Read Online Thirteen Plus One by Lauren Myracle - Free Book Online Page A

Corrected
    O N APRIL FIFTEENTH, Sandra got her acceptance letter to
    Middlebury, which was her top choice college. On April sixteenth, Dinah got suspended from Westminster.
    Dinah.
    Suspended.
    The rumors flying through the junior high halls blew my news about Sandra right out of the water.
    “Did you hear about Dinah?” Louise said, running up to me between third and fourth periods.
    “Oh . My God , ” Malena said to Gail, the two of them miraculously materializing by my locker before Louise could elaborate.
    “I know,” Gail replied. “I mean, we all knew she had issues.” She arched her eyebrows. “But a klepto?”
    A klepto? My jaw dropped, and Malena smirked. I’d given them just the reaction they’d hoped for.
    “Worst thing?” Malena said, supposedly to Gail but really to me. “From all reports, she didn’t even steal good stuff.” Snicker snicker. “All she stole were more of those crap kitty-cat shirts she wears.”
    “I know,” Gail said. “If she’s going to steal, she should at least steal Gucci.”
    “Pathetic,” Malena said.
    I banged shut my locker. “No,” I said, facing them dead on. “What’s pathetic is having a pretend conversation just so I’ll listen in. If you’re so desperate for attention, go make an appointment with the counselor.”
    Gail and Malena eyed me with twin sets of narrow eyes. Then Gail altered her features to convey fake sympathy at having to be the one to clue me in.
    “Um, y-y-yeah,” Gail said. “Only, like, the counselor’s totally booked? She’s too busy telling Dinah’s father what a klepto his daughter is.”
    She and Malena flounced off, peals of laughter trailing behind them like sick moths. I turned to Louise.
    “What’s going on?” I said. “Dinah doesn’t steal.”
    Louise fidgeted, which was out of character, as Louise was a gossip and loved a good scandal. On the other hand, she did go to elementary school with me and Dinah. The three of us had known each other forever.
    She touched my arm. My chest felt fluttery.
    “They found all sorts of stuff in her locker,” she said. “Not crap. Not Gucci, either. But not kitty-cat shirts.”
    “So? People do keep stuff in their lockers. That’s what lockers are for.”
    “It was makeup, mainly.”
    “And again ... so? Dinah wears makeup.” Sometimes, I added silently.
    “But this was lots of makeup, still in its packaging. Bobbi Brown, MAC, Stila. A supercute bottle of Gwen Stefani perfume called Lil’ Angel, which is, um, kind of ironic.”
    I was having trouble breathing. There were too many people in the hall, and too many of them were looking at me, no doubt thinking all sorts of shocked and gleeful thoughts about how Dinah— my best friend—was a makeup hoarder and a shoplifter.
    Only, she wasn’t. I knew my Dinah, and she wasn’t either of those things.
    “Louise,” I said. “Dinah does have money. Her dad’s not crazy rich, but Dinah has her own credit card that she’s authorized to sign for. Why would she steal makeup when she could just buy it?”
    “I think it was more like—”
    “No,” I interrupted. “So Dinah has a lot of unopened makeup; that doesn’t make her a thief. Did anyone come right out and say, ‘Hey, Dinah, what’s up with this?”’
    Louise tried to speak. Once more I rode over her.
    “Maybe she bought them to give as birthday presents. Or maybe she wants a fresh image. Or maybe she was attacked by a very forceful Sephora salesclerk. You know how hard it is for her to say no!” I set my shoulders. “But if Dinah said the makeup is hers, it’s hers. Case closed.”
    Louise nodded. She waited to make sure I was done. And then she said, “Except ... she didn’t.”
    “Didn’t what?”
    “When Ms. Perkins called her into her office, Dinah had a breakdown and confessed.”
    “Confessed what ?”
    “That the makeup was stolen. Winnie, Dinah admitted flat out that she didn’t pay for any of it.”
    My brain operated in slow gear. “But