Doreen Read Online Free PDF

it is you!” said Biz softly. “All I did was clean it up a little. That’s what they do in the magazines.”
    â€œI really appreciate what you did, Biz. But when I see this picture, it shows me everything that I’m not. I’m not beautiful or glamorous. I could never be this girl, as much as I would want to be her. Look!” Biz and Doreen looked down at the picture together. “See how easy her life must be! How everybody must love her! That isn’t me. That isn’t how—” Doreen’s eyes welled up again. Biz gently ran a hand along her head.
    â€œShh,” she said. “It’s okay.”
    â€œAnd I don’t want you to rip it to shreds, Heidi. Because it’s so—it’s beautiful. It’s the most perfect picture I’ve ever seen. I love it, in a way. Only . . . I’m jealous of it. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? To be jealous of a picture.” She shook her head, smiling. “I really am a piece of work.”
    â€œYou’ve had a long day,” said Biz. “You must be exhausted.” Doreen leaned her head against her cousin’s shoulder and Biz stroked her cheek. Heidi could not remember Biz displaying so much affection for a human before.
    â€œThat’s right, Biz. We’ve all had a long day of it.” Heidi sensed that she was losing Doreen to Biz, but she was not ready to give up yet. So the photo shoot had been a bit of a disaster, so what? She could still recover her position. After all, popularity was not something one gave up on so easily. “Listen, Doreen, why don’t you drop by here tomorrow at around eleven? We’ll get you dressed and then we can appear together at lunch. Maybe the GryphPage profile was the wrong starting point.”
    â€œListen, Heidi, I think we’ve had enough of all that. Popularity is a waste of time. I’ll show you around campus tomorrow, Doreen. Wait till you see the technology at our disposal here.”
    â€œAs your friend?” Doreen asked Heidi, unclasping Biz’s hand.
    â€œI’m sorry?”
    â€œWill you introduce me to people at lunch—as your friend? Would you really do that?”
    â€œOf course!” said Heidi. She tucked an errant batch of wiry hair behind Doreen’s ear and put an arm around her shoulders. “I will introduce you as my friend as well as a representative of the midwestern branch of the Gibbons-Brown family.”
    â€œOh, please,” said Biz. “Do you hear yourself? How absurd.”
    â€œOkay. Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven.” Doreen gathered up her things to go.
    â€œBut, Doreen, I thought, is that really—”
    â€œI really am tired, so I think I’ll head home. Good-bye for now. Thank you, Heidi. Thank you so much for everything. I’m sorry for my outburst. Good-bye, Biz! I’ll see you tomorrow!” With the photograph still in her hand, Doreen let herself out of their room.
    â€œWell!” Heidi said when she heard the door close. She sank onto the sofa beside Biz. “What a fascinating evening!”

“Are you asleep?” Biz asked.
    â€œNo,” said Heidi. “And apparently neither are you.”
    Biz sat up in her bed and flicked on the lamp on the nightstand. “Can I ask you something then?” Without her glasses, Biz looked like a mole person.
    â€œWhat? Oh, sure. Shoot. What is it?”
    â€œWhy are you so interested in Doreen? She’s not exactly made of the same stuff as the girls you normally associate with.” Biz clasped her legs over the covers and nuzzled her chin between her knees.
    â€œI can’t help but point out that she’s your cousin. Which means she’s made of precisely the same stuff of someone I normally associate with—you.”
    â€œYeah, but, I mean . . .”
    â€œWhat is it?” Heidi could see that Biz was having a hard time getting out whatever it