Framed & Dangerous (9780545443128) Read Free Page B

smart, creative, and organized.”
    â€œBut I don’t really —”
    Fiona started hopping in place, repeating, “Please, please, please, please, please.”
    â€œFine, fine,” I said, mainly to make her stop. “I’ll go to one meeting and see how it is.”
    â€œGreat!” Fiona clapped her hands together. “It’s right after school in Room 111.” She lowered her voice and added, “Maybe after the meeting we can talk about how to get Zane to ask you to the dance.”
    She wagged her eyebrows at me, spun around, and walked away.
    I hadn’t even thought about that as a possibility. A little grin spread across my face.
    I was suddenly a lot more interested in the school dance.
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    After the assembly, classes were held as normal. I tried my best to focus even though I was anxious about ten thousand different things. I’m a worrier by nature, so this isn’t exactly breaking news, but I didn’t usually have so much to obsess about at once. The fire, Darcy, Zane, why I’d agreed to join the Dance Committee …
    When the bell rang for lunch, I realized that I’d have to face Darcy. It was easy to ignore our fight in class. I paid attention to the teacher, as usual. But in the lunchroom we always sat together and talked. Every day. I stopped and stared at the kids rushing through the open doorway, excited to eat and join their friends. It felt like there was a giant boulder sitting in my stomach.
    If I walked in and she was sitting at our usual table,did I just go and sit next to her? Or … if I went in and she wasn’t there yet, did I sit in our regular spot?
    I didn’t know what to do.
    I took a deep breath and stepped into the large, noisy room. My eyes went directly to our usual spot. Maya was there, but Darcy wasn’t sitting with her. Where was she? Did she make a new friend already, or was she eating alone in the library to avoid me? How could she be so cold?
    My mood swung from nervous to angry. I bet Darcy hadn’t even cried over our fight like I had. She never cries. Not even when she broke her arm in fourth grade. I tried to harden my heart. She’s a robot. Who wants a robot as a friend anyway?
    But she was also hilariously funny. And smart. And easy to talk to.
    On the surface we seemed like opposites. She dressed to stand out, I liked blending in. She got in trouble so much that Principal Plati had her mother on speed-dial, and I was a goody-goody. But we did have a lot in common. We lived next door to each other. We were both only children. We were nerds and proud of it. Hanging with Fiona and Maya was fun, but no one understood me like Darcy did.
    I suddenly missed her so much it felt like someone was squeezing my heart.
    I had to get out of there. I spun around, left the cafeteria, and headed for the computer lab. I was pretty sure it was empty during our lunch period. I could quickly eat my sandwich and then try to get to the bottom of Zane’s weird e-mail.
    I peeked my head into the room. Empty. Yes! I chose the closest computer and entered my school user name and password. While it loaded I pulled my sandwich out of my paper lunch bag and took a big bite.
    I’d asked Zane to forward the e-mail to me so I could take a closer look. I logged into my e-mail and clicked on the anonymous message. It had no subject line and only those three threatening words in the body. It was sent early Monday morning, when the field house was on fire. I examined the sender once more. The address was ZM at some free e-mail service. “I wonder what ZM stands for,” I said, thinking out loud. But as soon as I said it, I realized those were Zane’s initials.
    The computer lab suddenly felt as cold as the Arctic Circle. I shivered uncontrollably. It certainly seemed like someone had created an e-mail addressjust to send Zane one crazy e-mail. Using his initials in the address made it even more menacing in a way.