Read Judging Joey for Free Online

She had never really met Caitlin in high school, but she thought the color of her hair and her first name might have triggered some sort of memory. And when she just admitted going to the high school and Caitlin didn’t blink, Madeline was flabbergasted.
    “I mean, how many teenage redheaded Madelines did the O’Neills know in this small town?” she muttered to herself. More surprising to learn that they hadn’t put two and two together was when she had learned that he had volunteered to help at the carnival. He had never volunteered in his life. At least not when she knew him.
    She was sure he hadn’t changed at bit. Well, maybe he had gotten better looking, if that was possible. He wore his hair differently, too. In high school, it was a mass of dark waves that had always looked disheveled in a sexy way. Now it was cut regulation short, but still incredibly appealing. No longer a buff teenager from playing high school sports, Joey O’Neill was all man, filled out and well-toned.
    Unfortunately, underneath that muscular exterior, he remained the same joke-cracking prankster. A golden boy who life treated like a nonstick pan. Heartache and troubles had always slid right off him. And, as she had predicted, it seemed life was still grand for Joey O’Neill.
    In a huff, Madeline picked up a crayon and pencil off the floor near a student’s desk that she must have missed earlier. She placed them inside the desk and then surveyed her classroom making sure it was tidy for when school resumed on Monday.
    She had especially looked forward to this weekend. Not because she had big plans, but because she didn’t. Her legs curled up on the couch, drinking a cup of tea, correcting students’ papers—sounded like heaven after the long busy week.
    Maybe she’d tackle the pile of books that she kept buying, but seldom had the chance to read. One book about a trio of sisters lay on the very top of the pile. Yes, Madeline decided, tonight was the night she’d read that book.
    She’d bet her whole pile of unread books that Joey O’Neill never glanced at anything more than a newspaper, if even that. He was probably too engrossed in his string of lady friends to take the time to enjoy literary works.
    Oh, why should she care whether or not Joey liked to read popular fiction or the latest biography? Madeline lifted her plan book and grade book from her desk and slipped them into another canvas bag that she brought back and forth to school each day.
    A noise caught her attention.
    Principal Denby stood in the doorway. “Madeline?” He scurried inside when he spotted her behind her desk. “I thought I heard someone in here.”
    She stood tall, her palms growing sweaty. Her principal never visited the teachers unless he had a reason.
    “Officer O’Neill and his partner have agreed to talk about respecting other people’s property to all the classes next week after the assembly. You may have heard that two of our third grade teachers have had things missing from their classrooms.”
    “What? No, I hadn’t.” Madeline chewed on the inside of her cheek. She really had to socialize more with her colleagues, and not coop herself up in her classroom, especially at lunch. The teachers’ lounge was always abuzz with the latest news. “That’s awful. But why speak to all the classes? Why not just those two?”
    “I don’t want to single out any one classroom. We have to be careful in such situations. You understand. Officer O’Neill will speak to your class, too.”
    Madeline gulped down her immediate negative response. Her principal couldn’t possibly know the delicate situation he was putting her in. So she had to choose her words carefully. She feared not looking like a team player, but Joey couldn’t give a talk to her class. Anyone but him!
    “Couldn’t the other officer come to my classroom?” Her voice came out weaker than she had intended.
    Principal Denby wrinkled his forehead and squeezed his eyebrows together as