Arts and Thefts
Page 23
Carrie was waiting outside the instrument room, fussing with her ponytail, biting her lip, and actually pacing. I shook my head. I had told her to go about her classes like normal, and she had to act like she stole the principal’s car keys (much easier than it sounds, by the way). What if Becca or Adam saw her like this? I beckoned her to follow me into the instrument room.
The loud, busy instrument room makes a great place for handoffs. I use it a lot—band kids need my services more than most people. Instruments have so many loose parts, like reeds and slides and buttons, which have a knack for disappearing just before the winter or spring concert. In return for my help finding mouthpieces that cost way more than a month’s allowance, the band kids grant me a certain amount of discretion when I show up in their room. No one bothered me as I leaned into a corner and brought Carrie’s wallet out of my pocket.
“You got it!” Carrie said. Or at least I think that’s what she said; some trombone player took that moment to run a scale.
“It was Adam. He had it in his backpack. You should stop carrying all that money,” I said. “Leave some at home in your sock drawer.”
Carrie smiled. “I’ll do that. I owe you one.”
“If you hear of someone who needs something retrieved, send them my way,” I said. “But if you feel the need to pay me with something a little more . . . physical, I like chocolate cake. You know where to find me at lunch.”
Before I could move, Carrie hugged me. When she let go, I spun on my heel and walked away. It happens a lot. A guy like me—athlete, hero—girls can’t resist.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author photo by Matthew Argyle
ALLISON K. HYMAS holds an MFA from Brigham Young University and currently lives in Utah. Her first novel, Under Locker and Key, was published in 2017.
allisonkhymas.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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First Aladdin hardcover edition February 2018
Text copyright © 2018 by Allison K. Hymas
Jacket illustration copyright © 2018 by Matt David
Also available in an Aladdin MAX paperback edition.
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Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hymas, Allison K., author.
Title: Arts and thefts / Allison K. Hymas.
Description: New York : Aladdin, 2018. | Series: MAX | Summary: Middle school retrieval specialist Jeremy Wilderson again must work with his archrival, Becca Mills, when someone sabotages the Summer Art Show where Chase’s work is being exhbited.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017016597 | ISBN 9781481463454 (pbk) |
ISBN 9781481463461 (hc) | ISBN 9781481463478 (eBook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Artists—Fiction. | Stealing—Fiction. | Cooperativeness—Fiction. |
Mystery and detective stories. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.H94 Art 2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017016597