At lunch time that day, Sandy and Ariel were sitting at opposite sides of the same table in the cafeteria. Saki was nowhere to be seen. Selina was away, presumably on her investigation.
Esper arrived at the table with her tray of food. "Hey, girls."
"Come sit here," Ariel invited as she moved her chair aside to make space.
"No, sit here, Esper." Sandy indicated the chair next to hers.
Ariel looked at Sandy. "I think Esper would like to sit with me."
Sandy stared back. "I think she's safer with me."
Esper placed her tray on the table. "Oh, for the love of..." Her large earrings swung wildly beneath her curly black hair as she twisted her head back and forth to look at each of her two friends. "Don't tell me you two are still at it!?"
Ariel stabbed a finger at Sandy. "She got me kidnapped!"
Sandy scowled at the blond. "You tried to kill me!"
"What's this I hear about someone trying to kill someone?" Keith McDowell was there with his notepad and pencil.
"GET LOST, KEITH!!!" The combined outrage of three irritated teenagers was enough to blow the inquisitive reporter away.
Once she was sure Keith was gone, Esper turned back and planted her fists at her hips. "The two of you are best friends," she pointed out. "Can't you put this aside?"
"NO!!!" both girls replied in unison.
Esper picked up her tray of food. "Well, I'm going to sit elsewhere until the two of you make up." She left.
The remaining two girls watched each other for a moment. Then Ariel too picked up her own tray of half-eaten food and went away.
Sandy stuck her tongue at the retreating blond. Yay, for immaturity!
***
On Wednesday the next morning, Selina was at the front of the class, staring at each member of her gossip group in turn. Esper, Ariel and Sandy each sat at their own separate desk, away from each other.
"Is something going on with you, Esper and Ariel?" Selina asked Sandy, who was the closest.
Sandy shrugged as she pretended to read a textbook.
The tall girl was about to question further when Saki slipped into the classroom. The little girl went straight to Selina.
"Garcia, did you find out anything?" Saki asked.
Sandy looked up at Selina. "Saki stole the sister's boyfriend, right?"
Selina shook her head. "As far as I can tell, Carrie does not have a boyfriend."
"Oh," Sandy uttered.
By then, curiosity had drawn the last two members of the gossip group to the front. Ariel gave the brown-haired girl a dark look.
"So did you find out why Carrie's looking for Saki?" Esper asked.
Selina shrugged. "All I've found out is that she's really obsessed about finding Saki. Her close friends may know more."
"Why not ask them directly?" Ariel suggested.
Selina turned to the spectacled blond. "It's kind of difficult," she said, "Would you answer questions about Sandy if a middle schooler asked you?"
Ariel understood. "Oh, I see."
"Besides, I wouldn't want to become another Keith McDowell," Selina added.
Sandy glanced at Ariel with narrowed eyes.
Saki was watching the exchanges between Sandy and Ariel. "Is something going on that I'm not aware of?"
"No," Ariel replied quickly.
"Nothing," Sandy added.
"Why?" Selina asked the Asian girl.
"It's just that... somehow I feel it's safer outside," Saki replied. Her eyes went once again to Sandy, then to Ariel.
Saki did not appear again at the morning break. She had probably sensed the animosity between Sandy and Ariel and judged that the possibility of a confrontation was worse than the slightly greater risk of getting caught by Carrie.
However, Sandy assumed that Saki had solved her problem. So she did not worry about that little girl until after school. She saw Saki then as she was walking out of the school block.
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