Kasey Screws Up the World Read Free Page A

one grinned, standing off to the side of the rest of his family. His spiked bangs fell into his eyes, casting half his face in shadow. He stood straight, upright, obviously trying to make himself as tall as possible to match his taller brother.
    Dad yanked the picture off the wall. “Nice work, girls. These boys are cute.”
    Lara’s eyes widened. “Dad! Put that down before someone sees you.”
    “Before someone sees this?” He waved the photo in the air.
    If we hadn’t been trapped on a boat with him, I would have filed for emancipation at that very moment.
    “We can blow it up poster size if you want to hang it above your bed,” said a raspy male voice that was definitely not Dad’s. “I mean, it’s not as sexy as the photos in all those teen mags, but I think we hold our own.”
    I spun around to see the taller of the two boys smirking as if the picture had come alive. My cheeks burned at five-alarm fire levels. The shorter/cuter one slouched behind him. The taller boy’s hair was scruffy, messy, almost as if he specifically styled it to resemble bed-head.
    “I don’t know him,” Lara said, her voice all flirty and high-pitched. She giggled as she pointed to Dad. “I swear, he’s just this random guy that’s been following us around.”
    I wasn’t sure if I admired her ability to transcend embarrassment or was jealous of her composure while my hands shook like I’d just come out of a really cold pool.
    Dad stepped forward and put his arm around the boys, their photograph still dangling from his fingertips. “You know—” Dad’s leg jerked forward, and I could tell by Lara’s stoic expression that she had just kicked him in the shin. “What! There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The girls thought you were cute.”
    My mouth flopped open and the shorter boy smiled at me. Not at Lara. Me . Maybe he needed his eyes checked.
    I wanted to jump off the ship. I grabbed Lara’s arm and pulled her down the hall. After a couple feet, she twisted around to wave at the boys, but they were already gone. “Didn’t you think they were cute?” she asked.
    “Yeah. They were. But Dad—”
    She leaned in conspiratorially. “I know. We’ll ditch him after dinner.”
    “I’m sure they’ll love me and my unavoidable silent treatment.” I lowered my voice, now paranoid they would pop up again unexpected while we were talking about them. The last time I tried to talk to a boy at a party Denise had dragged me to, I couldn’t remember my name…or how to make words come out of my mouth. Needless to say, when a guy thought you didn’t know how to use your lips for speaking, he generally wasn’t interested in using them for kissing either.
    “Just let me do the talking.” She must have seen my face because she chuckled and touched her fingers to my cheek. “Kidding. I’ll help you.”
    During dinner, Lara kept leaning in to whisper boy tips, something I’d been begging her to do all year, but she was always too busy with her extra dance rehearsals. “Keep a smile on your face. If you’re too shy, play it off like you’re someone with a lot of secrets. It’ll make you intriguing.” She spooned soup into her mouth while our parents gabbed about something boring. “Oh, and I know Dad’s jokes are cheesy…”
    We both glanced in his direction, then regretted it. Soup dribbled from his chin.
    “But you’re funny, Kase. Use it to your advantage. Be witty. Boys like that.”
    I was on information overload. Her advice seemed to contradict. Be quiet, yet witty. Smile, but remain mysterious.
    As I ate my dinner—and the other dinner I ordered just because I could—I couldn’t stop thinking about that boy who had noticed me. And I realized he had nailed her advice with his mysterious smile.

    After dinner, Lara and I made our way to the lounge for the Broadway-style review, a show boasting dance medleys similar to those Lara belonged in and I wished I did.
    “Look!” Lara squeezed my arm. “There