Claudia and the Little Liar Read online

  Like me, Stacey isn’t terribly involved in sports. She likes to bike and swim and that sort of thing, but she’s no superathlete.

  Still, she didn’t mind helping out. She figured Kristy would do the coaching part. All Stacey would have to do was show up and lend a hand.

  Little did she know!

  “Haley can’t come today,” Vanessa announced the moment she walked into the gym. “She’s been grounded.”

  “For how long?” Kristy asked. She could already figure out why Haley had been grounded, since I’d told my friends the story about her homework that morning on the phone.

  Vanessa shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Kristy turned, looked at her players, and did a quick count. “I’m one short,” she said. “Now what?” That’s when her gaze fell on Stacey. “You’ll have to play.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Come on, Stacey, you have to,” Kristy pleaded. “You can’t let down the rest of the girls.”

  “Me? Why don’t you play?”

  “I can’t coach and play at the same time.”

  Stacey couldn’t argue with that, so she joined the other girls.

  She already knew a bunch of them from baby-sitting. Besides Vanessa, Jessi’s younger sister, Becca, was there. So were Charlotte Johanssen, Karen Brewer (Kristy’s stepsister), and Sara Hill, along with some eight- and nine-year-olds Stacey didn’t know as well.

  Charlotte wrapped her arms around Stacey. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re on my team,” she squealed. Stacey is by far Charlotte’s favorite sitter.

  “Just for now,” Stacey reminded her.

  “Stacey, no offense, but … aren’t you a little tall to be playing with us?” Becca asked.

  Stacey laughed. “I sure am,” she agreed.

  Kristy wasted no time in separating the girls into two practice teams. The girls on the team without Stacey instantly protested. “We can’t win with her on their team,” Vanessa pointed out. “No matter what position she plays, it will give them an advantage.”

  “This is just a practice,” Kristy replied with a touch of annoyance in her voice. “It doesn’t matter who wins.”

  “It matters to us,” Vanessa insisted sulkily. “Why play if you can’t win?”

  “Believe me, I’m not a great player,” Stacey assured her. “You probably have a better chance of winning without me on your team.”

  The girls on Stacey’s team groaned. “Thanks for telling us,” Sara said.

  Kristy blew her whistle loudly. “No more arguing. Let’s play.” She assigned Stacey to be a guard, which caused a lot of grumbling.

  “Nothing like having a giant guarding you,” a girl named Diana Gonzalez complained when Stacey stole the ball from her.

  “Sorry,” Stacey apologized. “I’m just doing my guard job.”

  Stacey felt more than a little ridiculous. She towered over everyone. And, despite not being the ultimate sportswoman, she’d been playing basketball longer than most of the other girls had been alive.

  Then there was the Kristy factor. It seemed that every other minute Stacey heard a whistle blaring in her ear. “McGill! Traveling!” Kristy shouted, circling her arms around each other to indicate Stacey’s breach of the rules.

  It took Stacey a second to remember that traveling meant she was running with the ball. “Get off it! I was not,” she argued.

  “McGill, you’re benched for talking back to the coach,” Kristy told her.

  Stacey’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe Kristy was actually benching her. “You can’t bench me. You have no one to replace me with.”

  “You’re right,” Kristy had to agree. “I’ll have to give the other team a free throw instead.” This news brought forth an assortment of cheers and groans.

  Throughout the remainder of the game, Kristy continued to be especially hard on Stacey. By the end, Stacey was ready to strangle her.

  “I was only trying to make things fair, since you had such an advantage over the other girls,” Kristy whispered to her after the game was over and Stacey’s team had lost.

  Kristy ended the practice with a pep talk. “That was a good game, but you girls have a lot to learn. You have to share the ball more, and there were too many violations of the rules.”

  “Stacey made most of them,” Sara pointed out.

  “Well, I was a tougher on her because she should know better,” Kristy said.

  “There won’t be so many mistakes once Haley comes back,” Vanessa said.

  Stacey wasn’t sure she appreciated that.

  “What’s she grounded for, anyway?” Becca asked.

  Vanessa jumped in. “Claudia told her parents that she didn’t do her homework on Friday night. They were all upset even though Haley had the entire weekend to get it done. Claudia just did it to get her in trouble.”

  “Claudia wouldn’t do that!” Charlotte said.

  “No, she wouldn’t,” Stacey agreed.

  “And even if she did, it wasn’t to be mean. Claudia was only following the rules,” Kristy added.

  “See, Kristy admits it,” Vanessa insisted. “Claudia did turn Haley in.”

  “That’s not true,” Stacey cried. “Claudia told me the whole story. Haley simply got caught in a lie. Claudia very innocently, by accident, told Haley’s parents that Haley didn’t do the book report.”

  “Claudia told Haley’s parents that Haley didn’t do the book report,” Vanessa echoed. “See? That’s what I’ve been saying.”

  “You can’t trust anyone over nine,” Sara said with a sigh. “Once a kid becomes a two-digit number, something changes.”

  “Hey!” Diana objected. “That’s not true. I’ll be ten soon. The problem is baby-sitters. They’re paid by parents, so that’s who they’re loyal to.”

  “No, the problem is Claudia,” Vanessa disagreed. “She’s turned on us.”

  I shook my head as Stacey told me this story later that Saturday. Even though I’d done nothing to deserve it, it seemed that I was getting a bad reputation among Haley and her pals.

  While Stacey was playing basketball that Saturday afternoon, I was home, dyeing the waistbands of the team’s shorts blue. I hadn’t asked Kristy about this. I just went ahead and did it because I couldn’t help myself. They’d look so cool. And, after all, wasn’t I in charge of designing the uniforms?

  I spread an old sheet on the grass in our backyard and then set the dyed shorts out to dry. The plastic gloves I wore were entirely blue. I peeled them off and threw them into the garbage. As I did, my dad wandered into the yard. Although it was late afternoon, this was the first time I’d seen him that day, since he’d gone out early before I awoke.

  “Happy birthday, Dad!” I greeted him.

  He smiled but shook his head. “Next Saturday,” he said.

  Oops.

  “You mean it’s not today?” I gasped. I’d been so sure….

  “No. I have one week left before I’m officially one year older. Don’t rush me.”

  He looked at the team’s shorts and said he liked them, but I’d have to move them because he was about to mow the lawn. As I dragged my sheet to the driveway, I realized I was now free to go to the movies with Josh. There was still time to call him.

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out, though. It’s unusual for me to have a Saturday night when I’m not either baby-sitting or doing something with my friends or Josh. I could do my homework, which would leave all of Sunday free. (I’m usually terrible about leaving things to the last minute.)

  There was also a Nancy Drew mystery I wanted to read — The Case of the Artful Crime. From the cover, I knew it was about clues hidden in paintings, so, as you might guess, I was especially eager to get to it. A Nancy Drew about art … what could be better?

  I decided not to decide.

  Not right away, anyhow. I’d do some homework, read for a while, and then see how I felt about calling Josh. It wasn’t as though he were expecting me to call.

  It might not surprise y
ou to hear that when I got to my room, I decided to read my book first and think about homework later. I located a bag of Cheez Doodles under my bed and The Case of the Artful Crime under my pillow, stretched out, ripped open the Cheez Doodles bag, and turned to page one of the book.

  Heaven.

  In minutes, I was lost in the story. Nancy had to track down a person who was buying lots of paintings. She realized that each painting contained a piece of information. Like pieces in a puzzle, the thief needed all the paintings in order to figure out where some priceless statue was buried. I loved it.

  I forgot about time as I flew through the book. Hours passed, though I was hardly aware of it. I’d come to a scene in which Nancy was stuck in a room with the thief when … my phone rang. The sound startled me so much that I dropped the book. It took a moment for me to remember that I was Claudia in my room and not Nancy hiding behind a priceless tapestry.

  “Hello?” I said foggily, snapping up the phone.

  “Claudia, you’re home.”

  Josh’s voice was unmistakable to me.

  “Uh … yeah,” I replied.

  “I thought you were going out with your family tonight,” he said. I checked the time. It was seven o’clock. Wow! I had no idea. Normally someone would have called me for dinner by now, but I guess my parents were also running late.

  I realized that it must seem odd that I was home when I said I wouldn’t be, but something else was strange. “Why did you call me if you didn’t think I was home?” I asked.

  “I wanted to leave a message on your answering machine,” Josh explained.

  “Oh.”

  “Well, why are you home? Are you sick or something?”

  That’s so like Josh, immediately worried that I might not be okay. “No, I’m fine,” I assured him. It suddenly seemed so dumb to say I got the date of my father’s birthday wrong. “Um … Dad wasn’t feeling well, so we’re going to celebrate his birthday next week,” I told him.

  “That’s too bad. What’s the matter with him?”

  “Some kind of bug. It probably won’t last too long. He just now decided he was too ill to go and I figured it was too late to go to the movies.”

  “I hope you don’t get whatever he’s got.” Josh’s voice was genuinely concerned.

  I wished he would drop the subject. The nicer he was, the worse I felt about not calling him earlier and about lying to him now.

  “What message were you going to leave me?” I asked.

  “I was wondering if you’d want to see the movie tomorrow. I thought it stopped playing on Saturday but I just looked in the paper and saw it’s still there tomorrow,” he said.

  “Sure.”

  “Great. My dad will drive. I’ll come by around three. Oh, and tell your dad I hope he feels better.”

  “What? … Oh, yeah, sure. I will.”

  * * *

  On Sunday, when Josh arrived, I felt awfully guilty. I knew the lie I’d told was harmless, but I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t simply admitted the truth.

  Of course, if I told him the truth, I’d then have to explain why I hadn’t called him the moment I realized my mistake.

  Why hadn’t I?

  I wasn’t sure. It was probably that I just preferred to stay home and read that night. But is that how you’re supposed to feel when you’re crazy about someone? It wasn’t the kind of behavior you see on TV or in romantic movies.

  No, it was better that I’d said what I did. It had made my life easier and it hadn’t hurt Josh’s feelings.

  Just after Josh arrived, I heard my dad moving around on the second-floor landing. The moment I heard his foot on the stairs, I grabbed Josh’s arm and hurried him toward the door. “ ’Bye, Mom, Dad, “ I called over my shoulder.

  Mom stepped out of the kitchen and waved. “Have fun.”

  “Remember, we’re expecting you home for dinner,” Dad called from the stairs.

  “I remember,” I called as I yanked open the door and practically pushed Josh out.

  “Why are you in such a hurry?” Josh asked.

  I shrugged and smiled nervously. “I don’t want to miss the beginning of the movie. I hate that.”

  “We have plenty of time,” Josh told me as we walked toward his father’s car.

  We slid into the backseat together. I said hi to Mr. Rocker, but after that, I didn’t know what else to say. It was the weirdest feeling — almost as if I expected Josh to say, at any moment, that he knew I’d lied to him.

  It didn’t take long for me to realize it was only my guilt that was making me so uneasy. Josh wasn’t doing or saying anything to make me think he was angry or suspicious.

  By the time we arrived inside the theater, I’d relaxed a lot. That was the good news. The bad news was that the movie stunk.

  But even that wasn’t totally terrible. The acting was so bad and the plot made so little sense that it was hysterical, even though it wasn’t meant to be funny.

  The theater was pretty empty, so we didn’t disturb anyone by laughing and commenting through the whole show. Josh can be pretty funny once he gets going. By the time the end credits came on, I was breathless with laughter.

  It was a good feeling, but I noticed something about it. The feeling was almost too relaxed and natural. When I used to go to the movies with Mark, I would be thrilled just to be sitting next to him. If he held my hand, or even if our arms brushed against each other, it was as exciting as anything happening on the screen.

  I never felt that way with Josh. Don’t get me wrong — we’ve kissed, and he’s a great kisser. But being with him felt as easy as being with any of my girlfriends. We were so comfortable together.

  I wasn’t sure it was the feeling I wanted when I was out with the boy I was supposed to feel romantic toward.

  What could I do about it, though? Was there a way to change it?

  I had no idea.

  At our Monday meeting, Mrs. Braddock called, sounding slightly panicked. “I know it’s short notice but I really need a sitter tonight,” she said when I picked up the phone.

  “I’m sure we can find someone for you,” I assured her.

  After I hung up and ran the job past Mary Anne, I made a request. “I’d really like to take it if no one else minds,” I said.

  “You would?” Stacey asked.

  “Yeah. I want to straighten things out with Haley,” I explained. “She and I have always gotten along well. I don’t want this problem to get out of hand.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Kristy agreed. “Is it all right with everyone if Claudia takes the job?”

  My friends said it was fine, so I called Mrs. Braddock back and made arrangements. Then after the meeting, I grabbed my backpack with my homework inside and headed over to the Braddocks’ house, which isn’t far from my home.

  “Thank you for coming, Claudia,” Mrs. Braddock greeted me at the door. Haley wasn’t around, but she lowered her voice just the same. “A friend of mine needs a lift to the hospital to visit her daughter. Her car broke down this afternoon. I’d rather not have Haley and Matt sitting around in a hospital waiting room if it’s not necessary. Normally Mr. Braddock could stay home with them but he’s working late.”

  “No problem,” I told her with a smile. “All I have to do tonight is homework, which I can do here.”

  “Speaking of homework,” Mrs. Braddock said, “please make sure Haley does hers. No TV until she completes it. She’s been grounded not only because of the fake report, but because of other times she hasn’t done her homework and then lied about it.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “Thanks,” she said and then called up the stairs. “Kids, I’m going!”

  Haley and Matt ran down to say good-bye to her. Matt saw me and signed “Hi.” Haley looked me over icily.

  “Hi, guys,” I greeted them. “Did you eat yet?”

  Matt nodded. Haley ignored me and dropped onto the couch, TV remote in hand.

  “Your mom wants all homework
done before TV,” I said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. “I have homework too. Why don’t the three of us do it together?”

  Haley rolled her eyes disdainfully … but she didn’t turn on the TV. “Matt needs help with his homework,” she said. “Why don’t you help him down here and I’ll do mine by myself,” she suggested.

  I turned toward Matt. “What do you have to do?”

  He shook his head and waved his hands, indicating that he didn’t have homework. Haley signed something to him and he signed back, shaking his head as he moved his hands.

  “He’s lying,” Haley said to me. “He claims he doesn’t have any homework, but he does.”

  “Do you have homework, Matt?” I asked. As I spoke, I pointed to my backpack to make my point.

  He shook his head vigorously.

  At that moment, the phone rang and Haley ran into the kitchen to answer it.

  I wasn’t sure who to trust. Had Matt caught the lying bug from Haley? Or was he telling the truth? Could Haley be trying to get him into trouble in order to take the heat off herself? I just didn’t know.

  Matt had never lied to me. I decided to trust him. He was only seven. It was very possible that he didn’t have homework.

  My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten supper. I headed toward the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. As I approached I heard Haley talking on the kitchen phone. She mentioned the caller’s name — Vanessa. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Haley talked. I figured I’d give her a few minutes to wrap it up. But she was still going strong when I’d finished making the sandwich and poured a glass of milk.

  “Homework,” I mouthed to Haley. I know she understood what I meant, but she turned her head away from me and stayed on the phone.

  This was not a good sign. I didn’t want to rip the phone out of her hand, but I wasn’t going to be ignored either.

  Then I had an idea. I went upstairs to Mr. and Mrs. Braddock’s room and picked up their cordless phone, punching into the phone line that Haley was talking on. “Vanessa, hi, this is Claudia,” I said, cutting into their conversation. “Haley has to do her homework now, so you’ll have to end this conversation. She’ll call you back when she’s finished.”