that time i joined the circus

7/28/2019 That Time I Joined the Circus

1/10

Point


2/10

Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Howard

All rights reserved. Published by Point, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920.SCHOLASTIC, POINT, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of

Scholastic Inc.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write toScholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Howard, J. J. (Jennifer Jane), 1972-That time I joined the circus / J.J. Howard. 1st ed.

p. cm.Summary: After her fathers sudden death and a break-up with her best friends, seventeen-year-old Lexi has no choice but to leave New York City seeking her long-absent mother, rumored to

be in Florida with a traveling circus, where she just may discover her destiny.ISBN 978-0-545-43381-5

[1. Circus Fiction. 2. Best friends Fiction. 3. Friendship Fiction. 4. Single-parent families Fiction. 5. Mothers and daughters Fiction. 6. Florida Fiction. 7. New York (N.Y.) Fiction.]

I. Title.PZ7.H83296Th 2013

[Fic] dc232012016715

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 14 15 16 17/0

Printed in the U.S.A. 23First edition, April 2013

Book design by Christopher Stengel


3/10

1

prologue

A detour to your new life

Tell all of your friends good-bye

BROKENBELLS, THEHIGHROAD

The Corner of Bowery and Rivington Tuesday, October 5

My life has a soundtrack it plays in my head all the time.

Sometimes its on automatic, just a song stuck on repeat from

the last thing I listened to. And sometimes Im like a DJ,

making a selection to suit my mood or the general circum-

stance. When theres music playing in the outside world,

though, sometimes it takes over. Like now.

My father taught me about music, which is how I know

that the sound coming out of the bar called Mission doesnt

qualify. I think its Nickelback, or someone who was on,

like, American Idol, but its completely beneath me to know

for sure. I am a music snob, and proud of it. Im a New

Yorker; smugness is my birthright. But being alone, cold,

and hungry and homeless as of around ten oclock this

morning has taken some of the smug out of me. I never

thought Id live anywhere but New York never even thoughtId live above Houston Street.


4/10

2

Maybe if I hadnt messed up quite so completely, one of

my two (former) best friends would be standing here with

me. Maybe if Id actually bothered to learn how to

drive . . . maybe if my dad hadnt died . . . But no maybeswould help: I had, I hadnt, he had.

So here I am saying good-bye to my neighborhood, alone,

with no plan beyond the bus station and a really crummy

song about love stuck in my head. And of course my stupid

mother to go and find. What kind of father sends all his

money to his crazy ex-wife and leaves his daughter com-pletely broke? And what kind of mother runs away and joins

the circus?


5/10

3

c h a p t e r o n e

Eli

Should I feel flattered that you hate everything but me?

MARITIME, PARADEOFPUNKROCKT-SHIRTS

Orchard Street and Avenue A Thursday, September 30

Eli won again. Hes my best friend, but that doesnt make

it any less annoying. We were sitting on the floor of his

bedroom, which is not that easy, because his room is even

smaller than mine. I had just lost seventeen dollars and

forty-two cents playing five-card draw. We were trying to

stay awake to see a midnight showing of Robot Monster at

the Den of Cin on Avenue A. And waiting for Bailey to

arrive. Things had been pretty weird since Eli and Bailey

my two best friends my two only friends, to be completely

accurate started dating each other a few months ago.

Having Eli all to myself that night had actually been kind

of nice. Being the odd freak out had not been all that

awesome.

Eli Katz and I have been friends since we started at

Sheldon in sixth grade. Id gone to public school for elemen-tary, and Eli had gone to a little yeshiva down the street.


6/10

4

Neither of us fit the Sheldon Prep mold very well. I had a dad

who looked like a teenager in his D G A: NOWSTARTABAND

T-shirt and a missing mother. Eli had strict parents and

almost never ventured more than three blocks from hisapartment. My dad, Gavin, and I taught him to be almost as

obsessive about music as we are. Gavin even taught him to

play the guitar, which was a big improvement over the clari-

net hed been trying to play when I met him.

Eli and I hated the Sheldon kids that is, until Bailey

Conners came along in ninth. Bailey was pretty enough, andnaturally non-awkward enough and wealthy enough

to fit in with the typical Sheldon kids. But for some unknown

reason, she picked us instead. Eli and I had both been flat-

tered and kind of grateful.

It took me a little while to figure out what it was about

Bailey. She certainly looked like someone who could have

her own show on The CW. But she didnt quite fit in with

the shiny people at Sheldon. The day she brought the pigeon

with the smashed wing to class with her (in a Jimmy Choo

shoe box, no less), I started to figure it out. She had a soft

spot for wounded birds. Bailey has a good heart, and she

loves a project. Her makeover scheme had worked on Eli, at

least.

And I guess if I am honest with myself, I had seen right

away that Elis feelings about Bailey hadnt stopped at grati-

tude. When Bailey spoke, Elis head always tilted to the side,

and he gazed at her sort of like a faithful hound dog.X? Call? Elis voice brought me back to the game.


7/10

5

Fold. I threw in my cards with a huge sigh. Youve got

my popcorn money, and my download budget for at least the

next two weeks.

Try two days, addict.Youre so funny! I said in my best fake voice. For a

retarded person, I mean.

Eli threw his cards at me, but he smiled. Clean up that

mess you made, will ya?

I leaned back against the side of his bed, stretching my

legs while keeping them crossed in my little skirt. I hatedshorts, but it was about 112 degrees out, and a little skirt

was my only other option. Eli was wearing jeans, as always.

I watched him gather up the cards Id known he wouldnt

make me pick up. Eli was so different now the way he

filled out his T-shirt was such a change from the old string

bean hed been. It was hot in his room his parents defi-

nitely rationed the air-conditioning and I gathered all my

hair up and held it on top of my head for a few seconds,

wishing for a hair clip. It was getting really long. Probably

time to cut it. I didnt actually hate my hair it was sort of

medium brown, but thick with a little wave to it. It was just

too bad I hadnt inherited Gavins light blue, almost silver

eyes. Mine were just regular blue.

As I watched Eli put away the cards, I was startled by the

jolt of my cell phone in the side pocket of my skirt. I slid

the answer bar and asked, Hi, what are you doing?

Gavin,I mouthed to Elis questioning look. My dad wasnot the sort of dad that my friends called Mr. Ryan. I started


8/10

6

calling him Gavin a long time ago to annoy him, and then it

sort of stuck.

Wherever my dad was, there was synthpop in the back-

ground. This was not exactly unusual. My dad is stucksomewhere in the late eighties. He visits me here in the post-

millennium, but thats not where he really lives.

Where are you? he asked.

Elis.

Shock. I thought you were gonna be home early tonight,

though?When did I say that? Gavin often got things

scrambled.

I thought you had that college fair thing.

Oh lastnight. I went. No sweat. Already picked my

school. The University of Kentucky. Im looking into maybe

getting some horses.

I was supposed to go with you. He really did sound

contrite.

Thats okay. I was mostly telling the truth. Gavin

was an awesome dad, but not so big on the nuts-and-bolts

stuff.

I was working I totally forgot. Im sorry, Lexi.

I didnt correct him Lexi was his pet name for me.

He mostly obeyed my wish to be called Xandra now. As long

as I didnt have to be Alex, like that idiot Mr. Rosso, my

chemistry teacher, insisted on calling me. When I tried to

correct him, he said there are no proper names that startwith an X.


9/10

7

So . . . horses. Got it. I have to say, I kind of thought

youd go NYU, maybe Columbia. But, you know, Kentucky,

thats cool, too.

You wouldnt think it was cool if you had to buy thehorse, I told him as I watched Eli flip open his laptop and

stretch out diagonally across his bed. Whats up, Gavin?

Did you need something? It doesnt sound like youre

even home.

My name is Dad. And no, I was calling about that

school thing that I already missed. When will you be home?Before you, probably. Be good, though.

I will if you will. I heard the click. The man wasnt big

on good-byes.

What did Gavin want? Eli asked, looking up from his

screen. His head was close to mine, hanging over the edge of

the bed.

Just checking in. I need caffeine. I dont think Ill make

it through Robot Monster. I think Im gonna head.

Thats too bad, Eli said, his face aimed back down at

the screen. Bailey just messaged me; shes bailing on us.

I had a weird feeling a sudden conviction, actually

right at that moment that I should get up off Elis floor and

go straight home. Eli looked down at me, and I saw some-

thing mischievous in his eyes and a lock of dark hair falling

over his left eye. When did he get so freaking cute? Why was

this my life?

If only Id listened to that weird premonition, the worstnight of my life would have been a tiny bit less horrible.


10/10

8

I stood up, but then I sat back down on the bed, with my

legs over Elis legs, my back against the wall behind his bed.

Eli turned over and looked at me for a minute. When he

spoke, his voice was pitched low; his eyes still held mine.So, what do you want to do now?

I didnt make it home that night at all. I wish more than

anything that I had.

that time i joined the circus

Documents