Free Almost Identical #1 by Lin Oliver Page A

Carew. Los Amigos meet in Room Six with Senor Zaragoza, and Study Hall is open in the library until four thirty.”
    I was sitting in homeroom, trying to finish a Spanish worksheet that I hadn’t completed over the weekend. Since Charlie and I were playing in another tournament the next weekend, Dad had us practicing nonstop, which meant we had to leave all our homework until Sunday night. Wouldn’t you know it, that was the night GoGo had asked Charlie and me out for sushi. Charlie said no because Lauren was calling to review the science project they were working on together. I said my homework was all done, which it wasn’t, and went with GoGo to her favorite sushi restaurant where you can sit at the counter and watch the sushi chefs carve cucumbers into fans and carrots into flowers.
    While we were waiting for our sushi combo to be delivered, I told GoGo all about school: about the SF2s, about our lunch table, about Alicia and Sara and the Truth Tellers group they belonged to. I had been thinking about that club all week. It seemed so different from anything I had ever done, yet somehow it really interested me.
    â€œThat sounds like something I did in college,” GoGo said. “It’s called improvisation, and it’s kind of drama, but you make things up as you go along. We did exercises that taught us to express ourselves. I found it to be excellent preparation for my career.”
    â€œBut, GoGo, you design jewelry. I don’t see how making stuff up in front of an audience helps you make silver earrings and bracelets.”
    â€œAnything you do that frees the mind and heightens your creativity is good for you, Sammie.”
    â€œBut the kids in this group, they’re kind of weird. I mean, I like Alicia a lot, but some of her friends are—”
    â€œLet me stop you right there, my darling granddaughter. If there’s one thing I can teach you, it’s to have an open mind. Some of the most interesting people I’ve met might be considered weird, but when I got to know them, I found them fascinating.”
    â€œWas Grandpa weird?”
    â€œNo.” She sighed. “Maybe that’s why we divorced.”
    After that, the sushi came, and while we ate I tried to explain to her how Charlie and I had become friends with the SF2s and how they’d all think it was geeky if I joined Truth Tellers. She said exactly what I knew she’d say.
    â€œFollow your heart, my darling. That’s the only sure road to happiness I know.”
    Not so easy when you have a sister who’s obsessed with becoming friends with Lauren Wadsworth.
    â€œIs that what you taught Mom, GoGo? To follow her heart?”
    â€œIt is. And finally she got the courage to go to culinary school and follow her dream of opening a restaurant.”
    â€œI miss her.”
    â€œOf course you do,” GoGo said, giving my hand a squeeze. “But when she returns, she’ll be complete. She’ll have her beautiful family and work she loves. Who could ask for more?”
    But back to homeroom. As Principal Pfeiffer read the list of after-school activities, I found myself writing down
Truth Tellers, Patio Room
. Just in case. Lauren, who was sitting at the desk next to mine, saw me do it and shook her head.
    â€œDon’t even think about it,” she whispered. “It’s not for us. Besides, we’re going to the Third Street Promenade after school. I got a gift card to Starbucks for my birthday, so the Frappuccinos are on me!”
    It was amazing how quickly Charlie and I were becoming accepted by the kids from the Sporty Forty. Over the weekend, Lauren and Brooke had come to the club with their parents and stopped by the courts to watch us practice. Of course, it probably didn’t hurt that Ryan was hitting with us. Every time he made a good shot, he’d toss his racket up in the air and catch it by the handle, and Lauren would jump up and down like a cheerleader.