Mackenzie Blue by Tina Wells Page A

said, ZEE’S DIARY . But there was no folder with that label and no diary in the others.
    Zee looked around the room. The closet! She opened the doors and looked inside. She knew she had to work quickly and put the neatly stacked containers back exactly the way she’d found them. She’d clean up the mess she made on the desk afterward. On her hands and knees, she removed the lid to a photo box. Mostly there were baby photos of Jasper. Playing in the sand. Smearing spaghetti in his hair. Riding his tricycle. She pulled the stack out to get to the bottom. That’s when she saw it—a picture of Jasper and her at the pool. Posed with their arms around each other, they were licking mint chocolate chip ice cream, their favorite flavor. She and Jasper may have been different in a lot of ways, but they had the most important thing in common—they were great friends. Zee’s suspicions meltedaway like those ice cream cones had on that hot day. A familiar, unpleasant feeling—guilt—replaced them.

    Before Zee could put the lid on the box and shut the closet door, she heard a sound in the hall. When she turned around, the two mothers were staring at her—Mrs. Chapman looked confused and Mrs. Carmichael looked angry. They had caught Zee red-handed!
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    The keys clattered as Mrs. Carmichael tossed them on the black granite kitchen counter. But the noise couldn’t cover her words. “What were you thinking ? Thanks to the fact that you were rummaging through Jasper’s room, I didn’t even get to help Lucy with her business.”
    Mrs. Carmichael hardly ever got this upset, and Zee knew what she had done was wrong. Really wrong. But shehad to admit that her mother’s lecture was a hundred times better than Mrs. Chapman’s hurt silence.
    Zee thought—and silently pleaded—that her mother might stop when Adam arrived after tennis practice. No such luck.
    Adam pulled up a chair as if he were watching his favorite TV show. “I wonder how you would feel if Jasper went through your most personal belongings,” Mrs. Carmichael continued.
    â€œBut I thought he had read my most personal thoughts,” Zee defended herself. “I thought he took my diary.”
    â€œDid he?”
    â€œWell…no.”
    Mrs. Carmichael planted her hand on her hip, waiting for Zee to say more.
    â€œMay I go to my room?” Zee asked.

    â€œI think that’s a good idea,” her mother told her. When Zee got upstairs, she threw herself facedown on her bed and buried her head in a pillow. She knew Jasper would be upset when Mrs. Chapman told him what she had done.
    Knock. Knock . “Can I come in?” Adam had followed her upstairs.
    â€œYes.” At least someone still wanted to talk to her.
    â€œHi,” Adam said, trying to be both serious and cheerful. “I heard about what was on the music room board today.” He sat on the edge of the bed next to her.
    â€œExcellent,” Zee sighed. “Now the whole school knows what I wrote in my diary.”
    â€œDid you really think Jasper could do that to you?”
    Zee hung her head. “I guess not,” she said quietly. “But I need to stop whoever took my diary.”
    â€œMaybe you need to get a grip.”
    Oh, great, Zee thought. Now my brother gets to lecture me.
    â€œI’ve never read your diary,” Adam continued, “but I know you have a crush on Landon.”
    â€œYou do?”
    â€œYou go all mushy and googly eyed every time someone mentions his name.”
    â€œBut those were the exact words in my diary. My most private thoughts.” The sick feeling returned to Zee’s stomach.
    Adam shook his head. “You’re not getting it. The point isn’t that someone took your diary or that you have a crush on Landon. From what I hear, so do half of the seventh-grade girls.”
    Zee sat up. “So what is the point?” She definitely wasn’t