Once Upon a Toad Read Online Free PDF Page B

they danced their way around our table. On every seventh beat they’d pause, lean toward me, and inhale—then simultaneously hold their noses.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” asked Rajit, mystified.
    Boys can be really dense sometimes.
    Rani shot me a sympathetic glance. “Ignore them,” she whispered.
    How could I? Anger welled up in me and I stood up, ready to have it out with Olivia, but just then the Tappers swung into a big Broadway finish. My stepsister and her friends ended their number down on one knee in a semicircle around me, one hand flung into the air and one hand pointing toward me as Olivia shouted, “Heeeeeeeeeere’s … CATBOX!”
    I stood there, frozen, as the cafeteria exploded with laughter.
    The day couldn’t end fast enough after that.
    â€œCat?” said Iz when I walked in the front door after school with a face like thunder. “What are you doing home so early? I thought you had Hawkwinds practice.”
    I didn’t answer, just ran upstairs. I didn’t stop until I got to the attic. It was the only place in the house I could think of where I could go to be alone, and right now I didn’t want to talk to anyone ever again.
    It was cold up there, and I was grateful for the fleece lining on my rain jacket. Zipping it all the way to the top, I looked around the dimly lit space, spotted an old trunk in the far corner, and dragged it over to the window that overlooked the front yard. I slumped down on it and gave in to the tears that had threatened to overflow on the long bus ride home. Catbox . Olivia’s new nickname for me had gone around school like wildfire. I’d never felt so humiliated in my entire life. The snickering, the whispers—people sidling up to me in the halls and sniffing me. I’d never live it down.
    There was no way I was going back.
    I stared down at the silver ring on my finger. The aquamarines shone softly in the late-afternoon light that slanted through the window. What a joke, I thought bitterly. The words seemed to mock me. They should really read STEPSISTERS ARE NEVER FRIENDS.
    Angrily, I fished my cell phone out of my backpack and punched in my father’s number. My call went right to his voice mail, as I knew it would.
    â€œDad?” I said, my voice cracking. “I need to talk to you as soon as possible. Please call me.”
    He wouldn’t, though. Not before Sunday night. He’d warned us when he left that he’d be out of cell phone range all weekend.
    I heard footsteps on the stairs, then a soft knock on the attic door. “Cat?”
    It was Iz.
    â€œGo away,” I said, not caring if I sounded surly.
    The door opened a crack. “Honey? What’s wrong?”
    I shook my head miserably. I didn’t want to talk about it.
    My stepmother crossed the dusty room and sat down on the trunk beside me. I could hear the sound of the TV downstairs, where Geoffrey was watching Robo Rooster, his favorite cartoon. Olivia was still at school. She’d stayed to practice for the talent show, then the Hawk Creek Tappers were all supposed to go to Piper Philbin’s for a sleepover. I could only imagine how they were congratulating themselves on their little triumph.
    Iz didn’t say a word; she just put her arm around my shoulders and waited. Some people have a gift for kindness.My stepmother was one of those people, and before long my defenses crumbled.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” she asked again.
    â€œEverything!” I wailed, pouring out the whole story. I didn’t leave anything out, not even my own part in escalating things with the sabotaged diorama.
    â€œOh my,” said Iz faintly when I was done. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close. “I’m so sorry, Cat. I should have been more tuned in to what was going on between you two. I’ve been distracted with work, and I guess I just wanted so much for things to be perfect that I didn’t see