Gem Stone Read Free Page A

Though it would have been easy to point the finger in the right direction, she wasn't Misty. She wasn't going to turn anyone in to make it easier for herself.
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    Life here hadn't changed the first rule, learned the hard way on the streets and reinforced in juvie. That rule was to keep your mouth shut – no matter what. Or else.
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    She bit her bottom lip as she raced down the hallway. She didn't want to miss dinner. She'd already outstripped most other girls her age, for height. She could only hope one day, she'd match them for curves. At least she had them all beat for brains.
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    It was a relief to get out of there, but she'd feel better if she understood what was going on by the creek. And why Creepers cared.
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CHAPTER TWO
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    T he oversized kitchen was busy even though there were only five teenagers in residence at the moment. Along with Gem and Misty, were three always-hungry males. With an apologetic smile at Doris – John's wife and their house mother – Gem took her place at the table and quickly heaped her plate. Misty kept trying to catch her eye, but Gem refused to look at her. She wasn't going to let her off the hook so easily.
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    The meeting with Creepers was too fresh for that.
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    The meal of baked ham and mashed potatoes was hot and tasty and she ate with gusto. Now that she'd survived Creepers, her stomach had settled and turned to more important matters. She didn't know why she was always so hungry or why, despite that, she could only tolerate certain foods recently. She had no allergies and would have said a year ago that she could eat anything. That had slowly changed.
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    Now there were certain things she couldn't put on her plate. Like green apples. Red ones were fine. Green, something about that color, just wasn't any good anymore. Yet green in other foods was great, like spinach. She adored spinach. Hated Swiss chard – it had red in it. Go figure.
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    "Gem, do you want more potatoes?" Doris asked, standing beside her with the bowl in hand. Food was important to Doris – that fact was underscored by her round figure and double chins.
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    Gemma eyed the bowl and nodded gratefully, then grabbed two more buns from a different bowl and dumped several pats of butter on her plate to go with them. Doris served her a second helping of mashed potatoes.
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    As soon as Doris returned to the kitchen, Misty hopped up from the far side of the long table and raced around to Gem. She pulled out the chair beside Gem and sat down. "Hey. Are you okay? What did Creepers say?"
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    "Nothing much. He knows I didn't cheat." Gem bit into one of the buns, while she slathered butter on the rest of it.
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    "See. I figured it was all good." Misty watched in fascination as Gem stuffed the last bite of the first bun in her mouth. "How can you eat so much?"
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    Glaring at her, Gem mumbled, "I'm hungry." Swallowing hard, she scooped up a large forkful of potato and popped it into her mouth and chewed. Then she shrugged and confessed, "I don't know. Maybe I'm growing again."
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    "You'd better not be," Misty warned her.
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    As if Gem could do anything about it.
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    "Guys don't like tall girls."
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    "Since when?" Gem countered. "I doubt runway models go without dates."
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    Misty grinned. "True enough. But you, my friend, are not runway-model material."
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    The plate full of food lost some of its appeal. "True enough."
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    "I didn't mean that in a bad way, but your face is quite angular, you know."
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    Angular . Was that another word for a broad forehead and a big strong jaw? Not to mention the slight indent in her chin, like men had. Yeah, she was a long way away from being a model. She brightened. So she might as well not starve herself. She attacked her plate again, half wishing her fair-weather friend would go away and let her eat.
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    "What were you taking pictures of outside today? You were so intense…"
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    With a forkful halfway to