A & L Do Summer Read Free Page A

when she was nine. They had joint custody, but she mostly lived with her mother until her mom married a widowed guy with twin eleven-year-old boys. After a few months of coping with her prepubescent stepbrothers, Laurel was losing it. So when her dad moved here to be branch manager of the First Bank of Iowa, Laurel held her nose and jumped in. Cottonwood Creek lacks the excitement of Chicago, but her dad is way more easygoing than my parents. And he hires people to clean and mow the lawn. Compared to me, she has it easy.
    I slide an extra pillow under my head. “Sorry. Mom had Dad and me working our butts off all weekend getting ready for Manny’s graduation party. This is the first chance I’ve had to call you.”
    â€œYour parents are really into the whole child labor thing. Did you at least earn enough to buy a new outfit?”
    â€œAlmost.” Laurel gets $50 a week from her dad for simply existing. I’m too embarrassed to admit that Mom and Dad don’t believe in paying for chores. “But I’ll make more when I work at the Sub Stop this summer.”
    â€œMaybe I’ll get a summer job, too. If I don’t, I’ll drop dead of boredom.”
    â€œI’m just glad you’re not spending the summer with your mom in Chicago.” My spirits perk up. At least I won’t have to endure another deadly boring Cottonwood Creek summer by myself.
    â€œTen weeks with the twin terrors? God, no!” There’s a pause so long I wonder if Laurel has fainted from horror. “Sorry, I had to plug my iPod into the charger,” she says. “This is my first summer in Cottonwood Creek and our last summer in high school. We’re going to soar from the depths of anonymity to the peak of notoriety. By September, Aspen Parks and Laurel Piedmont will own this town.”
    I’m too tired to think of soaring anywhere. “But stashing pigs in the school building is out, right? Because aside from the complications I mentioned, that stunt would put us on the fast track to expulsion.”
    â€œDefinitely out. Not classy enough for us.”
    Laurel actually took my advice!
    â€œWe need something with more flash,” she continues, “like painting our names across the water tower in the school colors. You can be navy and I’ll be gold. See, I was thinking—”
    â€œGood-bye, Laurel. See you at school tomorrow.”
    I snap my phone shut and lie back on my pillows. Where does Laurel get her ideas?

three
    THE BABY DRAGON I FOUND ON THE PATH IS CUPPED IN MY palm. Her blue-green scales feel cool and moist, but flames shoot from her ruby eyes. Her heart vibrates with terror, and nothing I say calms her. Faster and faster her heart quivers until I fear it’s going to fly from her chest. “Shush,” I whisper. “It’s okay. Sh—”
    Two strong arms hold me down and a long, wet tongue slides into my open mouth. My assailant’s breath smells of rotted meat; his jaw is rough with stubble. Choking and sputtering, I push him away. But there’s no escape. He pins me down and slurps my neck.
    â€œCarmine! What the—!” I roll onto my side and shield my face with my arms. Undaunted, Carmine sticks his nose into my ear and squirts it full of dog snot.
    â€œStop it!” I vault out of bed, rubbing my slimy ear. My alarm clock shows 12:17. “It’s the middle of the freaking night!”
    But Carmine has moved on to other interests. Now he’s nosing something beside my pillow. So help me, if he dragged another mangled chipmunk through the dog door …
    I edge away from the bed in case I need to run for it. The whatever-it-is gleams with reflected moonlight, which is a good sign. Dead animals are rarely reflective.
    The object vibrates, and Carmine whines. I snatch it up and check the caller ID. My heart is still racing from being jolted from sleep by French kisses laced with dog food. “It’s after