Poisoned

by Kristi Holl

  Jeri worked hard Sunday afternoon and evening. She finally had the story of the year — and just in time to write it up for the media fair. Only it wouldn’t come together. She discarded one version after another.

  To make the article outstanding, she needed to report the whole story. But that would mean telling the truth about Brooke and Emily, about Nikki getting poisoned and Abby getting blamed. She knew Emily and Brooke (and their parents) wouldn’t want the publicity. The Head might not either. She was finishing her fourth attempt at the article Sunday night when Rosa burst into the room.

  “Brooke got expelled!” she said breathlessly. “Her parents have to pick her up tomorrow.”

  “I can’t say I’m surprised,” Jeri said, shaking her head. “I thought she might even get arrested. I still can’t believe she did that just to win the scholarship.”

  Rosa flopped down on her bed. “I guess she was desperate.”

  “Why didn’t she just talk to us?” Jeri asked. “We could’ve figured something out. I guess wiping out the competition was her shortcut to winning.”

  “While others, like Sierra, cheat to win,” Rosa said. She was quiet for a long time. “Well, if you don’t have God in your life to help you, you’re kind of stuck trying to get things to happen your own way.” Rosa smiled with a lopsided grin. “I don’t have their excuse though.”

  “What do you mean? Excuse for what?”

  Rosa sat up and wrapped her arms around her bent knees. “Instead of being friends with guys—like you are — I take shortcuts of my own to get attention.”

  “It takes guts to admit that,” Jeri said. “I’ve noticed the changes you’ve made already. My mom says God will give us boyfriends when the time is right—someday.”

  “Ya think?” Rosa hopped off the bed. “I just hope he doesn’t take too long!” Grinning, she flounced out of the room.

  Laughing to herself, Jeri turned back to her article. Now, where was she? Oh, yes, the news about Brooke. What should she do with the information? Brooke getting expelled was news. Could she include it at the end of the article? It seemed mean and unkind—but reporters had to tell the truth.

  Jeri leaned back in her chair. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a news reporter after all. It had been her dream

  all year, but when her friends were involved, it put her in a tough spot. Should she tell the whole truth or not? If she left out parts that might embarrass her friends, was she a real reporter? Somehow she didn’t think so.

  Whatever she decided to do, the project was due first thing Monday morning. She’d better decide soon.

  Sighing, Jeri wondered why she was making such a big deal out of it anyway. Sierra would probably win with her stunning photo-essay book. Especially if Rosa was right and it really was her dad’s stunning photo book.

  Jeri was up till midnight finishing her front-page article and the final formatting of her newspaper. Back aching, Jeri stretched and rubbed her neck. For better or for worse, the article was done. She’d been as honest as she knew how to be. She only hoped it didn’t get her disqualified.

  Monday night’s media fair found the group of school friends together again, this time lined up in the front row of the auditorium. Jeri was glad Ms. Carter said Dallas could join them—just in case she won! Five finalists would be called up to sit in the five empty chairs on the stage. Mrs. Gludell, the Lightning Bolt’s sponsoring teacher, and Headmistress Long were already onstage, waiting to do the honors.

  Mrs. Gludell cleared her throat. “And now the moment we’re all waiting for,” she said, smiling down at the audience. “This was an extremely difficult decision to make this year. Several projects were worthy of winning

  full scholarships.” She turned to the Head, who nodded her agreement. “Unfortunately, that’s not an option. So … the other judges and I chose the one girl we felt was most deserving.”

  Head Long stepped to the mike then. “I will read off four finalists’ names. Would those girls please come up onstage at this time?”

  Jeri blinked in surprise and glanced at Rosa. Four? Why only four? There were five empty chairs onstage. She held her breath as the Head read off the names: “Cara Thompson, Andrea Williams, Deedee Jones … and Jeri McKane.” Her friends broke into applause as Jeri hurried forward and climbed the stairs to the stage.

  Jeri sat between Cara and the empty chair. While people were still applauding, Jeri whispered to Cara, “Where’s Sierra Sedgewick? I heard she was probably getting the scholarship.”

  “Don’t you know? She got disqualified!” Cara whispered behind her cupped hand. “Head Long saw some of her photos in a copy of Photography Today—with her dad’s name on them. She didn’t take those pictures in her media project!”

  Jeri sat back, mixed feelings fighting inside her. She was horrified for Sierra. She couldn’t imagine being confronted by the Head and accused of cheating. But part of her surged with sudden hope too. Maybe her own project had a fighting chance now!

  Jeri sat perfectly still and made herself breathe deeply and slowly. God, I want your will, she prayed. If I still don’t win, help me be happy for the winner.

  “May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Head Long said, silencing the chattering crowd with “the look.” “It gives me great pleasure to award the scholarship to a very commendable young woman.” She opened a folder. “The winning student put together a newspaper, complete with an article based on her own investigation of a recent crime on campus. The article ends with some thought-provoking ideas about the pressure students feel to win scholaships—and the lengths some are willing to go to win.”

  Jeri felt the heat rising from her neck to her face, and she knew she was blushing furiously. She didn’t dare look at Rosa or Dallas or any of her friends.

  Ms. Long turned and smiled at Jeri, then added, “I would love to read the article aloud right now, but I can’t. A police investigation is underway, and they don’t want certain information made public. However, I can assure the audience that the article—the whole newspaper — is excellent writing. You’ll read it some day. We look forward to Jeri McKane’s return next year and her work as a Lightning Bolt staff member.”

  Applause broke out then, and Ms. Long motioned for Jeri to come forward.

  Jeri looked down at the front row of chairs as she walked across the stage. On one end waving wildly was Rosa, dressed in a cute skirt that even Jeri’s mom would

  approve of. Emily was next to her, dividing her time between watching the stage and grinning at Dallas, who sat on her other side. Jeri felt a twinge of envy there, but she couldn’t blame Emily for liking him.

  Jeri did too—and she hoped one day that Dallas would like her back even more. In the meantime, she’d pray about growing into the kind of girl that someone like him would want for a girlfriend. Someday.

  We’re all just friends, she reminded herself. For now, that’s enough.

  Other books in the growing Faithgirlz!™ Library

  Boarding School Mysteries

  Vanished (Book One)

  Betrayed (Book Two)

  Burned (Book Three)

  The Sophie Series

  Sophie’s World (Book One)

  Sophie’s Secret (Book Two)

  Sophie Under Pressure (Book Three)

  Sophie Steps Up (Book Four)

  Sophie’s First Dance (Book Five)

  Sophie’s Stormy Summer (Book Six)

  Sophie’s Friendship Fiasco (Book Seven)

  Sophie and the New Girl (Book Eight)

  Sophie Flakes Out (Book Nine)

  Sophie Loves Jimmy (Book Ten)

  Sophie’s Drama (Book Eleven)

  Sophie Gets Real (Book Twelve)

  The Lucy Series

  Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink (Book One)

  Lucy Out of Bounds (Book Two)

  Lucy’s “Perfect” Summer (Book Three)

  Lucy Finds Her Way (Book Four)

  Other books by Kristi Holl

  What’s A Girl to
Do?

  Shine on, Girl!: Devotions to Keep You Sparkling

  Girlz Rock: Devotions for You

  Chick Chat: More Devotions for Girls

  No Boys Allowed: Devotions for Girls

  Check out www.faithgirlz.com

  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

  — 2 Corinthians 4:18

  Copyright

  ZONDERKIDZ

  Poisoned

  Copyright © 2008, 2011 by Kristi Holl

  Formerly titled Pick Your Poison

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

  EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-310-39966-7

  Requests for information should be addressed to:

  Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

  * * *

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Holl, Kristi.

  [Pick your poison]

  Poisoned / by Kristi Holl.

  p. cm. — (Faithgirlz) (Boarding school mysteries ; bk. 4)

  Originally published in 2008 under the title, Pick your poison.

  ISBN 978-0-310-72095-9 (softcover)

  [1. Boarding schools—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Poisons—Fiction. 4. Christian life—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] l. Title.

  PZ7.H7079Poi20118

  {Fic} — dc22

  2010037926

  * * *

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

  Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.

  10 11 12 13 14 15 /DCI/ 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  About the Publisher

  Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning children's products. The world's largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) holds exclusive publishing rights to the New International Version of the Bible and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.

  Share Your Thoughts

  With the Author: Your comments will be forwarded to the author when you send them to zauthor@zondervan.com.

  With Zondervan: Submit your review of this book by writing to zreview@zondervan.com.

  Free Online Resources at

  www.zondervan.com/hello

  Zondervan AuthorTracker: Be notified whenever your favorite authors publish new books, go on tour, or post an update about what's happening in their lives.

  Daily Bible Verses and Devotions: Enrich your life with daily Bible verses or devotions that help you start every morning focused on God.

  Free Email Publications: Sign up for newsletters on fiction, Christian living, church ministry, parenting, and more.

  Zondervan Bible Search: Find and compare Bible passages in a variety of translations at www.zondervanbiblesearch.com.

  Other Benefits: Register yourself to receive online benefits like coupons and special offers, or to participate in research.