A Snitch in the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters

Prairie her “special-needs
     student” status. Not that I wanted to be learning disabled (which I doubted Prairie was), but it would be nice to get away
     from the likes of Ashley Krupps and Melanie Mason for a few hours every day.
    Ms. Milner rushed into the room. “Hi, kids,” she said. “What are you doing in here?”
    We all froze. “We’re just 1-looking at the corn snake,” Prairie replied.
    Ms. Milner smiled. “He is beautiful, isn’t he?”
    “Very,” Hugh said.
    The first bell rang and Ms. Milner headed over to her desk. She passed me and Lydia on the way and smiled hello. Any other
     teacher would’ve written us up for loitering.
    “You’d better get back to class,” she told us. “But you can come by after school if you want. I’ll be here for an hour or
     so.” She dumped a stack of folders on her desk.
    “Okay,” Hugh said. Even through his greasy glasses, you could see his eyes light up.
    On the way back to class, Lydia and I had to make a quick pit stop. A couple of minutes later when we opened the restroom
     door, we almost collided with a body. Not just any body. Max’s body.
    “Max!” Lydia cried. “What are you doing—”
    Max cut Lydia off with a stranglehold to her neck, wedging her against the wall. “Shut up,” she said. “If I get caught on
     school grounds…” She released Lydia and took off toward the exit. Out the door window, I saw Ashley and Melanie pausing to
     talk with Mr. Krupps in the parking lot. Max was on a direct collision course with them.
    “Max!” I hollered to her. She glanced back and I pointed out the window. Looking panicked, she quickly ducked into the PC
     lab.
    “What is she doing here? What is she doing here?” Talk about panicked—Lydia was flapping her hands and wheezing.
    “Calm down.” I grabbed her wrists. “Max can take care of herself.” I hoped.

Chapter 10
    W e didn’t beat the late bell back to homeroom from the PC lab. As we charged around the corner at the end of the hall, Kevin
     pushed off the wall and sidled up beside us. “Hey, Jen.” He coughed and covered his mouth. “Are you going to be home tonight?
     I thought I’d come by.” In a husky voice, he added, “I want to give you something.”
    “What? Your cold?”
    He smirked and nudged my shoulder. It sent a tingle all the way to my toes. “Something better,” he said.
    “Yo, Rooney,” someone called from the doorway of the gym. A bunch of seventh graders, I think. They wiggled their hips and
     made smoochy sounds. One of them sang, “Rooney’s got a girlfriend.” And I thought Lydia was immature.
    “Jerks,” Kevin muttered. He coughed again. “Excuse me while I go infect them.” He sprinted off toward the gym.
    Lydia said, “What do you think he wants to give you? More jewelry?”
    How did I know? I was loopy with love.
    At two-thirty Mrs. Jonas gave us free time for the remainder of the day. It was like we’d been let out of Leavenworth, wherever
     that is. Just as Lydia and I were rushing over to claim the quiet corner so we could play tapes on high volume, a sickly sweet
     smell permeated the air. If you had a nose, you knew that smell. Old Spice.
    Mr. Krupps boomed, “Attention!”
    Thirty bodies froze in time.
    “What are you, a bunch of hooligans? Everyone sit.”
    The brownnosers like Lydia scrambled for their desks. The rest of us sank in place.
    “Mrs. Jonas, what’s going on here?” Mr. Krupps demanded.
    She rose from her desk. “The class earned a half hour of free time,” she said. “For good behavior.”
    Good behavior? That was news to me. That’d be news to the
National Enquirer.
    She added, “We were just getting settled.” She glared at Ashley, who had exited the bathroom and was taking her sweet time
     getting back to her desk. She knocked her books on the floor as she tried to squeeze into her seat, which is impossible with
     a purse attached to your chest.
    In fact, as she tried to adjust the purse sideways, the strap