racked my brain trying to think of what I could have done to warrant being in trouble yet again. I had been so well behaved! "Should I take my things with me?"
"They said it would only take a few minutes. Just leave them there."
Having dismissed the possibility that I had done anything to get myself in trouble, I started worrying that something had happened to my dad or to Ella. Why else would they want me to come down?
I did a running/walking mixture trying to get there as quickly as I could without being caught running in the hallways.
I yanked the door open and found Ella standing next to the secretary's desk. "What's going on? Is Dad okay?"
"What? He's fine. Everybody's fine. Angie Ferber had to go home early and she was supposed to record you and Jake today and I told her I would take care of it. I would have just texted you, but they wouldn't let me."
Malibu Prep had recently instituted a strict no electronics policy during school hours. Another thing that annoyed me and I wanted to change if elected. "Record us? For what?"
Ella looked pensive. "Maybe I forgot to tell you. You guys were supposed to make a video announcement reminding the school about the upcoming speeches and to get them to vote in the elections."
She handed me a one-page script and I read it through quickly. It was kind of lame, but I thought I could muddle through it.
"When and where?"
"In the recording studio after school today. But you have to meet me so I can let you in and record it."
Oh, that would be cozy. Just Jake, Ella and me in a tiny little soundproof room. But I didn't really have a choice. "Okay."
"I have cheerleading practice, so come out to the field and find me."
She must have noticed that I looked worried, because she added, "Just be yourself in the video and everything will be fine."
I don't know why she thought that. So far being me hadn't worked out all that well.
The bell rang just as I got back to study hall. I had to stand aside for the tidal wave of people exiting the room. I entered the class and went to my seat. I grabbed my bag off the floor, and started to leave until I noticed my pencil on my desk.
Right next to where I had left my sketchbook.
I put my bag down on my desk and opened it up to make sure I had the sketchbook inside.
I rifled through my folders and didn't see it. I looked again, slower this time, thinking I must have missed it. Not there.
I picked the bag up and looked at the floor, under my chair and on the desks around me. It was gone.
"Is something wrong, Mattie?" Mrs. Putnam asked.
I could hear my heartbeat thundering in my chest. "Did someone turn in my sketchbook? I left it right here on the desk." My sketchbook could not be gone. Especially since it had all my pictures of Jake, with my signature at the bottom of each and every one. I blamed my parents for instilling that sense of vanity when it came to my art.
"No one turned anything in. You may want to try the lost and found box. If someone brings it to me, I'll be sure to let you know. Okay?"
I nodded and for the second time in the last fifteen minutes, tasted actual fear and panic. If someone showed those pictures to Jake, what would I do? My entire life would be over.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. I checked the lost and found so many times that Ms. Rathbone told me not to come back and that she would personally call me if it was turned in.
I never got a call.
As much as the Jake drawings freaked me out, the loss of all that work I'd accumulated over the last few months depressed me more. I texted both Trent and Ella to tell them what had happened, and they both promised to keep an eye out as well.
While Ella had cheer practice, I searched the school for my sketchbook. I checked study hall again. I pulled everything out of my locker. I asked the janitors to keep an eye out for it. I sneaked in and checked lost and found for the fortieth time. I walked up and down the hallways, sticking my head in classrooms along
"They said it would only take a few minutes. Just leave them there."
Having dismissed the possibility that I had done anything to get myself in trouble, I started worrying that something had happened to my dad or to Ella. Why else would they want me to come down?
I did a running/walking mixture trying to get there as quickly as I could without being caught running in the hallways.
I yanked the door open and found Ella standing next to the secretary's desk. "What's going on? Is Dad okay?"
"What? He's fine. Everybody's fine. Angie Ferber had to go home early and she was supposed to record you and Jake today and I told her I would take care of it. I would have just texted you, but they wouldn't let me."
Malibu Prep had recently instituted a strict no electronics policy during school hours. Another thing that annoyed me and I wanted to change if elected. "Record us? For what?"
Ella looked pensive. "Maybe I forgot to tell you. You guys were supposed to make a video announcement reminding the school about the upcoming speeches and to get them to vote in the elections."
She handed me a one-page script and I read it through quickly. It was kind of lame, but I thought I could muddle through it.
"When and where?"
"In the recording studio after school today. But you have to meet me so I can let you in and record it."
Oh, that would be cozy. Just Jake, Ella and me in a tiny little soundproof room. But I didn't really have a choice. "Okay."
"I have cheerleading practice, so come out to the field and find me."
She must have noticed that I looked worried, because she added, "Just be yourself in the video and everything will be fine."
I don't know why she thought that. So far being me hadn't worked out all that well.
The bell rang just as I got back to study hall. I had to stand aside for the tidal wave of people exiting the room. I entered the class and went to my seat. I grabbed my bag off the floor, and started to leave until I noticed my pencil on my desk.
Right next to where I had left my sketchbook.
I put my bag down on my desk and opened it up to make sure I had the sketchbook inside.
I rifled through my folders and didn't see it. I looked again, slower this time, thinking I must have missed it. Not there.
I picked the bag up and looked at the floor, under my chair and on the desks around me. It was gone.
"Is something wrong, Mattie?" Mrs. Putnam asked.
I could hear my heartbeat thundering in my chest. "Did someone turn in my sketchbook? I left it right here on the desk." My sketchbook could not be gone. Especially since it had all my pictures of Jake, with my signature at the bottom of each and every one. I blamed my parents for instilling that sense of vanity when it came to my art.
"No one turned anything in. You may want to try the lost and found box. If someone brings it to me, I'll be sure to let you know. Okay?"
I nodded and for the second time in the last fifteen minutes, tasted actual fear and panic. If someone showed those pictures to Jake, what would I do? My entire life would be over.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. I checked the lost and found so many times that Ms. Rathbone told me not to come back and that she would personally call me if it was turned in.
I never got a call.
As much as the Jake drawings freaked me out, the loss of all that work I'd accumulated over the last few months depressed me more. I texted both Trent and Ella to tell them what had happened, and they both promised to keep an eye out as well.
While Ella had cheer practice, I searched the school for my sketchbook. I checked study hall again. I pulled everything out of my locker. I asked the janitors to keep an eye out for it. I sneaked in and checked lost and found for the fortieth time. I walked up and down the hallways, sticking my head in classrooms along
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