Read Online Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher by Wendelin Van Draanen - Free Book Online
Authors: Wendelin Van Draanen
Ads: Link
how I was worried that they thought
I
was the one who’d put the rat in his desk. “Officer Borsch was the cop taking the report, though, and he just let me go.”
Holly laughs. “Wow. Six months ago he would have locked you up!”
Dot laughs, too. “And thrown away the key!”
Which makes Marissa totally switch subjects by launching into the story about me being in Officer Borsch’s wedding and having to wear spiky lavender shoes. And while Holly’s and Dot’s jaws are hitting the ground about that, I happen to notice Billy over by the side of the cafeteria.
And who’s standing next to him, practically chewing off his ear?
Heather Acosta.
They’re alone, too.
“What is going
on
with them?” I mutter.
“Who?” Marissa asks, interrupting herself.
I nod over Holly’s shoulder. “Heather and Billy.” I watch them a minute, then say, “Wow. I wonder if he really
did
do it.”
Now, even though he’s clear across the way, Billy sees us looking at him, and all of a sudden he’s hurrying away from Heather. “You’re right,” Marissa says. “He’s acting really guilty.”
But later, on my way into science, Billy scoots up next to me and whispers, “She’s stalking me, okay? And I didn’t leave that rat!”
Then Heather appears.
“Talk later,” he whispers, and ditches me quick.
All through science, and then all through drama, things were kinda weird. Billy didn’t joke around or make any kind of comments at all, actually, which I think was a first. He was just … quiet.
Maybe he was worried about having to see Mr. Foxmore after school.
Maybe things hadn’t gone so well with Officer Borsch and he had to see Mr. Foxmore about more than just his phone.
Maybe he really
had
put the Die Dude Rat in Mr. Vince’s drawer.
Still, as much as I was trying not to be duped by Billy, I didn’t
want
it to be him. So my brain scrambled around for another answer, and it kept coming back to Heather.
Maybe she was trying to get Billy involved in one of her stupid little schemes.
But … if that was the case, why didn’t Billy just tell her to get lost?
Then I remembered—he hadn’t told her to get lost when she’d been so rude to Mikey and me at the mall, either, and that had happened before any of this dead rat stuff.
But after a while my brain felt fried from going in circles, so I told myself that I was probably making things too complicated. Maybe it was just simple.
Maybe Billy Pratt wasn’t such a great friend after all.
But on my way home after school, I was cruising along the mall’s winding walkway when a thought came flying at me so hard and so fast that I stumbled off my skateboard and almost fell over.
“That must be it!” I gasped.
It was the perfect explanation.
NINE
The next morning I cornered Billy before school and said, “She’s blackmailing you, isn’t she?”
He blinks at me. “No!”
“Aha!” I cry. “You didn’t even ask who ‘she’ was!”
That flustered him. And even though he tried to cover up by saying, “I didn’t have to!” I knew I was onto something.
“What’s she got on you, Billy?”
“Stop it!” He dodges around me. “You’re making me all claustrophobic!”
I chase after him and try to be a little, you know,
gentler
. “Come on, Billy. You don’t want to get in deeper than you already are.”
He stops. “Deeper in what?”
I look up at the sky. “Ummm. Let’s see … How’d it go after school yesterday?”
He just stares at me.
“You know, with Mr. Foxmore? Did he grill you? Did you get your phone back? What did Heather’s text say?”
“Yes, he grilled me, and
yes
, I got my phone back.”He switches to a chipper British accent. “It was my first infraction with a telly, after all. Henceforth, I’m to be a jolly good chap and keep it off and away during class. It is not to reside on my personage!”
“Boy, you got off easy. Especially since he’d seen you about, you know, séancing dead people?”
He
I
was the one who’d put the rat in his desk. “Officer Borsch was the cop taking the report, though, and he just let me go.”
Holly laughs. “Wow. Six months ago he would have locked you up!”
Dot laughs, too. “And thrown away the key!”
Which makes Marissa totally switch subjects by launching into the story about me being in Officer Borsch’s wedding and having to wear spiky lavender shoes. And while Holly’s and Dot’s jaws are hitting the ground about that, I happen to notice Billy over by the side of the cafeteria.
And who’s standing next to him, practically chewing off his ear?
Heather Acosta.
They’re alone, too.
“What is going
on
with them?” I mutter.
“Who?” Marissa asks, interrupting herself.
I nod over Holly’s shoulder. “Heather and Billy.” I watch them a minute, then say, “Wow. I wonder if he really
did
do it.”
Now, even though he’s clear across the way, Billy sees us looking at him, and all of a sudden he’s hurrying away from Heather. “You’re right,” Marissa says. “He’s acting really guilty.”
But later, on my way into science, Billy scoots up next to me and whispers, “She’s stalking me, okay? And I didn’t leave that rat!”
Then Heather appears.
“Talk later,” he whispers, and ditches me quick.
All through science, and then all through drama, things were kinda weird. Billy didn’t joke around or make any kind of comments at all, actually, which I think was a first. He was just … quiet.
Maybe he was worried about having to see Mr. Foxmore after school.
Maybe things hadn’t gone so well with Officer Borsch and he had to see Mr. Foxmore about more than just his phone.
Maybe he really
had
put the Die Dude Rat in Mr. Vince’s drawer.
Still, as much as I was trying not to be duped by Billy, I didn’t
want
it to be him. So my brain scrambled around for another answer, and it kept coming back to Heather.
Maybe she was trying to get Billy involved in one of her stupid little schemes.
But … if that was the case, why didn’t Billy just tell her to get lost?
Then I remembered—he hadn’t told her to get lost when she’d been so rude to Mikey and me at the mall, either, and that had happened before any of this dead rat stuff.
But after a while my brain felt fried from going in circles, so I told myself that I was probably making things too complicated. Maybe it was just simple.
Maybe Billy Pratt wasn’t such a great friend after all.
But on my way home after school, I was cruising along the mall’s winding walkway when a thought came flying at me so hard and so fast that I stumbled off my skateboard and almost fell over.
“That must be it!” I gasped.
It was the perfect explanation.
NINE
The next morning I cornered Billy before school and said, “She’s blackmailing you, isn’t she?”
He blinks at me. “No!”
“Aha!” I cry. “You didn’t even ask who ‘she’ was!”
That flustered him. And even though he tried to cover up by saying, “I didn’t have to!” I knew I was onto something.
“What’s she got on you, Billy?”
“Stop it!” He dodges around me. “You’re making me all claustrophobic!”
I chase after him and try to be a little, you know,
gentler
. “Come on, Billy. You don’t want to get in deeper than you already are.”
He stops. “Deeper in what?”
I look up at the sky. “Ummm. Let’s see … How’d it go after school yesterday?”
He just stares at me.
“You know, with Mr. Foxmore? Did he grill you? Did you get your phone back? What did Heather’s text say?”
“Yes, he grilled me, and
yes
, I got my phone back.”He switches to a chipper British accent. “It was my first infraction with a telly, after all. Henceforth, I’m to be a jolly good chap and keep it off and away during class. It is not to reside on my personage!”
“Boy, you got off easy. Especially since he’d seen you about, you know, séancing dead people?”
He
Similar Books
