Amber Brown Goes Fourth Read Online Free PDF

takes the wad out of her mouth and smushes it over and around her nose.
    Then she breathes out.
    It’s the most gigantic bubble I have ever seen.

    I, Amber Brown, am very impressed.
    I try, but realize that before attempting this trick, a person should blow her nose and get rid of the snot first.
    I throw my gum out.
    It’s too disgusting to add to the gum ball.
    “Now.” Brandi takes out a box. “Let’s do the hair weaving.”
    I sit down on a chair.
    “Sit still,” Brandi says, handing me a mirror. “You can watch what I’m doing. Just don’t move.”
    I move.
    It’s very hard for me to sit still.
    “Stop wiggling.” Brandi puts a piece of cardboard around a small clump of my hair.
    I hold up the mirror so I can watch what she is doing.
    She holds up lots of different colors of embroidery threads. “Pick out seven colors.”
    Glitter purple. Glitter pink. Glitter silver. Black. Turquoise. White. Green.
    She puts the threads at the top of the braid and starts twisting it around the hair, working with one color at a time, then making patterns on some sections with a second color.

    “Don’t move. This has to be really tight.”
    “Where did you learn this?” I ask.
    “This summer, when we went to visit California, my cousin Daniela did my hair.And then she taught me how to do it. We practiced a lot on her old Barbie dolls . . . . and on her dog.”
    She finishes one braid.
    I look in the mirror. “It’s terrific.”
    She continues.
    “Brandi.” I ask her the question that I’ve been wanting to ask her ever since she got back. “How come you and Hannah aren’t friends anymore?”
    She stops braiding for a minute.
    “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” I say, even though I really do want her to answer.
    She starts braiding my hair again and says nothing.
    I don’t say anything either.
    Finally, she says, “Look. I’ll tell you. It’s not such a big deal. But I want you to promise not to say anything to anyone else.”
    “Okay,” I promise, and wait for her to begin.

Chapter
Thirteen

    Brandi continues to braid my hair as she begins to tell her story.
    “When I moved here last year, it was really hard for me.” She sighs.
    “Everyone already had best friends . . . everyone here already knew each other . . . . and the people who already knew each other didn’t have a lot of time for a new person.”
    “But you were always invited to parties and stuff.” I put down the mirror and look at her.
    She nods. “But that’s not the day-to-daystuff, telling each other secrets, just hanging out and having a good time . . . . the way that you and Justin did. Sometimes I looked at you and Justin and felt really bad. Where I used to live, I had this friend, Sandy . . . and we were a lot like you and Justin. The two of you looked like you were having so much fun, except for when you had that big fight just before he moved away.”
    “That was a bad fight.” I remember.
    “Even though I know it wasn’t right, I was glad that you two were fighting.” She pulls a little tight on my braid. “I figured that maybe it would give us a chance to be friends. But then you two made up. When Justin moved away, I thought we could get to know each other better. But you went to England . . . and then I was away when you came back.”
    “Why didn’t you just say something?” I jump a little as she pulls on my hair.
    “It’s not that easy.” She shrugs.
    I know how she feels.
    She continues, “And you two just didn’t have room for another good friend. . . . The only person who did was Hannah.”
    I want to say, “Yeah, because no one else wants to be her friend because she’s so bossy,” but I don’t.
    Brandi adds beads to the braid. “So I was friends with Hannah, but it was hard. She’s really bossy. Everything’s got to be her way. And sometimes she says really mean things.”
    “I know.”
    Brandi sits down on the bed and looks at me. “But it