Green Algae and Bubble Gum Wars by Annie Bryant Page A

okay with you guys, maybe I should just stay right here, you know?”
    Matt folded his arms. “Absolutely not, Maeve. From this point on we are sticking together. Understand?”
    â€œYes.” She grabbed Charlotte’s wrist as the girls descended down the stairs.
    â€œOuch! Maeve, you’re hurting me!” Charlotte squeaked.
    â€œSorry,” Maeve said, loosening her grip. “It’s kind of hard to go down stairs in these boots—I don’t want to fall!”
    Katani had to laugh at that one. “Honey, you have got your arm on the wrong girl!” Klutzy Charlotte was the most disaster-prone girl in the seventh grade, but she didn’t really mind. It was just something she learned to deal with. Sometimes she even cracked herself up with her crazy mishaps.
    The insides of the tunnels were dimly lit, and the sounds of their footsteps echoed eerily on the ancient tile floor. “This would be the perfect setting for a scary movie,” Charlotte admitted, squeezing Maeve’s hand.
    â€œDo you think this place might be a little bit haunted?” Maeve whispered. She heard creaking noises, and just when she thought it was safe, a little bug scuttled out in front of her feet. “Eeek!”
    â€œMaeve, is that whining noise coming from you?” Katani accused.
    â€œI can’t help it,” Maeve said in a breathless voice. “It’s spooky down here. I feel like I might faint.”
    â€œYou are such a drama queen, Maeve,” Katani moaned. “It’s just a tunnel. Hundreds of students must pass through here every day.” Katani would not let a few butterflies in herstomach blow her cover of always being cool, confident, and composed.
    â€œChin up, Maeve!” hollered Matt. “I thought that Mix-Master-Curl was the toughest cookie on the block.”
    Maeve felt her mouth curl into a smile. He truly was a prince. If I did happen to faint, Maeve told herself, surely Matt would catch me in his arms and carry me to safety. Still, the creepy clangs and creaks wouldn’t stop. “There is no way we’re alone down here,” she murmured.
    All of a sudden, classical music started to play. Katani, Maeve, and even Sam jumped into the air and grabbed each other.
    â€œIsn’t that—” started Matt.
    â€œBeethoven’s Fifth!” Charlotte exclaimed as she shuffled through her purse. “It’s my cell phone, you guys. My dad downloaded the ringtone online. I know, it’s wicked dorky.”
    Maeve clutched her heart. “Char, you have got to tell your dad to choose something, like, ten times less creepy.”
    â€œI don’t think Beethoven would like his music being called creepy.” Charlotte laughed, flipping open her phone. “Hello? You’re where? No! We’re in the tunnels! No…don’t come back. Stay right where you are.” She flipped her phone closed. “That was Isabel, using Elena Maria’s cell phone. She said she and Ave and Scott and Elena Maria are outside the entrance. They already checked out the tunnels—Avery was kind of disappointed. Isabel said they didn’t get very creeped out.”
    â€œWell, I’m creeped out enough for all of us! Let’s get out of here!” Maeve said. The group did an about-face and hurried towards the stairs that led into the building above.
    â€œCan you believe it?” moaned Isabel, when everybodywas reunited. “These two went to the holography exhibit without me!”
    Elena Maria and Scott giggled like they’d been up to serious mischief.
    Matt just shrugged casually. “Well, good. See, I told you there’d be something for everyone here.”
    Avery rolled her eyes and whispered to the BSG, “I have a feeling that the only thing here my bro is interested in is Elena Maria!”
    On the way home on the T, everyone was still totally jazzed about the festival. Their brains were