Free Pig City by Louis Sachar Page B

like she has a split personality. Part of her is very shy and scared of boys, but she has a burning desire buried deep beneath her breasts!” She covered her heart with her hands.
    â€œYolanda doesn’t have a split personality,” said Allison.
    â€œShe doesn’t even have breasts,” said Laura.
    They all laughed.
    â€œDo you think boys really care about that?” Tiffany asked. “I mean do you think a boy wouldn’t like a girl if she was flat?”
    Allison shrugged. “I don’t know what’s so special about boobs! Anyway, none of the girls in our class have very much.”
    â€œExcept Sheila,” said Tiffany. “Maybe that’s why Gabriel likes her. ’Cause she’s stacked!”
    â€œDoes Gabriel like Sheila?” asked Laura. She tried not to sound too interested.
    â€œOh, I don’t know,” said Tiffany. “I saw them talking after school.”
    They reached the corner where Tiffany and Allison went one way and Laura the other. Fists met noses, then Laura walked the rest of the way home alone. Itwas Friday, but she couldn’t hang out with her friends because company was coming over.
    She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew it was because of Gabriel and Sheila. She tried to ignore it. It was stupid. She had no reason to be jealous. She took off her cap, shook her hair back, and put the cap back on.
    The feeling remained.
    â€œAunt Laura!” Rebecca greeted her, as she entered the house.
    Laura smiled. She loved it when Rebecca called her that.
    Rebecca was five years old. She was the daughter of Laura’s oldest brother, Dan, and his wife, Sue. They were all spending the weekend.
    â€œWhat’s Pig City?” Sue asked.
    â€œI got it at a garage sale,” said Laura, not about to break her vow of secrecy.
    â€œShe never takes it off,” said her mother.
    â€œI don’t think she really likes it,” said her father. “I think it’s stuck to her head, and she’s afraid to tell anyone.”
    Laura laughed even though she didn’t think it was funny.
    The feeling remained inside her. It stayed with her all weekend, gnawing at the insides of her stomach.
    On Sunday, she received two earth-shattering phone calls. The first one was good news. It made her sad. The second was bad news. It made her glad.
    Tiffany called first. “Laura!” she exclaimed. “You’ll never guess what happened! Nathan came over to see me today. Actually he came over to see Hubert.”
    â€œYour hamster?” questioned Laura. She lay with her head at the foot of the bed. Her feet were on her pillow.
    â€œUh-huh,” said Tiffany. “Nathan likes hamsters. He likes all animals. His favorite is the porcupine. See, first he called and asked about the homework assignment.”
    â€œWe never have homework over the weekend,” said Laura.
    â€œHe forgot what day it was,” Tiffany explained. “He thought it was Tuesday. Did you know that Saturday is his favorite day of the week, and it’s mine, too? Isn’t that a coinc-i-dinc? That’s what Nathan says instead of ‘coincidence.’ I like Sunday second, but he likes Friday. Do you want to hear his order for the rest of the days?”
    â€œThat’s okay.”
    â€œWe told each other our favorite colors and our favorite food and our favorite animals, and that’s when I told him I had a hamster named Hubert. He said he liked hamsters, and I asked him if he wanted to meetHubert, and he said, ‘Okee-dokee-do.’ So he came over to meet Hubert. They liked each other.”
    â€œNathan and Hubert?”
    â€œHamsters can tell about people,” said Tiffany. “They know if someone’s nice or not. So anyway, now I’m getting to the good part. After Nathan finished talking to Hubert, we went out in the backyard, and we were just kind of lying on the grass talking and looking