Read Online Solving Zoe by Barbara Dee - Free Book Online

right here in this living room just yesterday. Skinny, dyed blond hair, two faces…”
    â€œOh, right.” Who’d said “telepathic.” When she’d really meant “clairvoyant.”
    â€œOf course, darling Palmer claimed she wasn’t even planning to try out. But then somehow she managed to read for the lead. And this afternoon, when the cast list was up, there she was, in big letters, right at the very top. Oh, and by the way, Zoe, your friend got a really great part.”
    â€œYou mean Dara?”
    â€œOf course Dara. Who else?” asked Isadora irritably. “Wake up, Zoe.” She leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes. Her nose was starting to run, Zoe saw.
    â€œYou want some paper towel?” Zoe asked, offering the roll. “It’s not great, but I think we’re out of tissue.”
    Isadora wiped her nose with her hand. “I know you’re not an actor, Zoe, so let me tell you something major: No part in a play is ever worth betraying a friend. I don’t care if it’s a lead, you just don’t do it . Hubbard is full ofübertalented people who get this, but not, apparently, darling Palmer.”
    She wiped her hand off on her track pants. Then she wiped her nose with her other hand. “You’re so lucky to be friends with someone like Dara. She’d never act like this.”
    Zoe nodded. “You want some water? Or some Diet Coke, maybe? I think there’s an open bottle in the fridge.”
    â€œNo. Stop fetching things, Zoe! Just sit with me, okay?” Then Isadora started crying again, and Zoe began to despair. She wished there were something she could think of to say, something wise and comforting. But she was hopeless with words; she’d always been. And now it seemed Isadora didn’t feel like talking, anyway.
    So Zoe just sat with her on the sofa. A few minutes later Dad was home. He’d brought Isadora a bunch of yellow roses, which actually made her smile a little. But then Mom walked in the door, and Isadora burst into tears all over again.
    â€œI hate that Palmer,” she wailed. “She stole my part!”
    â€œMaybe she didn’t steal it from you, baby,” Mom said soothingly. She hadn’t even taken off her orthodontist jacket yet, as she stood in the living room strokingIsadora’s matted hair. “Maybe she just wanted her own chance to shine.”
    â€œShe didn’t! She’s just a snake! I hate her!”
    â€œPalmer’s really horrible, Mom,” Zoe explained. “She sat here yesterday on the sofa and didn’t even tell Izzy she was trying out.”
    Mom smiled at Zoe. “Thanks, sweetheart. I’m sure Izzy will tell me all about it herself, when she’s ready. But right now I think she needs some private time, okay?” She put her arm around Isadora’s shoulders and led her into the grown-up bedroom, closing the door behind them as if Zoe were some kind of babyish distraction.
    Then Malcolm showed up from his Math Olympiad practice, and Zoe had to answer a thousand penetrating questions about Isadora. (“What did Izzy mean, it was her part? Did the director say it was her part?”) And then ten minutes later Spencer raced into the living room shouting “NO, I WON’T,” followed frantically by his after-preschool babysitter Bella, who’d graduated from Hubbard five years ago and was now, except for what she stole from the Bennetts’ refrigerator, a starving artist.
    â€œDON’T HUG SPENCER,” Bella was calling ahead of her. “HE’S ALL STICKY.”
    â€œI’M NOT ALL STICKY,” Spencer shouted. He racedover and gave Dad a big hug. “Bella’s all sticky. Not me.”
    Dad looked down at his shirt. “Ahem,” he said.
    â€œI’m really sorry,” Bella apologized breathlessly, plopping into a chair. “The other kid—Cameron—was holding this enormous