The Hard Kind of Promise Read Online Free PDF

Sarah arrived at their palm tree and told her the news. "You're so lucky. You can see Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the movie studios, and—"
    "There isn't going to be time for that," Sarah said. "Not even time for Disneyland. Mr. Roche says all we're doing is singing. We don't even get to go to the beach."
    "Who'd want to go to the beach when you could see the Walk of Fame?"
    "What's that?"
    "In Hollywood, when you get to be famous, you get a star on the sidewalk with your name alongside it. My grandma says it's really fun to walk down the sidewalk and look for your favorite stars."
    "I don't think we're going to have time for that, either," Sarah said. "It's going to be singing all the time."
    "Do you have to take a bus?"
    "No. A plane. Lizzie and I are going to get a window seat and a middle seat and then take turns looking out."
    Immediately Sarah felt guilty. For no reason.
    "Lizzie Lowitz?" Marjorie pulled her lunch bag out of her backpack and sniffed it. "She seems nice."
    "She is nice. Really nice. In fact," Sarah said, her heart thumping, "I was thinking maybe we could all eat together sometime."
    Marjorie nodded. "Who does she eat with?"
    "Carly Breslow, I think." Sarah didn't know Carly very well. In third grade, she'd been the first person to get a glow-in-the-dark retainer. "You want to find them now?"
    "Sure," Marjorie said.
    It hurt Sarah's heart a little, how much she loved Marjorie, how Marjorie was always ready to be friendly to new people, how she didn't mind that Lizzie and Sarah had plans to sit together on the airplane. Sarah tried to imagine how it would make her feel if Marjorie had another friend. She thought she might be jealous. She would still want Marjorie to like her best.
    Slowly they toured the schoolyard, passing all the kids clumped together in their own groups. Some kids were eating; others were playing basketball. The sun
was exactly overhead. In the distance, the hills were brown and gray, like old wood you found at the beach. It wasn't the way it was in books, where the leaves turned red and orange and gold. A lot of trees in California stayed green all year. Still, you knew it was fall. The air smelled warm and smoky. All the classrooms had pumpkins on the doors.
    It was hard to find anyone in particular, but suddenly Sarah saw them. Lizzie and Carly were sitting on the ground in front of Mr. Mayberry's room, with their backs against the building right next to the classroom door.
    "There they are," she said.
    At the same moment, Lizzie looked their way.
    "Hey, Sarah!" she said.
    It made Sarah brave. She walked closer.
    "Can we sit with you guys?" she asked.
    In middle school, Sarah knew, you couldn't just sit wherever you wanted. You had to ask.
    "Sure," Lizzie said.
    Carly said nothing, but she was eyeing Marjorie with caution.
    Sarah sat across from them on the walkway. Marjorie lowered herself next to Sarah but didn't actually sit.
    "Hey, Carly," Sarah said.
    "Hey." Carly was now looking at Marjorie with frank distaste. Sarah knew her mom would say to introduce them, but that would have been weird. She kept her mouth shut and, in her head, she ordered Marjorie to sit down like a normal person.
    "Why are you guys over here?" Lizzie asked.
    "We just thought it would be fun," Sarah said. "It's boring on our bench."
    Lizzie nodded happily. "We've been trying to figure out the cutest guy in French," she said. She added, "All the really cute guys take Spanish."
    "I take Spanish," Sarah said. "No one is cute at all."
    Except Robert Whitchurch, she thought, but didn't say. Robert was also in chorus. Sarah wasn't ready for Lizzie to know that she thought he was cute.
    "I think Cameron Cruz is cute, except for his tight pants," Lizzie said. "But Carly says Everett diCreszenza is cuter."
    "Yeah, because he's so tall," Sarah said, smiling at Carly, not wanting her to think that just by sitting with them, she was trying to steal Lizzie away from her.
    But Carly was still staring at Marjorie,