Twist My Charm Read Free Page B

like storyboards and reading and chores. But it’s equally hard back at school. Sixth grade is going to be over in three weeks (yay!), then it’ll be my first summer in California. I can’t wait to hang out with Madison all the time with no pressure of homework, or tests, or people like Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae around every day. I’m already picturing hot days in Madison’s amazing backyard, sipping lemonade that Yvonne brings us, doing cannonballs into the pool, and listening to Ryder Landry music. Maybe I’ll even learn to dance to it and not look like a dork. Yes, in my summertime fantasy, I’ll dance like a glamorous gazelle, and when it gets dark, Madison’s chef will make us dinner, and we’ll watch Ryder Landry videos in her dad’s movie room and read about Ryder on the Internet and have the best time ever. It’ll be the most fantastic summer of my entire life!
    I feel a tap on my shoulder. “Cleo,” says Larry. “It’s time to go to Focus!”
    Of course I’m daydreaming when it’s time to go to Focus! Whenever I’m not focusing, it’s time for Focus! class.
    Focus! used to have the reputation of being for dummies, but it feels a little different—sometimes even better—now. I think that’s mainly because Larry was so good and funny in the
Healthyland
play, and he’s a Focus! kid along with me.
    “Look at the lovebirds! Aren’t you going to hold hands while you walk to your class?” Ugh. It’s Lisa Lee, chirping in her phony-sweet voice and batting her eyelashes.
    “Cleo and Larry, sittin’ in a tree,” Kylie Mae adds, always following Lisa Lee’s lead. I don’t see her face because I’m already leaving the room, but I’m sure her cornflower-blue eyes are as empty and dull as always.
    Dad tells me not to “hate” anything, but I can’t help it; I hate when they do things like this. Larry is my friend, but I don’t want anyone thinking I love him. I don’t love anybody like that…except maybe Ryder Landry.
    If Larry hears Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae, he pretends not to. “So what life-changing, mind-opening activity do you think Roberta will force on us today?” he asks as we walk across the courtyard.
    I decide to forget about the nasty girls. “I think we’ll learn how to build personal flying machines so we can fly ourselves to and from school,” I say…because this is exactly the kind of excellent, useful thing we would never learn in Focus! Usually we play word games or goof around with toys that are supposed to teach us some kind of life lessons, but we’re never really sure what.
    And that’s exactly what Roberta has in mind today. When we get to class, there are puzzle pieces waiting for us on each table. But they’re not flat puzzles with pictures of scenery or kitty cats; these are three-dimensional blocks of different shapes and sizes.
    “Hooray, puzzles,” Larry comments sarcastically as he sits in the chair next to me. “Looks like we’ll have to wait until next week to start designing the robots that will cook our food and do our homework.”
    Samantha takes a seat at the next table over. “I love puzzles,” she says, staring blankly at the pile of blocks on her table. Her complete lack of enthusiasm makes Larry burst out laughing. Sam smiles too.
    “Give me your focus, everybody! Focus!” Roberta shouts, clapping her hands. I wonder if she gets paid based on how many times she says “Focus!” in a day, because she says it a lot. “Today you’re going to focus on…”
    “Puzzles,” Larry and Samantha say at the same time.
    “Yes, puzzles,” says Roberta. “But more than that. You’ll see.” She’s going to place us in groups, and each of us will take a turn being the leader. For ten minutes the leader will make all of the decisions, and then we’ll switch. It sounds like a silly way to spend thirty minutes of a school day, but hey, it’s better than trying to roll my
r
’s in Spanish or stay awake during a movie about the Civil War.
    Because