Read Online The Case of the Missing Mascot (A Sherlock Shakespeare Mystery Book 1) by Sydney Katt - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sydney Katt
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I'm completely freaking out, Sherlock!"
"Whoa." I held my hands out in front of me in surrender... and maybe to cover that she scared me enough that I'd backed up against the door. "I'm going to need a little more to catch up than that."
She sank down onto my bed and hugged one of my pillows to her chest. No, hugged wasn't really accurate. It was more like she was violently clutching my pillow as though it could escape at any minute.
Was escape an option for me? No? Damn.
"I've known since I was eight that I was already too behind academically to get into an Ivy League school. Now I don't think UT is going to be an option either."
I moved closer, but not too close, and sat on my desk, momentarily wondering if this would be the time that it would give out under my weight. "Did we take different tours or something? Everything I heard sounded like you were a shoe-in."
If my pillow could've screamed in pain, it would've. "I guess. Maybe. But undergrad is just the first step. I have to start thinking about getting accepted into their law school now. Not in three years. Not next month. Now."
"Why is it something to worry about ever? Your grades will be just as awesome in college as they are now. If you can get into UT, I'm sure you can get into their law school as well."
She threw what had once been a fluffy, happy pillow at me and shouted, "You don't understand anything!" Then she started pacing around the room fast enough to give anyone motion sickness. Except me. I didn't throw up unless my life depended on it. Even then, maybe not. "You don't just need good grades to get into UT Law. They have their pick of the best from colleges around the country. Just being on campus and getting straight-As isn't enough anymore."
I was now all but hiding behind my lifeless pillow. "I don't understand." Did my voice just go up an octave? "I thought everything was fine. You were happy on the drive home." I straightened and relaxed my grip on the shield pillow a little. "You sang Let It Whip when it came on the radio."
And Jamie never sang along to the radio unless she was elated or high... and Jamie had probably never been high in her life.
"I did not."
"You did so. You were shoulder dancing. "
She stopped pacing. "Fine, but I hadn't thought about it all yet."
"All what?"
"When I was walking around campus Friday night after you abandoned me, I ran into some law students in the library and—"
"You went to the library of a school you don't even go to on a Friday night?"
"Of course. Where else would I find law students?" The pacing resumed. "Anyway. They filled me in on how competitive admission is. Turns out, a large portion of the students they admit graduated first in their class in high school and then killed it in college."
Killed what? Their social lives? "But you're already at the top of our class. I don't see how any of this is a problem."
For perhaps the first time in all the years I'd known Jamie, she stammered and sputtered unintelligibly in lieu of a response. "The point is that I might not get into the law school even if the university accepts me."
"When. You're a shoe-in." Against my better judgment, I set the pillow aside and hopped off my desk so I could approach her. If I didn't talk her down, she'd wear right though my carpet with her pacing. "How do you even know they were telling the truth? They could've just been screwing with you."
She half-heartedly shook off the comforting hand I put on her shoulder. "You don't understand. No one does. The lengths I've gone to. The things I've done. It can't all just be for nothing."
"What can't be for nothing?" As a solid non-overachiever, I had no idea what it looked like when they flamed out and headed to Nervous Breakdownville, but I was concerned that this was it for Jamie. "You're not making sense."
"It doesn't matter." It momentarily looked as though a tear might escape her eye, but she must've kept it at bay though sheer force of will. "Did you schedule your
"Whoa." I held my hands out in front of me in surrender... and maybe to cover that she scared me enough that I'd backed up against the door. "I'm going to need a little more to catch up than that."
She sank down onto my bed and hugged one of my pillows to her chest. No, hugged wasn't really accurate. It was more like she was violently clutching my pillow as though it could escape at any minute.
Was escape an option for me? No? Damn.
"I've known since I was eight that I was already too behind academically to get into an Ivy League school. Now I don't think UT is going to be an option either."
I moved closer, but not too close, and sat on my desk, momentarily wondering if this would be the time that it would give out under my weight. "Did we take different tours or something? Everything I heard sounded like you were a shoe-in."
If my pillow could've screamed in pain, it would've. "I guess. Maybe. But undergrad is just the first step. I have to start thinking about getting accepted into their law school now. Not in three years. Not next month. Now."
"Why is it something to worry about ever? Your grades will be just as awesome in college as they are now. If you can get into UT, I'm sure you can get into their law school as well."
She threw what had once been a fluffy, happy pillow at me and shouted, "You don't understand anything!" Then she started pacing around the room fast enough to give anyone motion sickness. Except me. I didn't throw up unless my life depended on it. Even then, maybe not. "You don't just need good grades to get into UT Law. They have their pick of the best from colleges around the country. Just being on campus and getting straight-As isn't enough anymore."
I was now all but hiding behind my lifeless pillow. "I don't understand." Did my voice just go up an octave? "I thought everything was fine. You were happy on the drive home." I straightened and relaxed my grip on the shield pillow a little. "You sang Let It Whip when it came on the radio."
And Jamie never sang along to the radio unless she was elated or high... and Jamie had probably never been high in her life.
"I did not."
"You did so. You were shoulder dancing. "
She stopped pacing. "Fine, but I hadn't thought about it all yet."
"All what?"
"When I was walking around campus Friday night after you abandoned me, I ran into some law students in the library and—"
"You went to the library of a school you don't even go to on a Friday night?"
"Of course. Where else would I find law students?" The pacing resumed. "Anyway. They filled me in on how competitive admission is. Turns out, a large portion of the students they admit graduated first in their class in high school and then killed it in college."
Killed what? Their social lives? "But you're already at the top of our class. I don't see how any of this is a problem."
For perhaps the first time in all the years I'd known Jamie, she stammered and sputtered unintelligibly in lieu of a response. "The point is that I might not get into the law school even if the university accepts me."
"When. You're a shoe-in." Against my better judgment, I set the pillow aside and hopped off my desk so I could approach her. If I didn't talk her down, she'd wear right though my carpet with her pacing. "How do you even know they were telling the truth? They could've just been screwing with you."
She half-heartedly shook off the comforting hand I put on her shoulder. "You don't understand. No one does. The lengths I've gone to. The things I've done. It can't all just be for nothing."
"What can't be for nothing?" As a solid non-overachiever, I had no idea what it looked like when they flamed out and headed to Nervous Breakdownville, but I was concerned that this was it for Jamie. "You're not making sense."
"It doesn't matter." It momentarily looked as though a tear might escape her eye, but she must've kept it at bay though sheer force of will. "Did you schedule your
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