Free Ghost of a Chance by Lauren Barnholdt

ready.”
    â€œI don’t know,” Cindy says. “What if he’s on a business call?”
    â€œThen he just won’t answer,” I say.
    I push the call button and listen as the phone rings. But then I catch sight of my dad walking into the store.
    He doesn’t look happy. Probably he’s dealing with some kind of work emergency. Good. Maybe he won’t be in the mood to ask a ton of questions and he’ll just let me get the TV I already picked out.
    Robbie switches through the channels on another TV before settling on a boxing match. He has morphed from pretending to do his job to pretty much not doing it. And if he gets testy with my dad, we’re never going to get out of here.
    â€œOh, there’s your father,” Cindy says, deciding to state the obvious. She fluffs up her hair, like my dad didn’t just see her a few minutes ago. Her hair looks exactly the same. In fact, her hair always looks exactly the same. She insists on wearing it in this totally crazy beehive, with poufy bangs.
    Maybe I should offer to take her to the salon for a haircut. But obviously not the one Micah’s mom owns. Actually, I don’t even think they do haircuts there. I’m not sure what they do besides manicures.
    â€œHey,” I say once my dad’s within earshot. “I’m goingto get this one, okay? It’s supposed to be a very good deal.” I point to the little card that’s perched near the television, which shows that the TV has a user rating of four and a half out of five stars on the Best Buy website.
    He narrows his eyes at me, and I know what he’s going to say. He’s going to say that reviews on websites are usually bought and paid for by the companies that own the product, and that you have to look at a third-party source, like Consumer Reports . But really, who has time for that?
    I sigh and resign myself to being in this store for a long time.
    â€œYou should just let your dad pick out the one he wants you to have, and then you can approve it,” Lily offers. “That’s what I always do whenever my parents are going to buy me something.”
    Wow. That’s actually a really good idea. Turns out Lily is nicer and smarter than her sister. Although Madison’s not really dumb. Which is why it’s totally ridiculous that she pretends to need help on her homework just so she can talk to Brandon. It’s so transparent. Plus think about what it’s doing for feminism. Pretending to be stupid so that a boy can help you? She should be a cautionary tale.
    â€œSo,” I say. “We can get this one, or you can just pick out—”
    â€œKendall,” my dad says, his voice stern. “Where were you this weekend?”
    â€œThis weekend?” I frown. It takes me a second to realize what he’s talking about, and when I do, my stomach twists into a knot. “I told you,” I say, getting really busy looking at another TV. “I was at Ellie’s house on Friday night.”
    It’s a lie, of course. I wasn’t at Ellie’s house. I was at Micah’s house. And then at the bowling alley. But obviously I couldn’t tell my dad that. My dad was already freaked out that I have (had) a boyfriend. There was no way he was going to be cool with me hanging out with some other guy he’d never even met. So I told him I was at Ellie’s.
    â€œMaybe I should get a Blu-ray player too,” I say in an effort to distract. Everyone knows Blu-ray players are a waste, since everything’s online now anyway. Who wants to have to buy a bunch of discs? “I don’t care how much they cost. I really want one!” I stamp my foot, like maybe I’m about to start having a tantrum. A fake one, of course.
    â€œKendall,” my dad says. “You were not at Ellie’s house this weekend.”
    â€œYes, I was,” I say. The knot in my stomach tightens. Who was that on the phone?