The Hidden Deep Read Online Free PDF Page B

annoyed. To other people, he might appear to be one part tag-along, one part stalker, but his constant companionship over the last few days had been a godsend.
    Up until this year, Prissie and her best friend, Margery Burke, had always picked up where they left off after the summer break. But things had changed over the summer. Elise Hanson had completely turned Margery’s head. Prissie didn’t like Elise one bit, and the feeling was mutual. Margery, Jennifer, and April still replied to emails and took her calls, but it wasn’t the same. They followed Elise’s lead, and whether they meant to or not, they often left Prissie out of the loop.
    “You coming, Prissie?” called Jennifer from across the hall.
    Brightening, she hurried over to walk next to her friend. Jennifer Ruiz was a bit of an airhead, but her bubbly personality made her popular with just about everyone. She was sweet and silly, and Prissie sort of envied her big brown eyes. At the moment, they were wide with excitement. “Eeee!” Jennifer squealed. “I’m
so
glad that Marcus is in our class again!”
    Prissie’s lips thinned, but she kept her opinions to herself as she followed Jennifer’s gaze to the boy sitting next to Ransom in the back of the classroom. She supposed Marcus was good looking enough. Her friend certainly liked to go on and on about his warm brown skin, full lips, cleft chin, and gold-flecked brown eyes. Still, Prissie didn’t really approve of Jennifer’s current crush. A wide section of his hair had been bleached platinum blond, and there were rumors about him being shuffled from one foster home to another. You could tell at a glance that he was trouble with a capital T.
    Unless you were Jennifer. “I would kill to have lashes like his!” she gushed.
    “Everybody has eyelashes,” Prissie retorted.
    “Not like his!”
    The boy in question seemed completely ignorant of his admirer. Slouched in his seat, he tapped his pencil against the desk while listening to Ransom describe something using broad gestures. With a huff, Prissie turned her back on the both of them. Eventually, her friend had to run out of things to drool over. There couldn’t be much left. Maybe his shoelaces?
    At the last possible second, Prissie marched to her desk and slid into the seat, which was right in front of Ransom’s. Only then did she realize that Koji had been quietly following her the whole time. With a little half-smile, he took the desk in front of hers, another
providential
placement. The young Observer was always very attentive — unlike certain class clowns she could mention — and she wholly approved of his serious attitude toward their studies.
    The bell sounded in the hallway, and Miss Knowles snapped her fingers for attention. “Today, we’ll divide intogroups of three for a special project,” she announced, looking quite pleased with her plan. Miss Knowles loved group projects; last year, there had been one every couple of months. Prissie didn’t particularly like them because she always ended up doing all the work. “Choose your own teams, and be quick about it!” their teacher said with another series of snaps.
    Prissie straightened and glanced Margery’s way, but the blonde girl was already arm-in-arm with Elise. Koji turned to her with a hopeful expression, and she smiled gratefully. That just left Jennifer and April, who exchanged a long look before parting company. April slipped over and leaned against Prissie’s desk. “I’m with you guys,” she said, her gray eyes bright behind the rectangular frames of her glasses.
    “We are a team,” Koji acknowledged seriously.
    April Mayfair kept her mousy brown hair in a sleek bob, with baby bangs forming a sharp line across her forehead. She was a smart girl with quick wits and plenty of opinions, and she planned on becoming a journalist. “Are you two sticking around for the pep rally after school?” she asked eagerly.
    “Yes!” Prissie confirmed. Tonight was the first