Unlocked Read Online Free PDF

what I’ve been saying.” Krissy nodded at a few of the other cheerleaders sitting around the table. “Too much giving in going on.”
    Six or seven of the girls struggled with an awkward silence for a few seconds, and then everyone giggled in Krissy’s direction. Krissy took a long sip of her Coke. “Okay, okay. So it takes one to know one.”
    “Anyway,” LaShante put her arm around Ella’s shoulders and raised her eyebrows at the other girls, “we have Ella to look up to. If she can resist giving into Jake Collins, maybe the rest of us can at least try.”
    More laughter, and Ella wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t a role model for the abstinence club. She just wasn’t ready, that’s all. She was glad Jake understood, and that the girls weren’t makingfun of her. Still, she was grateful when they changed the subject and started talking about Mr. Jensen’s history class. Ella used the diversion to take a bite of her salad.
    After a few minutes, Ella checked her iPhone, looking for text messages from Jake. Hmmm. None. She glanced in his direction, but he was busy with the guys. She had ten minutes till class started, and she needed to call her mom, tell her about winning the part. She was going to play Belle! How great was that? She clicked her manicured fingernails on the table a few times and gave the girls a quick smile. “Gotta call home. I’ll be right back.”
    She tossed her long blonde-streaked hair over her shoulder and walked quickly out of the lunch area, around the corner to where it was quieter. She pushed a few buttons and tapped the number for home. With every ring she felt her excitement drop off a little. “Come on, Mom … where are you?” She paced a few steps in one direction and then the other. “Pick up.”
    But the call went to voice mail, and Ella quickly tried her mother’s cell. This time her mom answered on the third ring.
    “Honey, I’m busy.” Her voice sounded sort of stiff. “Is it important?”
    “Well, yeah … I mean, wait … what are you doing?”
    “Uh …” The pause that followed felt forced. “Nothing really. Just getting a little work done.”
    “Work?” Suddenly Ella remembered. “Botox, you mean?” Ella sighed. “I thought you were waiting longer this time.”
    “The mirror changed my mind.” She must’ve been still in the chair, because her words sounded frozen, like she couldn’t move her mouth muscles at all. “Really, Ella? Can it wait?”
    What remained of her thrill left her heart as fast as the last days of summer. “Whatever.”
    “Thanks, honey.” Another woman’s voice sounded in the background. Her mom lowered hers to a whisper. “Gotta go.”
    Nice.
Ella stared at the phone and watched the call disappearfrom the screen. Something was wrong with her parents. Her dad’s team was still in the play-offs, but he sat the bench most games and his contract was up at the end of the year. When he was in town he stayed at the clubhouse most of the time, working out or whatever. Last time he was home Ella tried to find him so she could tell him about Jake, but he didn’t seem to hear her. He kept saying “What?” and “Who?” and apologizing for missing major parts of her story. She gave up before she got to the point.
    It didn’t matter. Ella’s parents were too into their own lives to care about much else. Her twin brothers were in seventh grade and playing fall baseball, busy with their friends and schedules. They passed Ella in the hall at night, barely aware she existed. The feeling was mutual.
    And her mom? Her mom was acting like a crazy person. Ella was a size 2, and lately her mom seemed almost smaller. Which didn’t look good. Like she was trying to be a teenager or something. Her hair was dyed super blonde and last week she actually got extensions. Her mother! They looked okay, but still … between that and all the tanning, and her addiction to Botox, she never really seemed like a mom. The only time she went out of