Free Sealed with a Wish by Rose David Page B

didn’t get most of it--they said some stuff about struts and frets and something called “bottlenecking,” which sounded sort of kinky.
    It wasn’t until we reached the relative safety of the sidewalk that I could really tune into the conversation.
    Raj shrugged. “I don’t know. They probably cost about three hundred grand, give or take.”
    Natalie shook her head. “That’s crazy. For a car ? Who has that much money just sitting around?”
    “Some people do, I guess. You wouldn’t know it by how many cookies he bought from us,” Raj said, a smile slipping into his voice. Besides playing some musical instrument, Raj’s favorite activity is trying to get Natalie to dislike Sean Fabry (nearly impossible, by the way).
    But today, Natalie nodded again, her normally open face pinched with thought.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a spark of satisfaction in Rajesh’s eyes. “And,” I added, hoping to help, “you know he’s still got that other car. The black one? He’s not even going to donate it to charity.”
    At that, Rajesh’s satisfaction was replaced with admiration. “Dude’s got two cars? Can his parents adopt me?”
    “Raj!” cried Natalie. “There are people starving less than an hour from here. Isn’t having two expensive cars kind of extravagant?”
    Raj cleared his throat and mumbled something in agreement, though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have objected to becoming the newest Fabry, at least during Christmas.
    When we got to McDonald’s a few minutes later, Rajesh and I ordered our usual cholestor-iffic burger combos, while Natalie opted for a fruit-laden salad-thing. Even after ten years of friendship, Natalie’s lunch choices still confused me. Not getting a burger (or at least something fried) at a fast food place was like going to Disney World and refusing to hug Mickey.
    Our table had fallen into an amicable silence when the doorbell clanged and a familiar, too-loud voice piped in:
    “You are going to pull so much wool with that, man.”
    All three of us groaned, though I had a feeling I was the loudest. The voice belonged to Todd Griffin, the closest thing to a silverback gorilla that I had ever had the privilege of attending school with.
    And he seemed to love reminding me about the time in ninth grade when he ran up and french-kissed me on a dare during lunch. That day, it had taken all of my self-control not to turn him into a purple chihuahua.
    As Todd walked through the doors, I had to squelch that urge all over again.
    Sean followed behind, laughing like Todd’s comment was actually funny, instead of just gross. “Whatever, man.”
    “We should drive to Chicago this weekend and try to pick up a hooker, dude,” said Todd. “A hot one, though. Not one that’ll make the backseat smell like B.O.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Gawd, what a pervert.”
    Somehow, Todd heard me through the din of cafe music and lunchtime conversation. Of course, if anyone said, “Pervert!” it was almost like calling his name, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
    His lips curled into a smug sneer as he turned to me. “Hey, Lay. How’s it going, baby?”
    That stupid nickname made me want to throw a plastic fork in his face. I didn’t think it would be lethal, and I had heard that eye patches were the hot new accessory.
    Maybe next time, I told myself, turning back to Nat and Raj. I had learned long ago not to add fuel to Todd’s stupidity.
    “Aw, come on,” said Todd. “You keep acting like that, I won’t ask you to prom.”
    “Oh, gosh,” I said in my best Disney princess voice, “do you promise?”
    Todd grinned, obviously delighted that I had taken the bait, instead of completely ignoring him like I should have. “Yeah, but if you’re a good girl, maybe we can work something out. You like hot tubs? ‘Cause I’m thinking--”
    “Quit being a dick, man,” Sean interrupted.
    Todd gave a pig-like grunt. “Or what, dude? You gonna kick my ass?”
    I tried to catch