Stitches and Stones Read Online Free PDF Page A

encouraging message:
    Boy, does that bring back memories! Don’t worry, it gets better, I promise!
    Then she read a comment from CrossStitchGal:
    Remember: This too shall pass. Right now it probably seems like it won’t, but trust me, it will. This type of thing happens to a lot of people in middle school, but that doesn’t mean it is okay. Idon’t know why girls are so mean to each other. Hang in there, honey!
    Come to think of it, that was pretty much what the crew members on the set of Fashion Showdown told her a while back, when she had been a guest judge. Zoey, aided by the smell of frying bacon wafting up to her bedroom, started to feel more optimistic about the day ahead.
    But then she read the next comment, by a reader who had never posted before named Kewlrnu:
    Zoey is a TATTLETALE and a FRAUD. She doesn’t even make her own clothes!
    Zoey looked over at the peace-themed outfit she’d stayed up past her bedtime to finish. How could anyone say she didn’t make her own clothes? She shrugged it off. But then she kept reading and saw another post from a new commenter named ZoeySucks:
    Who cares about this dumb blog anyway?These clothes are ugly! I wouldn’t even let my mom wear them.
    Her blog readers had made criticisms of her sketches before, but they were helpful and constructive, suggesting ways she could make her designs better or easier to construct or pointing out problems that might occur with fabrics. Or saying they didn’t love an outfit. No one had ever been straight out . . . mean.
    The screen of her laptop quickly grew blurry as Zoey’s eyes filled with tears. Knowing there was someone—more than one someone—out there, people she didn’t even know, who were willing to write such nasty things made her feel terrible. Who would do such a thing?
    â€œZooooey!” her dad called from downstairs. “Breakfast!”
    Slamming her laptop shut, Zoey jumped up, quickly got dressed in her peace outfit, and ran downstairs. She wasn’t even hungry.
    â€œEverything okay?” her dad asked as she sat down at the kitchen table. He placed a heaping plateof bacon and eggs in front of her. “You’re looking kind of . . . glum. Eat something?”
    Zoey didn’t want to talk about it. She wanted today to be a better day than yesterday, and so far it wasn’t starting off too promising.
    â€œI’m fine,” she said.
    â€œThere’s nothing a few slices of bacon won’t cure,” her brother, Marcus, promised, biting into an extra crispy piece.
    â€œI like your style,” her dad said. “Groovy!”
    â€œYeah, the dress is cool,” Marcus agreed.
    Zoey just hoped her peace-themed outfit would make the rest of her day more peaceful than it had started out.

    Kate looked great in her milk bottle costume when Zoey saw her on the bus.
    â€œI can’t wait to see you with Libby!” Zoey exclaimed. “You two are going to look awesome together.”
    â€œBecause of you,” Kate said. “Thanks for designing the costumes.”
    â€œI loved doing it,” Zoey said. “And you helped!”
    â€œSort of. Hey . . . what happened to your headband?” Kate asked. “Did it fall off?”
    Zoey reached up to her forehead. The tie-dyed headband she had made wasn’t there.
    â€œOh no!” She groaned. “I left it at home! Things were . . . a little crazy this morning.”
    â€œIt’s okay. You still look great without it,” Kate assured her.
    But Zoey was upset she’d let herself get so flustered about the blog comments that she’d forgotten part of her costume. So far, Spirit Week definitely wasn’t going according to plan. Still, she was determined to turn things around. By the time she and Kate got off the bus, Zoey had talked herself into believing that today was going to be a much better day than yesterday.
    Her faith was