Gamer Girl Read Free Page B

day?" she asked, her cheerful expression
    21
    not completely
masking her tired eyes. Then she looked down at the frolicking
unicorns on my chest. "That's a new look for you." She
smirked.
    I opened my
mouth to tell her about the hell that was my day, then I saw Grandma
lurking in the hallway behind her. "Fine," I muttered
instead. "I've got homework." I pushed past her and headed
up to my room.
    "Fine?"
Mom called after me. "That's all? What did you think of your
teachers? Were the kids nice? Did you make any new friends?"
    Anger burned in
my gut at her questions. I knew she had no idea, but I couldn't help
blaming her for asking. After all, she was the one who forced me to
attend this miserable school to begin with. To leave my friends
behind.
    "Oh,
sure," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Tons of
friends. In fact, I'm a shoo-in for homecoming."
    "Maddy,
come back here and talk to me!" Mom called after me.
    I ignored her,
taking the steps two at a time until I reached the top landing and
ran to my room. I flopped on my bed and grabbed my cell out of my
purse and dialed Caitlin.
    "Hello?"
my friend answered a moment later, sounding out of breath and giggly.
    "Hey,
Cait," I said.
    "Mads!"
she cried. "How's it going? Oh, wait--hang on. ..." I could
hear her talking in the background. "Okay, sorry," she
said. "How did your first day go?"
    "Oh, my
God, it was horrible!" I moaned. "First, Grandma
    22
    made me wear
this shirt that had unicorns on it, and then--"
    "Sorry,
Mads, hang on one more time." More muffled conversation and
giggles. Then she came back on the line. "Sorry. Me and Ashley
are at J.P. Licks and we're trying to figure out ice-cream flavors."
    A pang of
loneliness shot through me. I should have been there with them.
Eating ice cream and giggling. Probably flirting with Jon, that guy
behind the counter we all had crushes on. But no! I was stuck in the
middle of nowhere in a house that was more like a museum, after the
worst day of school in my entire life.
    "It's
okay," I replied. A total lie. "I'll wait."
    "Actually,
can I just call you back later?" Caitlin asked. "Like,
tonight or something? Or, um, tomorrow morning?"
    "Sure,"
I said glumly.
    "Cool.
Later, gator." And with that, the phone disconnected, before I
even had a chance to say good-bye. And somehow I knew in my heart
she'd forget to call me back later. I was out of Boston. Out of their
lives. Forgotten already.
    I was totally
and utterly alone.
    A knock sounded
on my door. I tried to ignore it, but Mom was never much for
respecting space. She barged in and sat down on the side of my bed,
studying me with pitying eyes. I rolled over to face the wall so she
couldn't see I'd been crying.
    "Bad first
day?" she asked, sympathetically.
    "Why do
you care?"
    "Maddy, of
course I care. Don't be like that."
    23
    "If you
cared, you wouldn't have dragged us here to the middle of nowhere and
let Grandma humiliate me." I quickly related what had
transpired.
    Mom let out a
sigh. "I'm sorry about that, Maddy," she said, reaching
over to touch me on the shoulder. I jerked away. "I didn't
realize she'd take it upon herself to dress you and bring you to
school. But she does mean well."
    "Um,
great. That makes me feel so much better."
    "She's old
and she doesn't understand. But she has a good heart."
    I rolled over
to face her. "Mom, she embarrassed me in front of the whole
school and I wore embroidered unicorns all day!"
    Mom sighed
again. "I'll have a talk with her," she said. "It
won't happen again, I promise."
    "Don't you
see? It's too late! The damage is done."
    "Don't
overreact. I'm sure it couldn't have been that bad."
    "You
weren't there. You don't know."
    "What do
you want me to do, Maddy?" Mom asked, defensiveness creeping
into her voice.
    That was easy.
"Don't make me go back there. Let me go to my old school."
    Mom shook her
head. "That's not possible."
    Please. It
wasn't possible only because she was too selfish. Because she decided
to take off on my dad