Double Trouble Read Free Page B

for the winter by now. But my dad keeps saying they’ll wait until it gets cold.”
    â€œHey, there’s your sister, Cassie,” one of the minions said. “Maybe we should go talk to her about your party.”
    â€œNo,” I said quickly. I could only imagine how Cait would react to my friends bombarding her with their ideas. “I just remembered my mom wants us home early today. But don’t worry, I’ll talk to her. See you!”
    I rushed off toward Caitlyn, who was waiting for me near the flagpole. I’d barely seen her all day. Aura Middle School was so small that the entire sixth grade was divided into only two sections—green and gold, named after the school colors. Megan, Emily, Abby, and I were in the gold section. So was Brayden. Cait was in green with her dorky friends,along with Lavender and the other three B Boys.
    â€œHi,” I said when I reached my sister. “Where’s the nerd patrol?”
    She frowned slightly. “If you mean Liam and Bianca, they already left.”
    Oops. So much for starting our birthday party discussion on the right foot. Still, with only a little over a week to make plans, I couldn’t wait for a better moment. Besides, Cait wasn’t the type to hold a grudge.
    â€œI’ve been thinking about our birthday,” I said as we started walking.
    She brightened. “Me, too. Liam told me there’s a new minigolf place in Six Oaks. Should we go there? We could each invite a few friends, maybe get pizza after.”
    â€œMinigolf and pizza?” I shrugged. “That’d be perfect if we were turning eight, not twelve. We only have one more year until we’re officially teenagers, right? It’s time to stop with the baby parties and do something fun. Maybe at night, with dancing. My friends are totally willing to help us plan it.”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Caitlyn said. “Mom isn’t going to let us have some teenagery dance party. I mean, have you met her?”
    I frowned. “She owes us one. She made us move here, remember? I’m sure she’ll be reasonable.”
    Cait was starting to get a stubborn expression that I didn’t like. “Well, I don’t want that kind of party,” she said. “We’re not teenagers yet. Why rush it?”
    I rolled my eyes. Why hadn’t I predicted this? Oh, wait—I had. Caitlyn and I used to have a ton in common, but over the past few years she’d turned into someone I barely recognized. Even those stupid visions we’d both started having showed how different we’ve become—all of Cait’s seemed to show good stuff happening to people, while mine showed bad or horrible or unpleasant stuff. Totally unfair, right?
    â€œWhatever,” I said. “It’s way too hot to argue about it. We’ll deal with it later.”
    â€œFine,” she replied.
    We trudged the rest of the way home in silence. As she opened the front door, Caitlyn glanced at me.
    â€œIt’s not that I don’t want to have a party,” she said. “I just think we need to talk about the details a little more.”
    â€œOkay.” This was a little more promising. I could work with this. “Maybe we can compromise. The first thing is to figure out where to have the party.” My eyes swept the place as I stepped inside. The house was so small that I could hear the squeak of the shower turning off down the hall. “Definitely not here.”
    â€œWhy not?” Cait looked around, too. “It’s not like we’re inviting the whole school, right? I’m okay with keeping the guest list small.”
    Just then Mom emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, one towel wrapped around her body and another around her head. “What are you girls talking about?” she asked.
    â€œOur birthday,” Cait said.
    â€œComing up next weekend, or did you forget?” I added, “That