Page 6 of The Match
I barely held back laughter.
“Okay, okay,” Chad grumbled in the background.
Bella was silent for a bit before speaking again. “Several girls at school are saying that my friends aren’t cool. They don’t want me to be friends with them anymore. And they say that if I don’t do that, they won’t include me in what they do.”
I hated how kids could be. “What doyouwant, Bella?”
“I don’t want to drop my friends. I think they’re cool.”
I adored this girl. “There’s your answer, then.”
“But how do I deal with the other girls so they don’t drop me?”
“Why don’t you want them to drop you?”
“I guess they’re the cool ones.”
Poor kid. The pressures of school.
“Do you have fun when you’re with them?” I asked.
“Not always. I think they’re very mean.”
“Do you like the activities you do together?”
“Some.” I could hear her questioning her answer.
“Could you do them without them? Maybe even with your other friends?”
“Yes, I could do them with my other friends.”
“Listen, Bella, you don’t have to be friends with anyone if you don’t want to. Don’t let your peers force you into anything you don’t want to do.”
“Really?” Her voice brightened. “I thought that once the cool girls wanted me to hang out with them, Ihadto do that.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I didn’t know that was an option.” She sounded perplexed.
“You always have options, cricket. I promise you.”
“Yes! I don’t have to dump my friends, and I don’t have to hang out with the mean girls either. Thank you, Uncle Zachary. You truly are the best.”
I chuckled. “Anytime. Sorry it took me so long to call you.”
“It didn’t take you that long. Just three days.”
I liked how exact kids were. No wonder she got along so well with Xander. Then again, she got along with everyone in the family—and we spoiled her rotten, of course.
I expected her to give the phone back to Chad, but she didn’t. She just hung up, making me laugh. She had a good head on her shoulders even though she was barely ten.
I was tempted to call Chad back to tell him not to worry about anything. Lately, he tended to worry whenever Bella wanted to talk about something exclusively with us. Then I remembered that I still hadn’t spoken with Marcel. And considering that I was about to meet this Grace Deveraux in person, it was high time I got some information. I asked Siri to dial him, and he answered after a few rings.
“Hey, Zachary. I was about to call you.”
“Good. So, you have some info?”
“Of course. You know I never fail. I’ll lay out everything chronologically. Grace Deveraux went to an all-girls prep school.”
