Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary by Wendelin Van Draanen Page B

sounds more like one long, seasick word. Then she starts laughing.
    Now this is not a pretty sight. I mean, Tenille doesn't exactly come off as a multi-linguist when she's sober, but this was like taking a muzzle off a mule. And hearing her hee-hawing was
embarrassing
.
    Tenille, though, thought she was being smooth and suave. She stands by Heather and says to Taylor, “I guess every picnic has its ants…the question is, how to get rid of them?”
    Heather says through her teeth, “He
invited
them.”
    Tenille says, “Oh-ho-
ho!
” and then brays some more.
    Finally, I say, “Look. Could I just get my skateboard? Then we'll make everyone happy and get out of here.”
    Taylor looks at me. “What's the rush?” Then he turnsto Marissa and says, “Can I get you something to eat? Something to drink?”
    Of course the person Heather's really mad at is Taylor. But does she take it out on him? Or even Marissa? No. She turns to him and says, “I really don't think this is the kind of party you want to invite
fourth
graders to,” and then glares at me.
    Taylor says, “Heather…” but she's only warming up. She points to me and says, “You know what a narc that girl is, you know she's sneaky and nerdy and just…just…
weird
. Why stop with her? Why not invite the geeks off the street? Why not just open your door and say, ‘Hey! You ugly and annoying? Come on in, destroy my party!'”
    Then all of a sudden from behind me this voice says, “Cool it, Heather! Either get back in your cage or get out of here!”
    I knew I'd heard the voice before, but when I whipped around and saw Taylor's friend with the baggy pants, I couldn't quite believe it. He gives me a smile that's really half a scowl and says, “Not that I don't think you can hold your own.”
    Heather does back down. Fast. And Taylor's looking pretty relieved, let me tell you. He rubs his hands together and says, “Well. Why don't you guys shoot some pool or play darts or something? I'll get some munchies.”
    Taylor zips off to the kitchen, leaving the rest of us standing there like tortilla chips in bean dip, none of us wanting to be the first one scooped.
    Finally, Marissa says, “I think I'll go play Pac-Man,” and Dot and Holly say, “Me, too,” and look at me like, Well?
    But I don't want to play Pac-Man. I don't want to play pool or darts. I want to get my skateboard and get
out
of there. So I say, “You go ahead. I'll be right there.” They hesitate for a minute, but I shoo them off, and when the three of them are gone, I turn my back on Heather and say to Baggy, “Could you please get Taylor to give me my skateboard? That's the only reason we're here.”
    He looks at me like I'm speaking French. “Your skateboard? You still on about that?”
    “Look, he called and told us to come to the party so he could give us the skateboard. Do you know where it is?”
    Now he doesn't say,
Oui, oui!
but we do seem to be talking the same language. “I can't believe Jake's giving it back after all of that.”
    “Jake's Snake, right?”
    He hesitates, then kind of grins and nods.
    “All I know is Taylor told Marissa that they'd scraped off the paint and realized it was mine after all. Is Snake, uh,
Jake
even here?”
    “Oh, he's around here somewhere.” Baggy Boy looks over one shoulder, then the other, and he's about to say something else when Heather butts in. “Aren't you going to turn into a pumpkin or something if you're not home by midnight?” She looks at her watch and sneers, “Better hurry.”
    I snap, “Well, who put a Stupidity Spell on
you?
Can't you see I'm
trying
to get out of here? You think I
want
to be in the same room as you and the Witless Wonder?” I eye Tenille and mutter, “Like she had any brain cells left to kill off.”
    Heather turns to Baggy and says, “She's gonna narc,” but he's not looking too worried. He's standing there cracking up. She gives him a one-hand shove to the chest and says, “Do you hear me? She's gonna