Mayne Attraction: In The Spotlight by Ann Mauren

Author:Ann Mauren
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: canada, gems, goth, backpacking, banff, barbie, corvette, geology, kentucky, surveillance, frodo, louisville, secret service, lake louise, kings island, aquamarine, roses, state quarters, ups, jewelry, skipper
Publisher: Ann Mauren
Published: 2010-12-10T23:51:33.801930+00:00

Chapter 21 – Conspiracy

The uneasy feeling was morphing into something more serious. As I settled myself into the backseat of Trevor’s car I began the search for my wallet in earnest. Trying to dig through a bottomless pit backpack while keeping pace with one’s Amazon Goth companion in the free-for-all exodus after last bell is harder than it may appear.

Pulling out of the school parking lot, I became increasingly anxious as I searched from one compartment to the next until I had exhausted every possible absentminded wallet stashing location. In a final act of desperation I turned the backpack upside down and dumped the contents: books, papers, pens, candy, flotsam, jetsam and keys, but no wallet.

Exhaling in frustration, I began the absolute last-ditch procedure: patting down the emptied flattened backpack in the hope that the shape of my trapped wallet could be felt, if not seen. No dice. It was gone.

The last time I had it was in the cafeteria. I’d taken to finding errands to perform so that Trevor and Sam could have a few moments of ‘couple time’ at lunch. He faithfully stuck to the business of buying our meals every day—the consequence of having lost a wager early in our acquaintance regarding my loyalty to Sam—but sometimes I’d take a leisurely stroll back through the lunch line to get something else at my own expense. I felt confident, though, that if I wanted to, I could have turned these occasions into Ellery and Sam time, all expenses paid. But that would have defeated the purpose, and robbed me of my private, self-awarded good citizenship medal.

Today’s excursion had been a banner day for quarter collecting, a secondary and admittedly self-serving motivation for my behavior. I’d received three Kentucky quarters in change when I bought some chocolate milk toward the end of the break. Just finding one ‘KYQ’ would make my day. Catching three was like winning the lottery, except on a sad underachiever’s scale. And subsequently losing my wallet, with my triple prize inside, was like losing that winning lottery ticket. Who cared about the four-dollar wallet or the five-dollar bill inside? Well, my driver’s license and my Shrek and Fiona themed debit card (with the bazillion dollar limit) were in there too.

Darn it!

“Are you looking for this?” Trevor asked, holding my wallet up, without looking at me, while he drove.

“Where did you find that?” I demanded—more peeved than relieved due to the non-coincidental timing of his question.

He could have returned it to me moments later in English class after lunch or at any point during the second half of the day, but he chose to wait until after I’d panicked and dumped everything out like a two-year old.

Nice.

As I quickly snagged it out of his hand he offered a patronizing, “You’re welcome.”

I caught a glimpse of his satisfied smile in the rearview mirror.

“Thanks for finding it…and for making me sweat it out; that was gallant,” I shot back.

Ever since the whole drowning thing where I realized that

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