Priscilla the Great (3-Book Bundle includes study guide questions) (Priscilla the Great Omnibus)

by Sybil Nelson

  ***

  After spending the morning perfecting my fire-shooting technique, I headed to McMillan’s pharmacy. With my time of the month approaching, I really needed to buy some “supplies,” but after peeking through the window and seeing Trevor Callahan working the register, there was no way I was going in. I was not about to let the brother of my dream boy catch me buying those God-awful things.

  I was just about to give up and go home when I saw Kyle ride by on his bike.

  “Hey, Kyle, you up for a challenge?” I called out to him.

  “What’d you have in mind?” He turned and rode up to the store front.

  “Race to town square gazebo and back.”

  “Bikes or feet?”

  I looked him up and down. As usual, Kyle was dressed a little too nicely for a lazy Sunday afternoon in River’s Bend. He always wore these fancy Italian shirts that probably cost way too much money, along with pleated pants. He looked good, but like I said before, too preppy for my taste. He even had a pair of shiny brown loafers on. Loafers. Who wears loafers to ride their bike? That’s when I made my decision.

  “Feet.” He’d never be able to keep up with me in those shoes.

  “What are the stakes?” he asked.

  “If you win, I’ll give you back that Spider-Man comic you lost to me last week.”

  Kyle smoothed a wrinkle out of his shirt and pretended like he wasn’t intrigued. That was his favorite comic and I knew he wanted it back.

  “If I win, I get the comic and you get poop duty for a month.”

  “You mean you’re not potty trained yet, Kyle?” I said with a smirk.

  He glared at me. “You know what I mean.”

  I knew what he meant. I just like messing with him. He meant poop duty for our dog, Max Montgomery. Max was a cute little chocolate lab that we found by the river when we were little. We took him home and named him Max after my middle name, Maxine, and Montgomery after Kyle’s last name. Then we took turns taking care of him until one day Max got tired of being tormented by the twins and stayed at Kyle’s house permanently. So I just went over every day to help.

  “Fine, but if I win, you have to buy me something from McMillan’s.”

  “Is that all? Deal, Slumner. You’re on.”

  Two minutes and forty three seconds later, I had him beat.

  “You’re pretty fast … for a girl,” he panted with his hands on his knees. He always had to add that “for a girl” part whenever I beat him. It made me so mad.

  “Whatever, Kyle. I beat you fair and square.”

  “Fine,” he said, standing up straight. “What do I have to buy for you?” He ran his fingers through his blond hair, which still looked perfectly styled even after running three blocks and back. How did he do that?

  I stood on my tip-toes and whispered in his ear.

  “Oh no, no, no. God, no. No way, Slumner.”

  “You have to. I beat you. A deal’s a deal.”

  “Fine,” he said, snatching the ten dollar bill out of my hands and storming into the store.

  I watched through the window as Kyle made his way to the female aisle. I could tell by the shade of crimson that crept over his face that he’d never been there before.

  Why the heck are there so many choices? a voice in my head said. Wait a minute. It wasn’t in my head. It was Kyle. I could hear him from inside the store. He whispered to himself as he turned around in circles. I think he was sweating more than when we were running through town. Long, thin, regular, super, dry weave, and wings. Wings? Who needs wings? Is she buying a maxi pad or a magic fairy that lives in her pants?

  I had to cover my mouth to hold in a giggle. I should make Kyle buy these things for me all the time. It was much more entertaining.

  “Thinking about buying some more bad salsa?” a voice said from behind. I spun around and stared into the beautiful baby blue eyes of Spencer Callahan.

  A rush of heat filled me as I saw his perfect, pink, plump lips curve into a smile. He had apparently just skateboarded down Main Street so he was a little out of breath, so instead of breathing he was more like panting, and every time he exhaled, my bangs blew off of my forehead. That’s how close he was standing to me. I could smell his Mentos-scented breath, and it made me weak.

  I thought I would faint, but then a hot flash woke me up. Oh snap! What would I do now? An image of a snake popped in my head, a poisonous snake. If a snake bit itself, would it die? No. It would be immune to its own venom. With that thought in mind, I clasped my hands together like I was about to sing “Mary Had Little Lamb” at a kindergarten recital. It stung a little, but I didn’t burst into flames. And I hoped Spencer didn’t notice the thin stream of smoke rising from my hands.

  “Bad salsa?” I asked, trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about. Then it hit me. That was my stupid response at the pool party. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m thinking about expanding my condiment options. I’m looking into bad ketchup, bad mustard, and bad guacamole.”

  Spencer chuckled. “That was funny. That was really funny, Priss.” He stared at me as if he was shocked that I could say something funny. Actually, I was shocked, too. “Anyway, what I wanted to ask you—”

  Just then, Kyle burst through the door and shoved a package into my chest.

  “I hate you, by the way,” he muttered before doing that little shiver people do when they think something is really gross. He hopped on his bike and said, “I think I need a shower,” before speeding off.

  “What was that about?” Spencer said, looking from me to where Kyle was riding off. Thankfully, my supplies were wrapped up in a brown paper bag so he couldn’t tell what they were.

  I shrugged. “Just Kyle being cranky, I guess. I think the peroxide from all that hair dye is seeping into his head.”

  Spencer laughed at that, but I actually felt kinda bad that I’d said something so mean about Kyle. He was a jerk most of the time, but I still considered him a friend. Kind of.

  “Anyway,” he said, “I’m having a few friends over tomorrow night. Kinda to celebrate our last night of freedom before school starts. Why don’t you come?”

  Did he just ask me to his house? That’s like a date kinda, right? I was going on a date with Spencer Callahan! I was too shocked to say anything so I just nodded.

  “Sweet. We’re gonna start at like five after my dad finishes his Labor Day party stuff. We’ll just watch some movies or something.” He picked up his skateboard then pushed the door of the pharmacy open. “Is Tai back in town yet?” he asked before entering.

  “Her flight gets in tomorrow morning,” I said, surprised that my lips still worked. I couldn’t believe I was going on a date with Spencer Callahan.

  “Sweet. She can come, too.”

  Oh my God. I was seriously going to faint. How nice of him to invite my best friend too!

  I plopped the package into the Batgirl basket at the front of my bike and prepared to hustle back home. I told my dad I was only going to get an ice cream at Willie’s Sweet Shop so I literally had about two minutes and thirteen seconds before he sent Josh looking for me or, worse, he came for me himself. The last time that happened, he ended up busting into the library with tears in his eyes, sweeping me up into a bear hug and totally pulling me away from a classic Ms. Marvel comic. He said that when I didn’t come home on time, he got worried. Hmph. Now that I thought about it, he really did worry about me a lot.

  My dad really loved me. And despite his scary pro-wrestler appearance, he was extremely smart. I mean like Tai smart. He had degrees in biochemistry and engineering. Though nowadays the only time he had to use either was when the twins put a peanut butter sandwich in the DVD player. Dad took it apart, cleaned it, and then rewired it himself. He was a genius. Now if only he could figure out a way to rewire the twins into something less gross and annoying.

  Chapter 6: Monster Alien

  When I got home, Josh was sitting at the kitchen table, looking totally depressed. I resisted the urge t
o turn on a Christina Aguilera song just to bug him and decided to actually talk to him.

  “What’s up, Josh?” I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the refrigerator and sat across from him.

  “Nothing. Leave me alone,” he said. He had been spinning a small gold ring on the table, but when I sat down, he tossed it into a little black box and then stuffed it into his pocket.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Nothing.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in the wooden chair. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. I knew he was lying. If he really didn’t want to talk about it, he would’ve gotten up, called me a nosey brat or something worse, and then gone to his room. But he didn’t. He just sat there, which meant he really wanted to talk but didn’t want to make the first move.

  “What’s that in your pocket?” I asked, finishing off the Gatorade. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was. I wondered if that had something to do with the fire.

  Josh rocked back in the chair and didn’t answer. I could tell he was trying to decide whether he should tell me some secret or not. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re just a kid.”

  “I’m not a kid. I’m a woman. In fact, I have a date tomorrow.” I lifted my chin in the air like royalty and looked down my nose at him.

  He rolled his eyes. “A date? You’re only twelve. You don’t know anything about dating. Does Dad know about this?”

  My eyes expanded. Dad would absolutely not allow it. I didn’t even think about that when I agreed to go to Spencer’s house. “Oh my God, Josh. Don’t tell him, please. He won’t let me go. He’ll flip out. Please, Josh, this is my one chance at happiness. Please don’t ruin it for me, please!”

  Josh got an evil smirk on his face. He would definitely tell Dad and enjoy doing it. I thought my life was over. But then his expression changed. His blue eyes softened and he bit his bottom lip like he was thinking about something. Then he leaned forward in the chair and said, “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine.”

  What? Josh was actually going to confide in me? This was new. After nodding my acceptance of the deal, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box. He opened it up and revealed a skinny little gold ring.

  “What’s that?” I asked slightly confused. What was so important about a thin, cheap-looking ring?

  “I’m going to give it to Stefanie.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

  “You’re going to propose?” I was glad I’d finished the Gatorade because if I’d still been drinking I would have spit it across the table.

  “Not exactly. It’s a promise ring. It means that I promise to propose to her one day.”

  “So … that means you’re like engaged to be engaged.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I wanted to tell him that was like the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. He was only sixteen. There was no way he could know who he wanted to spend his life with at sixteen. I mean, eight months ago he probably would’ve married that cartoon warrior with the big boobs on his favorite fighting game. And now he suddenly wanted to marry his first real girlfriend. But then again, who was I to talk? I knew I would be marrying Spencer Callahan. And I was even younger than Josh.

  But why did it have to be Stefanie Crawford? There was something about that girl I just didn’t like. It could’ve been the fact that she had the annoying habit of stretching her chewing gum into a long strand out of her mouth and then wrapping it around her finger before plopping it back in. Or it could’ve been that she had bleached her dark hair so many times that it looked like long strands of straw. I had gotten over the fact that after dating my brother for six months, she still called me Patricia, but what bothered me the most was the way she ordered my brother around. I would think a big football player like Josh would stand up to her and tell her to hold her own purse when she went to the bathroom, but he was so completely in love with her that he did just about anything she said.

  “So if you’re so in love with her, why did you look so depressed when I walked in?”

  He shrugged. “What if she doesn’t feel the same way? What if she rejects me?”

  “I don’t even think that’s possible. I mean, besides the Christina Aguilera thing, you’re a pretty good catch.”

  In fact, he was way too good for Stefanie Crawford. I wanted to give him my opinion of Stefanie, but when I saw the way he stared at the ugly ring with that lovesick puppy look, I knew it wouldn’t have mattered. So, I just said congratulations and went to call Tai.

  “Bad news, Priss,” Tai said, once again before I even said hello. “I couldn’t find any medical reason for why you’d be able to shoot fire.”

  “Forget that, we have more important things to discuss,” I said, kicking off my sneakers and hopping on top of my bed.

  “What can be more important than fire shooting out of your fingers?”

  “How about what I’m going to wear on my date with Spencer Callahan?”

  Tai screamed so loudly I had to pull the phone away from my ear. Of course, I wanted to scream as well, but I didn’t want my dad knocking the door down again.

  Tai and I spent so much time making plans for Spencer’s party that my dad practically had to drag me out of my room for dinner. By the time I got to the table, everyone was already eating and my plate of pork chops was cold. But after spending all morning practicing, I was slowly becoming an expert at bringing the hot flashes. I figured out that it was kind of like accessing a part of my brain that had been locked. I could almost see myself turning a key inside my mind and opening up the hidden chamber that brought the heat.

  So I decided to try it out on my dinner. After turning the key in my head, I felt the heat flow through my body and land in my fingers. I touched my plate of food and discreetly warmed up my pork chop, even turning it over once with my fork. Then I took a bite and smiled, truly impressed with myself and my new hidden talent. I wondered when I would be confident enough to reveal it to my family. But then I thought maybe it would be more fun just to keep it to myself. What happened next kind of ruined that idea.

  “Oh, Priss, it must be cold by now. Let me warm it up for you.” My dad reached for my plate before I could stop him. As soon as he touched it, he yelped in pain then let the plate crash to the floor.

  He stared at me with eyes filled with … terror. Was he afraid of me?

  “What happened?” Josh asked, looking up. The twins barely noticed the disturbance and continued throwing broccoli at each other.

  My dad went to the sink and placed his hand under running water. He didn’t say anything.

  “You okay, Dad?” Josh was starting to worry about my father’s odd silence.

  “I’m fine,” he said finally while wrapping his hand in a towel. “I’m going to go to the basement for a while. Josh, can you clean up this mess. Priss, make sure the twins finish their food.” He spoke as if someone had just died, and he wouldn’t look me or Josh in the eye. Then he sulked off to the basement. I went to follow him, but the door was closed and locked by the time I got there.

  The basement was absolutely off limits to all of us kids. After watching The Wizard of Oz when I was seven, I asked Dad if we could hide in the basement if there was a tornado, and he said we would be safer in the tornado than in the basement. I thought he was joking at first, but he didn’t crack a smile. I never asked to go in the basement again.

  I sat with my back against the door and waited for him to come out. Part of me wanted to talk to him and find out what was going on. He knew that plate shouldn’t have been hot. Did he know I did it? But then again, maybe I didn’t want to talk to him. Maybe the truth was too scary. And who says he would tell me the truth anyway. He’d already lied to me about the Dubai Brazil thing.

  The way he looked at me made me want to cry. He must’ve thought I was some sort of monster or alien or monster alien. What if I was an alien? That would explain so much. Ma
ybe that’s why I didn’t look like my dad or my brothers. I had this awful thick red hair and green eyes while Dad and Josh had dark hair and blue eyes. And the twins had blond hair and blue eyes. I shook my head. That couldn’t be it. Unfortunately, I looked almost exactly like my mother. Wait a minute. What if my mother and I were the aliens? Maybe she wasn’t in Dubai or Brazil, but on our home planet. Maybe my dad was in the basement making arrangements to send me back to my planet because I could no longer fit in with the human children.

  My heartbeat raced. I had trouble breathing. I didn’t want to live with monster aliens. A voice inside my head told me to calm down. Wait a minute. It didn’t come from my head. It came from the basement. I could hear someone talking in the basement. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the voices.