Hello!
I got the green light from a few reviewers, so here it is!
Now, this is not a 'Reading the Book' fanfiction, or even reading the whole chapter
Just pages or snippets of my choice- and yours, if you want.
Enjoy!
-Estelle
Jess's P.O.V
"Reading our books?" Emma repeats, "And what is that suppose to mean?"
"What it says, sweetheart. It wasn't a coincidence that the Berkeleys, Grant and Courtney, and Theodore are all here at the same time." her mother tells her.
"This isn't a normal book club meeting is it?" Megan asks weakly, "I was wondering why all the families were here."
"Yes, and the Berkeleys should be here in a few minutes. The drive from the Colonial Inn isn't too long." Mrs. Wong checks her watch. Then she smiles, "I got them a discount to the best room. Theo and his grandmother, too. I can do that, because-"
"-you're the Mayor of Concord." Becca finishes.
As if on cue, the doorbell of Megan's house rings.
"Jerry, dear-"
"On it." Mr. Wong opens the door. I hear him greet a few people, and four different voices are heard. All with identical British accents.
Megan and Cassidy exchange a smile.
The Berkeleys walk in. There was no big greeting, since they had reached Concord 2 weeks ago. Tristan simply sat on the couch which Cassidy was leaning against from the floor. She adjusted her position so that she was leaning on his legs. Simon plopped down next to Megan, and Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley took the two-seated couch.
"I think that's everyone." Mrs. Hawthorne surveyed the Wong's enormous Living Room.
"Right." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid nods, smiling slightly at the sight of her daughter and Tristan, "Well, the Moms were having yoga class one day-"
5 groans. Tristan and Simon exchanged a puzzled glance.
"Yoga class is bad?" Simon questions.
"They always have some weird, harebrained ideas." Megan says gloomily, "That's where this club started. It's never a good sign."
"Yes, but don't you lot enjoy the club?" Tristan asks curiously, "Isn't that how you met?"
"Became friends." Cassidy corrected, "We already knew each other. But Becca and Megan were a couple of those giggly, lip-gloss addicts and Emma and Jess were nerds and goody-two-shoes, and I was rude."
"I see the change in your kindness." Darcy snorts.
"Glad you noticed." Cassidy replies with heavy sarcasm.
"Can I finish?" my mother asks, "So the Moms were all at yoga - hold on girls- when Phoebe comes running in, and pulls the four of us aside."
"And?"
"And, well... she showed us these books." my mother spreads six books onto the floor.
I draw in my breath. Six books, each one with a different person. I look closer. Realization hits.
"That's you!" Emma cries. As if I don't know it. "On the pink one- I'm guessing it's the first book?"
"There you are, Cass." I say, pointing to a blue book, "Number two. And Megs- number 3."
"I'm four." Emma eyes the red book, "Pies and Prejudice? Ninth grade, totally. Hey, Becca, it's you on the fifth, and Megan again on the last one."
The room is silent for a moment.
Finally, Mrs. Hawthorne speaks up again, "Each book depicts a different year of your schooling, girls, starting from grade six. The last two, however, are joint for grade 10. And each chapter rotates each person's point of view."
"I don't quite get it." Simon says.
"It's all the same story, but chapter one is told from Emma's perspective, chapter two from Megan's and so on for each of the four girls." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid explains.
"Four?" Stewart frowns, "There are five of them."
"Yes, books one to four do not contain Becca's point of view. It has hers in the last two, though."
"But... what's the difference?" I question.
"Well... girls, these books contain all of your thoughts on whatever's going on, so-"
"Our thoughts?" Cassidy's voice goes an octave higher, "But- but... that's not something we can read in front of-"
"I know, sweetheart." her mother assures her, "But, see, we Moms already read the six books."
I exchange a puzzled glance with Becca. Emma, Megan and Cassidy look somewhat furious.
"So, we know what's going on, and since we know our daughters so well, it's obvious that we know what you'll want us to keep private." my mom tells the gathering, "So we've chosen snippets- chapters, or even just pages - from each book that we want to read aloud. Not a huge invasion of privacy, just a chance for, um..."
"Bonding, closeness, a developement of friendship, and a way to understand your peers better." Mrs. Hawthorne jumps in promptly, "Things you ought to know."
"Are we going in order?" Dylan asks, "Like first page you've chosen in the first book, second page you've chosen in the first book..."
"You know what?" Mrs. Chadwick says, "Let's not do that. Let's pick a book at random, then choose a snippet at random. Who needs order?"
"Hear, hear!" the twins and Stewart and Darcy all chorus.
"But how will we know what's going on?" I ask.
"You've lived through it, Jess. Your memory is extraordinary, I'm sure you'll cotton on." My father teases.
"What about us?" Tristan (who I just noticed is twirling a lock of red hair on his finger) gestures at his family, then points at Theo and Grant.
"You'll catch up too, I swear." Mrs. Hawthorne promises.
Mrs. Wong has a mischievous look on her face, "And you know, Tristan, Cassidy trash- talks you a lot in book four."
We laugh, and Tristan lets out a huff, "I wasn't that bad."
"You were." Cassidy protests, "You were horrible."
"Not the whole time!"
"No, not the whole time."
"Sounds like Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy." Megan snorts, and Cassidy and Tristan both shut up.
"Anyway." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid continues, laughing, "I promise we won't completely humiliate you girls, okay? And we moms have our moments, too- not our best ones."
The other moms nod in agreement.
"So...how will we decide which snippet goes first?" Emma asks tentatively.
"We draw pieces of paper for the book, and the moms will choose the page or chapter, since we already know the contents." says Ms. Wong, who loves being organized.
"So?" my mom looks around, "Are you all ready?"
We nod, the families more enthusiastically than the daughters.
My mom holds out a bag of chits of paper to Gigi. Each one contains a name of one of the six books.
We all hold our breath as she sticks her hand inside and pulls one out.