Howl by Karen Hood-Caddy

the ketchup photo.
    The bell rang for recess. Robin grabbed an apple and followed Zo-Zo down the hall.
    “He likes you,” Zo-Zo said.
    Robin shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
    “His eyes get all soft when he looks at you,” Zo-Zo said.
    Robin tossed her apple into the air nervously. If he wasn’t Brittany’s boyfriend, that was okay, wasn’t it? At the end of the hall, she pushed through the big, metal doors that led to the schoolyard. Brittany and a gang of kids clogged the area just outside the door. As Robin tried to get past them, she dropped her apple.
    “Oh, the poor little klutzy-klutz,” Brittany said.
    She spread her arms wide and eased the kids back away from the apple. Then she lifted her leg and stomped down hard, squashing it. “There’s your apple, Green Queen.”
    The other kids craned forward. Some laughed and pointed at the apple pulp.
    Robin looked at Brodie. He was standing at the far rim of the gang. Their eyes met, then he looked away.
    Robin remembered the words he’d said in class just a few moments ago. “You can’t just let bad things happen and do nothing.”
    If he meant that, why was he letting a bad thing happen right now? To her?



Chapter
Ten
    Robin awoke to the sound of icy rain pellets ticking against the glass of her window. A few days ago, it had been warm and spring-like, but now, even though it was halfway into April, winter was back. She pulled the pillow over her head and was almost asleep again when she heard a strange scritching noise. What was that?
    She turned over and opened her eyes grumpily. Ari was rolling a thick line of masking tape down the wall. When she reached the floor, she rolled it along the rug and up the other wall. Now that she had a clear demarcation between her side of the room and Robin’s side, she made pincers with her fingers, picked up a folder and tossed it into Robin’s area. The notebook splayed open, papers flying out.
    “Hey! Don’t! That’s my book report.”
    Ari’s face was cold and resolute. “Then don’t put it on my side of the room. From now on, I don’t want you to even step on my side of the room.”
    “That’s stupid,” Robin said. It was also impossible. “You just don’t want me reading all that love stuff you write about Conner.”
    Her guess had been right on, for Ari’s hand dove under her pillow. She pulled her diary out, checked to see that the lock was still intact, then dropped it into her purse. “You’re just jealous.”
    Their father appeared in the doorway. “Okay, you two. Enough.” He looked at Ari. “Don’t forget, I’m driving you to the dentist this morning. I’m going to grab a quick shower, so get yourself some breakfast, then we’ll go.”
    Her father looked at Ari fondly, and Robin turned away. Why didn’t he ever look at her that way? Was it her fault if Ari looked so much like their mother?
    Ari glared at her dad. “Mom would have made her clean it up.” She whisked past him.
    Robin saw her father’s eyes moisten. Was he going to cry? She felt a heat rise in her chest.
    “Can’t you at least unpack your boxes?” he said.
    Any warmth Robin felt for him disappeared. She didn’t want to unpack boxes. That would mean she was agreeing to be here, and she wasn’t. She turned her face to the wall.
    Her father spoke, his voice gentle. “It will get easier.”
    She didn’t move. Yeah right.
    When Robin heard him go downstairs, she turned and stared out the window. Freezing rain. That meant the roads would be slippery. What if her father and Ari got in an accident? A sick feeling settled in her stomach. She hated it when she had thoughts like this but had no idea how to stop them.
    She pulled herself up and got dressed. It was Squirm’s turn to feed the animals, so she could take her time. She picked her book report up from the floor, smoothed the pages and went downstairs. Ignoring Ari, she was going to put the book report right into her backpack, but placed it in front of Griff