Free Alice-Miranda In New York 5 by Jacqueline Harvey Page B

She was standing side on, staring into her open locker. As Alice-Miranda and Lucinda reached her, the girl closed the locker door and spun around.
    â€˜Alethea!’ Alice-Miranda exclaimed. ‘I thought you looked familiar when I saw you getting off the bus this morning. But I could only see you from behind, so I couldn’t really tell.’
    The taller girl stood with her mouth wide open, gaping like a giant cod.
    â€˜Do you know each other?’ Lucinda asked, looking from Alice-Miranda to the taller girl.
    â€˜Yes,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
    The taller girl closed her mouth and stared at Alice-Miranda, her tanned face taking on a sickly pallor.
    â€˜I don’t know you,’ she finally said in a thick southern twang. She threw her pigtails over hershoulders one at a time.
    â€˜Of course you do. You’re Alethea Goldsworthy. We were at school together at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale and then you left at the end of my first term. You were the head prefect.’
    â€˜No I wasn’t.’ Alethea shook her head.
    A smaller girl who was standing behind Alethea stepped forward. She had just deposited an armful of books into the next locker.
    â€˜Her name’s Thea Mackenzie,’ the child offered. ‘She’s from Alabama.’
    â€˜Oh.’ Alice-Miranda was surprised to hear it. She could have sworn that the girl in front of her was Alethea Goldsworthy, except for the accent. ‘I’m sorry,’ Alice-Miranda apologised. ‘But you look exactly like a girl I know.’
    â€˜No, you definitely don’t know me.’ The girl narrowed her eyes.
    â€˜Then I should introduce myself. My name’s Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones.’ Alice-Miranda held out her hand to the taller girl. She took it and squeezed so hard that Alice-Miranda felt her knuckles grind together.
    The tiny child recoiled. ‘Ow.’
    â€˜Sorry, don’t know my own strength sometimes,’Thea grinned. ‘Must be all that fried chicken my mama likes to feed me.’
    There was an awkward silence.
    â€˜I’m Gretchen,’ the smaller girl beside Thea spoke.
    â€˜It’s nice to meet you, Gretchen.’ Alice-Miranda held out her hand which, to her relief, Gretchen shook gently.
    â€˜This is Lucinda Finkelstein.’ Alice-Miranda motioned towards her new friend.
    Lucinda smiled.
    â€˜Eww, gross,’ Thea grimaced.
    â€˜What . . . what’s the matter?’ Lucinda had no idea what was wrong but right at that moment she wished that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
    â€˜Are you friends?’ Thea asked.
    â€˜Well, we’ve only just met today but I’m sure that we’re going to be good friends,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
    â€˜I don’t think I’d trust her to be my friend,’ said Thea to Lucinda, while glaring at Alice-Miranda, ‘because you’ve got something really gross stuck in your braces and your good friend here hasn’t even bothered to tell you. Gretchen would be unfriendedimmediately if she let me walk around with something that disgusting stuck in my teeth. But then again, I don’t have a mouth full of metal to contend with, you poor thing. That must be so uncomfortable. Ugly too,’ said Thea sweetly.
    Lucinda spun around and looked at Alice-Miranda. ‘Do I really have something stuck in there?’ She smiled as widely as she could.
    â€˜Well, there’s a tiny bit of, I think it’s a strawberry seed, maybe, but you can hardly see it,’ Alice-Miranda replied.
    â€˜Hardly see it. You’re kidding, aren’t you?’ Thea screwed up her face. ‘I’d be getting myself to the bathroom quick smart.’
    Lucinda’s face had gone from pink to fire-engine red. ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said and dashed away.
    â€˜Gretchen, why don’t you go with her and make sure that it’s all gone?’ Thea