The Summer of Moonlight Secrets by Danette Haworth Page A

it.”
    They’re getting closer. Too late to run back in; I turn my head to Chase. “Pretend like we’re talking, okay?” I put my lemonade down. I don’t want to be sucking on a straw when they pass.
    â€œI hate people like that,” Chase says.
    My whole body tenses. “They might hear you!”
    Then he laughs like I’ve just told the funniest joke he ever heard in the whole world. He flashes his eyebrows at me, and then I realize he wants me to laugh too, so I do. Except I make my laugh not as loud as his, since I am the one who supposedly told the joke.
    â€œHi, Allie Jo,” Jennifer says. She’s talking to me? They stop dead in front of us. Jennifer smiles like she’s in a toothpaste commercial.
    I narrow my eyes. “Hi.”
    â€œWho’s your friend?” She turns her Medusa eyes on me.
    I hate giving information to the enemy. I mutter, “Chase.”
    Her face becomes as sunny as a daisy and she turns it, probably trying to show her best side—not that she even has one—and says, “Hi, Chase!”
    â€œH’lo.” He acts polite but NOT INTERESTED.
    Then she starts talking, sweet like syrup, as if she and I have always been friends.
    Heather and Lori get in on it too, all How’s your summer? and What have you been up to? like they’ve never snickered behind my back.
    â€œYou should invite us up sometime,” Jennifer says. She looks directly at Chase. He tosses the hair out of his eyes, and I swear, those girls practically melt.
    â€œWell, I—”
    â€œWe have to go now.” Jennifer links arms with Heather and Lori, and they fall into each other, giggling as they walk away. Jennifer looks over her shoulder at Chase, probably knowing how her long, blond hair spills just right over her bare shoulder. “See you later.”
    He nods at her, which sends her into titters, and they disappear around the corner.
    I cross my arms and slam back into my rocker. “I hate them! They’re so fake.”
    â€œWho cares about them?” Chase asks.
    â€œNot me,” I say. And I don’t. What bothers me is the way Jennifer acts like she’s got a big secret over us mere mortals.
    Mrs. Brimble comes out holding a glass of iced tea. “You wouldn’t mind if an old lady joins you, would you, now?”
    We laugh.
    â€œYou’re not an old lady!” Well, she is, but still, I would rather be sitting with an old lady than be put down by a bunch of stuck-up girls.
    She sets herself down beside us. “You’re not from here, are you?” she asks Chase.
    I watch him as he gives his carefully worded answers about his family. His face does not give him away at all, like he’s had lots of practice lying about his mom. Though when he looks back at me, his eyes glitter with the truth.

32
    Chase

    Allie Jo and I sit on the backseat of the city bus. Everyone knows the best ride is in the back—you get all the bumps. “Thanks for not saying anything about my mom.”
    She nods. “How do bees get to school?” she asks. “On the school buzz.” When I don’t laugh, she looks down at her hands, folded in her lap. Then she asks, “What’s it like not having a mom?”
    I take a big breath and sigh. “I don’t know.” How would I? Nothing to compare it with. “It’s kind of an empty house, you know. I’m alone a lot.”
    She acts like she knows what I’m talking about. “I don’t have a lot of friends either.”
    â€œI didn’t say I don’t have a lot of friends; I said I don’t have a mother.”
    Good going, Chase. I can see the hurt in Allie Jo’s eyes.
    â€œWhy did the turkey cross the road?” I ask.
    She rolls her eyes at me.
    â€œHe didn’t,” I say. “He was too chicken.”
    â€œHa, ha,” she says.
    I elbow her. “C’mon, you know you’ll be telling