"Betty Miles - The Trouble With Thirteen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Miles Betty)

"You look nice, hon," Mom said encouragingly. "You're going to have a wonderful time, I know. How many girls did Kate invite?"
"Five, I think. Except now Rachel won't be there."
"It really is a shame," Mom said. "Still, it's not as though the others aren't your good Mends, too."
"Yeah."
Kenny leaned back and smiled condescendingly. "Boy, I hate to think how much noise five twelve-year-old girls are going to make. I'm glad / don't have to be there."
"So am I," I said quickly. "So is everyone. The very first thing we're going to do at Kate's is say a little prayer of gratitude: 'Thank goodness Kenny's not here!' " I love to make clever retorts like that. Kenny kept his superior smile on but he couldn't think of anything to say back. "Anyway," I went on. "It's not five twelve-year-old girls. That's the whole point. It's Kate's thirteenth birthday."
Kenny banged his chair down, but before he could answer, a funny noise came from the radiator. A wheezing.
"Nora!" I said. She was asleep under there, twitching restlessly. "What's the matter with her?" I asked Mom. "Why's she making that strange noise?"
"It's a kind of snore," Mom said. "I've noticed it before. Maybe she has a little cold."
"She sounds terrible!" I said. "What if something's stuck in her throat? She could choke. What if she has pneumonia?"
"She doesn't have pneumonia," said Dad positively. "Mom's right-she's probably got a cold. She'll sleep it off."
"But what if she keeps on wheezing like that? Maybe we should take her to the vet."
"Don't worry, Coke," Dad said. "That dog's not going to perish while you're away for one night. She's a tough old character."
My parents always take it so lightly when something's wrong with Nora. I don't know how they can be so cool. It just breaks my heart to see Nora suffer. Of course, she didn't seem to be suffering that much right then. She kept on sleeping.
"I guess she's not in too much pain," I said.
"I think not," Dad said, so quickly that I wondered if he was laughing at me. I hate for him not to be serious about important things like Nora's health.
"Don't worry, Annie," Kenny said. "I'll keep an eye on her. I'm staying home tonight-Peter's coming over."
Sometimes-just now and then-Kenny seems to understand things better than Mom or Dad. "Thanks, Ken," I said. Then I bent down to Nora. "Good-bye, honey. Sleep well. Don't do any more of that wheezing." I couldn't resist touching her lightly. She stirred and went on sleeping.
I went to the door.
"Don't stay up the whole night," Kenny said.
"Annie?" Mom said.
"What? I brushed my hair!"
"It's not that. I just thought you might like a stronger bag for your things. That one looks as though it might burst on the street."
Mom reached behind the refrigerator and pulled out a heavy brown bag with handles. It said Shop-Rite across the side. She doesn't understand about small details that add up to an elegant impression.
"This is fine." I shook the Saks bag by the handles to show how strong it was. It wasn't that strong, but it would hold.
"It's a very high-class bag," Dad said solemnly.
"Oh, Dad!" He's so crazy. I kissed him anyway, and kissed Mom and blew a kiss at Nora and waved at Kenny and went out.
Suddenly I was glad to be leaving my family and going out with friends my own age, or just about. It was a pleasant evening, cool and breezy. I stopped and pulled my jacket out of the bag and put it on. Just then I saw Peter James down the street, coming out of his yard. He didn't see me. I hurried around the corner. I wondered what Peter would think if he knew the kind of nightgown I was carrying. He'd probably be pretty surprised.
I turned onto Rachel's street. There were lights in all the houses, but hers was dark. I wondered if she
was out somewhere with those kids in the city. I wished she was here instead. It would be so neat if she'd suddenly come rushing out of her door yelling, "Wait up, Annie!" Her house looked grim with the dark bushes around it. It made me think of some giant doll house that people had stopped playing with.
"Hey, Annie-wait up!" It was Sue, running across the street with her shopping bag bumping against her legs. I was glad to see her. Now I wouldn't be the first one.
"Wait till you see Kate's ears!" Sue said right away.
I had forgotten. I looked at Sue's. "Hey-you didn't get yours done. How come?"
"I don't know. I wasn't that sure I wanted to."
"Did anyone, besides Kate?"
"Not yet. Angela still might."
I was relieved. It was good not to be the only one who didn't.
Janie and Angela were standing in front of Kate's house when we got there. "Hurry up!" they yelled, and we ran to meet them.
We all walked up Kate's steps together. Angela punched the bell and we waited in front of the door, giggling but not saying anything. You always feel a little funny before a party begins.
Then Kate opened the door.
I don't know what I expected, but she looked exactly the same except for a new red T-shirt and the little gold posts in her ears. She looked nice.
"Happy Birthday!" we yelled. Angela began giving Kate thirteen hits and we crowded around and pitched in while Kate laughed and yelled "Help!"
"One to grow on!" Sue shouted, giving a last hard whack. We broke apart. For some reason I looked across the hall into the dining room. Debbie Goldstein was standing there!
I couldn't believe it. Kate never said anything about Debbie coming. Her mother must have made Kate ask her; mothers aren't sensitive about those things the way kids are. It spoiled everything for Debbie to be there. Just the way she stood there watching us-I wondered if she thought we were acting like babies.
I was uncomfortable the whole time we had cake and presents. It made me feel unnatural to have Debbie across the table making remarks. It was O.K. when Mr. Levy and Mrs. Levy brought in the cake, and turned off the lights, and started singing "Happy Birthday to You." I love that moment when the person gets their cake. Everybody felt good then, probably even Debbie. Anyway, she clapped too when Kate blew all the candles out in one breath. And the cake was very elegant-lots of thin dark chocolate layers with raspberry jam between them and darker chocolate icing on top. But when Kate started opening her presents, Debbie had to keep butting in with some comment. Like, Janie gave Kate Tropic Passion Bubble Bath, and Debbie said, "Wait till Alan Shay gets a sniff of that!" Everyone laughed, but Kate blushed.
And Sue gave Kate a really neat pen, but all Debbie could say was how good it would be for writing secrets in the diary she gave Kate. And then it turned out that Angela's present was a diary too, but you could see that Debbie thought it wasn't as good as hers. Janie gave Kate a really good game, called Turn the Tables, that I would like to have myself, but I got the feeling Debbie thought games were boring. At least, when Kate unwrapped my bracelet, Debbie said it was pretty. Kate put it right on. I could tell she liked it, so that was good. And she liked what Rachel gave her-a necklace of African beads that Rachel had brought over to Kate's before she went to the city.
"Where is Rachel, anyway?" Debbie had to ask. "I thought she'd be here."
"In the city," I said shortly. I wasn't going to go into it. Rachel could tell people when she was ready. For a minute I felt angry at her for going off and leaving me to cover up for her. But it was really Debbie I was mad at. Why did she have to be here? What would she say when she saw my nightgown?
Kate pushed back her chair. "Let's go change!"
Everyone rushed to get their bags. I walked after them slowly and picked up mine. I stood in the hall with the bag in my hands, wishing that the party was over and that I could just go home.