Once Upon a Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick Page A

weird was it that we’d both just happened to come down with this strange whatever-it-was at the very same time? I mulled this over as I got ready for bed.
    I thought about tomorrow, too, and wondered if I could really make it through an entire day of school without a single toad slipup. Mrs. Bonneville didn’t take any guff, and I doubted she’dtake any toads, either. They might not be on her list of rules, but spitting was, and somehow I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be thrilled if I started spitting them in class. And there was the talent show, too!
    I was going to have to stay on my toes.

CHAPTER 8
    â€œCat still got your tongue, Cat?” said Olivia as she pranced downstairs to breakfast the next morning. She was all smiles, of course. It’s easy to be all smiles when you’re popping out priceless gems and petals instead of wart-encrusted amphibians. I shrugged and nodded as she held something out to her mother.
    Iz took it and added it to the drawstring bag matter-of-factly, but I noticed that my father looked a little freaked out. He’d probably been hoping that a good night’s sleep would cure Olivia.
    It hadn’t, and it hadn’t cured me, either. I knew that for a fact because I’d been up early again, out under the rhododendron bush talking to myself. Myself and I were in agreement—we still seemed to be a bottomless source of toads.
    Iz tucked Olivia’s priceless crop into the messenger bag she used as a purse and a camera case. “Eat quick, honey,”she told my stepsister. “Our appointment’s in forty-five minutes.” She turned to me, and I noticed the shadows under her eyes. Iz obviously hadn’t slept much. “I expect we’ll be a while, but we should be home in plenty of time to get you to Dr. Douglass’s office after school.”
    I nodded, and she looked at me closely. “You’ll be okay getting yourself to the bus, right?”
    I do it all the time at home in Houston, I wrote on the notepad I carried with me everywhere now.
    â€œWe’ll drop Geoffrey off at preschool on our way this morning,” she continued a few minutes later as she helped my little brother on with his raincoat. “He’s going to go home afterward with one of his friends, so you won’t have to worry about him.” She gave me a hug. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
    I nodded again, but inside I didn’t feel all that okay. I was dreading facing the whole “Catbox” thing again, plus what if, despite my best efforts, I had another toad episode at school? Who could I call for help? My father and stepmother would be at the specialist with Olivia, and they’d confiscated our cell phones.
    For the first time since the toads appeared, I was tempted to say something. What about me? I wanted to holler. I need a specialist too! I didn’t open my mouth, though. For one thing, Iz and Dad had enough on their minds without worrying about me, and for another, no way did I want Olivia to find out about the toads. I would never live it down.
    The house was oddly quiet after they all left. I was used to being on my own—sometimes my mother had to be at the Johnson Space Center at the crack of dawn, and she often worked long hours—but it was different here than back home.The Houston high-rise where I lived with my mother was always full of other people. The D’Angelos were just a quick elevator ride away. Here in Portland, my dad’s house was on a stub of a dead-end street nestled in the woods, with only the Dixons for company. Plus, the bungalow was older and creakier than our condo back home, and I found it a little creepy when it was empty like this. To distract myself, I finished my breakfast in front of the TV, then went upstairs to get dressed.
    A few minutes later I heard Connor Dixon calling good-bye to his mother and looked out the bedroom window to see him heading down his