Free Takeoffs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix Page B

this was a convention of people who gave speeches; Mom was here to talk about how to speak in public. Lori had seen the brochure herself—Mom was leading seminars called “Why Should Anyone Listen to Me ? Figuring Out Your Message” and “It’s Mine, All Mine: Capturing an Audience’s Attention.” And she was giving the keynote address at the banquet that night. So Mom wasn’t lying when she said she’d be busy.
    Lori should probably be impressed that all these people who gave speeches would want to listen to Mom. But she couldn’t help wondering, Why did Mom bring us along if she’s just going to work?
    They went back to the hotel room and Mom left for the conference. Lori brushed her teeth. The whole day stretched ahead of her like an empty calendar page.
    â€œWant to go to the Coke museum with me?” she asked Chuck through a mouthful of bubbles. She spit in the sink. “The hotel guidebook says Coke was invented here, and they have a museum showing the entire history. At the end, they let you drink all the Coke you want.”
    She felt so virtuous asking Chuck to go somewhere with her. Maybe that was how she could make up for being so nasty to Mom. She’d be nice to Chuck all day long—no matter how hard that was. She wouldn’t eventhink about the possibility that someone might mistake them for girlfriend and boyfriend. (Okay, she’d already thought of it. But she wouldn’t think about it again.) It’d be like . . . paying back God. By the end of the day, her conscience would feel as clean as her teeth.
    But, “No,” Chuck said slowly. “I’ve got other plans.”
    Plans? Chuck had plans? In a city he’d never stepped foot in before in his entire life?
    â€œOh,” Lori said. “Um. Okay.” She hesitated. Her conscience was at stake here, after all. “But didn’t Mom want us to stay together? Can I—?” She was out on a limb now. But she kept going. “Can I go with you?”
    She was almost pleading. Chuck looked panicked.
    â€œNo, no. You’d be bored. Or something.” He gulped. “And Mom didn’t say we had to stay together.”
    Lori’s pride prevented her from truly begging. She was practically speechless, anyway. What could Chuck be up to?
    â€œWell,” Chuck said. “Guess I’ll be going. See you later.”
    â€œYeah,” Lori said.
    He tucked his plastic credit card-like hotel key in his pocket and went out the door. Lori stared after him. The door shut in her face.
    â€œOkay. Fine,” Lori said.
    She grabbed her own key and went out the door behind him.
    She didn’t really intend to follow him, but when her elevator arrived in the lobby, she saw him just going out the front door. She ducked behind a flower arrangementbigger than the outhouse Pop still kept out by the barn. And then, when she felt sure Chuck hadn’t seen her, she inched across the gleaming marble floor and went through the revolving door herself.
    Chuck was tall as well as big—at fifteen, he’d already topped six feet—so it was easy keeping his dark head in sight. She bumped into people once or twice and almost stepped out into traffic at a busy intersection when Chuck crossed on a yellow light. But he never looked back, so she stopped worrying about being spotted.
    All the way, she kept playing guessing games with herself about where he was actually going. The Olympic Park? One of the sports stadiums? Chuck had never cared about sports. He wouldn’t even play in the softball games they always had before 4-H meetings in the summer.
    But maybe that was just because the other kids laughed at him running the bases. Mike and Joey imitated him: “Look at me! I’m the Michelin tire man!” “Oh no, I’m shaking the ground!”
    Lori thought back—what about when Chuck was younger? When he wasn’t fat? For a second, she