Spiraling Read Free

blue. The landscaping was even similar—a tree near the middle of the yard, hedges lining the walk or in front of the porch railing. Some people had put in flowerbeds, others a neat rock garden to break up the monotony, but it was still basically the same house over and over down both sides of the street.
    Unlocking the door, I walked inside and set my bag on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. The light on the answering machine in the kitchen flashed, but I didn’t touch it. I flipped through the Caller ID to see if anyone had called for me in the half-hour since school. Most of the calls showed up as private numbers and the ones that didn’t weren’t any I recognized. I set the Caller ID back where it belonged on the counter next to the charger for the cordless phone and grabbed the phone book out of the drawer. Flipping through the white pages, I stopped at the R’s and scanned down the page. Kennedy was right, there was only one Rusamano in the phone book. I hoped it was Jason’s number as I punched the buttons on the cordless receiver.
    “Hello?” a woman answered.
    “Hi,” I replied. “Is Jason there?”
    “Whom may I ask is calling?”
    “Tori Douglas.”
    “Just a moment, please.”
    I heard her calling for Jason, followed by his clumsy footsteps on a hard surface. He asked her who was on the phone and she said my name. There was a pause and then the shuffling sound of the receiver changing hands. I waited impatiently for the interchange to be complete, getting irritated that he took so long.
    “Hey, Tori, what’s up?” Jason asked as if he’d rehearsed what to say.
    “Hi,” I replied. “I have a question for you.”
    “Ok.”
    “Are you going to the party on Saturday?”
    “Saturday?” He paused. “I don’t know.”
    “It would be really cool if you could go.”
    “I don’t see why I couldn’t. I’ll have to ask my parents.” He spoke slowly as if he were suspicious of my motives.
    “Great. Can you let me know in first hour?”
    “Sure.”
    “Sounds good.” I smiled. “Talk to you then.”
    I hung up the phone as soon as he’d said goodbye and instantly dialed Kennedy’s number. She was busy, so I told her mom I’d call her back later. Setting the cordless phone back on the charger, I decided I’d start on my homework. With all the problems Mrs. White had assigned, I knew it would take a while, and I needed to get as much done as I could before my mom got home.
     

Two
    Mom pulled up in the driveway just after four, earlier than normal for a Monday. The twins, Colton and Candace, bolted through the front door seconds later, screaming at the top of their lungs as they ran circles around the room.
    “Tori, Tori, Tori.” They sang as they jumped onto the couch beside me, hopping up and down like pogo sticks.
    I quickly shut my books, put them in my bag, and carried it over to the stairs. Mom walked in the door as I turned back around. She glanced at me before she spotted the twins bouncing on the sofa.
    “Tori, don’t let your brother and sister do that,” she said. “What if they fall and get hurt? You know better.”
    “Sorry, Mom.” I took a deep breath and walked back to the twins. “Get down, guys. The couch isn’t a trampoline. Let’s go into the kitchen and get a snack. Then you can play in your room for a while.”
    “No!” They screeched in unison.
    Bounding from the sofa, they took off. I tried to stop them as Mom continued through the room, oblivious to the chaos around her.
    “Have you gotten started on dinner yet, Tori?” she asked as she flipped through the mail.
    “Not yet,” I answered.
    She looked at me. “You’d better get started. James has a meeting tonight so he won’t have a lot of time to eat. I’m going to be working in my office. Please, keep the twins quiet. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
    She opened the door to her office and disappeared behind it. Taking another deep breath, I set about wrangling the twins. After a few