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Back The Copycat Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Chapter One
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Chapter Two
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Chapter Three
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Chapter Four
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Chapter Five
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Chapter Six
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Chapter Seven
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Chapter Eight
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Chapter Nine
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Chapter Ten
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Chapter Eleven
  46. Thirty-Two
  47. Thirty-Three
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Chapter Twelve
  51. Thirty-Six
  52. Thirty-Seven
  53. Thirty-Eight
  54. Chapter Thirteen
  55. Thirty-Nine
  56. Forty
  57. Forty-One
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Chapter Fourteen
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifteen
  66. The Following Summer
  67. About the Author
  68. About the Publisher

Cassie arrived in a flurry. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, plopping down beside Ali. “I was talking to Ms. Ryder about debate team. Mind if I try some?” she said, reaching out to grab a handful of Alfie’s nachos, oblivious to the table’s somber mood.

“What about debate team?” Alfie asked. Ali could tell he was ready to change the topic.

“So, my mom is a member of Toastmasters International—”

“What’s that?” Ali asked.

“It’s an organization that helps its members become better public speakers. My mom joined when she got promoted to vice president at the YMCA. Anyway, her chapter has invited our debate team to come to their meeting on Saturday and practice debating with them. How fun is that?”

Ali shook her head. “I can’t. We’re having my great-grandmother’s birthday party this Saturday.” She glanced over at Alfie, who kept his eyes fixed on the table.

“What time is the party?”

“Four o’clock.”

“Well, it will be over by eleven o’clock, so you’re okay. Plus, I need you to be there. We’ll be in teams of two, and you can be my partner. Murray?”

“I’ll check with my parents.” Ali could tell from the way Murray spoke that he was in.

“Alfie?”

“Sure. I don’t have anything going on this Saturday.”

“Aren’t you—” began Cassie, then stopped when Murray flashed her a “Zip it!” look.

Debating in front of a bunch of strangers was not in Ali’s future. “I promised to help my mom get things ready for the party.”

Cassie refused to take no for an answer. “You have to be there. How about I come to your house afterward and help you and your mom?”

Ali knew from the way Cassie glared at her that she was not going to drop the subject. “Fine, I’ll be there.” What did it matter if she was the worst debater ever? Things were awful anyway. She might as well go down in flames.

Chapter Eleven

Fog and Weather

One popular belief is that the number of fog days in the summer equals the number of snow days in winter, though, so far as I know, this remains unproven.

—PERCIVAL T. SLOANE,

A History of Fog in the Bay of Fundy (1932)

Thirty-Two

Emily dragged Ali to the computer lab as soon as Mr. Corby said project teams could break off to work on their presentations. Emily stuck her flash drive in the laptop, and they waited for the file to open. Ali could tell Emily wanted her to say something.

“I’m sorry again about Friday,” Ali offered, hoping that would ease the tension.

“No biggie.” But it felt big.

The presentation appeared on the computer screen.

“It looks great!” said Ali, admiring the first slide, which was covered in images of the various organisms they’d encountered on the field trip.