Girls Rule! by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

stranded on an island in the Pacific, what kind of clothes would you wear? I have to know for my report.”
    “None,” said Josh.
    “None?”
    “It would be hot! You’d be alone! Why would you want to wear clothes?” asked Josh.
    Wally
definitely
did not want Caroline Malloy anywhere
near
his island.
    As they got closer to home, they saw their neighbor weeding her lawn at the house next door to theirs.
    “Hi, Mrs. Corby!” Peter called. “Jake’s going to paint your house for you.”
    “Peter!” Jake snapped. “Shut up.”
    Mrs. Corby turned around and straightened up, bunches of dandelions dangling from both hands. “What?” she said. “Paint my house?”
    Peter looked confused. “Well…I think he…”
    “Shut
up
!” Jake muttered again through clenched teeth.
    “
I
didn’t tell her about the termites!” Peter said to his brothers.
    “Termites?
What
termites?” Mrs. Corby said worriedly.
    Josh clapped one hand over Peter’s mouth, and Jake said, “We’re just making up a story, that’s all. Since you’re moving away, we’re making everything happen in your house.”
    Mrs. Corby looked doubtful. “Well, don’t give me termites, not even in a story!” she said.

    The phone rang when the boys walked inside, and Peter answered it. “Jake and Josh are mad at me!” he complained, ready to tell his mother everything. Thetwins clutched their foreheads. But then Peter stopped talking. “It’s not?” he said. And then, to his brothers, “It’s Beth.”
    The boys looked at each other. “What does she want?” Wally whispered.
    “What do you want?” Peter said into the telephone. There was a long pause. “Uh-huh…,” said Peter. He listened some more. “Yes,” he said. “Yeah, I saw her…. Uh-huh…. Uh-huh…. Uh-huh….”
    Wally and Jake and Josh all tried to get the phone away from Peter, but he had a tight grip on it and pressed himself against the wall. Finally he said, “Okay, goodbye,” and hung up.
    “What did she want?” the boys cried together.
    “Why didn’t you give me the phone?” demanded Jake.
    “I can talk on the phone same as you!” said Peter.
    “But what did Beth
want
?” asked Wally.
    “She said, ‘How are you, Peter?’ “
    “
Besides
that!” said Jake.
    “She wanted to know if I knew whether or not Mrs. Corby was home, and I said yes.”
    “Why did Beth want to know that?” asked Josh.
    “She said that she and Eddie and Caroline wanted to see the inside of her house themselves so they could choose their own bedrooms before they moved in,” Peter told them.
    “What?”
Jake and Josh and Wally all yelled together.
    “They didn’t buy the termite story!” moaned Jake. “
Darn
it! Peter, when are they coming?”
    Peter shrugged. “Soon, I guess.”
    Jake continued staring at Peter as though he were looking straight through him. Then he grabbed the Yellow Pages, leafed through them quickly, and dialed a number.
    Wally knew when Jake lowered his voice that he was trying to sound grown-up. “Hello,” Jake said. “I wondered if you had a truck in the College Avenue area. You do free inspections, don’t you?”
    Wally covered his eyes.
    “Yes,” Jake went on. “I’d like you to take a look at our house and the house next door.” And he gave the address. “Sure….Okay, that’s fine….Yes, that’s terrific!” And he hung up.
    “Jake, what are you
doing
?” said Josh.
    “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” said Jake. “The Malloys don’t believe me about the termites.”
    “So what?” said Wally. “We don’t believe you either!"
    “So they’ll move in!” said Jake. “They’ll spy on us and make our lives miserable. All I want is for a termite company truck to be parked outside when the girls come over. That’s all I ask.”
    This was a bad idea, Wally knew. This was a terrible idea!
    “Well, if you think
I’m
going to answer the door and lie about termites in Mrs. Corby’s house, you’re nuts!” he