Free The Jewels of Sofia Tate by Doris Etienne Page B

Elizabeth. What if he was right? What if Elizabeth wasn’t thinking clearly anymore? What if she had confused a few details— or worse, had imagined the story about the jewels? Garnet didn’t know how anyone could concoct such an elaborate tale, but it was possible that Elizabeth had once read a book or seen a movie and had somehow mixed up the facts with fiction. Her grandmother had certainly mixed a lot up when she became ill. Garnet didn’t know Elizabeth well enough to judge. But for that matter, she didn’t know much about Dan, either. What was the story with him and Laura?
    Garnet tossed in her bed. What did it really matter? After all, there was nothing between herself and Dan. And there never would be.

5
A Mysterious Visitor
    Double, double, toil and trouble.
That’s what English class was, Garnet thought ruefully as she stuffed her marked assignment into her knapsack. What was so great about
Macbeth
anyway? The guy had gone crazy with ambition, the story was as gory as could be, and the worst part was, it wasn’t even written in real English. Why didn’t someone just take the play and translate it into modern English? Maybe then she would understand it better. It was as though all the characters were speaking in code and she didn’t get it.
    Garnet threw the binder into her locker. A “C.” She still couldn’t believe she had done so poorly on the assignment. She would have expected this in math, but not English. English had always been one of her better subjects.
    She thought about the dreaded math assignment now, and knew that the outcome for that could only be disastrous. She had handed it in yesterday, a day late, and would be docked ten percent right off the top. Could Mr. Sanders assign negative marks? shewondered. But what would that matter at this point? She was most likely going to fail, anyway. If the answers were complete, they were probably wrong. Math wasn’t her thing and she couldn’t seem to catch up. She was doomed for summer school, and it wasn’t her fault. If they hadn’t moved at such a stupid time, maybe she would have had a chance.
    She slammed her locker and clicked shut the lock.
There was only one good thing about today,
she thought as she shrugged into her knapsack and picked up her bike helmet:
tomorrow will be Friday.
    Garnet peered through the large window in the stairwell that overlooked the parking lot and stopped as others hurried by her. There he was. Next to his Grand Am. She had been keeping her eyes open for Dan all week but this was the first time she had spotted him. He hadn’t been in the cafeteria at lunch and she hadn’t seen him in the halls between classes. She had only seen Michelle and Justin.
    Dan was getting into the driver’s seat, and Laura into the passenger’s side. Laura threw her head back and laughed at something, and then he started the car and they drove away.
    Garnet turned from the window and descended the remainder of the stairs. That was the other problem with moving: no friends. She grabbed the door beforeit slammed in her face from the person going out ahead of her, then walked outside to the bicycle racks. She unlocked her bike, attached her music headset, adjusted her helmet, and set off.
    Though she didn’t have much homework tonight, her knapsack still felt awkward as the corner of her French binder cut into her right kidney. She pedalled along with the traffic and wondered whether she would ever fit in anywhere again. No one except the teachers even talked to her at school. The cliques, it seemed, had all been established long ago. No one ever asked her to join them and they might as well have just put up a sign: NEWCOMERS NOT WELCOME .
    Deep down she supposed she had hoped that Dan might become her friend. That was the reason she had looked for him this week. But who was she trying to kid? Friendly as he had been last weekend, what would he ever see in her, a