Friday Barnes 2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

inches taller than you.
    But Ian just smiled again. This time it was his rueful smile, which was arguably in his top three handsomest smiles, even above his ‘Aren’t I charming?’ smile and his ‘You’ll forgive me, won’t you?’ smile.
    Friday realised she really must stop categorising his smiles. It was almost as if Melanie’s constant talk of her being in a relationship with Ian was making her subconsciously think it was true.
    â€˜Why did you do it?’ asked Friday.
    â€˜Do what?’ asked Ian.
    â€˜Don’t beat about the bush with me,’ said Friday.
    â€˜I thought you liked intrigue,’ said Ian.
    â€˜Why did you set me up and dob me in to the police?’ asked Friday.
    â€˜He framed you?’ asked Melanie. ‘How do you know?’
    â€˜Who else would go to the trouble of hollowing out the handle of my hockey stick and filling it with beans that look like they make ricin but actually make a delicious burrito filling?’ asked Friday.
    â€˜I would have thought there were quite a few possibilities,’ said Melanie.
    â€˜Like who?’ asked Friday.
    â€˜Lots of people dislike you,’ said Melanie.
    â€˜They do?’ asked Friday, trying not to feel hurt.
    â€˜The Headmaster might have done it,’ suggested Ian, ‘to get rid of you because you’re a huge thorn in his side.’
    â€˜Or the Vice Principal might have done it,’ added  Melanie. ‘Because he thinks you’re morally dangerous and a blight on the school.’
    â€˜Or Mrs Marigold may have done it,’ added Ian, ‘because you wrote a formal letter to the school council expressing your concern that the kidneys in her kidney pie were contaminated industrial waste.’
    â€˜But as far as pranks go,’ continued Melanie, ‘this  one sounds unusually labour-intensive and imaginative. Just the type of thing Ian would do, what with him being secretly in love with you.’
    â€˜Exactly,’ said Friday.
    Ian raised an eyebrow. ‘I mean “exactly” to everything except the secretly-in-love part,’ said Friday.
    â€˜But if he wasn’t secretly in love with you, he wouldn’t bother,’ said Melanie. ‘He’d just put itching powder in your gym shorts and be done with it.’
    â€˜Melanie,’ said Ian with a smile, ‘I would never put itching powder in Friday’s gym shorts. I know she never attends gym class, so that would be pointless.’
    â€˜Of course,’ agreed Melanie. ‘You really do know each other so well. You’re the perfect couple.’
    â€˜But to report me to the counterterrorism task force!’ said Friday. ‘That’s just vindictive.’
    â€˜I thought you said you enjoyed being arrested,’ said Melanie. ‘You found it very interesting.’
    â€˜That’s not the point!’ said Friday. ‘He wasn’t to know that. And besides, I got lucky. They never took me further than the local police station. If Jorge from the taco shop hadn’t been able to verify my identification of the beans, I would have been transferred to central office in the back of a paddy wagon and locked up for days before it was sorted out.’
    â€˜Maybe that was the idea,’ said Ian.
    â€˜You wanted to scare the daylights out of me, letting me think I was going to jail for life?’ said Friday. ‘I thought …’ She had to stop speaking partly because she could feel herself on the verge of crying, and partly because she didn’t know what she thought about her strange relationship with Ian. He had a disconcerting effect on her endocrine (hormone) system.
    â€˜You thought what?’ asked Ian.
    Friday took a steadying breath. ‘I thought we were getting along better. To do this, it’s just … it’s just, plain hateful.’
    Ian shrugged, but there did appear to be a small touch of shame to