Free Picture Perfect #5 by Cari Simmons Page A

“You two have fun.”
    â€œLet’s get to the lift, fast,” Mari said as her dad headed off. “There’s no point in racing if my dumb brothers can’t see us win!”
    â€œOkay,” Gracie said. She didn’t seem to have much choice about the racing part. But maybe there wouldbe time on the ski lift to talk about things. Things like Alex Parker.
    There was a line for the lift now. It wasn’t long, but Gracie could see that Mari felt frustrated. She was bouncing up and down even when she was supposed to be standing still—she always did that when she was upset. Maybe it’s important to her to beat her brothers, Gracie thought. It had never occurred to her that winning might matter more to Mari than it did to her. Was it a sibling thing? I’m supposed to be living like somebody who has a bunch of siblings. I’d better get in the game, she thought.
    Gracie spotted a familiar purple helmet a few people in front of them.
    â€œPurple Girl!” she called. “Hey, Purple Girl!”
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Mari asked.
    â€œTrying to get ahead,” Gracie answered. “Purple Girl! Look behind you!”
    The girl in the purple helmet turned around, her hazel eyes scanning the line. When she spotted Gracie waving, her face lit up. “It’s my slope buddy!” she called. “Are you going back up?”
    â€œWe both are,” Gracie called back.
    â€œWant to ride with me?” the purple girl asked. She looked at the group in between them. “Do you mind? I’m on my own, and I figure you all want tostay together on the lift.”
    Nobody seemed to care, so Gracie and Mari made their way up to their new friend.
    â€œThanks so much! I’m trying to catch up to my family so they can watch us destroy them on the way down,” Mari said. She grinned. “I’m Mari, and I guess you know Gracie.”
    â€œI’m Juliana,” the girl replied. “Gracie and I are old friends.”
    Gracie laughed. “Right. We go back at least twenty minutes.”
    Mari looked confused.
    â€œWe paced each other on the way down,” Juliana explained.
    â€œOh. Cool.” Mari stopped bouncing. “I guess if we can’t catch up to my brothers, we can just have fun skiing together. Unless you want to race?”
    â€œI could race,” Juliana said. They got on the lift together. “Gracie?”
    â€œDefinitely,” Gracie replied. “Now that I know the slope, I can concentrate on speed.”
    â€œGracie likes to plan in advance. She does everything by the book,” Mari told Juliana. “She even cleans her clarinet the right way, which I totally don’t.”
    â€œYou guys play clarinet?” Juliana cried. “So do I!”
    â€œOMG, I knew you were cool,” Gracie said. “Obviously we were meant to meet each other.”
    â€œObviously,” Juliana agreed. “I’ve been playing since third grade.”
    â€œWe started in fourth,” Mari said. “That’s where we met.”
    â€œActually, we met in second grade, but we didn’t become absolute best friends until fourth,” Gracie corrected her. “We sat next to each other in band.”
    â€œMy best friend plays the trumpet,” Juliana said. “We have to just wave to each other during band.”
    Gracie and Mari laughed. “Where do you live?” Mari asked. “We’re from New Jersey.”
    â€œI’m from Louisiana,” Juliana told them. “New Orleans.”
    â€œSeriously? That’s so . . . exotic,” Gracie said. She had read a mystery once that was set in New Orleans, and when she looked it up online afterwards, all the pictures had been so pretty and interesting and different from her own town. “Do you live in a mansion in the Garden District?”
    â€œI wish! I just live in a regular house,” Juliana said.
    â€œStill, it’s