Free A Spy Among the Girls by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

asked Josh.
    “Somebody rang the doorbell, and when I answered, I found this,” Wally said.
    “So open it!” said Jake. “Looks like my hunch was right.”
    Josh opened the box. Instead of fancy cookies, there was a large, delicious-looking chocolate heart, with
B+J
written in frosting.
    “See? See?” said Jake. “She's your girlfriend.”
    Josh's face and neck were bright red. He didn't say a word as the boys took turns examining the chocolate heart. They sniffed it and turned it from side to side. To Wally, it smelled simply delicious.
    “Okay, so let's see you throw it out. That's what you said you'd do,” Jake told his twin.
    Josh hesitated.
    “You aren't even going to
taste
it?” cried Wally.
    “Go ahead! Taste it or toss it; we're waiting,” said Jake. “If Beth's not your girlfriend, I dare you to throw it out.”
    Josh swallowed. “Of course she's not my girlfriend,” he said quickly. “And you can bet it's made out ofsomething gross.” He took one last look at the chocolate heart, then opened the window and tossed it out over the porch roof and onto the ground below.
    After dinner, with Peter sitting as far away from Josh as he could manage, Josh took Wally aside and said, “I have to go over to Beth's and leave her a note. She must think I'm nuts, sending her a box of half-eaten chocolates.”
    “Why don't you just call her up?” Wally suggested.
    “Mom would hear, and anyway, I'd rather leave a note. You come with me, boost me up on their back-porch roof, and I'll slip it in Beth's window.”
    “All right, but all we need is for the Malloys to call the police and report a burglar on the roof, and Mom would
really
freak out.”
    “Don't tell Jake, though. You know how he is,” Josh cautioned him.
    Jake, however, followed Josh around like a shadow, and when he saw him leaving the house with Wally, he came too.
    “Who asked you?” said Josh.
    “Hey, whatever you're going to do, I can help,” said Jake.
    “Yeah? Well, I just want to tell Beth that Peter ate those chocolates. I don't want her to think
I
did. I've written her a note, and if you guys will boost me up onto the porch roof, I'll just slip the note in her window, see what the girls are up to.”
    “Ha! You'd better explain why you sent Peter instead of taking them over yourself,” Jake told him.
    “Because Mom doesn't want us to have anything more to do with the Malloys,” Josh said.
    “Sure. So you send Peter. Now, that makes sense,” Jake jeered.
    Josh shrugged. “All right, so I don't know what to say to a girl when I give her candy. So what? You wouldn't know what to say either. If I'm going to spy on her, I have to pretend to like her.”
    They crossed the bridge in the February darkness, the twins in front, Wally walking behind. He didn't know why he was even along, to tell the truth. Jake
would
have to horn in just when Josh and Wally were beginning to do things together, when Josh was beginning to confide in him. Wally could see it all now. No matter how good a friend he was to Josh, Jake and Josh would always be best friends because they were twins, and he'd be stuck with Peter.
    They reached the other side of the bridge and started up the hill toward the Malloys’ back door. Wally tried to remember what things had been like when the Ben-sons lived in the house. Weird, but he was having a hard time remembering exactly what things they used to do with the Benson boys that were so much fun. He must have crossed the swinging bridge and come up the hill to the Bensons’ house dozens and dozens of times—hundreds, even—but what did they
do
when they got together? Played baseball, maybe. Played Clue. Flew model planes. Played Kick the Can. It was all fun stuff, but somehow it didn't seem as exciting as it once had.
    As the boys reached the top of the hill, they could see a square yellow patch of light from the kitchen window shining on the hard ground. The porch light was off, however.
    Josh dug one hand into his