Embittered Ruby Read Free Page A

her chin in her hands.
    “Get off my bed.” Carmen swatted her little sister down and fitted the bottom sheet onto the bed.
    “Um. You might want to know, Kim says she gets the bottom.” Harper shrugged. “Just giving you a fair warning.”
    “Hah. I don’t think so. Kimberley’s in for a rude awakening if she thinks I’m climbing to the top bunk every day. Ain’t happening.”
    “Well, I’m going to leave you two to battle it out on your own.” Mom plugged her ears as she left the room.
    Yeah. Not going to be a battle. Dad always said to choose her fights carefully and select which hills she would die on. Possession of the bottom bunk was a war she’d fight to the death.
    Carmen marched into the family room where Kimberley was painting her nails bright blue. “First of all, your nails look moldy. Secondly, I get the bottom bunk.”
    Kimberley glanced up. “Fine.”
    Did she say fine? Wait. Had the whole thing been a setup? Had Kim sent Harper in there on a reverse-psychology mission?
    Harper giggled in the corner.
    Carmen’s hands balled into fists. They were lucky Mom was home. Little sisters were so annoying. One day…one day she’d be free of them.
    Mom scooted sideways down the hallway, her arms stacked with cardboard and trash from her construction project. She dumped it all into a pile by the front door. “Kim and Harper, I need you two to haul this stuff down to the Dumpster.” She turned to Carmen. “I have a facial party tonight. So you’ll be in charge, of course.”
    Thanks for asking. Not like she had a life anyway. Don’t suppose it’s a paid gig? “Okay. Are you going to let them go to the Dumpster by themselves?”
    Mom looked confused. “They’re old enough to throw away the trash.”
    “You can’t let them run around here like they did at home. It’s just not safe, remember?” Hadn’t Mom heard her own lecture? “I’ll go with them.” Carmen shrugged on a sweater and grabbed an armful.
    Two trips down the back stairs, and they were finished. Carmen stomped back to her room without a word.
Don’t follow. Please don’t follow
. She had stuff to take care of and needed complete privacy. Once in her room, she pulled the door shut and locked it.
    No such luck. She sensed them on the other side of the door before she heard the knock. Why couldn’t she get even a moment to herself? “What do you want?”
    “I just wanted to say sorry for tricking you about the bed. And thanks for helping with the trash.” Kimberley spoke through the door. At least she didn’t ask to come in.
    “Me, too.” Harper giggled. “But it was funny.”
    Carmen opened the door a crack. “Thanks for the apologies. Now can I just have like fifteen minutes alone? Please?”
    “Okie doke.” Harper grabbed Kim’s hand and scurried away, pulling the door shut behind her.
    Finally. Carmen ran to her dresser and rummaged through the drawers then turned to the closet and dug through the three unpacked boxes of books. Not there. She pulled her purple nylon tennis bag from under her bed and plowed through the deodorant, granola bars, hairspray, and extra socks. Not there either. Where were they? She’d already missed two of her birth-control pills, and they were still nowhere to be found. In an entire year of taking them, these were the first ones she’d missed. If she found them, she’d just double up for two days—no problem.
    But if she couldn’t find them, then what would she do?
    Carmen rubbed her chin and turned in a circle, looking at everything in her room. Had she said something to Nate about where she put them? But she couldn’t ask him—then he’d know she’d missed some, and they were supposed to get together after tennis practice tomorrow. He had a special evening all planned while his parents were away, and then he intended to stay over with her at Dad’s. Carmen sure didn’t want to mess everything up.
    Where were those pills?
Think. Think
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Chapter 3
    E ggplant parmigiana
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