Fifteen

Fifteen by Beverly Cleary Page B

Book: Fifteen by Beverly Cleary Read Free Book Online
Authors: Beverly Cleary
house, because Julie lived near the entrance to the freeway. When she came out to the truck with Buzz, Jane saw that she was wearing high heels, which made her taller than Buzz, and that her hands did not look natural in her white gloves. She has the Minnie Mouse look too, thought Jane, and she’s wearing a girdle because of her straight skirt. Poor Julie. Unaccustomed to her high heels, Julie turned her ankle, and Buzz caught her by the elbow.
    Please, please, Julie, thought Jane, don’t make fun of the truck. Don’t embarrass Stan. Julie shot Jane a questioning glance. “Hi, everybody,” was all she said, as she climbed into the back of the truck with Greg and Buzz. Jane relaxed. From now on,in spite of the truck, everything would be as wonderful as they had planned. Suddenly she was hungry, and she remembered that she had skipped lunch.
    Jane felt excitement rising within her as the truck left Woodmont and climbed the approach to the bridge that crossed the bay. Through the sunset haze the city at the opposite end of the span looked unreal to Jane. It seemed like an imaginary city, a magic city, a city that appeared from the mists and might disappear if she closed her eyes for a moment.
    â€œWhat shall we have to eat?” Buzz asked from the back of the truck. “Shark’s fins?”
    â€œHow about carp?” suggested Greg.
    Leave it to Buzz to mention food right away, thought Jane, remembering the times he had robbed her of her cooking samples in the seventh grade. Then it occurred to her that goldfish were a kind of carp, but she could not believe they would really have goldfish for dinner. She pictured a platter of fried goldfish garnished with lemon and parsley. It was not an appetizing thought.
    â€œOr fried octopuses,” said Buzz.
    â€œYou mean octopi,” corrected Marcy over her shoulder, and everyone laughed. Everyone butJane. She was beginning to remember reading that the Chinese ate some strange things.
    â€œAnyway, don’t you mean squid?” asked Marcy.
    â€œDon’t forget bird’s nest soup,” added Stan.
    â€œUgh!” This was Julie’s first contribution to the conversation.
    â€œIt’s all right.” Greg was comforting. “They don’t use any old bird’s nest. They use special birds’ nests.”
    â€œHow about thousand-year-old eggs?” put in Buzz.
    Jane, her appetite diminishing rapidly, suppressed a shudder.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, Jane?” Buzz asked. “Don’t you like eggs that are really ripe?”
    â€œMake mine three-minute eggs,” answered Jane, who had made up her mind not to let Buzz tease her.
    â€œBuzz, you mean hundred-year-old eggs,” corrected Julie. “And anyway, they aren’t really a hundred years old. I had to read a book about China for a book report, and it said the eggs were really only about a hundred days old. They just call them hundred-year-old eggs. And they aren’t rotten. They are salted or pickled or something. Anyway, the book said they are very good.”
    Isn’t that just dandy, thought Jane. Only a hundred days old.
    â€œI know what,” said Buzz. “Let’s have flied lice.”
    This was too much for Jane. “They don’t really eat lice, do they?” she cried in alarm.
    Everyone shouted with laughter. “‘They don’t really eat lice, do they?’” mimicked Buzz, and they all laughed again.
    â€œDon’t pay any attention to him,” whispered Stan. “He thinks he’s saying fried rice with a Chinese accent, but I have lots of Chinese friends in the city and I never heard anyone talk that way.”
    â€œOh.” Jane felt the blood rush to her face. How could she be so stupid? Determined not to be laughed at again, she took a firm grip on her sophistication.
    â€œWhich restaurant shall we go to?” Greg asked.
    â€œHow about that one on the corner up over the

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