Switched Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Really?”
    Olivia
tried to ignore her. “The other thing you have to remember is that I’m the new
girl. So you can’t talk about anything I shouldn’t know. If you get stuck, just
ask about the latest ...the latest . . . whatever. ”
    Ivy
took a deep breath. “Really?”
    “ENOUGH!”
Olivia cried.
    Ivy
slouched back to her normal self. “My turn!” she sang, picking up her shiny
black purse and turning it upside down over the counter. A jumbled waterfall of
stuff clattered out: cosmetics, pens, chewing gum, scraps of paper, nail files,
pictures, paper clips. Ivy shook the bag. A full-size stapler crashed to the
counter. She shook it again. Out tumbled a small, black aerosol can, which Ivy
snatched up and displayed in the palm of her hand.
    “‘Pale
Beauty, the spray-on whitener,’” She caressed the can like a model on a TV
commercial. “‘For that extraspecial made-of-marble look!’”
    “You’re
kidding!” Olivia said. She grabbed the can and inspected the label.
    “Lots
of Goths use it,” Ivy explained, “especially if they’re not blessed with a
flawless white complexion like mine. Now close your eyes.”
    Olivia
did as she was told. The spray was cool and moist on her skin, but it dried
almost instantly. She glanced in the mirror. “I look like a clown!” she said.
    “Careful
what you say or I’ll take your eye out,” said Ivy, already leaning in with an
eyeliner pencil as fat as a Sharpie marker.
    Olivia
tried to hold still. She focused on a brown spot on the ceiling and asked, “So
what should I talk to your friends about?”
    “Excuse
me?” Ivy stopped mid upper-left lid. “You cannot talk to my friends. At all .
Charlotte Brown’s one thing. But Sophia Hewitt has been my best friend since we
were four years old. She’d be able to tell you weren’t me instantly .”
    Olivia
knew Ivy was right, but she was still disappointed. “I was sort of excited to
be all gloomy,” she said, pouting.
    “Sorry,”
Ivy said with genuine sympathy. “What about hiding out in the library? That’s
where I normally work on my articles for the paper.”
    “It
won’t be as fun as gabbing with Goths, but I guess it’ll have to do,” Olivia
conceded. “Luckily, I have an apple and some health chips to keep me company.”
    As Ivy
finished Olivia’s eyes, she said, “Let’s meet back here right after lunch and—”
    The
bell rang.
    “Oh,
my gosh!” Olivia squealed. “It’s time.You have to go!” She scooped up her
cosmetics, dumped them back in her pink purse, and handed it to Ivy. “I’ll
refill your bag once you’ve gone,” she added.
    Ivy
rested her hands on Olivia’s shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Don’t
smile too much and don’t speak,” she said, and Olivia felt her sister pressing
her down toward the ground. “And, whatever you do, please don’t bounce!”
    Olivia
nodded seriously. She hugged her sister for luck. Then Ivy plastered her face
in a smile and headed out the door, clutching Olivia’s purse.
    Olivia
did her best not to grin after her. After all, she was a Goth now.
    Ivy
pushed open the doors to the cafeteria, curling her toes so that Olivia’s
flip-flops wouldn’t fly off her feet.
    She
tried bouncing as she walked, but then she realized she wasn’t smiling. She
started smiling, but then she forgot to bounce.
    Ivy
caught a glimpse of Charlotte Brown and her minions already at their table, and
she ducked nervously into the food line.
    As the
line crept along, Ivy decided to try a hair flip. She thought of a mouse
running along the floor, just as Olivia said, and followed it out of the corner
of her eye. Her ponytail swung around smoothly. Then the mouse ran under
Charlotte Brown’s chair. Ivy imagined Charlotte jumping up and down, screaming
her head off.
    There.
That was better. Now it was suddenly easy to smile and bounce.
    “A
burger, please!” Ivy requested perkily when it was her turn.
    Her
full tray in hand, Ivy set her sights on