Sara, Book 3 Read Free Page B

over her shoulder as he ran to catch up with her.
    “I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”
    Sara didn’t like the way that made her stomach feel.
    “What?” Sara tried to sound calm and normal.
    “Hey, isn’t this a great day?” Seth stalled.
    Sara could feel Seth’s uneasiness. It was as if he knew that she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Sara had a pretty
good idea what it was he wanted to talk about, and Seth was right—she didn’t want to hear it. She braced herself for his next
words. She deliberately remained quiet. She had no intention of making this one bit easier for him.
    “Um, I wanted to . . . well, you know how we . . . well, there’s this girl . . .”
    There it was. Sara was certain now that she didn’t want Seth to go any further.
    “A . . . well . . .”
    Sara didn’t say a word. She walked along holding her book bag in her arms in front of her, resting her chin on the bag while
she looked down at the path.
    Seth stammered on a bit more and then just blurted out, “Sara, I want to show Annette our tree house.”
    Well, there it was, right out in the open. Seth had a new friend. And obviously she was a special friend, because Seth and
Sara had promised each other that they would never, ever tell anyone else about the tree house.
    Sara’s heart was pounding, and her mouth felt very dry. She tried to swallow. She didn’t want her words to come out sounding
as strange as she felt.
    “How come?”
    Seth slowed his pace. He hadn’t expected such a direct question from Sara. He had anticipated that she’d ask, “Who’s Annette?”
and then he would explain that she was a new girl in his class who sat across the aisle from him. But Sara’s question required
a careful reply. Seth knew that the truthful answer to her question wouldn’t set well with Sara.
    “Why do I want to show Annette our tree house? Because she’s a great girl, full of life and fun, who would appreciate the
tree house as much as we do.” Seth didn’t think that was the best thing to say to Sara. He would never lie to her, but he
also didn’t want to upset her. What a terrible dilemma. How could he be truthful with Sara and not upset her, and still get
something that was very important to him? Then it came to him. He felt ease wash over him, and he said, “Because I remember
how hard it was to be the new kid in town, and then meeting you, Sara, made all the difference in the world to me. I just
thought that you could help Annette feel better about being here, like you made me feel better about being here.”
    Seth was so intense and so sincere. Sara felt relief wash over her, and she looked up for the first time.
    “Oh, well, then, I guess . . .”
    “Okay, then, we’ll meet you by the flagpole after school tomorrow.” Seth ran up the steps of the building, and then turned
around and called back to Sara. “I can’t go there tonight. There’s something I have to do. Tomorrow. We’ll see you there tomorrow.”
    Sara watched Seth scampering away from her—and then the full impact of what had just happened hit her.
    “Seth, wait, what about . . .”
    Seth bounded into the building and the big door banged shut behind him.
    “Oh, man,” Sara whined to herself. “What is Seth thinking? What about Solomon?”
    For the rest of the afternoon, Sara could barely focus on anything that was happening in class. All she could think about
was Seth, the tree house, and this new girl—what was her name? Annette? And what in the world would they do about Solomon?
    Had Seth forgotten that the tree house was usually where he and Sara and Solomon met? Of course he hadn’t. How could he forget
something like that? So if Seth wanted to show the tree house to Annette, does that mean that he wanted to share Solomon,
too?
    Sara’s teacher turned out the lights and started the projector. Light shot from the projector, and images danced on the screen
at the front of the classroom. Sara leaned