Dare to Be Different Read Free Page A

about her weight, silently reached over to grab Macy’s pepperoni.
    “Hey!” Macy smacked her hand away. “What are you doing?”
    “Well, you’re not going to eat them.”
    “No, but I’d rather not have it shoved in my face that you can eat anything you want and never gain weight!” Macy whined.
    “My mom gets so mad when I talk about dieting or watching what I’m eating,” Lindsay said. “She thinks we’re too young to worry about it and that we should just enjoy being kids.”
    “No one wants to get fat,” Kelly snorted. “And we aren’t kids, but we aren’t grown-ups yet either, so I’m not going to worry about it just yet.”
    “I agree that no one wants to be fat,” Lindsay countered, “but we should be careful and think about what we eat because it’s healthier, not so we can be skinny.”
    “Easy for you to say,” Macy grumbled.
    “I’m not skinny at all,” Lindsay said defensively.
    “No, not skinny, but you’re not fat either. You’re perfect.”
    “Oh, I don’t feel perfect. I don’t think anyone does,” Lindsay explained. “I just think we should be able to relax about things a little more. There’s too much pressure to be what other people want us to be. As long as we’re happy about who we are inside, that should be enough for people to be friends with us, right?”
    “It’s not like it’s something you have to choose between, Linds. I mean, we can be nice and skinny at the same time, right?” Sam was confused.
    “Of course you can. I’m just talking about priorities. I don’t want to be the kind of person who looks at someone’s outside appearance and judges them on whether they’re skinny enough or not.”
    “True,” Sam agreed. “But unfortunately, not everyone feels that way. And for that reason, I’ll stick to my salad and skip the french fries when we go out to eat.”
    “Yeah, and if you don’t mind,” Macy replied, still irritated, “I’ll pick off my pepperoni if I want to.”
    “Okay, okay, okay.” Lindsay gave in, laughing. “I was just trying to give us a new outlook. You guys are perfect in my book, no matter how you look.”

Chapter 3
SLEEPOVER PARTY
    “Mom, did you hear the doorbell ring?” Sam shouted excitedly, forgetting that her mom wasn’t even home. She’d been waiting for her friends for what seemed like hours. Running to the front door, Sam swung it wide open to find Kelly and Macy. The three girls squealed in excitement, and Kelly turned to wave at her mom as she backed out of the driveway with a little honk. They all turned to look down the street, anxious because they couldn’t get started without Lindsay. With Lindsay nowhere in sight, they dropped to the porch step to wait until she arrived.
    “She’s here! She’s here!” the girls yelled when Lindsay’s mom pulled into the driveway to drop her off for the night.
    “Hi, Mrs. Martin.” Sam waved a greeting.
    Mrs. Martin chuckled at the girls’ excitement. “You girls see each other almost every single day. How can you get so excited over just one more day?”
    “Oh, Mrs. Martin, this is different,” Sam assured her. “This is a special night. It’s our first sleepover as eighth graders.”
    “Well, all right.” Mrs. Martin laughed and rolled her eyes. “Just be sure that you eighth graders stay out of trouble.”
    “We will,” the girls promised.
    “Now come on!” Sam linked arms with Kelly, Kelly grabbed Lindsay’s arm, Lindsay grabbed Macy, and they all started to walk in together.
    Mrs. Martin honked and waved. Through her open window, she reminded Lindsay, “You remember what I said—be good.”
    The girls walked together into the house, squealing and giggling all the way.
    “What should we do first?” Kelly asked.
    “My mom bought all the stuff for us to make pizza, and she left instructions for us. She and Dad went to a friend’s house for dinner and won’t be home until later, so she thought that would befun for us,” Sam