Devine Intervention Read Online Free PDF Page B

there had been any rhythm in Heidi, it flew away like a startled bird. Around the edges of the auditorium, people — teachers, probably — swooped in to stop the clapping. But it was too late.
    They finished the song. Or more accurately, the song ended. Megan looked at Heidi and shrugged. “At least people enjoyed it. And you were very light on my feet.”
    Heidi bent to pick up her trench coat, trying to make it swift and ladylike. That’s when she felt the sudden flutter of unraveling stitches and the unwelcome breeze on her rear. She’d mooned the entire school. And she could forget about the damage deposit on the costume.
    The audience roared, and she regretted her choice of underwear, a cross between granny panties and elvish battle armor, because she’d wanted something that would hold her belly tight while she tangoed. Heidi hoped no one had taken pictures, or worse, video. All she could do was put on her coat and slip off the edge of the stage, where Jerome’s voice once again found her ears.
    It’s not exactly Hell, Heidi. But it’s pretty close.
    Â 
    In the grand scheme of humiliations, Megan told her afterward, what had happened onstage during the talent show was trivial. The sort of thing people would forget five minutes later. Or maybe a day. Definitely by the end of winter break.
    â€œIt might even make you popular,” she said as they sat down later that day to eat lunch. Megan peeled the foil off her blueberry yogurt container and swiped it against her tongue. “Especially if people thought you were being ironic. I saw how that worked once on The View .”
    Heidi’s face and ears reddened. The View. Honestly. Heidi took another bite of her chili and looked toward the recycling can so she wouldn’t have to make eye contact.
    â€œWait,” Megan said. She touched Heidi’s wrist lightly with her fingertips. “I didn’t mean it that way. You know I don’t have a speech filter.” She took another bite of yogurt and let it ooze from her mouth. “See? Oh, and my mom predicted I’d hurt your feelings today. Admit it: Her psychic powers are unreal.”
    Heidi managed a small smile.
    â€œYour mom’s psychic powers are unreal.”
    â€œYou’d better have meant that figuratively.”
    Megan sat with her back to the window, wearing her new coat that looked like something from the Oscar the Grouch pimp collection. Behind her, an unreliable sky trembled with snow-filled clouds. The rest of the kids in school bustled behind Heidi. She felt their body heat, andevery so often, a gust of air scented with chili Fritos and cinnamon rolls blasted over her.
    Megan wiped her chin with a crumpled napkin. “Anyway, you were fine up there. Most people probably didn’t notice. And by tomorrow, people will be talking about other things.”
    Don’t fall for that, Heidi. You were epical today. And not in the good way, like, say, a Frank Zappa solo from Shut Up ’n Play Yer Guitar. But it’s all right. You can make up for it if you do good in your game tonight.
    Heidi pressed her fingertips into her temples, wishing Jerome would leave her alone for a while. He had to remind her about basketball, one more thing she was doing because people expected her to play when they saw how tall she was. Her parents were convinced she could get a college scholarship if only she’d try. But she was mediocre at best. Her heart wasn’t in the game.
    Heidi slipped a Pigma Micron pen out of her pocket and smoothed her napkin flat. She moved her pen over the napkin’s surface, trying to capture a decent portrait of Megan.
    â€œLemme see,” Megan said. She reached for the napkin.
    â€œNo, it sucks.”
    She crumpled it and held it in her fist. The problem with trying to draw people was that she didn’t know what to focus on and it felt rude to stare. Typically, she drew tiny towns, cities with skyscrapers,