Believe by Sarah Aronson Page A

help, so it wasn’t.
    Two: Mounting a protest was not something even Samantha Strahan could plan in an hour. She needed a boost. Some momentum. If Roxanne was out of the picture, she askedme while winking at Dan, “Whom can we contact?” (Yes. She actually used the word whom .)
    Three: The farm was still roped off, so they couldn’t get in and do anything. “It’s a conspiracy,” she insisted in a very serious, dramatic voice, “to keep us away.”
    I said, “The tree was hit by lightning.”
    Miriam glared at me. “It doesn’t really matter where we meet. We have to talk. In privacy. So, we’re going to my house after school. Can you come?”
    I looked at Dan. He looked at me. We didn’t have plans. Neither of us was very good at coming up with a lie when we needed one.
    He said, “We’ll try.”
    â€œExcellent.” Samantha took another tot. I ate two more carrots, then jogged back to the line to buy an extra-large bag of potato chips. And a chocolate bar. And one of those pre-made strawberry banana smoothies—the cafeteria ladies’ favorite healthy choice. Of course, the seeds got stuck between my teeth.
    I didn’t want to go. It wasn’t just Samantha and the way she picked her teeth when she thought no one was looking. I wasn’t sure I agreed with them. I definitely didn’t want to protest. I thought they should let the tree live or die and then go from there.
    Miriam wouldn’t understand that. “Don’t you think we should go visit Abe?” I asked.
    I was pretty sure there was nothing I could say that wouldn’t annoy Miriam. “We’re going to visit him.” She pulled out her phone. “Why don’t you learn to check your messages? He’s been texting us every hour on the hour.”
    She handed me hers, so I could see what I’d missed. Big news! Able to walk across the room with one crutch. And Can you bring me some ice cream? And You are not going to believe who just visited me!
    â€œSo, who was it?” I asked, fingers crossed that it wasn’t anyone bigger than Roxanne.
    She couldn’t remember the guy’s name. “Some player from the Eagles. He gave Abe a photo and a signed football and tickets to a game.” She rolled her eyes. “You would think it was the greatest thing that ever happened to him.”
    â€œIt is pretty cool,” Dan said. He liked the Eagles. And the Phillies. But not the 76ers. He explained this to me once, but now I couldn’t remember why.
    â€œActually, it’s totally not cool,” Samantha said. “He didn’t mention the farm. Not even once. Some friend he is! Doesn’t he understand that his kind of fame is always short-lived?”
    As she ranted about Abe, Roxanne, the board of supervisors, and the stupidity of people who were not her, I reached for my hamsa and wished for her to stop talking, so I could get out of this chair and out of this room. Dan squeezed my thigh. He was either thinking the same thing or he was just frisky.
    When my phone vibrated, Samantha finally shut up. I looked at the number. “I don’t know who this is,” I said.
    â€œIt could be Roxanne,” she said, practically jumping over the table.
    I cursed my phone. The vibration mode was supposed to be silent, but it was loud enough to hear over the noise in the room. “I doubt it,” I said. I picked up my backpack and got up to leave.
    Miriam half-waved. “Don’t forget about the meeting.”
    Samantha practically shouted, “Remember, we need you. Roxanne is our only hope. If you hear from her, don’t forget …”
    I walked to class, trying to convince myself that the worst was over. This story was dying—that was clear. Because if it had had legs, Roxanne and a whole bunch of other reporters would’ve shown up by now. Photographers would be peeking in the windows. My phone