Partners in Crime (9780545463119) Read Online Free Page B

some people come up against ascientific unanswered question, they get frustrated. They want to know “why” right now. Me? I’m delighted. It’s a challenge, set out there ready and waiting for me.
    I wondered if maybe that was why I was starting to get excited about this missing twin sister case. At first, Darcy had been more into it than I was. But now it was all I could think about.
    I wanted us to solve this mystery.
    And we would.
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    On Monday, Darcy and I kept to our vow not to discuss the case at school. But it was clearly killing us. At lunch, we silently shared a plate of French fries, feeling tense. Finally, Darcy spoke up, but it was only to ask if I wanted ketchup. I did, so she jumped up and headed to the condiments table.
    I gazed around the cafeteria. Maya Doshi was, as always, sitting alone. Her pretty, long black hair covered her face as she leaned over a book. Maya had no friends that I knew of. I’d tried talking to her a couple times, but she always seemed so nervous, like my questions were tests. She’s really shy.
    I thought about how hard it must be. Talking is as easy to some people as math is to me. But others have to work at it. So Maya wasn’t talkative; that wasn’t her fault. But, because she was so quiet, it was like she was invisible. No one even looked at her most of the time.
    Behind Maya, Zane was sitting one table over with his friends. I sighed inwardly.
    Zane is not the most gorgeous boy in school. He’s not the smartest or funniest. And though he’s great at soccer, that’s his only sport (as the other jocks remind him). But he is the kindest boy. I’ve never seen him bully or make fun of anyone. He treats everyone the same, whether you’re popular or a giant dork. And that is really, really cool.
    The problem, though, with a boy who’s nice to everyone is that there’s no way to tell if he likes you back. You know … likes you, likes you. Not that I like him. But if I did, it would be difficult to see if he liked me back. That’s all I’m saying.
    As if he could feel me staring, Zane turned and looked right at me. I shot my eyes downward, but there was nothing I could do about the red blush that I’m sure was lighting up my face and neck.
    After a minute, I peeked over my shoulder to see what was taking Darcy so long. Surprisingly, she seemed to be chatting with Fiona Fanning.
    Fiona was wearing a skirt and high-heeled booties. Her long brown hair has blond highlights she swears are natural, but she must spend an hour every morning with a flatiron to make every strand look just so. Meanwhile, my blond hair has more of the “wash, blow-dry, and go” look to it. I don’t spend much time on my appearance. But that’s probably why every boy in the seventh grade has a crush on Fiona, and I’ve never even had a boy call my house or slip me a note.
    Fiona is totally stuck-up, with her popular friends and all that. I could only imagine what insulting thing she was saying to Darcy now. I hoped Darcy had some self-control. I’d just talked her out of one trip to the principal’s office on Friday.
    When Darcy returned to the table with packets of ketchup, I asked her, “What was the beauty queen bugging you about?”
    â€œNothing really,” Darcy said, looking confused. “She was just complaining about how Mrs. Feldman’s class was so boring today.”
    The fry fell from my fingers. “Wait, wait, wait …. Fiona Fanning was just … nice to you?”
    â€œYeah.” Darcy reached around the air with her hands. “There’s a disturbance in the force.”
    We laughed, but then the bell rang and I wasn’t laughing anymore. Time for gym. I hated gym. Darcy and I were always picked last.
    â€œTime to go,” I said with a groan.
    We started moving out of the cafeteria with the crowd. Hunter Fisk sneered at us as we walked by, and Darcy stuck her