Carson Bailey is not an easy girl to befriend. With her constantly changing attitude and confusing actions, Griffyn Rivers is in for the friendship of his life. It wan't always this way. After a summer away, Carson (Cara) comes back with new friends...
Mrs. Martello looks back at me with confusion, pursing her wrinkled lips. "Well, what in the world are you doing here, doll? Shouldn't you be in school, young one?"
"Yes," I simply reply, biting my lip.
Mrs. Martello narrows her eyes at me before breaking into another frail smile. "Oh, I will not snitch on you, dolly. How are your parents?"
My throat closes up at the question, reminding me once again of my parents' split. I'm reminded that no one really knows what happened and it's just all one big secret that I have to keep. I blink back the tears in my eyes and smile as best as I can. "They're... fine."
"That's good, dear, that's good." Mrs. Martello pats my arm, believing me instantly. Mr. Albert Martello just purses his lips and gives me a suspicious and pitying look. He knows something is up. Too bad he's not as easily convinced as his wife. That would make it much easier for me to hold up this charade of happiness.
"Yes, it is, Mrs. Martello. But I'm afraid I can't stay around any longer because my milk is getting warm." I point towards the milk in my cart and give her a smile. The milk was only taken out of the fridge a few aisles back and is still freezing cold, but she doesn't know that.
Mrs. Martello takes a step back into her husband and smiles. "Oh, well alright! Good seeing you, doll! Tell your parents that I would love to speak with them soon!"
"I will," I burst unevenly before turning around abruptly with my cart and hitailing it out of the aisle and to the front checkouts.
Whew, I think to myself, actually feeling the nervous sweat forming on my brow. That was a close one.
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I lug the last bags of groceries into the kitchen, practically waddling like a penguin because of the weight of all the bags hanging off my forearms. I set them all on the table, letting them slide off my arms. I wince and rub my arms, looking at the red lines the heavy bags left along them.
I sigh and start on unpacking, placing certain foods in the freezer, others in the fridge, and the rest in cabinets. When unpacking the last bag, I hear a loud sound coming from the living room. I frown and set the pop tart box back down on the counter, heading towards the living room.
I poke my head around the door way and see Carolina, Penelope, and Alesha slipping their shoes off and shutting the front door behind them. "What are you doing here?" I ask incredulously.
They all three look up and grin. Carolina says, "Well you can't just skip school without us! Friends are supposed to skip together!"
"What time is it?" I ask, still watching in slight shock as they make their way towards me.
"Like, noon I think. We took off during the lunch hour." Penelope says, chomping on her gum. She looks over me and widens her eyes at whatever she sees there. "Oh, pop tarts! Yum!" She bounds over to the box of pop tarts and starts on opening the box.
