Solve The Mystery
Andie planned the perfect meal for her best friends, but now her food is gone. What happened?
Did you grab the blanket? We can’t forget that!” Andie heard her best friend, Sofia, ask as she shut her front door. “Of course I have it!” Andie said. “Our day would be ruined without it.”
The two best friends were on their way to meet their buds for a picnic in the nearby park. With Andie’s mom’s help, they’d packed up enough sandwiches, chips and water for everyone and then grabbed a blanket before heading to meet up with their crew.
“Remember the last time we were at the park?” Sofia asked. “How could I possibly forget?” Andie laughed. The girls had been at the park a week ago with their moms and while they were there, they spotted the cutest baby deer. The deer had been making noises behind a bush, and originally, Andie and Sofia had been scared, so they hid behind a nearby tree. After a little bit, they saw the deer pop out and head toward the trash bin. They told their moms about it, but they didn’t believe them. It seemed like the deer ran away whenever they tried to spot her.
“Let’s try to set everything up before Natalie and Fiona get here,” Andie suggested.
“Are you and Natalie still fighting?” Sofia asked, sounding worried.
“No, she said she was bummed I got a better grade than her on that math test, and that’s why
she was being a little mean,” Andie explained. “She apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again.”
The besties laid out their blanket and unpacked the food on plates for everyone. It wasn’t long before their other friends showed up.
“Well, it’s about time you two showed up!” Andie joked with her friends. “We set everything up, but I’m not really that hungry right now. I’m not gonna lie, I was snacking on some chips when I packed everything up. Do you want to play on the swings a little first?”
Everyone agreed — except for Natalie.“i haven’t eaten since breakfast though, and the swings are so far away,” she complained. “I guess I can just take a few bites and meet you guys at the swings in a minute.”
“Oh, alright,” Andie said, hoping Natalie wasn’t still upset.
“Come on, Andie, I’ll race you to the good swing,” Sofia called.
The rest of the girls ran over to the playground and the fun began.
“I wonder where Nat is,” Fiona laughed, as the girls competed to see who could swing the highest. “We can’t even see her from here.”
“Well, even if she was here, I’d still be winning this competition,” Andie bragged.
“Oh yeah?” Natalie asked, suddenly appearing in front of them. “Challenge accepted!”
The girls swung for a while before taking turns on the monkey bars and the seesaw. After a bit, they all decided they were hungry. They made their way back to the picnic area, and that’s when Andie noticed something terrible: Her food was gone! Her sandwich was missing and so was her bag of chips. Natalie had half of her sandwich left and her bag of chips was still on her plate. Everyone else’s food was still on their plates.
“How could this have happened?” Andie cried. “I spent so much time making that food! Natalie, be honest, did you eat my sandwich while you were over here all alone?” “I didn’t — I swear!” “But you said you were starving and all you ate was half a sandwich. Plus, maybe you’re still mad about that grade.”
“I’m not! Why would I eat your sandwich and chips when you brought me my own? I swear on our friendship that all of your food was still on your plate when I left. Come …”
“Guys, could you stop fooling around in the bushes,” Andie interrupted. “I can barely hear Natalie over the leaves rustling.”
As soon as she said that, Sofia got an idea. “Andie, wait,” she said. “Stop accusing Nat. I don’t think she did anything wrong.”
“But if it wasn’t her, who could it have been? There was no one else even over here. It had to be her.”
“Or it could have been someone we haven’t seen in a while. Think about it.”
Is Andie right about Natalie? Or do you think Sofia is on the right track? Try to figure out the mystery before reading below.