Sophie Hartley and the Facts of Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

nights of it in a row. I find I have a low tolerance for it.”
    â€œAnd I don’t?” The arctic winds in their mother’s voice wafted over the table. Judging from the look on her face, that wasn’t a good thing for Mr. Hartley to have said. “Do you think I like it, having to listen to this all the time,” Mrs. Hartley said to him, “while you’re blissfully alone on the road somewhere?”
    â€œBlissfully alone”? Wasn’t that insulting to the children?
    â€œAlone in the cab of my truck or in a motel with paper-thin walls, you mean?” said Mr. Hartley. “I’d hardly call that ‘blissful.’”
    â€œAt least you’re alone.”
    That was
definitely
insulting to the children. Sophie looked at Nora and Thad for confirmation, but they kept their heads down.
    â€œIt wasn’t so bad when they were younger,” Mrs. Hartley went on, as if “they” weren’t sitting there listening. “I could send them up to their rooms. Now look at them.”
    Her parents actually turned and looked at them. Sophie was shocked. They didn’t look at John and Maura, only at Sophie and Nora and Thad. One at a time, too. Long, pointed looks that were decidedly unfriendly.
    It was Mr. Hartley who finally broke the silence. “I guess we have to keep them,” he said.
    â€œI suppose so,” Mrs. Hartley said with a sigh. “Who else would take them?”
    â€œMom!” Sophie said. “That’s not very nice!”
    â€œIs this what they refer to as a ‘warm family moment’?” said Nora.
    â€œI think we should
all
take yoga,” Sophie said indignantly. “Then maybe
no one
would say every flammatory thing that came into their head.”
    â€œThat’s
in
flammatory, Soph,” said Thad.
    â€œI’m not being inflammatory,” said Mrs. Hartley. “I’m making an observation.”
    â€œYeah, a mean one,” said Sophie.
    The phone rang as they were clearing the table. Nora raced to get it. “Sophie!” she yelled. “It’s for you!”
    Sophie picked up the phone in the family room and said, “Hello?”
    â€œDestiny called me,” Alice said breathlessly.
    â€œShe did?” said Sophie. “What did she want?”
    There was a short silence. Then Alice said, “She said she really, really liked the tie-dyed belt I wore last week.”
    â€œâ€˜Really,
really
’?” Sophie repeated. “So, why’s Destiny being so nice all of a sudden?”
    â€œI don’t know. She also said . . . well . . . don’t get mad, Sophie, but she said she was scared about the movie but she was excited, too,” Alice said. “She wanted to know if I wanted to come to her meeting.”
    â€œDestiny’s holding a meeting?” Sophie said. “What for?”
    â€œOne of her friends is going to tell her what’s in the movie and Destiny’s going to tell us.” Alice sounded miserable.
    â€œThat’s ridiculous. You know what she’s trying to do, don’t you?”
    Nora came into the room and frowned when she saw Sophie was still on the phone. “Sophie . . .” she hissed furiously. “Get off! I’m expecting a call.”
    For once, Sophie was glad to do what Nora told her.
    â€œI’ve got to go,” she said to Alice. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    The nerve of Destiny,
Sophie fumed as she went up to her room. Holding a meeting about the movie. What an idiot. Sophie wished they’d never heard about the movie and that there was no such thing as P-U-berty.   
    â€œPatsy, get off!” she said grouchily to her kitten. She lifted Patsy off the pile of clean clothes her mother had left at the foot of Sophie’s bed and dropped her onto the rug. Then Sophie immediately felt remorseful and picked her up again.
    â€œI don’t know why