Pig City by Louis Sachar

up at the sky. We kept picking out things we saw in the clouds, you know, like giraffes and camels and a whale with a spout, and a lamp on top of the spout, and a turkey playing football.”
    â€œA what?”
    Tiffany laughed. “A turkey playing football! I didn’t see it at first, but Nathan showed it to me, and then once I saw it, it looked just like a turkey playing football! Really!”
    â€œWhat does a turkey playing football look like?”
    â€œI don’t know, like a turkey playing football. Wait, I’m getting to the good part now. Anyway, so then I saw a fish driving a car. He said he didn’t see it, so I showed it to him again, but he said, ‘I still don’t see it,’ and I said, ‘See, the fish’s hands are on the steering wheel,’ and he said, ‘No, show me,’ and I had to put my head right next to his so he could see where I was pointing, and then just as I was trying to show him,Laura, he kissed me!”
    Laura gasped.
    Tiffany squealed.
    â€œOn the lips?” asked Laura.
    â€œYep. It happened so fast. One second I was pointing to the sky and the next, smack! You know, I bet he saw the fish the whole time.”
    Laura laughed. “Probably,” she said.
    â€œSo then, we just stared up at the clouds some more without saying anything. Then he went home. We both said, ‘See you tomorrow,’ at the exact same time! It was funny.”
    â€œKissing him?” asked Laura.
    â€œNo! Saying, ‘See you tomorrow,’ at the same time.”
    Laura didn’t think it was funny.
    â€œI’m a different person now than I was yesterday,” Tiffany said very seriously.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œIt’s hard to explain. You wouldn’t understand. Well, I’ve got to call Allison and tell her. “Bye!”
    â€œâ€™Bye.”
    Laura hung up. She felt terrible. She knew she should feel happy for her friend, but she didn’t, and that made her feel even more rotten. “You wouldn’t understand,” Tiffany had said.
    She walked to the bathroom and looked at herselfin the mirror. It didn’t seem fair. She was prettier than Tiffany or Allison. She should have been the first to kiss a boy.
    â€œFish don’t have hands!” she said aloud.
    Everybody had a boyfriend except for her. Tiffany and Nathan. Allison and Aaron. Yolanda and Jonathan. “Sheila’s as ugly as a toad!”
    â€œWho’s Sheila?” asked Rebecca.
    Laura turned around, startled. “Nobody,” she muttered.
    She wondered if she’d ever kiss a boy. What if next year in junior high no boy would want to kiss her because she didn’t have experience?
    She went into her parents’ bedroom, where she found her father reading a book. “Do you think I’m pretty?” she asked.
    He said yes. She asked him, “How pretty?” and he told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She asked if he was just saying that because she was his daughter, and he said he wasn’t. They went on that way for over fifteen minutes, until she was practically talking baby talk. It was sickening.
    Worst of all, Laura knew it was sickening. She heard herself talking to her father, and she hated herself for it. Still she continued.
    When she left her father, she found her mother andhad almost the identical conversation with her. Fortunately, her phone rang again.
    It’s probably Allison telling me Aaron kissed her! she thought bitterly as she walked to her room.
    â€œHello.”
    There was no one there. “Hello,” she repeated. “Hello.”
    Nothing. She hung up.
    She sighed. She felt like she was about to cry.
    The phone rang again. “Hello!” she demanded.
    â€œMonkey Town will turn Pig City into bacon and eggs,” said a voice. There was some muffled laughter, then the line went dead.
    She slowly hung up the phone.
Monkey Town will turn Pig City into