Adventures of a New Year's Kiss: A Holiday Romantic Mystery (Funeral Crashing Young Adult Mystery Books) (3 page)

The bell rang and Chemistry was over. Kyle immediately snatched his books up and walked over to me like I knew he would. I saw Kait exit the classroom. At least Kyle didn't say anything to her. It was going to take everything I had to just tell Kyle the truth.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked as I gathered up my own books.

I was shaking, so gathering up my books wasn't the simple task it should have been. I stopped, put my books back down, and looked up at Kyle. I just had to say it.

"My necklace is gone," I said hearing my voice tremble.

I felt like I was going to burst into tears. It had been ridiculous to think that I was going to find it myself. I simply wasn't a teen sleuth.

"Gone?" Kyle looked confused. "What do you mean?"

I froze. Kyle never looked confused. He always had a very rational answer, so him being confused made my chest ache worse.

Still, I took a deep breath and told him the story. As I spoke, my tears dissipated, and I just got more and more angry. I was sure that one of those girls had taken my necklace.

Kyle listened without saying anything. Like me, he was a good listener. He liked to take in all the facts and then make a decision. He was very analytical. That made sense since he was a scientist at heart. I finished talking.

Kyle met my eyes, "Suzie, it's okay."

"No, Kyle, it's not. I want to get the necklace back," I said.

"I can get you another one," Kyle said.

"No. I want that one," And I did. That necklace meant something to me.

I knew in my head that a two-month anniversary wasn't that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things, but it was to me. Plus it was the first present Kyle had ever given me. More simply than that, I loved it like I loved him.

Next period's Chemistry students were starting to fill the room. A girl I didn't know was waiting for us to move. I was surprised that she was so patient.

"Sorry," I said, grabbing my books and then turned to Kyle. "Let's go."

He nodded. We walked toward the exit together. Kyle grabbed for my hand to hold it. I shuffled my books under my arm and grasped his left hand in my right one.

"I'm going to find that necklace," I said as we walked out of Chemistry and into the hallway crowded with students going to their next classes. "I was thinking that I might ask Kait for her help. She's good at mysteries."

Kyle frowned. "That might not be the best idea."

"Why not?" I asked.

I was surprised. I thought Kyle would be all for it. I thought that maybe I wouldn't ask Kait because Ariel was a suspect, but I was desperate. I really wanted my necklace back. Still, if Kyle thought that was reason enough too, then...

"Well..." Kyle started, but seemed unsure.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to say anything. It sounded like he was telling me in confidence, but..." Kyle said.

"But what?" I was dying of anticipation now.

Kyle looked at me. "Ethan really doesn't want Kait to investigate any more mysteries."

"He said that? Why not?" I asked.

"He's afraid she's going to get hurt," Kyle said.

I nodded. I could see why Ethan would be afraid of that. Kait had gotten herself into many dangerous situations while she was investigating murder mysteries. I didn't know how Ethan planned to stop her, though. It was becoming part of Kait's personality. She enjoyed it. If another mystery came up, I didn't see how Ethan was going to stop her. Then again, Kait was interning at the police station now. Maybe that would squash her urges for investigating mysteries on her own. I wouldn't bet on it, though.

"When did Ethan tell you this?" I asked instead of telling Kyle my theories about Kait not investigating mysteries anymore.

I was actually surprised that Ethan had confided in Kyle. Sure, they knew each other through Kait, but they weren't BFFs or anything. They definitely weren't in the same social circles. I was glad of that, though. Ethan was nice, but I didn't want his crowd to ruin Kyle.

"He came into the craft store," Kyle said.

Kyle was working at a craft store some nights and on weekends. His parents knew the owners, but Kyle liked it because they also had all sorts of neat science-y kits that he got a discount on. Even though we were both working after school to save up for the most amazing junior prom ever, I knew that Kyle was splurging part of his paychecks on science kits. That was okay, though. He was going to be an amazing scientist someday. Those kits might be the start of some cool invention or maybe give him an idea how to cure some horrible disease. Still, I suppose that's why I was super surprised at the anniversary gift. Besides the fact that it was so close to the holidays, we were supposed to be saving our money for prom.

"Why was Ethan at the craft store?" I didn't picture Ethan making arts and crafts.

"His sister needed something for a school project," Kyle said.

Okay. That made sense. But... "So, did he just bring it up? How did it come up?"

"I mentioned you and then he mentioned Kait and we just started talking," Kyle said.

"But this isn't that crazy of a mystery," I said, feeling desperate. "It's just looking for my necklace."

Kyle shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"So, I should ask for her help?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure," Kyle said.

Huh. This was a first. I felt like maybe Kyle was placating me by telling me what I wanted to hear. "You really think so?"

"It's up to you," Kyle said.

So, he didn't think I should talk to Kait, but he didn't want to tell me that outright. This was weird. Usually Kyle and I were on the same wavelength. What was going on?

Whoa. I knew what was going on. Whoever stole my necklace was totally ruining our relationship vibe. This was so unfair. I had to get that necklace back.

That settled it for me. I'd catch Kait at her locker after school. It was the only time during the school day that I knew where to find her. Still, that meant that we'd only have one day before the holiday break to find my necklace thief. I hoped it was enough.

I needed to get that necklace back to put my relationship with Kyle back on the right track. We were only a short time away from important relationship milestones like our first Christmas together, not to mention the all-important New Year's date and our first New Year's kiss. We could not start having problems now. I took a deep breath. I was normally pretty calm and level headed, but this was totally throwing everything in my life off kilter.

My plan was to wait to talk to Kait before I did any more investigating. I wanted her advice on what steps to take next because I didn't want to inadvertently mess things up. That really was my plan, but then extenuating circumstances happened. Megan and Sarah were in my English class after lunch. Normally I didn't talk to them, which wasn't that unusual. I didn't know what to say since I wasn't friends with them, so it was just easier and more fun to read a book before class started.

Today, though, as I opened up my copy of
Jane Eyre
, Megan turned to me from across the aisle and said, "Are you reading that for fun?"

She didn't say it in a casual way like she really wanted to know, she said it like
Jane Eyre
had to be the most distasteful, boring book ever. Being that I'd already read it twice, I disagreed. Normally I didn't get angry or annoyed with people and I was pretty happy go lucky, but when you criticized the books I loved, I had a definite opinion.

I looked up from my book. "Yes, I am reading it for fun."

Okay, so my tirade about
Jane Eyre
didn't come out the way I'd hoped, but my tiny sentence really was a lengthy dissertation on how
Jane Eyre
was a great book in my head. I had to work on that. Eventually.

Megan looked at me like I was crazy, but then turned away from me without another word about
Jane Eyre
. Maybe she sensed the real meaning underneath my simple sentence or maybe she'd just gotten distracted by the fact that Sarah leaned into whisper something to her. Megan laughed. Oh yeah, they were making fun of me for reading
Jane Eyre
. I didn't need super hearing to know that. Whatever.

I only had another minute or so before the bell rang and class started. It would be easy to ignore them and read my book. The thing is, now I was annoyed. Why had they chosen today to comment on my book? Megan had sat across the aisle from me in English for the last couple of months and I had already read a billion books in front of her. Had she noticed me today because she was the one that had stolen my necklace? Or was it Sarah? I eyed them. Now I was suspicious. Seriously, why had Megan just talked to me?

"Hey, did either of you see my star necklace in gym class?" I asked before I could second-guess myself. I could barely believe I'd asked it. It was like my brain had spoken on its own.

Megan and Sarah looked at me like they were surprised I had spoken too. I guess this was the longest conversation that we'd ever had in high school. Then again, maybe they were surprised that I'd dare speak to them when they had the ability to make fun of me.

"What does it look like?" Megan asked.

"It's a silver star with a dark stone in the middle," I said.

"Wait. Were you wearing it when you walked into gym?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," I was surprised Sarah had noticed it.

"Did you lose it or something?" Sarah asked.

"Sort of," I said, purposely being vague. I didn't want to accuse them of stealing it if they weren't guilty. Yeah, I so wasn't good at this. Kait was going to be so much better at the interrogating part.

"I didn't see it," Megan said and then added. "I didn't even notice it."

"It was different," Sarah said and then looked past Megan and at me, "I like to make jewelry. I notice those things. What kind of stone was it?"

"It was a meteorite," I said, smiling.

Sarah sounded genuinely interested in the necklace. I had a sudden urge to brag about Kyle. I didn't.

Sarah nodded. "That's neat. I like funky jewelry like that."

Okay. So, was Sarah too interested in my necklace? Did Sarah steal my necklace because it was funky? Or was she going to break it down into another piece of jewelry? I'd never find it then. Or was I just jumping to random conclusions? I tried to clear my head and think about this rationally. Sarah seemed more interested than anything else. Surely she wouldn't be interested at all if she had stolen it. She'd probably have ignored my statement about the necklace instead. Right? I really wished Kait were here to listen to this conversation so that she could tell me her opinion. I should have waited to talk to Sarah and Megan. It was too late now, though.

"You didn't see anyone pick it up or anything did you?" I asked.

I watched them very closely for their reactions. Neither of them flinched or had an eye twitch or anything. Did that mean that they weren't guilty?

"No," Sarah and Megan each said, almost simultaneously.

The bell rang. I only had another few seconds to continue my interrogation. After that, class would begin and Sarah, Megan, and I would go back to being strangers that sat next to each other in English class.

"I think someone stole it," I said simply.

Megan looked bored, but Sarah frowned and said, "Seriously? That sucks. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. Who would you guys suspect?" I asked.

"The janitor," Megan said. "She's creepy. I bet she'd steal it."

It hadn't even occurred to me to consider that a janitor might have come into the locker room while we were in swim class to clean. Did they really clean them during the day? I'd have to ask Mrs. Rowan about that. If they did, I'd have to consider that possibility.

"I'd guess Scarlett," Sarah said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because," Sarah said.

"Well, do you have a reason?" I asked.

"Because she's sarcastic and stuck up and just so antisocial," Sarah said.

Okay. Somebody didn't like Scarlett. Maybe Sarah saw the eye roll in the locker room. Yeah, thinking back on it, I'm pretty sure Sarah was facing in Scarlett's direction at that moment. Still, Sarah's opinion wasn't enough for me to consider Scarlett as more of a suspect than anyone else.

I tried one last tactic. "If you guys hear anything, please let me know. My boyfriend just gave it to me for our anniversary. That necklace really means the world to me. We're both very upset about losing it. It was the first..."

I stopped. I was almost bursting into tears. I wasn't acting either. Megan and Sarah actually looked like they felt sorry for me, at least until the teacher called for quiet and broke the spell. My conversation with Sarah and Megan was over for the moment. At least it felt sort of productive. I didn't think either Sarah or Megan had done it. Surely they'd have given off a guilty vibe once I told them it was stolen if they had taken it. So, I guess Sarah and Megan were now at the bottom of my suspect list too.