The Stepsister Read Free Page A

sewn,” she said. She looked at Emily.
    â€œMaybe,” Emily said doubtfully.
    â€œHey, your brother sure is quiet,” Nancy said to Jessie, deliberately changing the subject. She handed the teddy bear to Emily.
    â€œTell me about it,” Jessie said dryly. “Rich is quiet, okay? But once you get to know him, he’s just about silent!”
    Nancy laughed. Jessie laughed at her own joke. Emily still didn’t feel like laughing.
    Jessie has a real mean streak, she thought. She’s only been here a few minutes, and she’s already putting down her brother.
    Then she realized that maybe she was being ridiculous. Jessie had just made a joke, after all. And maybe the teddy bear thing was an accident. Max had been practically falling apart for years. Here Emily was, thinking the worst about Jessie when she should have been trying to make her feel at home, feel like part of the family.
    She is part of the family now, Emily told herself. You’ve got to get along with Jessie.
    â€œIt must be hard for Rich,” Emily said sympathetically. “Starting all over in a new school is rough.”
    â€œTell me about it,” Jessie said with some bitterness. Then she laughed, a nervous laugh. “Rich is okay, I guess. He and I really don’t talk much. It’s hard to get close to him. He’s sort of in his own world. Always walking around with some creepy book in his hand. He must be the biggest Stephen King fan in the world. He even writes him letters.”
    The room darkened again. The sky outside the window was completely gray now. The colors in the room all seemed to fade into shades of gray.
    â€œI never liked Stephen King all that much,” Nancy said. “Of course now that I’m a senior, I don’t have time to read anything. Just schoolwork. And college applications, of course.”
    â€œAre you going out tonight?” Emily asked quickly.She didn’t want Nancy to get started on how hard it was being a senior and how much work she had to do. Nancy could talk for hours on that subject. It sometimes seemed to Emily that Nancy spent more time talking about how hard the work was than doing the work. And when she wasn’t complaining about all the homework, she was complaining about her social life. “Don’t you have a date with Gary Brandt?”
    â€œHe called and broke the date,” Nancy said, shaking her head. “Said he had a cold. But he didn’t even have the decency to sniffle once or twice into the phone. I knew he wouldn’t show.” She picked up the cassettes and then let them drop one by one back onto the desk. “Let’s not bore Jessie with the details of my social life,” she said with a forced laugh. “It’s been such a mess ever since—”
    â€œI know, I know,” Emily groaned, rolling her eyes. “Ever since Josh broke up with you and started going out with me.”
    Jessie climbed to her feet, looking very uncomfortable. “Maybe I should go downstairs,” she said, looking first at Emily, then at Nancy. “If you two want to tear each other’s eyes out or something . . .”
    â€œNo, no,” Emily said, jumping up too. “Nancy and I have been over this a thousand times.”
    â€œTwo thousand,” Nancy said, brushing her copper hair back over her shoulder.
    She looks just like Mom when she does that, Emily thought.
    â€œNancy, you know you couldn’t stand the sight of Josh anymore,” Emily said, wondering why she wasbothering to defend herself again. “You told me you were going to break up with him, remember?”
    Nancy flushed. She seemed embarrassed to be discussing this in front of Jessie. “You’re right. You’re totally right, Em. In fact, I really don’t know what you see in him. He’s such a creep!” She laughed, trying to make it all sound like a joke. She turned to Jessie. “Josh’s