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Show Peppermint Monda; hers? They certainly were not the same group of girls. Renae ran her hands over her silky hair and tried to word it better. "It'll be a lot of fun. You can make it can't you?" "It depends," I started. It depended on a lot of things. Things like if Andrea was coming, if I couldn't find a babysitting job somewhere instead, and if I could stand Renae for that long. Renae wasn't looking at me anymore. She wasn't listening to me hunting an excuse. She was smiling in the direction of the dining room. I knew who was there before I turned and looked. They had finally come face to face. And from the stupid grin on Barton's thin mouth, I knew Renae had attracted. Renae had stepped forward to introduce herself, so I was no longer needed. I listened to the polite exchanges and the flattering compliments until it got a little nauseating. Renae was good at flattering boys. I already knew that because I had seen her in action with Matt. But when she told Barton how much taller and more sophisticated he was than local boys, I had to leave or talk out of turn. Billy Crowley was tall, several inches taller than Barton. He did lack sophistication, manners, and good looks, but he was tall. Of course Barton didn't know Billy Crowley, or how tall he was, so Renae getaway with her tiny lies. A few minutes later Barton came to find me. I was watching some detective show with Jason and Russ. Pa was reading the paper in the corner of the room, but when pa was reading I never counted him as present. You could burn the house down around him and he'd never know. He concentrated that deeply when he read. "You do have some decent friends. Renae's a knockout." Barton was |
