Prank List Read Free Page A

baskets and half drown in a swampy lake. Thankfully, those days are over. Now Mom drops me off at Marisol’s house on her way to her office job so she doesn’t have to worry about me spending the whole day by myself.
    When I get to Marisol’s, her mom lets me in and then promptly goes back to her laptop. She’s a freelance writer, which means she spends most of the day in sweatpants, furiously typing away. It drives Marisol nuts that her mom is always home because she gets almost no privacy. I have to admit that the whole thing makes me a little jealous. Now that my mom and I are getting along better, I wish she were home more often.
    Ever since school ended, Marisol’s been painting a mural on her wall, so her bedroom is particularly chaotic when I go in. One end of the room is draped with sheets, and there are fans going in all the windows. She only has one corner of the mural done so far, but I can already tell it’s going to be amazing.
    â€œWhat’s that?” I say, peering at the newest sketch she’s added near her closet. One of the people looks hunched and bloody. “Wait! It’s a zombie, isn’t it?”
    She smiles. “How’d you guess?”
    â€œOh, I don’t know. Maybe because your boyfriend is obsessed with the undead?”
    Marisol’s eyes widen, and she rushes over to shut the door to her room. “We have to be careful about using that word, remember?” she whispers. “My mom is right downstairs.”
    â€œSorry!” I whisper back. Marisol’s mom thinks she should wait until she’s older to start dating, so her relationship with Andrew has been top secret. “Has she ever met him?”
    Marisol shakes her head. “Not yet. You know how weird she is about me even having friends who are guys.”
    â€œYou should have Andrew come over so your mom can see how nice he is. Then she might not care that you two are together.”
    â€œMaybe when he gets home from camp in a few weeks, I’ll give it a try.” She sighs and shoves a paintbrush in my hand. I’m not good at making actual art, but I’m not bad at filling in the parts that Marisol tells me to. “You’re so lucky that your mom is okay with you having a boyfriend.”
    I sigh right back as I start painting a patch of grass near the zombie’s feet. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
    â€œOf course he is! Even if you guys haven’t had ‘The Talk’ yet, that doesn’t mean anything. There isn’t anyone else you’re interested in, right?”
    For some bizarre reason, I think of Whit from my pastry class.
    â€œRachel?” Marisol’s eyebrows shoot up. “Is there another guy I don’t know about?” She gasps. “You’re not still stuck on Steve Mueller, are you?”
    â€œNo!” I might have been obsessed with Steve Mueller for most of eighth grade, but Evan is a million times better than him. Besides, after Steve dumped Briana Riley, he started dating Caitlin Schubert. They’re kind of perfect for each other, which makes me especially glad I’m finally over him. “It’s nothing…I mean, no one. I was just…”
    Unfortunately, Marisol can always see right through me. “Who is he?”
    I shake my head. “It’s really nothing. There’s this guy in my pastry class. He’s cute and everything, but I’m not interested in him at all. He’s too…” I can’t even find the words. Whit might be cute, but I didn’t get the friendliest vibe from him the other day. Besides, he’s not my type. Evan Riley is my type, plain and simple. “I guess meeting him got me thinking about what would happen if he asked me out on a date or something. I couldn’t say I had a boyfriend because I don’t, not technically.”
    Marisol laughs. “Look at you. Remember two months ago when you were convinced no guy