Fearless by Abby Brooks (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📗

gingham cloth covered a casserole dish clutched in her hands. “Hello there, neighbor!”

I stood, brushing dirt from my palms. “Hi! How are—”

“I live right across the street, there. When I heard someone had moved into Ruth Graywood’s place, I just about danced through town. I baked you a lasagna because everyone knows a full stomach makes you feel like home.” She held out the dish. “I’m Greta Macmillan and I’d officially like to welcome you to Wildrose Landing.”

“Thank you so—”

“I came by earlier, but saw you with your girlfriend.” She leaned in. “I experimented a little when I was younger too. You’ll get no judgement from me. Love knows no boundaries.”

“Amelia’s just my friend, Mrs.—”

“Please. Call me Greta. And call your friend whatever you want. Your secret’s safe with me.” Something in her smile told me nothing was safe with her.

“Thank you.” I held out the lasagna. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy—”

“Well, dear.” Greta dug in her purse and pulled out her phone. “I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll just be on my way. I’ll be back later to pick up my casserole dish.”

She turned and ambled down the drive, typing wildly on her device, leaving me to stare in confusion. As Greta reached the street, my phone buzzed from its place on the porch and I scurried up the stairs. Instead of the zany text from Amelia I expected, I found something from an unknown number.

Hey, Evie! It’s Izzy, seller of genius nuggets and sister to neighbors. Would you, by any chance, want to meet for drinks tonight? Thought you might like to have a friend. Also, I’m not a crazy stalker, but my brother might be. I got your number from him.

My first response was to say no. In fact, I had the reply tapped out, complete with a perfect excuse of exhaustion and overwhelm, when I remembered I was supposed to say yes to everything.

Well, shit.

My thumb hovered over the send button, but I finally deleted the text and typed in a new response, complete with enough exclamation points to make Amelia proud.

“Remember to be fearless, Evie. Say yes. Stop hiding,” I muttered to my phone as I hit send.

Me: Sign me up! Where? When? And thanks for asking me!

Izzy shot me the name of a bar Amelia pointed out in our explorations yesterday. We made plans to meet at six and I practically skipped inside to get ready, carefully looking for signs of the ghost along the way.

Chapter Nine

Alex

Energy dripped from the walls at Cheers ‘n Beers—the bar owned and managed by one of my closest friends, Jude Malone—while judgement clouded my friends’ smirking faces. “Watching my neighbor through my office window doesn’t make me a stalker.” I glared down the bar, daring them to say anything different.

“I think watching people when they don’t know you’re looking is one of the key elements of stalking.” Jude quirked a brow then turned to our friend Austin, who shrugged and tossed back the rest of his beer.

“I don’t know. Alex is always staring out windows. Just ‘cause his neighbor is outside when he does it doesn’t make him a stalker.”

“Yes.” I flared my hands and bobbed my head. “Exactly. Thanks, Austin.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Austin. For ruining all the fun.” Jude leaned his elbows on the bar. “Now what will I tease him about?”

“Don’t worry.” Austin grinned. “He’ll give you plenty of ammo before the night’s over. Of that you can be sure.”

“Remind me why I’m out with you two tonight?” I quirked my head as I shifted my drink between my hands.

“Because Cheers ‘n Beers is the place to be, especially when you’re out with me.” Only Jude could pull off a statement that ridiculous.

“The good news is, if you’re here, you can’t be stalking your neighbor.” Austin’s gruff voice quirked with laughter.

Jude guffawed and offered him a high five.

“You guys are assholes.” I threw back the rest of my beer and signaled for another.

“That’s good,” Jude said. “You fit right in.”

“Have either of you heard from Jack? Any chance he’ll be here tonight?”

Austin shook his head. “His sitter fell through. Man, that guy sure could use a break. Life just keeps smacking him in the head.”

Jude and I bobbed our heads in agreement. Somehow, Jack Cooper had been enrolled in the school of hard knocks. Of all of us, he was the one who least deserved it.

Seeing as most of Wildrose Landing had decided to celebrate the end of the weekend with drinks, the front door had been swinging open all night long. The crowd got bigger. The sound got louder. People came and went, and I didn’t care. Until—it was like a tap on my shoulder and a whisper in my ear, “Hey! Asshole! Look who’s here!” I glanced at the entrance just in time to see Evie come through with Izzy.

Our eyes met. Her cheeks flushed. My drink paused on the way to my mouth.

Austin followed my gaze. “No wonder you’re stalking her.”

“I’m not stalking her,” I muttered.

Jude shot him a questioning look. “Her as in…?”

Austin indicated the door with the neck of his beer. “The only face I don’t recognize in the place. The powers of deduction insist that is none other than Eveline McAllister, hanging out with Izzy Prescott. Seems like a hell of a coincidence, if you ask me.”

“We weren’t asking you,” I gruffed.

“The powers of deduction?” Jude drew his eyebrows together. “Fancy words for a mechanic.”

“A mechanic who owns the best auto repair shop in three counties and hangs out with a writer. Funny. Seems to me you’re the one with the shit vocabulary.” Austin cocked a dark eyebrow and went back to his drink.

To my horror, Izzy caught Evie staring, saw me, and dragged her over. “Hello there, big brother!” She slipped onto the stool beside me while Evie hung back. “What brings you out tonight?” She waved at Austin and Jude, sweet as pie.

“Drinks with friends.” I brandished my beer. “You?”

I inwardly cursed my little sister and her