Girl Power Read Free

peanut brittle. She didn’t know if Amy was Chinese or Japanese or what, but she thought she had the most beautiful skin she’d ever seen. It looked as smooth as a porcelain doll. And her shiny black hair was cut as straight as a knife’s edge right across her forehead. The sides were just as even, as if each hair had been carefully measured and cut to perfection.
    Across the table from her, Carlie set down her empty milk glass and leaned forward. “We need to do something about this gang,” she said in a hushed tone. “Should we tell our parents about them, report them to the authorities, or what?”
    No one said anything, and Emily felt certain that
she
didn’t want to be the one to tell on them or report them. Mostly, she just wanted to forget the whole stupid thing. But what if Carlie was a tattletale kind of girl? She studied Carlie’s neat white blouse with pink flowers embroideredon the collar. It looked as if someone had just ironed it. Her long, thick curls fell over her shoulders, almost like a cape. Yes, thought Emily, she might be the type to tattle.
    “No, we don’t want to tell,” stated Morgan, glancing over to where Grandma had settled back into the living room, intently watching the
Oprah
show on TV. To Emily’s relief, Carlie nodded in agreement and Morgan continued. “Tattling will just get them really mad at us. And then they might try and get revenge. We don’t need that.”
    “Maybe not,” said Amy, “but it’s not fair that we can’t walk down the street without being
accosted
.” Emily wondered if Amy was trying to impress them with her big vocabulary.
    “That’s right,” said Carlie, “we shouldn’t worry about being safe in our own neighborhood. That’s just wrong.”
    “Maybe we should try walking to and from school together,” suggested Morgan. “You know what they say, ‘There’s safety in numbers.’”
    “Yeah,” said Carlie. “That’s a great idea!”
    “We could even have some sort of a battle plan,” continued Morgan. “I mean, in case the thugs still come after us. We could stand up to them and tell them that we won’t take it anymore. We could tell them to go get a life!” She pounded the table for emphasis, and everyone nodded in what appeared to be agreement. Including Emily. She liked this plan for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it wouldallow her to continue to hang with these girls. Besides that, she realized she’d be walking to school now that her bike was messed up.
    “Well, I have to go home now,” announced Amy. “But if we’re really going to do this thing—I mean, if we’re going to walk to school together—I suggest that we meet at 7:45 at the park entrance.”
    “Ugh,” groaned Morgan. “Why do you go to school so early?”
    “I happen to
like
being early.” Amy frowned at her.
    “Man, I never leave before eight,” said Morgan.
    “And I don’t usually walk to school,” admitted Carlie. “Tia Maria drops me off on her way to work. But I can walk with you guys if that’d help.”
    “Yeah,” said Morgan. “We need to stick together. Four girls will look a lot stronger than just three.” She turned back to Amy. “Okay, how about a compromise? How about if we leave at
five
‘til eight?”
    “Seven fifty,” said Amy in a stubborn voice. Morgan scowled, but then she agreed. So it seemed to be settled. But then Amy and Carlie said good-bye and left, and suddenly Emily felt even more uncomfortable. Was she supposed to go home now too? She knew she could sit on the little front porch and wait for Mom and Adam to get home. Or maybe she could try to break in through a window …
    “When does your family usually get home?” asked Morgan, as if reading Emily’s thoughts.
    “It’s just my mom and brother,” she explained. “And they don’t get home until around six, but I could go wait on the porch—”
    “No, it’s okay. I mean, you can stay here as long as you like. No problem.”
    “Thanks,” said Emily.