Chapter One The Empty Box Queeneka liked to imagine that she was a queen sometimes She even practiced a queenly wave and worked on her posture in front of her bedroom mirror Queen of what country she didn’t know but she at least felt like royalty at Watson Elementary School She was one of the most popular students in third grade and kids often came to her to help solve their problems and mysteries She wanted to be an actress someday and star in a TV show called Queen of Fashion And speaking of fashion when Queeneka stepped on the bus that day she was pleased to see that Bus Driver McCool had on a pair of jeans that weren’t so ripped at the knees The bus driver seemed to be cleaning up nicely after he asked Coach Shorts to marry him Queeneka watched as a set of parents waited with their kid at the next bus stop The parents hugged 7
the wild-haired girl before she stepped on the bus The girl’s name was Keely and talk about a fashion nightmare Keely immediately shoved a stained (cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:78)(cid:68)(cid:16)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:87)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:90)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:192)(cid:88)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3) yellow T-shirt with a bold logo on the front She thought the logo looked like a dog but she couldn’t get a good enough look and she didn’t want to make any assumptions She loved mysteries and knew a good detective shouldn’t make any guesses until there was enough evidence Ruff ruff Klaude called out to Keely He was funny Queeneka could imagine him starring in a 8 8
comedy TV show someday Maybe the two of them would be on the same TV station They’d bring Watson Elementary School lots of fame Keely stared Klaude down Are you calling me a dog That’s not nice you know she said Queeneka watched as Klaude shrank in the bus seat No sorry You know I like to joke around I wasn’t trying to be mean promise I was barking because of your dog shirt Klaude said A girl named Divya and her shy friend who liked to draw Javier looked over to see what was going on They looked confused It didn’t help that Keely’s dog shirt was now covered up by the ugly sweatshirt Keely’s face broke out in red spots that looked like giant freckles only a lot less dark My parents started a business and they’ve gone a bit crazy buying stuff with their logo on it They’ve even started sending stuff to school Her parents were sending their business things to school Queeneka wondered what exactly they’d sent If her parents were going to give each student a shirt like Keely’s Queeneka hoped the color would (cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:192)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:3) her brown eyes pop 9
