Shades of Truth Read Online Free PDF Page B

her.”
    I picked my spoon back up. “You don’t mind that she teases you?”
    “Come on, Sadie. The fleas thing will get old really quickly. What will she tease you about then? You’re funny and smart and a good friend. I’m glad I was first to discover you. Soon everyone will turn on Frankie just to get a chance to hang out with you. Don’t take her so seriously.”
    I doubted everything would work out so easily, but I couldn’t help smiling. Ruth reminded me a little of Pippa. “So tell me about Cameron.” I scooped up the last of my ice cream.
    “He plays guitar.” Ruth fidgeted with the pearl that hung on her thin gold chain. “He and a couple guys started a band called Equilibrium. They play at the Tree House most Thursdays.”
    “The Tree House?” We got up, threw away our trash, and started walking back to school. Ruth’s mom was going to drive me home.
    “Our youth group. We meet every Thursday in a tree house.”
    We rounded a corner and Ruth said, “Hold up.”
    She nodded toward a group of kids sitting on the lower roof at the back of the school. We inched behind the bushes.
    Ty was telling Nick and Mario a joke, punctuated by Frankie’s sharp laughter. Demitri flicked a lighter on and off, scaring Nicole and Tess. He set the corner of a newspaper on fire and then blew it out.
    “Last year, someone started a fire back here in a garbage can,” Ruth said. “Everyone blamed Ty, but no one could prove it.”
    Demitri held his lighter too close to Nicole’s hair. She shrieked and jumped away.
    “The school could have burned down,” Ruth said.
    “Let’s go around the other way. With everything else I’m being accused of, I don’t need anyone thinking I’m a snoop.”
    “Should we tell?” Ruth asked.
    Landing Frankie in trouble was tempting, but giving her a reason to hate me would only make things worse. Deep down, even though I doubted it, I hoped Ruth was right and the fleas thing would fade away.
    “No,” I said. “Promise me you won’t, Ruth.”
    “Okay …” She didn’t sound very sure.
    We tiptoed back to the sidewalk and went around to the front of the school. Her mom wasn’t there yet, so we sat on the curb. I twisted the seam of my jeans, awkward in the sudden silence. Until I had forced Ruth to make this promise, our new friendship had felt like the two of us against the world. Still, I knew so little about Ruth. Would she keep her promise? I didn’t want the afternoon to end this way, with the uncomfortable quiet growing between us. I settled on the one topic I knew Ruth couldn’t ignore: Cameron.
    “So … will you see Cameron at youth group tonight? Since it’s Thursday?”
    Ruth bit her lip, but she couldn’t quite hide her smile. “Yes. Our group is going on a mud hike tonight. Penny — she’s one of the leaders — takes us on a crazy adventure the first Thursday of each month.”
    As the tension slid away, I couldn’t hide my smile, or my relief either. “A mud hike?”
    “Yeah. Who knows what that means. But I’m bringing my boots, for sure. Cameron is playing next week. You want to come hear him?”
    I wanted to see the Tree House. And I wanted to hearCameron play. It was out of town, so maybe people wouldn’t know me — and hate me — already. More importantly, I’d just discovered, when I felt the possibility slipping away, how much I wanted to be Ruth’s friend. Ruth’s real friend.
    I’d never been to a youth group. How bad could it be? “Sure, why not.”
    Ruth’s mom pulled up to the curb. Two red-headed kids, both about six, bounced in the back seat.
    “Meet Hannah and Mark, the terrible twins.” Ruth reached in the window, ruffled their hair, and then smiled at me. “You’ll want to sit up front.”
    From: Sadie Douglas
    To: Pippa Reynolds
    Date: Thursday, September 4, 9:23 PM
    Subject: Re: Is praying like wishing?
    Yes! Praying IS scary. Like finally admitting your tooth really hurts and going to the dentist to find out if you