able to show my face at Brittany’s party if I didn’t have a present that cost equal to or more than the cost of the food I would consume at the party. Not to mention however much it would cost for my picture at Glitterati, or my share of however much a room was at the Hilton Hotel —
    “Oh, hi, Liz?” Uncle Jay was saying into his phone. “It’s Jay — no, no, the kids are fine. Yeah. No, it’s still raining. Well, drizzling. What are they doing? Oh, we’re just about to sit down and play some of those educational board games you left out — ”
    “Uncle Jay.” Mark walked over, carrying one of Mom’s Waterford crystal vases she and Dad got as a wedding present. “Where should I put this so it doesn’t