"Oh My Gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tera Lynn Childs)

Cesca gazes dreamily up at my cloud-painted ceiling, like sheтАЩs picturing frilly umbrella drinks and hot cabana boys. Her sigh is positively envious. Fine. She can take my seat on the flight to Athens tomorrow.

10



тАЬI donтАЩt know,тАЭ Nola says. тАЬA practically uninhabited Greek island with nothing on it but a private school and a tiny village? Suspicious, Phoebe.тАЭ

NolaтАФshort for Gra nola, if you can believe itтАФis our resident conspiracy theorist. Her parents are hippies. Not were hippies . . .

are hippies. As in they believe in free love, protest our schoolтАЩs non-vegetarian lunches, and think the Cubans, the Mafia, and the CIA all conspired to kill Kennedy.

тАЬSounds like that tiny island in the Caribbean where the navy was bombing goats.тАЭ She flops onto my bedтАФsending three furry pillows bouncing to the floorтАФand folds herself into a yoga position. тАЬOr maybe that was the island off the coast of California.тАЭ

тАЬEither way,тАЭтАФI snatch the pillows off the floor and stuff them into the nearest boxтАФтАЬtomorrow IтАЩm going to be on a plane flying halfway around the world to live with a guy I barely met and now IтАЩm supposed to call him Dad and pretend like weтАЩre a big happy family.тАЭ

I realize IтАЩm shoving the pillows so hard into Box Four of Six that IтАЩm crushing the cardboard. Not smart, considering I donтАЩt have any more boxes. Better that I take my frustrations out somewhere else than end up with one less box of necessities.

I stalk over to the desk and carve 3 Furry PillowsтАФPink onto the contents list. ItтАЩs no fun having to account for everything IтАЩm packing. Not when I can picture grimy customs officers pawing through my belongings to compare the list to the stuff in the box.

Cesca spins in my hot pink desk chair, her mind still on the turquoise Aegean fantasy. тАЬI wonder if itтАЩs near where they filmed Troy.

Do you know which part of the Aegean Snarfopoly is in?тАЭ

11



тАЬSerfopoula,тАЭ I correct, because Mom has drilled it into me. тАЬAnd I donтАЩt care how close it is to anything. ItтАЩs miles and miles away from here. A world away from you guys.тАЭ

My two best friends in the whole worldтАФsince the first day of kindergarten when Nola gave Cesca and me hemp friendship bracelets and Cesca taught me how to tie my shoes the cool way. WeтАЩve been inseparable for the last twelve years and now thereтАЩs going to be an entire ocean and most of two continents between us.

How can I make it through my senior year without them?

Okay, now IтАЩm close to tears. WeтАЩve been locked in my room all afternoon, packing the last of my possessions into the six boxes IтАЩm allowed to take. Six! Can you believe it? How am I supposed to con-dense a lifetime of living in the same house into just six boxes?

I understand leaving my furnitureтАФmy canopy bed, my dresser covered in bumper stickers, my antique desk with тАЬI luv JMтАЭ carved into the bottom drawer and then scratched outтАФbut six boxes will only hold about one-quarter of everything else. That means that for every one thing I put in a box, three get given to charity.

That makes a girl reevaluate her possessions.

The pink fur sticking out of Box Four catches my eye. I scowl at the offending pillows. Do I really want to waste space on pillows?

Stalking back to the box, I jerk them out and fling them into the charity pile.

тАЬAre you taking your curtains?тАЭ Cesca asks.

тАЬCrap!тАЭ I swear, IтАЩm going to forget something importantтАФlike those white gauzy panels covered with big, shiny sequins that reflect little dots of color all over my room when the sun hits them 12