Wish You Were Here, Liza Page 11

  “Well…” She shrugged. “I guess they go to the beach.”

  Every day? For eight weeks?

  Finally, we turned off the main road. Before I knew it, we were driving toward a big house with a sign on the front that said ISLE BE BACK.

  “Is that it?” I asked my mother. “Wow, it’s pretty cool! I mean, it doesn’t look quite as huge as you described it, but that roof deck looks like fun. And it has a pool! And a tennis court, too?” I almost hated to admit it, but this place was going to be awesome!

  “Huh?” my mom said absentmindedly. “Tennis court? Oh no, hon. That’s not it.” She laughed. Then she drove right by the house and pointed to another one behind it. “There you go. The Drift Inn. That’s us.”

  I’d seen some big houses—Olivia Miner’s came to mind—but this thing was out of control. Way bigger than the other house I’d been looking at. So big that there wasn’t even room for a tennis court or pool around it. I’d assumed it was some kind of old hotel or school or something.

  And by “old,” I mean…a total mess.

  Enjoy this special sneak peek at

  Miss You,

  Mina

  by Denene Millner

  There weren’t any seats on the train, and because my hands were full with my art supplies and I wasn’t used to riding a subway, I forgot to brace myself for takeoff. As soon as the train pulled out of the station, I went flying into a nearby girl wearing a hot-pink watch.

  “Omigod, I’m so sorry,” I told her, trying to catch my footing.

  “Um, the poles are a perfect way to keep that from happening,” the girl said. She giggled, so I guessed she hadn’t meant to be mean. I still cringed.

  “Nice art box,” she added. “You an artist?”

  I hesitated. I didn’t really know what to say back, but I settled on a weak “Kinda.”

  “Actually, my niece is quite talented,” Auntie Jill chimed in. I fought back a groan. “I see you have an art box, too—are you an artist?” she asked the girl.

  “I want to be.” The girl smiled warmly. “I’m actually on my way to the SoHo Children’s Art Program. Today’s my first day.”

  “Really? I’m an instructor there, and Mina is going to be in the camp, too,” Auntie Jill said excitedly. “What’s your name?”

  “Gabriella,” she said, rolling the “r” in her name and giving a little wave.

  “See, Mina?” Auntie Jill said, turning toward me. “You’ve already made a new friend.”

  I tossed a halfhearted grin in the girl’s direction, then focused my attention on my purple Converses. My best friends Sam and Liza had signed their names on the sides with special sparkly white marker, reminding me not to forget them while I was at my “fancy art camp.”

  But as for Gabriella? I wasn’t sure if she’d be real friend material. Suddenly, I missed Liza and Sam more than ever.

  Copyright

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

  Copyright © 2010 by Robin Wasserman

  First Printing, May 2010

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, CANDY APPLE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  eISBN 978-0-545-28296-3

  Cover art by Monika Roe

  Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll