Free You Knew Me When by Emily Liebert Page B

face.
    â€œI’m sorry. Were you deep in discussion about this week’s
90210
? Will Kelly and Brenda fight over a guy
again
? Oh no!” Grant slapped his cheeks with his palms and moved to Kitty’s chair. Of course she curled her legs under to make space for him.
    â€œShut up. Why don’t you go find your girlfriend,
Sandy
?” I sneered. “I’m sure she’s somewhere pining for you. ‘Oh, Grant, I want you sooooooo badly! I want to kiss those soft lips of yours.’”
    â€œAt least I have someone who likes me. Someone who’s not flat as a pancake, like you!” He got up and walked toward our house. There’s a shortcut through Luella’s bushes to our back deck, which makes it superconvenient when we’re wet from swimming.
    â€œLoser!” I yelled after him, and he gave me the finger. I’ll have to remember to tell my mom later.
    â€œSandy Parker?” Kitty sat up and turned toward me. Everyone knows Sandy Parker. She makes sure of it. There’s also the not-so-minor fact that the whole school saw her making out with Greg Baldwin, who was a senior last year
and
the star of the basketball team. Not that I’m jealous.
    â€œThe one and only.”
    â€œOh.” Kitty scrunched her face up all weird. “What’s Grant got to do with her?”
    â€œHe ran into her at her dad’s hardware store. I guess she was there helping him or something. Then I overheard Grant telling Sam that Sandy told him to call her, so now I use it against him whenever he’s annoying me.”
    â€œThat’s mature.” Kitty tugged at her T-shirt. She won’t take it off, even when it’s just the two of us. It’s not like she’s fat or anything. Fine, maybe she could stand to lose, like, five pounds, but she totally sells herself short. If she’d just let me give her a little makeover, she could look really amazing. “Do you think he will?”
    â€œWill what?”
    â€œCall her.”
    â€œI don’t know. Who cares?” I rolled over onto my stomach to tan my back. “Can you rub some oil on me?”
    â€œObviously, I don’t
care
. I just don’t really see Grant liking Sandy Parker. She’s so . . .” Kitty smeared the oil from my shoulders down to the bottom of my legs.
    â€œLame?” I extended my arms along either side of my body. It’s so much more comfortable to fold them under your head, but then they’re all white on the underside. Consistent tanning is really an art.
    â€œWell, yeah, she’s definitely lame.” Kitty was suddenly all fidgety. “I don’t know. She just doesn’t seem like Grant’s type.”
    â€œHow would you know?”
    â€œI wouldn’t.” She wiped her hands on her T-shirt. “This stuff is disgusting.”
    â€œWhat has he told you?” Sometimes Kitty and Grant talk when I’m not around. And here I thought it was all boring stuff. “You better tell me, Kitty Hill. He’s my brother. I want to know everything he’s said to you about girls. Full. Blown. Details. But leave out anything gross.”
    â€œHe hasn’t said anything. I swear.” She pulled her heavy black hair off her neck to reveal thick beads of perspiration being absorbed by the collar of her T-shirt.
    â€œYou better not be lying to me!”
    â€œI’m not. Can we please drop it?” She let go of her hair. “Do you have an extra ponytail holder? It’s a million degrees out here.”
    I took the elastic band out of my hair and handed it to her. “Fine. Sandy’s not worth it anyway.” Kitty’s so strange when it comes to boys. Not that Grant is a boy. Well, not in
that
way. It’s like she’s scared of them. She hasn’t even had her first kiss yet. “Sandy will probably peak in high school and then end up stuck in Manchester for the rest of her life, working at