Free Adventures of a New Year's Kiss: A Holiday Romantic Mystery (Funeral Crashing Young Adult Mystery Books) by Milda Harris Page A

go away," Ariel said and stepped between Sarah and me, breaking our intense moment.
    I moved around Ariel and kept staring at Sarah. She had to crack under the pressure. The problem was that Ariel was about to ruin it.
    Sarah glanced away from me and at Ariel. "She thinks I stole her necklace. I didn't. I put it back..."
    My jaw dropped. I had to pounce on this. ASAP. Think of words, think of words, think of words!
    "You put it back?" I repeated as a question.
    Sarah looked at me and I could see it in her eyes. She knew she was caught. She still didn't say anything.
    "Sarah, you just admitted that you took it," I said.
    Sarah frowned. "Well, except that I don't have it anymore. I gave it back."
    "Well, I don't have it either so tell me what happened. Exactly," I said suddenly feeling like I was talking to a pouty child.
    Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. Yes, she was definitely acting like one of the seven year olds I babysat when she'd been caught doing something that she shouldn't have been doing. I waited.
    "Did Megan tell you?" Sarah asked and then didn't wait for me to answer. "She did, didn't she? I so did not hit on her date at the restaurant. I am so going to tell her off when I find her..."
    "Sarah. My necklace," I reminded her.
    Sarah gave in, "Fine. I found it on the floor. I didn't know it was yours, so I picked it up. I thought it was really pretty and I just thought that if someone asked about it then I'd give it back. If they didn't, it was finder's keepers. And then you were talking about it in English. I didn't want to tell you that I had it, so I snuck it into your locker when you left for the pool during gym the next day."
    "But it wasn't in my locker," I said.
    "Well, are you sure it didn't catch onto your clothes or something? I definitely put it in your locker," Sarah said.
    Now I felt really upset. That was the day that I rushed out of gym to the counseling center. Was it possible that the necklace had caught onto my clothes? If it did, had it fallen off somewhere in school? I'd never find it now.
    Tears started falling from my eyes.
    "I have it," A voice said.
    "What?" I asked.
    "I have it," Ariel repeated looking at me.
    "Wait," I wiped at my face, trying to stop the tears from flowing. My brain was having problems comprehending what was going on now. I had asked Ariel about it already and she had point blank lied to me. "So, you're the one who took it? But..."
    "Well, I didn't take it exactly," Ariel said. "I found it in my locker. I thought it was for me. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I was just surprised. I needed to think about it. I really thought it was a gift."
    "Did I put it in the wrong locker?" Sarah asked.
    "Duh," Ariel said.
    "Who exactly did you think put the necklace in your locker?" I was having trouble believing Ariel's story.
    Ariel shrugged, "A secret admirer."
    "Who snuck into the girl's locker room?" I asked.
    "If they were madly in love with me, sure, why not?" Ariel said.
    "It would make more sense that your admirer was one of the girls in our gym class then," I said.
    Ariel shrugged. "I'm not going to turn away admirers bearing nice jewelry."
    "Well, it wasn't from your secret admirer. There wasn't a note attached or anything, right?" I said.
    "It's the gift that counts," Ariel said. "Words mean nothing most of the time."
    I shook my head. It was time for me to stop debating with Ariel. I could definitely see why Ariel frustrated Kait so much. "Can you give my necklace back to me?"
    "Yeah," Ariel said. "Sure."
    "When?" I asked after Ariel didn't say anything else. I didn't want her to renege on giving it back to me.
    "Um. How about on Monday when we come back after break," Ariel said. "I'll give you the necklace in gym. I promise."
    "Okay," I said and relief flooded through me.
    Things could finally go back to normal. I could return to being the quiet girl who reads books and blends into the wall unless she was with her boyfriend. Then I was the center of his world and he