Eyes of a Stalker by Valerie Sherrard Page A

revenge,” Officer Holt said. “And the fact that this person has easy access to the school makes it unlikely that it’s an outsider, but I’ll look into that just the same.”
    They went over the details of the cases I’d had some luck in solving and Holt jotted down a few things. Then Mom saw him to the door and I went and called Greg and told him the news. It was only after we’d talked that I thought to check the callers list (I’m not yet used to having call display like everyone else in the free world) and when I did, Betts’s cell phone number reminded me of what had happened at school.
    I glanced at my watch. Drama club should be out by now. Maybe I should call her, I thought. She’s probably sick about what she did, and afraid to phone me.
    I dialled the number and it rang six times before she answered.
    â€œHey, Betts.”
    â€œShelby!” She didn’t exactly sound penitent. In fact, she sounded excited and happy. “You won’tbelieve what happened!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œKevin asked me if I wanted to go to a party next weekend!”
    Not quite the apology I’d been expecting.
    â€œIt’s going to be at Tyrone Breau’s place, back at Standover Ridge. Hey! Maybe you and Greg can come, too. Oh! That reminds me, you can tell Greg I probably won’t need his help after all. So, what do you think? Do you guys want to come?”
    â€œI don’t think so. But that’s really great news. Good for you.”
    â€œWell, it’s not an actual date or anything. I mean, he didn’t ask me to go with him. It was more like a, ‘Hey, if you’re not doing anything you should come’ kind of thing. But it’s still a good sign, don’t you think?”
    â€œYeah, sure. It’s definitely a good sign.”
    â€œOh!” Her voice changed, dropping from excited to serious. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask you what the police found out. I was just so…”
    â€œI know. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, all they found out is that the e-mail came from… uh… a public place. So, no help there.” I said a few more vague things and told her I was real happy for her about Kevin. Then, pleading a ton of homework, I told her I’d see her the next day.
    I think you can probably understand why I didn’t give her specific details!

C HAPTER F OURTEEN
    We’d just finished eating dinner that evening when the phone rang. Normally, I’d be the one to jump up and go answer it, but lately I was finding myself tensing up inside when it rang. When Dad hurried toward the kitchen, it was just one more reminder that my life wasn’t exactly normal at the moment.
    He came back after a few minutes, his face serious.
    â€œThat was Alyson Stark,” he said.
    â€œLooking for a story?” Mom asked.
    â€œWhat else?”
    Alyson Stark is a reporter for the local paper. She’s also Nora Stark’s mother, and Nora is in the drama club. I couldn’t specifically remember seeing her at today’s meeting, but she must have been there.
    â€œWhat did you tell her?”
    â€œI told her we’d think about it and let her know.”
    I was surprised that Dad had told her we’d even consider giving her a story, and my surprise must have shown on my face, since he immediately began to explain.
    â€œAlyson pointed out that the story is going to get around anyway, and she said there are a few things we should think about before we decide if we want it in the paper.
    â€œFor one thing, it might help keep rumours from getting out of hand. You know how things grow and get exaggerated around here.”
    I nodded at that. I’d seen it a lot in the last year or so, but it wasn’t usually focused directly on me. I have to say it was a whole lot worse knowing that people would be talking about me, spreading stories that were bound to get wilder and wilder as they were