Picture Perfect #5 Read Free Page B

sighed.
    â€œHmm.” Mari hesitated for a moment, thinking. “I’ve got it!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYour mom will say you can’t come because you have to do all that stuff, right? So we just have to get rid of all the stuff!” Mari cried.
    Gracie snorted. “Get rid of it how?”
    â€œI don’t know. But we’ll figure it out, because it’s worth it. Right?”
    â€œRight,” Gracie agreed. “Tomorrow morning at school, we’ll start planning.”
    One of Gracie’s favorite things about Mari was that she thought anything was possible. Maybe Gracie couldn’t change her mother’s mind on her own, but with the help of her best friend, she knew they could do anything.

CHAPTER 3
    â€œFirst thing you should do is call your gram,” Mari said the next day as she and Gracie walked from homeroom to their social studies class. “I was thinking about it all night long, and Gram is your best chance at getting out of the weekend stuff.”
    â€œYou’re a genius!” Gracie cried. “Gram and Pops are always saying I should live life to the fullest. So if I just explain to Gram that what I really, really want is to go skiing with you, she’ll try to help me do it.”
    â€œExactly. So that will get you out of going to your grandparents’ house, and I bet Gram will help you convince your mom that you don’t have to do the rest of the stuff either.”
    â€œIt’s hard to convince anyone that I shouldn’t go volunteer at the soup kitchen,” Gracie said. “That’s important. Isn’t it selfish to try to get out of that?”
    â€œWell . . . yes,” Mari said. “But you go every single weekend. I don’t know if it’s selfish to have one little weekend for yourself.”
    â€œMaybe I can go during the week,” Gracie said thoughtfully. “But my mom has us on such a tight schedule then too. There’s no time to get there.”
    â€œI bet we could arrange for my little brother’s Cub Scout troop to do a volunteer activity there,” Mari said. “If there’s a whole troop full of volunteers, the soup kitchen won’t need their normal helpers. It’s not big enough for so many people.”
    â€œThat’s true,” Gracie agreed, stifling a smile. As usual, Mari was so busy making her brilliant plan that she didn’t notice the problem it would cause. “But I bet your parents were planning on taking Jimmy with you on the ski trip.”
    â€œOh! I didn’t even think of that.” Mari burst out laughing. “I guess arranging an activity for my brother that weekend isn’t the best plan.”
    â€œIt’s a good idea, though,” Gracie said. “Whenever there’s a troop or a school group at the soup kitchen, they tell us not to come that week.”
    â€œSo how can we arrange for a group to go there on Presidents’ Day weekend?” Mari asked. “Do we know any Girl Scouts?”
    â€œYes! Mia Oakley from band,” Gracie said. Mia played clarinet too, so they knew her pretty well. “Let’s suggest it to her at practice today.”
    â€œOkay, so if she gets her troop to do it, and if your gram and pops are willing to help you, that takes care of Saturday.” Mari held up her hand for a high five. “We’re halfway there!”
    Gracie slapped her hand, but she didn’t feel quite as confident as Mari did. “I don’t think I’ll ever convince Mom that the family hike should be canceled. Unless you can figure out how to guarantee a ginormous blizzard on Sunday? Even my parents wouldn’t hike in that.”
    â€œI’ll give it a try,” Mari said with a grin. They stopped talking as they went into Social Studies. Their teacher, Mr. Ferrone, had told them back in the second week of school that they could only sit next to each other if they promised to cut the