Chapter 13: Tight Places

AFTER SCHOOL I WAITED for Ruthie to do her flirty goodbye thing with Val before we took off. Isaac walked up to us flashing his commercial smile.

"Hey, Ruthie," said Isaac, "can you give Phoebe and me a lift to our mom's shop?" His mom ran a jewelry counter inside a clothing store that was kind of on the way home for Ruthie.

"Sure, but it'll be tight because I've got Tru, too."

"No prob," replied Isaac. "And here's Phoebe, right on time."

Phoebe glared at Isaac, who just stared back. It was like they were having a silent conversation.

Ruthie leaned over to me and whispered, "It's a twin thing, I think. They do that all the time. Used to freak me out."

Whatever the problem was, it seemed to be over in seconds. When we looked at them expectantly, thinking they might clue us in to whatever had been going on, Isaac just smiled and herded us down the hall, saying, "Come on, ladies, let's go!"

As we got close to the car, Phoebe yelled, "Shotgun," unenthusiastically.

"Oh, come on," I