Read Online Friends Forever? by Tina Wells - Free Book Online

quieted down to listen and then Marcus went on. “One day Michael was at the mall with his mom. They had been shopping for about five hours and were really, really tired. So they went back to their car and discovered an old lady sitting in the front seat.”
    Chloe leaned forward. “How did she get in there?” she asked.
    â€œThey left the door unlocked,” Marcus said. “‘I was so tired,’ the lady told them. ‘I couldn’t find my car, and I needed a place to rest.’ Michael’s mom offered the womana ride home. ‘That would be so nice of you,’ the woman said. But when Michael and his mom got in the car, the old woman pulled off her wig!” Marcus’s voice got more excited.
    â€œWhy?” Chloe asked.
    â€œBecause it wasn’t an old lady at all—it was a man pretending to be a woman. And he was sitting on a hatchet!”
    â€œAaaaaa!” Jen and Chloe screamed.
    â€œOh, please,” Ally said. “I’ve heard that one before.”
    â€œReally?” Chloe asked. “Do you know Marcus’s friend’s friend?”
    â€œNo, but it didn’t really happen to his friend’s friend—or anybody—because it’s not true.”
    â€œWhy would Marcus lie?” Chloe defended him.
    â€œIt’s not lying,” Ally said. “It’s—”
    â€œOkay, gang!” Mr. P shouted above the noise. “The other teachers and I are going to divide you up into groups for a drum circle.”
    â€œAwesome!” Landon, who was the Beans’s drummer, said. “For once, the drums get to be the star.”
    â€œEveryone will get a percussion instrument and the group will play together,” Mr. P continued.
    â€œWho’s the leader?” Kathi asked.
    â€œThere’s no leader,” Mr. P explained. “It’s about creatinga sound together—not following someone else’s sound.”
    â€œThat seems kind of stupid,” Kathi complained as Mr. P handed out small drums, castanets, and rhythm sticks. “I think I did this in preschool music class.”
    â€œTotally babyish,” Jen agreed.
    â€œBut that’s what the Beans are all about,” Zee reminded them. “Creating a sound together.”
    â€œI thought it was about being stars,” Kathi said.
    Conrad adjusted an imaginary collar on his navy-blue T-shirt. “I thought it was about getting girls’ attention,” he said. He high-fived Marcus and Landon.
    Landon looked over at Zee and Zee tried not to let the panicked feeling in her stomach creep up to her face. She still had no idea what to do when he looked her way.
    â€œI guess the Beans are about those things—sort of,” Landon said. “But tonight we’re not the Beans. We’re a drum circle. You know, we’re still us, but we have a different purpose.”
    â€œAnd that is…?” Kathi said.

    â€œWe’re not going to play songs like we usually do,” Landon said. “Instead we’ll come together by creating a group rhythm.”
    Relief washed over Zee. She was glad someone else understood that the group had to bond together.
    But two minutes after the group started clicking, clacking, and banging out rhythms, Zee started to worry again.
    Missy and Ally kept whispering to each other. Marcus and Conrad were acting goofy, trying to crack Landon up. Jasper shot Landon dirty looks as if he was the problem. Of course, Kathi and Jen were acting too cool to participate.
    Only Chloe was making an effort. She clicked along with her castanets, coaxing Zee with nods. Zee tried to get in sync, but her mind kept returning to the fact that the Beans were falling apart. And she had no idea how to fix them.
    ----
    Hi, Diary,
    What happened to the band? No one else seems interested anymore. Not even Ally. I mean, she seemed so happy when Mr. P made her part of the Beans, but during the drum circle, she