Read Online Saving Kabul Corner by N. H. Senzai - Free Book Online Page A

going to be best friends with Patty and her crew, but she didn’t want to be on their bad side either.
    â€œI walked out of the stall, gave them a dirty look, and stomped out!”
    Ariana grinned, imagining the scene in her head.
    â€œSo they know that I know what they are saying. So if rumors start, they know that I know—that you know—it’s them.”
    â€œYou’re awesome.” Ariana grinned.
    â€œYeah! It was hilarious, but then I found this,” she said, passing Ariana a copy of the school newspaper. The third article in The Owl was about bullying. Mariam had underlined a section that talked about “certain aggressive individuals in school who pick on people.”
    â€œOh, no,” muttered Ariana.
    â€œPatty is the editor of the newspaper,” said Mariam, “so she probably means you . We need to work on damage control. . . .” Ten minutes later, as they finished up talking about how to repair Ariana’s reputation, Laila still hadn’t returned.
    Ariana changed the subject, happy to have her best friend to herself. “I still can’t believe you applied for us to be on the Great Race together,” she said, grinning at the memory.
    â€œHey, we would have been an amazing team and kicked some serious butt,” exclaimed Mariam, still upset with the producers of the show. She and ­Ariana had actually made it to their short list, but when they’d called Mariam’s house and found out she was twelve and Ariana was eleven, not even the minimum age of eighteen, the girls had been disqualified.
    â€œIt sure would have been fun racing around the world on a scavenger hunt,” agreed Ariana. “I caught the episode the week before last, and the remaining four teams were in China, looking for clues along the Great Wall.”
    â€œMan . . . we so could have won a hundred thousand dollars,” said Mariam. “I’m so mad, I’m not watching the show this year in protest.”
    â€œOh,” said Ariana. She hadn’t realized the depth of Mariam’s anger toward the producers, so she changed the subject. “Can you believe that Rodrigo got tossed off Supreme Chef ?”
    â€œI know,” Mariam said with a sigh. “They dinged him just because his soufflé didn’t rise properly. I was so bummed to see him go—and that mean chef from New York, Hilary, is still there, hiding ingredients from people so that they’ll lose,” continued Mariam. “Hey, that reminds me, my parents are letting me watch another really cool reality show.”
    â€œWhich one?” asked Ariana. She knew Mariam’s parents didn’t approve of her lingering fascination with television and carefully monitored what she watched.
    â€œIt’s called Take That ,” said Mariam.
    â€œTake what ?” asked Ariana, a little confused.
    â€œNo, Ari. Take That ,” repeated Mariam. “It’s a show where victims who’ve been bamboozled confront the people who’ve scammed them.”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound that interesting,” said Ariana.
    â€œNo, you totally have to watch it,” said Mariam, her eyes earnest. “In the last episode a guy named José confronted his mechanic, Archie, when he found out that his brand-new engine had been replaced with an old, beat up one. José ended up finding out that the Archie had been cheating people for years. In the end José got his money back and helped shut down Archie’s mechanic shop. The show’s all about getting power back from people who swindle you.”
    â€œOh,” said Ariana, still not fully convinced she’d watch, though the premise of the show was intriguing.
    â€œWhere is she?” wondered Mariam five minutes later. It was pretty late, and Ariana’s mother would be calling them to dinner soon.
    Ariana shrugged, not particularly caring. This was like old times; just her