Read Online Zoe in Wonderland by Brenda Woods - Free Book Online Page A

nighttime.
    It took a few seconds, but my sleepy eyes zeroed in on the policeman’s brass badge. Terror got inside of me. My heart pounded fast.
    â€œAre you going to arrest me?” I asked the officer.
    â€œNope, not going to arrest you, Miss. Are you okay?”
    I nodded and crawled out from where I’d been hiding.
    The policeman helped me up, looked me in the eyes, and made me promise never to run away again. “You could have become a statistic.”
    I didn’t know what a statistic was, but from the way he’d said it, it didn’t sound like something anyone should become, so I promised him.
    â€œFound her!” the policeman yelled.
    Suddenly, I was surrounded by other people all pointing flashlights in my direction, including some neighbors, my mom and daddy, Nana and Grandpa, Harper and Jade, Mr. Summer, even our school principal.
    â€œBut we checked in there twice!” someone shouted.
    Jade scowled. “You are such a time vampire!”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œYou just sucked up a massive amount of everyone’s time, including mine.”
    Of course, Harper had to put in his two cents. “You’re gonna receive a life sentence . . . grounded until the end of time.”
    â€œFor real!” Jade agreed.
    Remembering the policeman’s warning, I attempted to get their sympathy. “I could have been a statistic,” I said as pathetically as I possibly could.
    Jade must have known what that meant, because she patted me gently on the shoulder and I saw a glimmer of niceness in her eyes, something I hadn’t seen in a really long time.
    Seeing Jade turn nice to me made Harper get that question mark look in his eyes. “What’s that mean . . . been a statistic?” he asked.
    â€œKidnapped . . . or dead,” Jade replied. “Don’t ever do that again!” she warned. “Grandpa had to take his heart pills.”
    For once, Harper wasn’t smirking.
    Over and over, I said sorry. Sorry to my parents, sorry to Nana and Grandpa, sorry to the school principal, and sorry to Mr. Summer.
    Mr. Summer sighed loudly. “See you tomorrow, Zoe.”
    I frowned. Oh no. School—Zena—U-G-L-Y me. I didn’t ever want to go to school again.
    Mr. Summer must have seen the look on my face, because he informed me that because our school has zero tolerance for bullying and name-calling, Zena had received a one-day suspension, and that he had spoken to the rest of the class. “Don’t worry, Zoe. There won’t be any trouble.”
    I hoped he was right.
    And probably thinking I couldn’t hear her, Nana leaned in to Daddy and told him, “Don’t be too hard on her, Darrow . . . She’s a delicate girl.”
    Daddy looked at her for a minute as if she had told him something he didn’t know. He glanced my way, then nodded in agreement.
    Delicate—me?
    In my room later that night, Daddy mostly listened while Mom nagged me—on and on and on until, like a car out of gas, she finally came to a stop.
    Right before midnight I climbed into bed. “I promise I’ll never do it again. I just didn’t want anyone to see me cry. I’m really sorry.”
    â€œYou’re grounded for a month, Zoe,” she said.
    A month but not eternity. My sentence fit the crime.
    Mom hugged me and Daddy kissed the top of my head. “G’night, Zoe . . . love you.”
    â€œOkay . . . sorry,” I said one last time.
    Mom left, but Daddy Reindeer lingered in my doorway. “G’night,
my
Zoe,” he whispered.
    My
Zoe? He’d never called me that before. I liked it. Must be connected to being delicate, I thought.
    â€œDaddy, what does
delicate
mean?”
    He stared up at the ceiling, took a deep breath, and replied, “Something that you shouldn’t be too roughwith because it might get damaged. Like a flower that needs to be