Just then, her phone buzzed with a text from her best friend Lori.
“Still on at 3?”
Darla was about to reply with a question mark when she realized that Lori had added her to a group text on accident. Texts started flooding in like an overflowing river in April. Darla quickly understood that her three best friends were planning a celebration for her early acceptance into Yale. At 12, Darla was going to college, which was a big deal indeed. But Darla loved attention as much as she loved eating rotten food. How can I stop this? Darla asked herself as she walked into the kitchen for a late-night snack. After all, her stomach was a hollow pit. The light was on, and she saw her mother fixing a sandwich.
“Mom, why are you eating after 10?” Darla asked her mother who was supposedly on a diet. She saw her mother hide a chocolate bar in the drawer quicker than Flash.
“Kid, why are you still up? Hush. I don’t think I'm allergic to wheat. I miss bread too much,” Laney explained. Her doctor had asked her to keep a close watch on her diet to rule out the allergen that was hard to test.
“I need your help. Lori and others are throwing a party for me. Help me get out of it. She accidentally sent a text to me with the details,” Darla blurted it out.
“Wait a minute, maybe she did it on purpose. That’s just to throw you off. Maybe the real party is a secret,” Laney said. She always considered Lori her second kid and knew her well.
“Could it be?” Darla argued. “I am going 200 miles away. She can’t let me go just like that. What is the plan then?”
“Don’t sweat too much. Anything Lori plans will be pain free for you. Trust me. Go read something boring to sleep. Maybe a dictionary will make your life more meaningful,” Laney said, laughing.
“Wow. Yeah. I will go now,” Darla said, shaking her head at her mother’s jokes that always sent her running. I wonder if I make such corny jokes, she asked herself.
How does the author build suspense in this story?
Responses
A by showing that Darla gets a text not meant for her by showing that Darla gets a text not meant for her
B by showing the secretive actions of Laney cheating on her dietby showing the secretive actions of Laney cheating on her diet
C by showing the ways Lori tricks Laney into acting along by showing the ways Lori tricks Laney into acting along
D by showing the extraordinary achievements and future of Darla
1 answer
A by showing that Darla gets a text not meant for her by showing that Darla gets a text not meant for her
This option correctly identifies that the suspense in the story is built around the unexpected group text message that Darla receives, which reveals her friends' plans for a celebration. This element of miscommunication generates curiosity about how Darla will deal with the situation, thereby creating suspense.
