My Cousin's Keeper Read Free Page B

girl replied quietly. “It’s nearly the happiest day of my life.”
    I found one, but not both, of my sister’s lost sweaters, and I was about to go back out to the playground to find Gina when Mrs. Reilly called to me. “Kieran Beck, just the person. This is Julia, and she’ll be joining Miss McLennan’s class. Can you take her outside and show her where her classroom is?”
    The girl’s good-bye to her mom was short and strange. “See you.”
    Her mom’s arms were folded, and she had not once taken off her sunglasses. “Yes,” she replied in a tight voice, before walking straight outside and down the path that led to the street.
    â€œThis way,” I said to the new girl, shaking off my surprise at how things could be for other kids and their parents. “I’ll show you where you can leave your bag. The bell won’t go off until five to nine. I’m in Mr. Garcia’s class. Your room is right next to ours —” I stopped then, thinking that I might sound too weirdly friendly.
    We walked onto the playground before she spoke. “Kieran,” she said. “So
you’re
Kieran.”
    â€œYes,” I replied, shrugging it off, “that’s me.”
    â€œKieran,” she repeated, more to herself than to me.
    I let myself look at her properly. The new girl was tall and wore jeans, a checked shirt, and riding boots instead of a school uniform. Her blond hair was unusual, long in the front and cut into a short upward curve in the back. When she turned and I could see her pale-blue eyes clearly, it was as though she had traveled from somewhere foreign and quite different from our town and this school. Afterward, as we lined up for morning class, she seemed to be looking at each of us in turn. It was not in the worried way that some new kids did, but with a confidence I found fascinating and different. If she heard Mason and Lucas talking their usual silly stuff, she took no notice. It was the same with the girls in the lines close to mine. I could see them staring at the new girl and whispering comments to one another. Someone laughed loudly. I thought that Julia seemed to already know us all — the boys who could bully anyone who seemed the tiniest bit different, the girls whose friendships could turn mean and unpredictable, and the rest of us who filled the classrooms and playground.
    I wondered how long it would take for the competition to start, where everyone wanted to be her new best friend.
    But there was someone else new. They had also been put into Miss McLennan’s class, so at morning assembly time two unfamiliar kids were standing just a little in front of our class. The comments, whispering, and laughter began again.
    â€œHey, there’s another new girl.”
    â€œNo, it’s not; it’s a boy.”
    â€œIt’s a girl, idiot. She’s got a braid.”
    â€œWell, how come she’s wearing a boy’s top?”
    I couldn’t tell right away, either. The new kid stood beside Julia and stared straight ahead. I could see then that kids were inching away from this other new person, making faces and maybe saying the sorts of things Mason, Lucas, and the other boys in my class were saying.
    â€œBut she’s got a braid.”
    â€œLike in the fairy tale.
Rapunzel
.”
    â€œHey, Rapunzel! Let down your hair.”
    â€œLet me kiss you.”
    â€œHey, is it a girl or a boy?”
    â€œA girl, stupid. Look at the hair.”
    â€œWhat about that jacket, though? Doesn’t look very girly.”
    â€œDare you to go and ask her if she’s a girl.”
    â€œDare you to go grab his nuts. We’ll know if it’s a boy, then!”
    â€œLucas, that’s disgusting!”
    I honestly still couldn’t tell. This other new kid wore fleece track pants and a blue jacket with a motorcycle graphic on the back. They had mousy-blond hair, the same as mine, except theirs