The Perfect Mistress Read Online Free PDF Page B

bracelet around her wrist. She loved the way that it sparkled in the light.
    Her father had given this to her this morning right before she left to catch the school bus. A Just Because gift. “Just because you’re so special,” he’d told her.
    Because she was older, she knew that her father didn’t give her gifts all the time just because he thought she was special. He did think that about her. But she knew that the reason was more that she’d kept his secrets. And the older she got, the more she understood.
    Besides her grandmother, Lauren had told no one her father’s secret over the past five years—she still had not said a word to Carly, her best friend. Or rather, make that her former best friend. They weren’t as close anymore because Carly didn’t like Lauren’s new friend, Tanya.
    â€œYou guys act like you share a special secret and it’s only for the two of you,” Carly had said just yesterday. She’d said it with an attitude, like she was sure that something was going on, but she couldn’t figure out what.
    If only Carly knew. Lauren and Tanya did share a special secret. They were sisters. Well, not real sisters who came from the same mother and father. But they were sisters in a special secret kind of way. Because Tanya’s mother was Miss Tammy, Lauren’s father’s girlfriend.
    It was actually Lauren who was responsible for her father meeting Miss Tammy. She and her dad were out eating pizza when she saw Tanya, who she knew attended her school. When Lauren had spoken to Tanya, Miss Tammy immediately began making googly eyes at her father, and before Lauren knew it, her father had given Lauren and Tanya money to go play at the arcade, while he and Miss Tammy sat and talked.
    Tanya was already thirteen, which made her extra supercool to Lauren because she couldn’t wait to be a teenager. And after that day at the pizza parlor, Tanya had started talking to Lauren every day at school.
    Hanging around Tanya was like having the sister that she always wanted. And Tanya told her what it was like to be a teenager. She used her pillow to show her how to kiss a boy, and she taught her how to paint her nails and style her hair in all the hippest styles. She even helped Lauren create a Slam Book, which was a notebook that Lauren passed around school for all her classmates to answer various questions. It had taken Lauren’s cool factor to a whole other level.
    Lauren talked about her friend Tanya so much that her mother began to ask questions.
    â€œDoes she go to your school?”
    Lauren wasn’t quite sure how she should handle that. Should she tell her mother the truth? Because if she did, what if her mother came to the school?
    When Lauren said no, her mother asked, “Where did you meet her?”
    â€œJust around.”
    When Lauren didn’t have any more to say, her mother insisted on meeting Tanya. “Invite her to come over one of these weekends,” her mother said. “I want to know all of your friends. And I’d like to meet her mother, too.”
    That request made Lauren’s stomach do flip-flops. But so far, every weekend, she had a different excuse as to why Tanya couldn’t come over.
    Lauren snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted Tanya crossing the cafeteria.
    â€œTanya!” she called out and waved. When Tanya ignored her, Lauren frowned and yelled out again, a little louder this time. “Tanya!”
    Tanya finally stopped. But when she glanced back at Lauren over her shoulder, she had a face full of attitude.
    â€œWhat?” Tanya snapped.
    Lauren lost her smile right away. What was going on? “Uh, I-I . . .” That response had caught her completely off guard.
    â€œCat got your tongue? You shouting my name all over the place.” Tanya marched over to where Lauren was sitting. “So what is it that you want?” Tanya’s hand went to her hip.
    It had