Gotcha Read Online Free PDF

Mariah’s name,” Joel tells us.
    “Oh,” I say. “So the girls aren’t the only blabbermouths.”
    Joel laughs. “Are you kidding?”
    I look at Joel again and find myself drawn into his open, friendly face. This time I have trouble dragging my eyes away.
    “I invited Jefferson over to be here when Mariah arrived,” Elijah tells us. He’s still grinning. “He owes me one.”
    “Jefferson had her name,” Joel adds.
    “I figured that.” I smile at Joel and then turn to Elijah. “But why didn’t he just reach out and tag her?”
    “He wanted to play with her a little, watch her try to lure Elijah away. But she doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor. When Jefferson asked her to guess who his victim was, her mouth dropped open and she bolted. I guess Jefferson underestimated how fast she could run.”
    “Yeah, she’s fast. Must be all those years of soccer.”
    “But at least now I know who has my name,” Elijah says. “I’ll stay clear of Jefferson.”
    Paige and I glance at each other. Elijah thought Mariah had his name. Jefferson will claim, honestly, that he has someone else’s, and Elijah will be totally confused. That’s how Gotcha works.
    But that reminds me. I tug at Paige’s arm. “We better go find Mariah, see if she’s okay.”
    “Jefferson will make sure she gets home okay, after he gets her bead,” Joel says. “He’s cool.”
    I nod.
    Joel suddenly looks puzzled. “So, how come you guys are here?” he asks.
    Paige answers quickly, probably too quickly. “We came over with Mariah, and then when we saw her run off, we came to see what happened.”
    Now it’s Joel and Elijah’s turn to exchange glances. “So, while you’re here,” Joel says, “why don’t we swap notes. Tell each other what we know. We could become an alliance or something.” He grins. “It seems to work on
Survivor
.”
    I smile back at Joel, liking his relaxed manner. It’s helping me shake the Gotcha jitters.
    “So whose name do you have, Katie?” he asks.
    “Yours,” I tell him.
    His look of astonishment melts away when Paige laughs. “She told me the same thing,” she says. “She’s impossible. She won’t give away anything.”
    “Even if we were to tell her who has her name?”
    They all look at me. “Even if,” I answer. I meet Joel’s eyes one more time.
    I call Mariah as soon as I get home. She answers after the first ring. “Are you okay?” I ask.
    “Oh, hi, Katie. Yeah. I’m fine.”
    She doesn’t sound fine. “What happened?”
    “I got set up.”
    “Yeah, I figured that.” She probably feels foolish.
    “And he got my bead.”
    “That’s too bad.” I really do feel bad for her. Clearly this game is getting to me too.
    “No biggie.”
    “No biggie?”
    “Yeah, no biggie.” She says it like she means it.
    “Okay, who is this and where’s my friend ‘Riah?!”
    She laughs. “Really. It’s just a game.”
    “Seriously, who is this?”
    “It’s me, Katie, honest.” She’s laughing and I can tell she’s genuinely cheered up, warming to her story. “It was
so
funny. He chased me all the way down to First Avenue. I managed to lose him a few times, and I might have got away, but my shoes...”
    “So what was the funny part?” I ask, interrupting. I know what shoes she was wearing so I’m surprised she got as far as she did. He must have still been playing with her.
    “The funny part is that he felt so bad about stealing my bead that he bought me a latte, and then he offeredto give my bead back so we could do it again.”
    “What?”
    “I’m serious. And he’s kinda cute.”
    “Omigod. I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
    “He is.”
    “Omigod some more. Did you take the bead back?”
    “No, but I said we could do it again anyway. Drink lattes I mean. He’s going to call me tonight to confirm.”
    Oh, so now I get it. She sounded disappointed when I first called because she thought it was going to be Jefferson on the phone. It had nothing to do