30 Days of No Gossip Read Online Free PDF Page B

going on or what?”
    I immediately tensed. Sydney had no doubt called her immediately after our conversation. The two of them talked to each other almost as much as they talked to me. Most of the time, they called me just to find out what I knew so they’d have something to talk about when they called each other.
    “With what?” I asked, stalling for time.
    “Tomorrow,” Jessica said. She didn’t sigh, but I knew she wanted to. “The field trip?”
    This had been the same conversation I’d had with Syd a few minutes earlier. I wanted to talk about it. I wanted to gossip about what Sarah Dooley would be wearing and how we thought Kelsey would react if Sarah sat near Aiden. Instead, I asked the only nongossipy question I had.
    “What time are we supposed to be there?”
    “Huh?” Jessica asked. I knew I’d only get away with those kinds of questions until Jessica started talking again. “I don’t know. Check your e-mail. I’m talking about the whole Kelsey-Aiden-Sarah-Trevor situation.”
    “I don’t want to talk about this.”
    “Since when don’t you want to talk?” Jessica had a panicky, are-you-crazy tone to her voice. I had to pull the phone away from my ear to save my eardrum.
    Great, Maddie. Now get yourself out of this one.
    “I’m trying to be more positive, remember?”
    I wasn’t sure that one would work or not, but it was worth a try. If they asked, I’d tell them I’d been watching some show on TV about positive thinking and how it can fix all the problems in your life.
    “Talking about someone’s crush is positive,” Jessica said.“It’s like we’re reporters. It’s our responsibility to know what’s going on.”
    I was beginning to feel a little trapped. There would be no way out of this but to admit I couldn’t gossip, but if I did that, they’d try to talk me out of it. They might even do everything they could to get me to gossip again. There was only one thing I could do.
    “Gotta go,” I said, the words rushing out of me. “My mom needs me.”

Chapter Five
    THE FIRST THING I NOTICED as i rode up to the school on my bike Saturday morning was that there were no kids out front. It was early, but we’d been told to get here early to leave for the field trip. Shouldn’t other seventh graders be gathered here for the field trip?
    The front of the school wasn’t completely deserted, though. As I drew closer, I squinted at the strange shapes that were far too tall to be anyone who went to this school. Grown-ups. Three grown-ups I’d never seen before, to be exact. I sped over to the bike rack, locked up my bicycle, and by the time I turned around, they were walking toward me.
    “Do you go to school here?” one of the women asked. She wore big dark sunglasses and capri pants with an expensive-looking tank top. Actually, everything she wore looked reallyexpensive. Her hair was perfectly styled and she had a lot of makeup on. In other words, she didn’t look like she was from around here.
    “Yes,” I said. “Are you here for the field trip?”
    It was probably a dumb question, but that was the only reason to be here today. The woman in the tank top looked at the two men standing behind her and smiled before turning back to me.
    “No, we’re here to see Mr. Shelly.” Mr. Shelly was the principal. “I was just wondering if you could point us in the direction of his office.”
    I turned toward the front door of the school and saw a line of cars heading down the street that led to the back of our school. That was where the band room was, as well as the practice football fields. It hit me then.
    Our field trip! We were meeting in the back.
    “I have to go,” I sputtered, rushing off. “The front door to the school is there. Good luck.”
    I wondered about the three strange people on the front lawn, but only as long as it took me to get around to the back of the school and see the line of people climbing onto the school bus. How had I missed such an obvious instruction?