Bead-Dazzled by Olivia Bennett Read Free Book Online Page A

Vanderbeek joked loudly as he pulled out a chair.
    No one laughed.
    “You can’t de-Nile that I’m funny,” Clayton leaned his thick forearms on the table. “We could do a mummy project. You know, where they pull the organs out the nose with a special hook. Or, of corpse , I can rap! Get it? Rap. Wrap. Like a mummy.”
    “Really, Clayton, I thought you needed a brain to get into this class.” Lexie sneered. “That is, one that works.”
    Clayton rubbed his hand over his the blond fuzz of his buzz cut. “Do not underestimate my smarts, Blackburn. I can say the alphabet backward, can you? Z, Y, X, W…”
    Clayton was a mystery to Emma. He was an over-sized goofball, always clowning around. He was the kid with the whoopee cushion and fake spiders. For some reason, Holly liked his silly humor. She had a major crush on Clayton. He was also Jackson’s good friend. They played together on the soccer team. Emma had always written him off as a dumb guy looking for attention, but Lexie was right. If he was in this class, it meant that he’d scored really well on the placement test. Emma had been pressured to take the test by her mom, who as an English teacher at Downtown Day. She was good friends with Ms. Ling and thought Emma would get a lot out of studying ancient civilizations. Who had forced Clayton to take the test, she wondered? Had Clayton been playing at being stupid all these years? Could there really be more to him?
    “…N, M, L…” Clayton continued though no one cared.
    Maybe not, Emma thought.
    The final two chairs at their table were taken by Kayla Levine, who pushed hers so close to Lexie’s she was nearly sitting in her friend’s lap, and Marco Alvarez, the twitchy boy, who made sure he was as far from Lexie as possible. Not that it mattered. Lexie didn’t give the boy even a sideways glance. As low as Emma was on Lexie’s popularity barometer, Marco was even lower.
    Emma reached for the book on the top of the tower. The cover caught her attention. A pastel illustration of Cleopatra in all her glory. Her striking face with its prominent nose and high cheekbones was framed by shiny, jet-black hair and full bangs. Her brooding eyes, ornately outlined in smoky hues, stared past Emma, transfixed by something in the distance. A headpiece of pure gold inlaid with amethysts rested upon her straight hair, and golden discs hung from her ears.
    “We need a plan,” Lexie started. “Ms. Ling said we have to prepare a multi-media presentation on our civilization—”.
    “Ancient Egypt,” Marco interjected.
    “Obviously.” Lexie raised her dark eyebrows at Kayla.
    Kayla giggled, her red glossed lips parting to reveal the glint of silver braces.
    Marco cringed and brought his pencil near his mouth. One more icy glare from Queen Lexie and Emma was sure he’d gnaw all the way through it.
    “We need one main topic,” Lexie continued, suddenly the self-appointed group leader, “and then we can weave in all the historical information, timelines, and contributions to modern society into that framework.”
    “Totally,” Kayla agreed, always eager to back up Lexie. “What about the pyramids?”
    “We could combine the pyramids and the wonder of their construction with burial tombs,” Chloe added. She’d already started taking notes. Unlike Emma’s, Chloe’s pages were clear of any distractions. Just her notes in tiny handwriting. No drawings. No scribbles.
    “Predictable.” Lexie waved Chloe’s suggestion away, as if she were swatting a fly. “We can’t do burial tombs and mummies.”
    “I love my mummy,” Clayton squeaked in a high-pitched baby voice.
    “Give it a rest, Clayton.” Lexie straightened the collar of her pink velvet blazer. Then she went on to explain the lameness of Chloe’s idea.
    Emma knew better than to interrupt Lexie on a rant. Instead she flipped through the pages of the book. Cleopatra was truly amazing, she thought. She oozed couture style long before any model walked the