Free The Friendship Matchmaker by Randa Abdel-Fattah Page B

concentrating on correcting our quizzes, it meant we could sit anywhere in class with a book and
talk
.
    Tanya was still in a mood and declined my offer to hide behind the bookshelf so we could chat about our next Bungee Jump attempt.
    “Do you mind if I just read?” she asked. “Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow. I’m not really in the mood today. Sorry, Lara.”
    I didn’t have the heart to be angry with her so I let it go. She took a book out of her bag and sat down by herself in a corner of the classroom to read. She was obviously having a strange day, what with the frizz, koala, and solitary reading.
    I noticed Bethany, Jemma, and Claire sitting close together against the back wall, out of view of Ms. Pria, deep in conversation.
    How had they become so close, so quickly? The only consolation I had was that they were a trio. As long as they remained a trio, I still had a shot at winning. Jemma and Claire would soon leave Bethany out. It was a scientific fact and just a matter of time.
    Emily was sitting on one of our classroom beanbags. Her lap was filled with booklets. I found myself slowly approaching her and then sitting down on the floor a short distance away.
    “What are you reading?” I asked, curious.
    “Instruction manuals,” she answered, holding one up for me to see.
    It was a manual for assembling what looked like a coffee table.
    “Why?”
    She shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out what to do when I’m older. I’m looking at traditional and nontraditional jobs. So I figured somebody obviously writes these manuals. I’m just wondering if I’d be interested in instructing people on how to put together an eight-piece table setting.”
    I must have looked baffled because she said, “With my brains, people always say, ‘That girl will be a doctor or lawyer one day.’ But I’m not interested in being what other people want me to be.”
    “So you want to write manuals for Ikea?”
    She shifted in the beanbag. “Well, notspecifically Ikea. I imagine any furniture shop will do. But I guess if you can figure out an Ikea one, you can figure out any other one. Well, at least that’s what my dad said in between swearing when he put together my new bed last night.”
    She went back to reading. I tucked my feet under me and tried not to stare at her.
    “I paired up Jemma and Claire, you know,” I said casually.
    “That’s nice,” she said without looking up.
    “It’s not often you come across perfect matches. But they were. Same taste in clothes, music, TV shows, books. They even live on the same street.”
    “Interesting.”
    “You can’t honestly expect that Bethany will last in a trio with them.”
    Emily put down her manual. “I can’t say. But they seem pretty comfortable together.”
    “We agreed it had to be genuine best-friend material. Not just some temporary thing.”
    “Yeah, I know,” she said. “But they seem really happy. Jemma and Claire love animals,and Bethany’s mom works at an animal shelter. Jemma’s and Claire’s parents said they can help out with the animals at the shelter on the weekends.”
    “Oh.”
    “Did you know Bethany and her family are animal activists too?”
    I slowly shook my head.
    “And that Jemma and Claire would love any chance to be around animals and look after them?”
    “Well, yeah, of course I know they love animals. That was one of the reasons I paired them. The Golden Rule of Shared Interests, thank you very much.”
    Emily fought back a smile.
    “What’s so funny?” I demanded.
    “Nothing … um, it’s just that this picture of a bedside table looks like a lunch box. I’m not so sure I’m cut out for this kind of work. My drawings are too good for these manuals.”
    I eyed her suspiciously and then burst out. “You think my Friendship Matchmaker services are funny, don’t you?”
    “No,” she said in that annoyingly calm voice of hers.
    “You think it’s all one big joke!”
    “I never said that.”
    “That’s