Best Friend Next Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

It’s awesome that she got to pick what she calls her parents.
    “So what do you think?” Emme slides the paint samples toward me. “Blue Allure or Gulf Stream? Those are my top choices.”
    “Blue Allure,” I say. “It sounds mysterious.”
    Emme nods. “Agreed.”
    “I’m just glad you’re not painting the room pink.”
    Emme pounds the floor with her hand. She does it so loudly that Butterball jumps off my lap and waddles from the room. “I can’t stand pink! Why does everyone think girls should like pink? It’s so annoying.”
    “Agreed,” I say. “Completely.”
    “I have an idea,” Emme says as she circles Blue Allure with a pen. “I’m going to take a survey of you and we’ll figure out everything we have in common. Are you ready?”
    I stare curiously at Emme. This is totally not something Sophie would have done. Sophie was into watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model and trying on her mom’s makeup.
    “You really want to interview me?” I ask.
    “What else can we do? I can’t have any more screen time. My moms have cut off my iPad for the rest of the day.”
    “How much time do you usually get?”
    “Thirty minutes on weekends.” Emme sticks out her bottom lip like she’s pouting. “Basically nothing.”
    “Me too!”
    “Why am I not surprised?” Emme flops onto her elbows. “Okay, let’s get started. Your favorite color is also blue, right?”
    “Blue Allure,” I say, giggling.
    “And we’re both only children,” Emme says.
    “Yep.” I stare down at my hands. It’s not like I have a brother or sister yet. I’m totally an only child. Completely.
    “I know your favorite food is peanut butter,” Emme says. “Where were you born?”
    I pause. I don’t really talk about that. My past, at least the first few months of my life, is kind of weird.
    “Colorado,” I say quickly, hoping she doesn’t ask anything else about it.
    “Darn. For me it was Florida. But isn’t it funny that we were born on the exact same day? What about art? Do you draw or paint?”
    I glance at the sketches on Emme’s wall. If she did them herself, then she’s really talented. “No artistic abilities other than the time I made a double fishtail bracelet at day camp. What about you?”
    “I love art. At least we’re different in a few ways. What’s your favorite palindrome?”
    I pause to think. “I guess it would be Did Hannah see bees? Hannah did .”
    “I love that one!” Emme says, grinning. “You can do it with Emme , too.”
    “What about you?”
    “I made one up when Butterball was missing. Or should we call him Radarball?”
    I laugh. “ Butterball is fine.”
    “The one I made up was doom mood .”
    I shake my head. “I was totally in a doom mood this morning.”
    “Why?” Emme asks. Of course she does.
    Just as I’m trying to figure out how NOT to explain my complicated life, Claire shouts upstairs, “Hannah! Your dad just called into the backyard. They need you at home. Something about an appointment?”
    I hop up quickly. “I better go.”
    “Go, dog,” Emme says, walking me to her bedroom door.
    I stare at her for a second before I burst out laughing.
    “Palindrome!” we both shout at the same time.

    “Are you ready?” my dad asks, turning in the seat to look at me.
    Margo is driving and my dad is in the passenger seat. My dad isn’t the typical dad who loves cars. He usually rides his bike everywhere, even to his office in downtown Greeley.
    “I’m okay,” I say quietly. I chew on my thumbnail but then quickly pull it out of my mouth. It took all of third grade to quit that habit.
    “Ryan just wants to meet you and say hi,” my dad says. “That’s it.”
    Ryan is the lawyer they’ve hired to help Margo adopt me. Mostly they’re keeping me out of the legal stuff, but now that we’re getting closer to the adoption being finalized the lawyer wants to see if I have any questions.
    “We’ll be in the appointment with you the whole time,” Margo