With Friends Like These by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Page B

Jasmine offered.
    “Maybe the dog ate it,” Tameka mumbled loud enough for others to hear. The classroom broke into laughter. I turned to look at Jasmine, and I could see her eyes beginning to pool with water. I felt bad for her.
    “I know she did it, because we worked on ours together,” I said, trying to help.
    Mrs. Lacy looked at me sternly. “I don’t believe anyone asked for your input, Miss Harris.”
    “I promise you. I did my paper. I just can’t find it right now,” Jasmine pleaded. She emptied out her backpack. “And the jump drive I saved it on is gone, too!”
    “Of course it is,” Mrs. Lacy said as she walked toward the back of the room. She stood between Jasmine’s row and the wall. “Well, it looks to me like you’ll have to suffer the consequences since you can’t ‘find’ this research paper you worked so hard on,” she said. “Who else can’t seem to find their research paper?” Mrs. Lacy asked as she looked around the room. She turned back to Jasmine. “Looks like you’re the only one in class whose paper miraculously vanished into thin air,” she said. She scooped up the remaining research papers, then walked up to the front of the classroom.
    Jasmine looked like she wanted to cry, and I couldn’t blame her. I knew how hard she had worked on that paper. We both did, because it was 30 percent of our grade. And with her getting an F on that last test, she had to do good on this paper. After class I waited outside for her. Mrs. Lacy had dismissed everyone except Jasmine.
    “What did she say?” I asked, the minute Jasmine came out of the classroom.
    “She said she wasn’t buying my excuse for a second. She also told me that regardless of when I turn the paper in now, the most I can get is a C. This is messed up,” Jasmine said sadly.
    “Did you save it somewhere else?” I asked.
    “No. You know I typed it in the library, and you can’t save on the school’s hard drive. I saved it on my jump drive, and I can’t find that either.”
    I just nodded because I didn’t know what else to say.
    “She’s giving me a week to turn in another one, so you know what that means, right?”
    “Yeah, I guess you’ll be swamped for the next week,” I said.
    “Um, try I won’t be doing the show. Without at least a B on that research paper, my GPA goes down,” Jasmine said with tears rolling down her cheeks. It was hard for me to watch her cry, because I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen Jasmine cry.
    All I could do was give her a hug. I didn’t know what I could possibly say to help her feel better. And as badly as I wanted to win the hosting job, I felt really bad that she’d have to drop out.
    I made up my mind then that I’d do whatever I could to help her redo her paper. It might be too late for the show, but the last thing we wanted was Jasmine failing a class.

21
Alexis
    I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. When Rachel called and said she wanted to call an emergency meeting with the Good Girlz, I was hoping she wasn’t going to say she’d decided to stop the auditions. Better yet, wouldn’t it be great if she told us that I had been selected as the host of the teen show? That would serve Tameka right for all the stupid stuff she’d been up to lately.
    I was outside Madison, waiting to pick up Angel and Jasmine. I’d talked to Camille last night and she was just as nervous as I was.
    My thoughts quickly faded when I saw Jaquan waving to me. He raced over and planted a big kiss on my lips.
    “Hey, baby. I can’t stay long. I gotta get to practice!” Jaquan said. “Jasmine told me you were picking them up. I’m glad I got a chance to see you.” He kissed me again. “But I’ll holla at you later.”
    Just that fast, he was gone. I smiled, taking note of the fact that Jasmine had told him I’d be at their school. I took that to mean she was getting more and more comfortable with us dating.
    I parked on the street outside their school and