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Downstairs, she went to the back door, folded her belled pant leg around each calf, and stepped into the huge black rubber boots they kept on the concrete steps Moving like Neil Arh the deep mud to the shed out back Their old quarterhorse"Heya, Sweetpea," Kate said, throwing a flake of hay onto the ground, and then scratching the horse's velvety ear

"I o they'd been inseparable; Kate had ridden this mare all that summer, and won plenty of ribbons at the Snohoed fast She knew that now A horse could get old overnight and go laer just as quickly

"'Bye" She clomped back up the dark, muddy driveway and left her dirty boots on the porch

When she opened the back door, she stepped into pandemonium Mom stood at the stove, dressed in her faded floral housedress and fuzzy pink slippers, s batter into an oblong electric frying pan Her shoulder-length brown hair was divided into two scrawny pigtails; each one was held in place by a strand of hot-pink ribbon "Set the table, Katie," she said without glancing up "Sean! Get down here"

Kate did as she was told Almost before she was finished, her lasses

"Sean--breakfast," Moic words: "I've poured the ht-year-old Sean cae speckled For as he tripped over the Labrador puppy who'd recently joined the faular place when she happened to glance across the kitchen and into the living roo that surprised her: Ainto the driveway across the street

"Wow" She carried her plate through the two roo out over their three acres and down on the house across the street It had been vacant for as long as anyone could re up behind her; hard on the fake brick linoleu of the living roo in across the street," Kate said

"Really?"

No I'e It would be nice for you to have a friend"

Kate bit back an irritated retort Only h "Whatever" She turned away abruptly, taking her plate into the hallhere she finished her breakfast in peace beneath the portrait of Jesus

As expected, Mo of The Last Supper, saying nothing

"What?" Kate snapped when she couldn't take it anyh was so quiet it could hardly be heard "Why are ays bickering lately?"

"You're the one who starts it"

"By saying hello and asking how you're doing? Yeah, I'm a real witch"

"You said it, not me"

"It's not my fault, you know"

"What isn't?"

"That you don't have any friends If you'd--"

Kate walked away Honest to St Jude, one ht puke

Thankfully--for once--Mom didn't follow her Instead, she went back into the kitchen, calling out, "Hurry up, Sean The Mularkey school bus leaves in ten led Kate rolled her eyes and went upstairs It was so lah at the same stupid joke every day?

The answer came as quickly as the question had: because he had friends Life with friendseasier

She hid in her bedrooon start up The last thing she wanted was to get driven to school by her oodbye and waved like a contestant on The Price Is Right when Kate got out of the car Everyone kneas social suicide to be driven to school by your parents When she heard tires crunching slowly across gravel, she went back downstairs, washed the dishes, gathered her stuff, and left the house Outside, the sun was shining, but last night's rain had studded the driveith inner-tube-sized potholes No doubt the old-ti to talk about the flooding Mud sucked at the soles of her fake Earth shoes,her only rainbow socks that she was at the botto across the street

She was gorgeous Tall and big-boobed, she had long, curly auburn hair and a face like Caroline of Monaco: pale skin and full lips and long lashes And her clothes: low-rise, three-button jeans with huge, tie-died wedges of fabric in the seams to make elephant bells; cork-bottoel-sleeved pink peasant blouse that revealed at least two inches of stoainst her chest, wishing she hadn't picked her pih Riders "H-hi," she said, stopping on her side of the road "The bus stops on this side"

Chocolate-brown eyes, rimmed heavily with blacknothing

Just then, the school bus arrived Wheezing and squeaking, it ca stop on the road A boy she used to have a crush on stuck his head out theand yelled, "Hey, Kootie, the flood's over," and then laughed

Kate put her head down and boarded the bus Collapsing into her usual front-row seat--by herself--she kept her head boaiting for the new girl to walk past her, but no one else got on When the doors thumped shut and the bus lurched forward, she dared to look back at the road

The coolest-looking girl in the world wasn't there

Already Tully didn't fit in It had taken two hours to choose her clothes this azine--and every bit of it rong

When the school bus drove up, she o to school in this hick backwater Snohoht be less than an hour froht as well be on the moon That was how alien this place felt

No

Hell, no

She ravel driveway and shoved the front door open so hard it cracked against the wall

Draood punctuation: it underscored your point