Free A Spy Among the Girls by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Page B

very own town?”
    “Now, wait a minute—” said the coach.
    But Eddie interrupted. “It's still a free country.”
    “We don't tell
you
when
your
friends can come over,” cried Beth, real tears in her eyes, while the Hatford boys stared, openmouthed. She turned to her mother. “We don't stop
you
from being friends with that awful woman in the Faculty Wives’ Club who—”
    “Now, girls!” said their father.
    Suddenly Josh reached out, handed Beth his note, then charged toward the door and out into the night, his brothers at his heels.
    Beth stared at the folded piece of paper for a moment, then ran up to her room and slammed her door.
    “Well, Jean, it looks like we blew it,” said the coach.
    “You'd make a fine dictator!” said Eddie, and followed her sister upstairs.
    As her parents stared helplessly after Eddie, Caroline grandly walked over to the staircase, put one foot on the bottom step, and said, “You may win this battle, General, but don't be surprised if you lose the war.” And with her head held high, she too went upstairs.
    As soon as she reached Beth's room, Caroline slipped inside and crawled onto the bed beside Beth and Eddie. Beth, her cheeks pink, had opened the note, and she handed it to her sisters. It was Josh's handwriting, all right:
    I shouldn't have sent Peter with the chocolates. I didn't know he'd eat them. XXXOOO Josh
    Caroline looked at the note, then at Beth, whose eyes were wide with delight. Josh was sending hugs and kisses? This was even more romantic than the box of chocolates. This was
almost
like kissing Beth in person. Beth Malloy had
almost
been kissed.
    “I sure don't want any boy sending
me X’
s and
O’
s,” said Eddie disapprovingly.
    “Why?” asked Beth. “Don't you ever want to fall in love?”
    “Sure,” said Eddie, “but I don't want a boy acting romantic now. I want the boys on the baseball team to look at me and see a
pitcher,
not a girlfriend.”
    Caroline could hardly stand it. She was caught up inromance. Going into her own room, she took out the valentine she had bought for Wally Hatford, the one that said
For My Beloved
on the envelope, and on the inside, where she had signed it
Achingly yours,
she added a row of
X
's and a row of
O
's.

Fourteen

Party
    W hen Wally and his brothers got home, they were met at the door by Peter.
    “I've got a
surprise
!” he said, eager to make friends with Josh again, and led them up to his room.
    “Boy, Peter, this better be good,” Josh muttered.
    Peter closed the door after him, then reached under his bed and pulled out a low square box. Inside the box were the crumpled remains of a chocolate heart.
    “Look what I found outside! Somebody threw it away, and it's delicious!” he said, smacking his lips. He pushed the box toward Josh. “I'm sorry I ate Beth's chocolates, but I saved half of this for you.”
    Wally stared. Josh stared. Jake put out one finger and dug into the center of the chocolate heart. He licked his finger.
    “So you bet it was gross, huh?” he said to Josh. “So
    Beth's not your girlfriend and you only hang around her to spy? If you're a spy, then I'm the president.” He went across the hall to the boys’ room and shut the door.
    Josh looked at Peter. “How did you find this box?”
    “I wondered where you guys had gone, and when I went outside with my flashlight to see if you were there, I found the box.” He looked from Wally to Josh and back again. “What'd I
do
?” he asked. “What's wrong?”
    “You're still breathing, that's what,” said Josh.
    Wally wrote a letter to Bill Benson in Georgia:
    Dear Bill (and Danny and Steve and Tony and Doug),
    I don't know what's happening here, but things were never like this before you guys moved away.
    I don't know if the Whomper, the Weirdo, and the Crazie are friends or enemies.
    I don't know if they're nuts or not.
    I don't even know how we feel about them anymore. Josh is in love with Beth, I think, and Caroline is acting