Bead-Dazzled by Olivia Bennett Read Free Book Online

thought of the sparkly pink sari. The raindrops clung the edge of the umbrella like dripping jewels.
    A little sparkle, no— a lot of sparkle.
    She let her imagination run wild. Beaded shoulder straps. Beaded belts. Beaded necklines that gave the illusion that the wearer had on the most amazing necklace.
    That’s how she’d anchor her collection.
    She’d make it sparkle.
    Allegra Biscotti would shine at the benefit.

 
CHAPTER 4
    DRESS LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
    “I need you to know your stuff. This a review of last night’s reading,” Ms. Ling informed the class. She finished drawing a Venn diagram on the whiteboard—four interlocking circles for the four ancient river valley civilizations. “The compare-and-contrast test is later this week.”
    Everyone copied the words Ms. Ling wrote, taking meticulous notes, but Emma’s mind drifted far from the Indus and the Nile. The graphic pattern of the overlapping Venn circles intrigued her—much more than the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Her pen strayed to the margins of her notebook.
    What if she made the circles different sizes?
    What if one was large and the others were small?

    She imagined repeating the pattern on a tunic. Interlocking rings of the same color. She’d embroider one circle with glass beads that caught the light.
    Shimmer. She was all about shimmer now.
    She still hadn’t told Charlie or Holly her great idea. Later, when they met up at Laceland, she’d lay out all the plans she’d stayed up late into the night crafting. Just the thought of her sparkly designs made her shiver with excitement.
    “Moving on.” Ms. Ling’s clipped voice popped Emma’s fashion bubble. She hurried to scribble the whiteboard information around the series of circles now flooding her page. Maybe when she finished the show she’d stencil a plain T-shirt with the pattern.
    “We will be doing an in-depth project on the river valley civilizations. A group project.” Ms. Ling leaned toward the computer screen on her desk. “One group per civilization.”
    The buzzing began. Whispers and gestures to friends. Promises to work together. Emma frantically searched out a friendly face who was also smart. Maybe Pooja or Audrey?
    Ms. Ling cleared her throat. “I have already made the groups.”
    Emma grimaced. The only thing worse than a group project was one where the teacher masterminded the groups. She held her breath as Ms. Ling read them with a forced enthusiasm.
    Emma exhaled when she landed in the ancient Egypt group. That was good news. She liked the pyramid and mummification thing much better than the Fertile Crescent. The bad news: Lexie was in her group.
    Lexie kept her dark eyes focused forward, never bothering to glance or nod at Emma, as their names were called, one than the other. No acknowledgement that they were in this together. Then again, Emma reasoned, Lexie barely ever talked to her without Holly around. A group project wasn’t going to change that.
    The class filed down the hall to the Media Center to begin their research. Today Western Civ was a double period at the end of the day. Their schedules moved like that. One day English was first, the next day it was directly before lunch, and the next it was the final period. Holly always complained that she was forever confused about where to go when. Emma found it a relief. She hated doing the same thing the same way every day.
    “Ancient Egypt over here!” Lexie called. Books on each civilization were stacked Jenga-style in the center of each table.
    Emma slid into one of the chairs. Chloe Kang folded herself into the seat to her left. Chloe was tall, lanky, and extremely awkward. She constantly bumped into things. She wore a black trapeze sweater and stretchy black pants. She was a hard worker, which Emma reasoned was good for a group project, but Chloe was extremely shy. Like a new-to-the-city shoe lover at a Manolo Blahnik sample sale, Chloe would be trampled by Lexie.
    “Hey, how’s your mummy?” Clayton