Juniper Berry Read Online Free PDF Page B

out of her seat. Kitty barked wildly. “Why not? Why not? Are you serious?” She was shaking Juniper now, digging her nails into her daughter’s arms, a different sort of dance.
    Juniper’s head thrashed from side to side, tears were gathering in her eyes, and still her mother continued. “You don’t understand!” There was something missing in her eyes. They weren’t the same as the beautiful pair on-screen.
    â€œMom,” Juniper cried. “Mom, what’s wrong? Tell me. Please. No secrets.”
    Mrs. Berry sneered. “No secrets? Well then, here it is, Juniper. The truth.” She pulled Juniper’s face close to hers, each one’s nose only centimeters from the other’s. Mrs. Berry’s teeth were bared, her nostrils flared, and her eyes were dark. Then, in a distorted guttural voice, she said it. “I’ve finally got what I want. And I’m not going to let it go.”
    And with that, she pushed Juniper out of the room and toward Mrs. Maybelline in the living room.
    Coughing, nearly gagging, Mrs. Berry went back upstairs, a strange jerk in her walk. The lovely gait of years ago was gone. Now she was smaller somehow, slightly hunched and crooked.
    Juniper wiped her tears and sat beside her tutor. It was all she could do.
    â€œShe talked to me today,” Mrs. Maybelline said, her eyes wide and giddy. “Your mother. She said, ‘You. Wait here. I’ll get her.’ Oh, it was wonderful just to be in her presence. I couldn’t even talk. I must have made such a fool of myself.”
    â€œShe seemed normal to you?” Juniper asked. Even though it was someone to talk to, she didn’t grow attached to her tutors anymore. They never lasted very long. Her parents always found some reason to get rid of them, even with the confidentiality agreements all employees were forced to sign.
    â€œNormal? Oh, no no no. There’s nothing normal about your mother. Or your father.”
    Juniper inched up in her seat. “There isn’t?”
    â€œNot at all. Why, they’re . . . they’re . . . stars!” Mrs. Maybelline couldn’t even blink. She stared off in complete awe.
    Juniper sighed. “What are we doing today?”
    â€œYou can be like them, too, one day. You’re very talented, Juniper. I see it. Your writing is top-notch. Top-notch. Plus, with their connections . . .”
    â€œI don’t want to be famous. I don’t want them to be famous either.”
    Mrs. Maybelline found this hysterical. She guffawed with every ounce of her rather large being, her cheeks reddening, her veins pulsing. “Kids”—she laughed—“you have to love them.” She continued laughing, her bulbous body bouncing jollily. Juniper couldn’t look away. It was quite a sight. Mrs. Maybelline was right; she saw nothing but stars.
    But then, almost instantaneously, the laughter stopped. It just cut off mid-ululation. Something had caught her eye. “Oh my God,” she whispered, pointing down the hall. “Your father. Oh, wow.”
    Juniper turned and saw her father staring out a window just like he did in his study the day before. Enraptured, he didn’t move. Juniper knew what was out that window, she used her monocular out it many times. It was a straight shot, an unobstructed view. Right into the woods.
    Mr. Berry continued staring, his hand reaching out for something that wasn’t there.
    Mrs. Maybelline didn’t find any of this odd. “He’s so dreamy,” she wheezed. “Juniper, you are the luckiest girl in the world. To have parents like that, I swear.”
    â€œMrs. Maybelline?”
    No answer.
    â€œMrs. Maybelline!”
    â€œHuh? What? Yes?”
    â€œAre there . . . are there things out there . . .” She nodded ahead. “Are there things that can change almost everything there is about a person? Something