Twelve Read Free

start thinking about these things. Pores and stuff.”
    â€œHow does it feel being twelve?” Dinah asked. “Does it feel different?”
    I liked the way she was regarding me, as if I were the wise one because I was older.
    â€œHmm,” I said. “Mainly it feels the same . . . but yeah, I guess it is different.” I hesitated, then said, “My mom says it’s time for me to get a bra.”
    â€œReally?”
    I shrugged inside my oversized Braves nightshirt. “Not like tomorrow or anything. I mean, it’s not desperate .”
    Dinah swiped on one last blob of mud, and a little got in her hair. “Whoops,” she said.
    â€œIn fact I’m kind of hoping she’ll forget about it,” I said. “Because once you start wearing a bra, you can’t turn back. It’s like shaving your legs.”
    â€œIt is?”
    â€œWell, with legs, the hair comes back pricklier once you start shaving, so you really shouldn’t start unless you’re ready to commit forever and ever. Same with bras.”
    â€œYour boobs come back pricklier?” Dinah said.
    I giggled. “Uh-huh. Like cactuses.”
    She giggled, too. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œImagine if a boy tried to touch them. ‘ Ooo , baby, I’m feeling so romantic— ouch !’”
    â€œStop making me laugh!” she said. “You’re making my face crack!”
    â€œYou look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Want to see?” I scrambled up and grabbed my hand mirror from my bureau. I very sneakily grabbed something else, too: a little souvenir from Benihana’s that I’d plucked from my plate and wrapped in a paper napkin to bring home. I hadn’t known what I’d do with it until now.
    â€œClose your eyes,” I said, “and don’t open them till I say ‘three.’ Okay? One, two . . . three!”
    Dinah opened her eyes. She saw the shrimp dangling in front of her nose.
    â€œ Eeeee! ” she screamed.
    I wiggled it closer. “It’s coming to get you! It’s coming to get you!”
    â€œNooo!”
    Sweetie-Pie meowed in alarm.
    Sandra burst into the room. “God!” she complained. “For the fifty millionth time, do you have to be so—” She stopped, noticing our cakey faces. “Did you use my mud mask? Without asking?”
    I widened my eyes. In my sweetest, nicest voice, I said, “Er . . . care for a shrimp?”
    Sandra took in the limp pink shrimp swaying between my fingers. Disgust layered itself over her outrage. “You are so immature,” she said.
    â€œ Au contraire, mon frère, ” I protested. “In case you’ve forgotten, I am twelve years old. I’m on the brink of womanhood. ”
    â€œCould have fooled me,” she retorted. She snatched the container of mask, stormed out of the room, and slammed the door.
    â€œSandra, Sandra, Sandra,” I said, shaking my head. “Do you have to be so loud?”
    Dinah collapsed in hysterics.

April
    NOW THAT I’M TWELVE, can you take me to get my ears pierced?” I asked Mom.
    "What?” she said. Ty whacked her with his plastic sword, and she attempted to fend him off. A piece of green pepper fell from the kitchen counter.
    â€œYour arm is your sword,” he told her, “and your stomach is your shield. It’s time to face your fears!”
    â€œWhen are you going to take me to get my license?” Sandra demanded, breaking in to get Mom’s attention. “You promised we’d go yesterday.”
    I yanked on Mom’s sleeve. “You said when I was twelve, and I’ve been twelve for over three weeks!”
    â€œAnd I’ve been sixteen for two entire days,” Sandra said. “Every single person in the world gets to get their driver’s license on their exact birthday. Everyone but me!”
    â€œYour birthday was on a Sunday,” I pointed