The Friendship Matchmaker by Randa Abdel-Fattah Read Free Book Online Page B

hysterically at his own joke, and some of the other kids joined him.
    Before Ms. Pria could scream at him or sendhim to the principal’s office, Emily yelled out, “Chris, if there is anybody in this entire school who is the very definition of a garbage can it would be
you
. Nobody is interested in hearing your voice right now.”
    Ms. Pria beamed at Emily. “Thank you, Emily. You took the words right out of my mouth. Chris, you will be spending lunchtime in detention all week.”
    Chris was still looking shocked that Emily, who’d barely spoken to him since she’d started school, had just had the guts to tell him off in front of the entire class. People started giggling and laughing
at
Chris, although they stopped as soon as he locked his menacing eyes on theirs.
    When the lunch bell rang, some of the kids went up to Emily and patted her on the back, winked, or smiled at her. I was furious. She was becoming even more popular! I was the one who usually told Chris off. Everybody looked to
me
to rescue them when he stepped out of line. And now here was Emily taking over!
    I was throwing my books into my bag when Tanya asked me if she could pair up with me.I agreed. I was secretly hoping I’d find her a best friend and beat Emily before then, but I was willing to help her out in the meantime.
    As we were walking out of the classroom I noticed Emily and Bethany approach Ms. Pria. I bent down and pretended to tie my shoelace. Emily and Bethany were whispering excitedly, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Then Ms. Pria clapped her hands and said, “What a wonderful idea, girls!”
    I was desperate to know what was going on.

RULES FOR FRIENDSHIP FORMATIONS—TRIOS
    Forming a trio must always be avoided. BUT if you are in a situation where you have NO CHOICE (it must be a serious case of no choice, equivalent to, say, “I was stuck on a desert island and had no choice but to eat a scorpion”) then here are some survival tactics.
    1. Always try and sit in the middle of the trio so you can control the conversation. If you’re on the side then the others could ignore you.
    2. Remember that the friendship is never equally divided. There is a pair in every trio. One person will always feel left out of the special magic between the other two.
    3. Try and give equal attention to both other friends.
    4. Be on the lookout for a new friend just in case you’re the one in danger of falling off.

Chapter 14
    I spotted Lucy in the lunch line. I grabbed Tanya’s hand and practically dragged her along behind me.
    “I’m scared, Lara,” she said, her voice all wobbly.
    “There’s nothing to be scared of, Tanya. Bungee Jump Friend is the ultimate rush. It will come so naturally, you’ll see. I really can’t understand why you insist on acting so shy with everybody else.
We
can talk for ages. So have confidence in yourself. You actually
do
have something to say to people.”
    I was proud of myself. My pep talks were getting better each day.
    Just then we were stopped by Juanita andNora from the sixth grade. I’d helped them out before the summer.
    “Lara!” Juanita cried. “We need your help!”
    “Can’t it wait?” I asked, nervously watching the lunch line getting shorter.
    “No, it can’t,” Nora wailed. “We ditched Sarah, and now she’s sending us notes about how we’ve broken her heart and ruined her life. What do we do?”
    I remembered the situation. It had been tricky, and I’d been reluctant to provide my services. I’d guessed from the moment they came to me that Sarah was the third wheel. But
nooooo
, they had insisted they were friends for life. It was a typically messy trio problem.
    “I’m busy now,” I said impatiently.
    “But she isn’t taking the hint. We don’t want to be friends with her anymore.”
    “
Then she’s better off without you!
” I shrieked.
    It was as though I’d slapped them in the face. Even Tanya flinched.
    I grabbed Tanya’s hand and took off, trying to control