Chicken Chicken Read Online Free PDF Page B

decide, either.
    Balancing my plate and fork in one hand, I walked off to join some friends.
“Looks good,” I said.
    I mean, I tried to say it. But it came out, “Tcccck tccccck.” Sort of
a metal click.
    I ran my tongue over my lips. So dry.
    “Tcccck tcccccck.”
    I tried to chew a forkful of cake. But each bite made that loud clicking
sound.
    I licked my lips again.
    Tried to chew.
    I started to choke. I couldn’t chew the cake.
    “Ckkkkkkk tccccck.”
    A few kids were staring at me.
    “Crystal, are you okay?” someone asked.
    I clicked a reply. Then I hurried to Lucy-Ann at the table. “Do you have any
Chap Stick?” I demanded shrilly.
    My lips clicked as I talked. She struggled to understand me.
    “Chap Stick?” I repeated. “Chpsttttccck?”
    She nodded, narrowing her eyes to study me. “In the medicine chest.
Downstairs bathroom on the left.” She pointed.
    I set down my cake plate and took off, running across the grass. I pulled
open the screen door and flew into the house. It smelled sweet inside, from all
the cake and pie baking.
    I turned to the left, into the hallway I knew my way. I’d spent a lot of
hours with Lucy-Ann here.
    The bathroom door stood open. I stepped inside, clicked on the light, and
shut the door behind me.
    Then I dove to the medicine cabinet and gazed into the mirror.
    It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. But when I could finally focus on my
lips—I opened my mouth in a shrill scream of horror.

 
 
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    Bright red, my lips poked out from my face.
    I ran a finger across them. Both lips were bumpy. Hard and bumpy.
    I tapped my lips with my finger. It made a soft click.
    My lips were hard. They didn’t feel like skin anymore! They felt as
hard as fingernails!
    “Tcccck tcccck.”
    I clicked them. Opened and closed my mouth. Staring hard at the ugly
reflection in the mirror.
    Had my lips grown some sort of crust? Were my real lips underneath?
    I raised both hands and struggled to pull the crusty part off.
    But no. No crust. The hard lips were attached to my face.
    “Oww!” I gasped. My lips clicked shut.
    “What is happening to me? It—it’s like a bird beak! I can’t
let anyone see me like this!” I cried out loud.
    I banged the mirror with both fists. This can’t be happening! I told
myself in a complete panic. It can’t !
    I tried to pull the hard beak lips off one more time.
    “Crystal—calm down. Calm down!” I instructed myself. I took a deep breath
and forced myself to turn away from the mirror.
    It’s an allergic reaction, I decided.
    That’s all. I ate something I am allergic to.
    It will disappear in a few hours. And if it doesn’t disappear, Dr. Macy will
know how to shrink the lips back to normal and make them soft again.
    I took another deep breath. My whole body was shaking. I was trembling so
hard, my lips were clicking.
    I shut my eyes. Then I turned back to the mirror. I opened them, praying my
real lips would be back.
    But no.
    “A bird beak,” I murmured in a shaky whisper. “It looks like a bird beak.”
    Click click.
    I ran my tongue over the bumpy lips.
    Ow. The hard lips scratched my tongue.
    I can’t let anyone see me like this! I decided. I’ll sneak out the front door
and run home. I’ll explain to Lucy-Ann later.
    I shut off the light and pulled the bathroom door open a crack. No one in the
house, I saw.
    Everyone was still out in the back, enjoying the cakes and pie.
    Will I ever enjoy cake again? I wondered.
    Or will I have to pull up worms from the ground and suck them through my bird
lips?
    Sickening thoughts.
    I crept along the living room. Then pushed open the front door—and escaped.
    As I ran to the road, I could hear the happy voices from behind the house.
Kids were laughing and shouting over the boom of dance music.
    I turned and started running full speed toward home. I hoped no one could see
me.
    The sun had sunk behind the trees. Evening shadows reached across the ground
toward me.
    My lips