Stacey enjoys hanging out with Jacqui, Sheila, and the other girls. They're fun. A little wild even. But how much can Stacey trust them?

Once, during a school work project at the mall, I discovered just how common shoplifting is. I knew that store managers often keep their eyes on suspicious-acting people and gangs of teens.

When I turned back around, my friends were gone.

"Sheil?" I called out. "Mia?"

I looked up the next aisle, but they weren't there. I walked around a large wall display of sportswear, and into the book department.

The four of them were in the thrillers section. I spotted Sheila looking at a paperback, then giving it to Heather. "Hey, guys!" I called out.

Sheila spun around. "Oh. Hi."

"What are you reading?" I asked. But when I was close enough to see Heather, she had nothing in her hand.

"I don't know, just some horror book," Heather replied. "Sheila likes them, not me."

"Oh," I said.

"Can we go now?" Mia asked.

Jacqui was already heading for the door. Sheila, Mia, and I followed her.

Behind us, I could hear the click of Heather's shoulder bag buckle.

My stomach began to sink. I imagined Heather taking away the book inside her bag. Stealing it.

Nahh, no way. I was just being oversensitive.

Then I thought about the time Logan Bruno started hanging out with a bunch of tough guys who liked to shoplift. They brought nice, innocent Logan with them on purpose, because shopowners wouldn't suspect them as much. In other words, they used him (the creeps).

Was that happening with me?

Stacey and the Bad Girls
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590482378