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cereal bowl to her face and slurped down the milk.
     
    A few hours later, Miss Colgate passed out the math tests.
    I signed my name at the top. Then I glanced down the page at the math problems. “Whoa,” I muttered.
    What was this stuff? None of it looked familiar.
    I raised my hand. “Miss Colgate? Are you sure this is the right test?” I asked.
    I heard stirring around the room. A few kids snickered.
    Miss Colgate drummed her fingers on her desktop. “Yes, it’s the right test,” she replied. “Is there a problem?”
    “Well…isn’t the test on chapters seventeen through twenty?” I asked.
    Miss Colgate narrowed her eyes at me. “No,Selena,” she said softly. “We haven’t read those chapters yet. Today’s test is on chapter nine.”
    I let out a long sigh. I knew what had happened. Jada.
    Jada again. She knew I hadn’t been there for the assignment. She deliberately told me the wrong chapters to study.
    What am I going to do? I asked myself. I can’t let her keep doing this to me.
    Why does she hate me so much? There has to be a reason.
    I failed the test. I didn’t know how to work any of the problems.
    After class, I hurried out to the hall to catch up to Jada. I grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around.
    “Why do you hate me?” I screamed. “Tell me. Why do you hate me so much?”
    I expected her to deny it. I expected her to say “Selena, I don’t hate you at all.”
    But instead, her eyes flashed and her mouth twisted into a cold grin. And she said, “Why do I hate you? You’ll find out. Real soon.”

16
    Jada went to Stan’s house for dinner. Aunt Janet and Uncle Will took me out for Chicago-style pizza. We had a nice time.
    I didn’t mention the mean trick Jada played on me in math class. And I didn’t tell them about Jada’s strange answer to my question, even though it stayed in my mind.
    I really wanted to solve my problems with Jada without getting my aunt and uncle into it.
    I was up in our bedroom, reading the right math pages, when Jada returned home. It was a little before ten.
    I tried acting normal with her. I was tired, and I really didn’t feel like a fight.
    “Hi. What’s up with Stan?” I asked.
    Jada pulled a nightshirt from the dresser and started changing for bed. “Not much,” she said. “He got a new CD player.”
    “Cool,” I replied.
    “We hooked it up and tried it out,” Jada said. She tossed the clothes she had been wearing on the floor beside my bed.
    “Where does Stan live?” I asked.
    “By the railroad tracks,” Jada said. “In a tiny little house. Stan’s room is about as big as that closet.”
    I shook my head. “That’s too bad.”
    “His mother is the worst cook,” Jada groaned, climbing into bed. “I couldn’t believe what she gave us for dinner. I think she made it with dog-food helper.”
    I laughed. “My mom is even worse,” I said. “She’s even cheaper. She uses helper helper!”
    Jada frowned at me. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
    She clicked off the light, even though I wasn’t ready for bed.
     
    That’s the nicest talk I’ve had with Jada since I arrived.
    My last thought before drifting off to sleep.
    Later, I was awakened once again by a rustling sound. I blinked open my eyes and glimpsed Jada climbing out of her bed. She tiptoed across the room.
    I glanced at the clock. Two thirty-five.
    The tree branch tapped at our window. Pale light washed in from a big half-moon.
    In the dim light, I could see my cousin quickly pulling a sweatshirt down over a pair of tights.
    So it wasn’t a dream, I told myself.
    Jada really does get out of bed in the middle of the night and silently gets dressed.
    But—then what?
    What does she do? Where does she go?
    She turned suddenly toward my bed.
    I shut my eyes. I didn’t want her to know I was watching her.
    She stood perfectly still for a moment. Checking to make sure I hadn’t woken up. Then she bent down and silently began to pull on her boots.
    I’m going to