Read Online The Cheater by R.L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

tensed.
    He had complete power over her. If she didn’t do what he wanted, he could ruin her life.
    â€œLook,” she said angrily, “I’ll give you the money if you promise to leave me alone!”
    â€œThat might work,” he said. “Give it a try.”
    He walked away slowly, casually. She stared after him, burning with anger and frustration.
    Where would she get a thousand dollars? she wondered glumly as she walked to her locker.
    She pulled open her locker door and glanced into the mirror inside. There was a flash, then a sparkle.
    That was it.
    She touched a hand to her left ear. The diamond earrings. She’d have to sell them. She had no choice.
    She took the earrings off and put them in an envelope. If only she had the box with her … But this would have to do.

    After school she took a bus to the Old Village. There were some antique shops there. Carter remembered going once with her mother. Mrs. Phillips’s stepmother had died and left her some jewelry, most of it “not to my taste,” as Carter’s mother had put it. She’d taken the jewelry to a shop on Antique Row and sold it.
    Now Carter clutched the diamond earrings her father had given her and scanned the four antique shops in front of her. She tried to remember which one she’d gone to with her mother. That was the one she
didn’t
want to go to now. She didn’t want to take any chances that her parents would find out. And she didn’t want anyone to recognize her.
    Bentley’s was the shop her mother had gone to. Carter chose the one farthest away from it. It was called Corelli’s Antiques.
    A little bell rang as she pushed the door open. A tall old man stood leaning over a glass counter. Behind him Carter saw a wall full of antique clocks, all set to the correct time and ticking and whirring noisily.
    Carter approached the glass counter.
    â€œHello, miss,” said the old man, straightening up and smiling. He had a slight Italian accent. “How may I help you?”
    Carter opened the envelope and let the diamond earrings fall into her palm. She held them out to the old man.
    â€œSomeone gave me these earrings,” she said. “But I already have a pair like them. I was wondering how much I could get for them.”
    The old man studied her face. Does he suspect something? Carter wondered. Maybe he thinks I stole them.
    She glanced away, pretending to be fascinated by a marble statue of an angel. When she turned back to the man, he was examining the earrings through a jeweler’s loupe.
    â€œThese earrings are of fairly high quality,” said the man. “I suppose I could give you seven hundred dollars for them.”
    Seven hundred. That wasn’t enough. And Carter knew her father had paid closer to three thousand dollars for them.
    She shook her head. “I know they’re worth a lot more than that.”
    The old man sighed. “All right,” he said. “Nine hundred.”
    â€œFifteen hundred,” said Carter.
    The old man laughed quietly. “No, my dear. One thousand dollars. That is the most I will pay.”
    The man’s expression was firm. Carter knew he wouldn’t go any higher. She bit her lip.
    â€œAll right,” she said. “One thousand dollars.”
    The old man took the earrings and slowly counted out ten hundred-dollar bills. She stuffed the money into the envelope that had once held her earrings. Carefully tucking it into her backpack, she went home.
    She spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, trying to do her homework. But she couldn’t concentrate.
    She took the envelope full of money out of her backpack and opened it. She held the money in her hands, staring at it.
    A thousand dollars. She was holding a thousand dollars in her hands. And she was about to hand it all over to Adam.
    For what?
    For a good score on her achievement test. For helping her get into Princeton—maybe. For making her