Best Friend Emma Read Online Free PDF Page A

to go. And we weregonna do some
research
. Marine Universe is my favorite thing in the whole wild world!”
    (Annie Pat says things such as “whole
wild
world” instead of “whole
wide
world.” It’s one of the things I really like about her.)
    “And we were going to treat you to the whole thing,” Annie Pat continues. “And we’ve been planning it for, like—like, six whole months!”
    “Two and a half weeks,” I say, correcting her. Because I didn’t even know Annie Pat six months ago. Six months ago, I was minding my own business at Magdalena School for Girls, which is many miles away. For all I knew then, Oak Glen didn’t even exist.
    “Shut
up
,” Annie Pat says, clapping her hands over her ears.
    “No, listen,” I say urgently. I try to pull one of her hands away so that she will hear me, but she’s pretty strong for the second-littlest girl in the third grade. “Listen, Annie Pat,” I repeat. “We could ask
Kry Rodriguez
to go with us to Marine Universe.That would
really
impress her. It would be awesome!”

    And Cynthia could never compete with that, I congratulate myself silently. Again, score!
    “I don’t
want
to impress her,” Annie Pat says, stomping her foot. “Who cares about Kry Rodriguez? She’s not even a scientist like us. She’d just ruin the whole thing.”
    Whatever happened to my battle with Cynthia Harbison? I am suddenly having a fight with the wrong person.
    “Kry wouldn’t ruin it,” I say, trying to convince Annie Pat to see things my way. “And she’d be so happy to be invited that she’d
want
to be my friend.
Our
friend, I mean. Because I’m doingthis for you, Annie Pat,” I add, desperate.
    This is not exactly the truth, but it could be.
    I mean, Annie Pat doesn’t know it’s a lie. So maybe she’ll go for it.
    But Annie Pat stomps her foot one more time, which is never a good sign with her. “You were our
guest
,” she reminds me angrily. “And a guest doesn’t get to invite other people along. Especially not for the whole day—and when it’s such an expensive treat.”
    Oh. I never thought of it like that. I guess she kind of has a point. “But—but what can I do, Annie Pat?” I ask, holding my hands out in a helpless way. “I already invited Kry to do something on Saturday! And I can’t back out now. I can’t just un-invite her, can I?”

    “Don’t even worry about it, Emma,” Annie Pat says,suddenly as cool as an emperor penguin—in spite of the tear tracks on her cheeks. “You and what’s-her-name can do whatever you want, because I take back my whole invitation to you. So there!”
    And then she turns around and leaves.

      8      
Round Three
    It’s not fair that Annie Pat is so mad at me. I didn’t mean for anything this bad to happen! I just sort of forgot about Marine Universe on Saturday, that’s all. Isn’t a person allowed to forget something every so often? Am I supposed to be
perfect
?
    And anyway, I was trying to make friends with Kry Rodriguez for
us
—me and Annie Pat—so we’d be even with Cynthia, Fiona, and Heather.
    Annie Pat didn’t even look at me the whole rest of the day. But I am willing to forgive her for that, so why can’t she forgive
me
?
    And now, on top of all my other problems, I have to convince my mom—who worries aboutspending too much money when we use up toilet paper too fast—to take Kry Rodriguez and me out on Saturday for a fabulous lunch and a really cool movie. Ka-
ching
!
    “Mom?”
    “Mmm?” my mother answers, fiddling with her turquoise necklace as she gazes at her computer screen. She is not really listening to me. The cozy Thursday-night smell of our meatballs-and-mashed-potatoes dinner hangs in the air, and our stomachs are nice and full, and she’s busy with work.
    Perfect
.
    “You know how you’re always telling me to make new friends?” I ask softly.

    Mom pulls her eyes away from her work and looks at me instead, instantly alert. Mothers everywhere in the