It was tempting to ignore my clock alarm because that meant going to school—where I had an unknown enemy.
A lavender fragrance and soft breeze stirred my blankets, despite my closed window. Peering around my room, I whispered, “Opal?”
Good morning, my dear Sabine.
“It’s not that good of a morning. I want to stay in bed and hide. Everything’s so confusing—can you help?”
I do hope so—helping you is my avowed mission and fervent goal.
“Then tell me why somebody put stolen stuff in my locker.”
You already know the answer, if you trust your instincts and examine the situation.
“But I don’t know anything! I had those visions about Danielle and tried to help her, which got me into worse trouble.”
These troubles will seem insignificant in the fullness of time. If I gave you the answers, that would cheat you out of valuable life experiences and cheating is always wrong. The truest answers lie in the test.
So this was some kind of test, I realized—then groaned. I hated tests. But a flash of insight hit me, and I understood why someone might target me. “Was that stuff put in my locker because I’m trying to find the vandals?”
Vandal, she corrected. Singular.
“Is it someone I know?”
We all know each other at some level. Examine all relationships closely and set something right to avoid tragic consequences.
“Why do you always talk like a fortune cookie? Can’t you just give me a name?”
No, she replied in that maddening literal tone.
“Then how will I find out?”
Enlightenment appears in many forms.
“And your point is?” I asked sarcastically.
You were blessed with a clever mind that is in sore need of critical use. Don’t assume watching you muddle through your journey is a slice of sunshine. Not even—as you like to say. You frustrate me to the ends of Jupiter! Nevertheless, you are making excellent progress, and I have confidence in you.
“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled as her energy pulled away to return to spirit-land or wherever she hung out when she wasn’t nagging me.
*
As I was rinsing off my cereal dish and putting it in the dishwasher, Penny-Love showed up. I was surprised she’d come way down our driveway instead of waiting for me on the street. But one look at her snug, sheer top over a new pair of jeans and I connected the romantic dots. She’d even taken the time to iron the kinks out of her red hair so it fell in a long, silky wave around her shoulders.
“Is Dominic around?” she asked coyly.
“No.”
“Too bad, but there’s always after school. Is it okay if I come over again?”
“Of course. You don’t have to ask.”
“Good!” Penny-Love said with a bounce in her step as we left the house and started down the driveway. “I came up with the perfect way to get Dominic to notice me. He’s into birds, right?”
“Actually all animals.”
“Which includes birds, so I’m going to tell him my canary is sick and ask him to come over to look at it.”
“You don’t have a canary.”
“Details, details.” Penny-Love waved away my words. “When I want something—or someone—nothing stops me.”
“Why would you want Dominic?” I asked, hoping to talk some sense into her. “He’s rude and likes animals better than people. I can’t see how you’d want a grump like him when you could have any guy at school.”
“Except Josh,” she said teasingly.
“Right.” I smiled at his name.
We were laughing as we reached the school. Waving goodbye, I headed for my locker, eager to see Josh. Only when I neared the lockers, it was too crowded to find anyone. Students and even a few teachers were gawking at something.
A locker banged and bodies shifted, and I saw Dunlap. Moving closer, I saw the principal in conversation with an olive-skinned custodian I didn’t recognize. The custodian wielded some kind of tool or maybe a key. He opened a locker, slammed it shut, then opened another.
I stared in horror, afraid to breathe and give myself away. Locker 124. Closing in on mine. They wouldn’t find anything more than books, a sweater, and a half-eaten Snickers bar—but last night they would have found plenty.
Shaking inside, I whirled around—and smacked into a dark-haired girl with a dragonfly tattoo on her wrist.
“Danielle!” I exclaimed. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking.”
“I was coming to talk to you.” Her face was tear-streaked and her voice cracked as she added, “I don’t know what else to do.”
“What is it?” My thoughts flew back to Sunday night. “Did the police find out about us?”
“No, nothing like that. No one even questioned me. It’s—It’s Evan.”
“Oh.” I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, but I’m not. He—” She broke off with a sob.
“What is it?” I put my arm gently around her.
“He dumped me!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” I wasn’t really, but I couldn’t admit that. I tried to summon some sincerity.
“I love him more than my own life. I’d do anything for him—anything at all—except let him go. But he doesn’t want me.”
“It’s his loss,” I soothed. “You’ll find someone better.”
“There is no one better. “
No one better at being self-centered and arrogant, I thought.
I led Danielle over to a bench and tried to calm her down. “I don’t know much about love. Uh … This will seem insignificant in the fullness of time.” I wanted to bite back my words when I realized I’d repeated what Opal had told me. “I mean, you’ll be okay.”
“Not without him. You have no idea what it’s like—how much it hurts without him. Like bleeding on the inside.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “I feel all panicky, like I’m falling apart. I need Evan.”
“You only need yourself,” I insisted. “Give it some time, you’ll get over him.”
“Never!” She clutched at my arm; her eyes were wild. “You’ve got to help me. Josh will listen to you and Evan will listen to Josh. Get Josh to convince Evan to take me back.”
“I can’t ask Josh something like that.”
“But Evan loves me, I know he does. He just has a lot of needs and I let him down. But I can try harder, if he’ll just give me the chance.” Her voice cracked, and she looked ready to collapse. “Talk to Josh. I’m begging you!”
“Danielle—I can’t … ” my words trailed off as I shook my head.
“I’m desperate. Please, please!”
I hesitated, remembering the vision of a bloody dragonfly. Danielle was like a frightened child and the vision tied me to her in a way I didn’t understand. Yet I couldn’t turn her down, even if that meant reuniting her with Evan.
“Okay,” I said reluctantly.
“Thank you! Thank you!” She hugged me, then whirled around and left.
Barely a minute later, Josh showed up.
*
Josh was outraged when he realized my locker had been searched.
“That’s unconstitutional!” he ranted as we walked to our first class. “I can’t believe you allowed this to take place without protesting. They had no right to invade your privacy.”
“The lockers are school property; we’re just borrowing them.”
“But the things inside are your personal belongings.”
I’d never seen Josh so worked up, and I was secretly pleased he was acting protective. Like a hero coming to the aid of his lady. I wasn’t about to spoil this moment by bringing up Danielle.
“A lot of lockers were searched,” I pointed out. “Not just mine.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” Josh insisted. “You should call a lawyer.”
“What sixteen-year-old has a lawyer?”
“A smart one. If the school pulls more stunts like this, I may get one.
”
By the end of our first class, Josh had calmed down, but only after I agreed to let him write a letter of protest on my behalf to the school board.
When we met at lunch, he had the letter composed in a spiral notebook and couldn’t wait to show it to me. I tried—I really tried—to bring up the topic of Danielle and Evan, but it just didn’t happen.
That afternoon, a news flash rippled through the school. Stolen items were found hidden in the woods. No one could figure out why the stuff had been dumped in the woods. Rumors placed the blame on the Regis High kids, again. But no one really cared anymore.
With the missing things recovered, there was a sense of closure, and by tomorrow it would be old news.
Except to me.
Someone had invaded my locker, and I couldn’t forget that. The lock hadn’t been forced, so either someone picked it or knew the combination. But I’d only revealed it to two people: Josh and Penny-Love.
When Penny-Love came over to my house later, I asked her if she’d told the combination to anyone else.
“How can you even ask such a thing? I’m mortally wounded!”
“Sorry,” I said, ignoring the melodrama. “But with all that commotion about lockers being searched, I guess I’m a little paranoid.”
“Your combination is safe with me.” She moved away from the window where she’d been spying on Dominic. “I’ve never told another person. And I keep it safely written on a Post-It in my locker.”
“You wrote it down?” I exclaimed.
“Well, sure. I have so many numbers to remember, I have to write them down or my brain sinks in number soup.”
“So you left my combo in the same locker you let your cheerleading friends use because it’s closer to the gym? The same locker you shared with your last two boyfriends? The same locker you left wide open for a full day last week because you were in a hurry?”
She nodded, and I groaned.
I might as well have announced my combination in the Sheridan Shout-Out.
*
Saturday morning, when Josh showed up for our date, I didn’t recognize him. And who could blame me? He came to the door wearing a rainbow shaggy wig, floppy chicken feet, and a green nose.
“Squeeze my nose,” was the first thing he said when he saw me—not exactly the romantic words a girl wants to hear.
“Won’t that hurt?”
“Nah. Give my nose a big squeeze.”
Feeling kind of dumb, I reached out and pinched his plastic nose. Squawk! The nose erupted with a thundered honk and fake snot dribbled out of the green nostrils. “Lovely.”
“It’s just fake slime.” When he laughed, more snot oozed from his nose. “Kids love it!”
“Ha ha,” I said, staring with disgust at the green gunk on my fingers. Then I hurried to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands.
On the way to Valley General Hospital, we received strange looks from other drivers on the road. Hadn’t they ever seen a clown driving? Instead of being embarrassed, I found myself grinning. Josh was such a wonderful mix of silly and serious. And underneath all the greasepaint and fake snot, he was one gorgeous guy who—amazingly—cared about me.
At the hospital, I was impressed by how many people greeted Josh. Nurses, doctors, patients, and even maintenance workers. In floppy clown clothes where no one could even see his face, he was loved.
Especially by the kids.
He sang goofy songs, picking up a broom and strumming it like a guitar. Then, instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, he pulled Silly String and stuffed toys out of a bedpan. Kids in wheelchairs, connected to IVs, and wrapped in bandages laughed and begged him for more. It was great.
I hadn’t completely forgotten my promise to Danielle, but finding the right moment to talk to Josh about it wasn’t exactly easy. I didn’t want to distract him from his performance. So I waited until we were on our way back home from the hospital.
“I saw Danielle yesterday,” I finally said, holding the rainbow wig he’d tossed aside. “Has Evan said anything about her?”
“Nah.” Josh shook his head. “He’s seeing a new girl—Shelby.”
“Shelby McIntire?” I had a mental picture of a stunning girl with honey-blond hair and shining dark eyes.
“Yeah. You know her?”
“Not personally, but she’s a cheerleader and gorgeous.” I sighed. “Poor Danielle. She’s devastated.”
“Evan’s girls always get over him.”
“I’m not so sure about Danielle. She’s seems fragile. She totally fell apart over some test. She was really freaked out when I saw her.”
“Don’t worry. Danielle will be fine. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I think Evan broke it off because she’s too brainy. His ego probably couldn’t take it.”
“She’s smart?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know? She’s got a photographic memory and always aces tests. She helped Evan improve his grades and stay on the football team.”
“Then he dumped her.”
“Evan can be harsh with girls.”
“So why do you stay friends with him?”
“He’s okay when you get to know him. And I’ve known him for a long time. He and my brother and I were practically inseparable … and after the accident, Evan was there for me.”
“Well. That’s okay,” I said begrudgingly, thinking how much I valued Nona’s unwavering support of me. That kind of loyalty was rare. Not many people could be counted on when things got tough.
Josh slowed the car and parked in my driveway. He shut off the motor then turned to me. “I think it’s cool you’re concerned about Danielle—it’s part of what makes you special.”
Naturally, after that, we didn’t talk about Danielle or Evan anymore.
It wasn’t until I was climbing into bed that night that I mentally replayed our conversation and realized something startling.
If Danielle had a photographic memory, why would she worry about taking a test? She had no reason to steal a key and break into private teacher files.
What had she really been looking for?
Josh had to go to a family dinner, so he dropped me off early. Since there was still a few hours of daylight left, I found Danielle’s address in the phone book and took off on my bike to talk with her.
When I’d first moved to Sheridan Valley, wallowing in a dark mood of disgrace, I’d felt stranded. Sure, it was just thirty minutes to Sacramento or Stockton, but I was used to the bustling pace of San Jose. And at first I didn’t have any friends, so I spent a lot of time reading under a shady willow—until Nona gave me an old bike and ordered me to get out. It was scary at first, but after a few days of exploring, I felt an empowering sense of freedom. Free to fly into the wind, away from the past.
The upscale development Danielle lived in, Summit Estates, backed up against the far side of our woods. I turned left onto Maple Street, passed a walnut orchard, and rode until fields gave way to pristine new homes. Addresses weren’t displayed on the houses, but were uniformly painted in gold lettering below the sidewalks. Danielle’s sprawling tri-level home had a circular driveway winding through lush manicured shrubs. I smoothed my tousled blond hair and tucked in my T-shirt, then knocked on the door.
Only I was five minutes too late.
Danielle’s father told me she just left to watch her boyfriend’s football practice.
Boyfriend? Did she already have a new guy or had she gotten back with Evan? I wondered, hiding my surprise with a polite thank-you. A minute later, I was back on my bike, heading for Sheridan High.
*
Shouts mingled with the thud of crashing bodies as I neared the football field. Propping my bike against a fence, I walked around the bleachers, looking for Danielle. I finally spotted her sitting in a far corner of the top bleacher, her raven hair tucked under a cap that concealed most of her face. She was so intent on watching the field, she didn’t notice me until I came up beside her.
“Sabine!” She jumped in her seat. �
�Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“Sorry. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“None of your business.”
“Why are you spying on Evan?”
“It’s not illegal to watch practice.”
“But why put yourself through this?” I shook my head at her sadly. “You have to get over him, Danielle.”
“He’s still my boyfriend. We’re just having some problems.”
“And I have a problem with being lied to.” I took a seat next to her and shot her an accusing look. “Why did you really sneak into the supply room?”
“I already told you.” Her too-large cap slipped off of her head, and when she picked it up, the tiny tattooed dragonfly on her wrist seemed to darken.
“Josh told me about your photographic memory.”
“You talked to Josh?” She clutched my arm. “Did he say anything about Evan? Is he going to help us get back together?”
I ignored the questions and fired back, “Why were you in that supply room?”
“To copy a bio test.”
“Danielle! The truth!”
“But it is the truth, except—” she gnawed on her thumbnail, then added in a whisper, “except the test wasn’t for me.”
“Then who was it—Ohmygod! Evan! You did it for him?” I glanced out at the field to where Evan was running with the ball.
“His bio teacher hates jocks, and Evan will get kicked off the football team if he flunks another test.”
“So you tried to steal a test.”
“Only I couldn’t find it, then you came, the janitor caught us, and everything was messed up.”
“The janitor was messed up more after we left. Did you see anyone suspicious?”
“No,” she said a bit too quickly.
There was a roar from the other players and people in the stands as Evan did something impressive down on the field. The coach slapped Evan on the back, then gestured for the players to huddle up.
Danielle stared across the field, longingly, her hands coming together to clap softly. “Isn’t he wonderful? I miss him so much. I can hardly stand it. I let him down and now he won’t talk to me. If I can just get him alone and explain, everything will be fine again.”
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