“You can never have too much luck. And you’ll need it … there’s something … an image of a classroom … ” Manny draped his hand across his forehead and said melodramatically, “I see … a desk calendar shows a date … tomorrow … you’re handing out papers … ”
“I do that every day,” Mr. B said with a dismissive shake of his head.
“But there’s something different with these papers … disorder … danger.”
“From what? A paper cut?”
“Do not joke.” Manny gave a shudder, then met the teacher’s gaze solemnly. “The sachet offers protection, but you’ll also need to make changes.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t?” Manny wiped sweat from his forehead. “Well … uh … maybe this will help.” He held out Velvet’s mysterious package.
I sat on the edge of my chair, watching eagerly as the teacher ripped open the foil wrapper.
“A fortune cookie?” Mr. B said with a puzzled frown. “How’s a cookie supposed to prevent bad luck?”
“You got me—I mean, good question.” Manny added, “Uh—all will be revealed when you open it.”
The bio teacher snapped open the cookie in two even halves. A curled slip of paper fluttered into his lap. As Blankenship read the tiny message, his puzzled expression eased into understanding.
“Yes, yes. Now I see,” he murmured, pocketing the paper and rising to leave.
Don’t put it away! I wanted to yell. Read it out loud!
Manny asked curiously, “What did it say?”
“As if I need to tell you.” Blankenship chuckled and slapped Manny lightly on the shoulder. “Thanks! Keep up the good work on your column, son, you’ve been a great help. And keep this—I don’t eat sugar.” He tossed the broken cookie to Manny and walked out of the classroom.
“What just happened?” I asked, jumping up from my hiding place.
“I’m not sure.”
“Will he change the test?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow.” Manny sighed, then popped half of the cookie in his mouth and tossed the other half to me.
Thorn was right about one thing—her surprise was delicious.
*
“You can’t avoid her forever,” Nona lectured me that evening. We’d finished dinner and instead of Nona going to her office, she’d led me into the living room for “A Serious Talk.” We faced each other across the couch like adversaries over a chessboard. I felt like a pawn cornered by a queen when she handed me the phone.
“This has gone on long enough,” my grandmother said firmly. “Your mother has her faults, but she’s my daughter, and I won’t see her treated like this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You haven’t returned her calls.”
“Guess I forgot.”
“I’m the forgetful one around here,” Nona said with a wry smile. “Not you.”
“She hates me.”
“That’s not true, honey. Your mother loves you—it was just that your gift scared her. She feels threatened by the other side and would rather pretend it doesn’t exist. She’s not going to change, so try to accept her.”
“She’s the one who won’t accept me.”
“You need to talk out your differences.”
“I have nothing to say to her.”
“But she has something to say to you.”
“What?” The phone felt cold in my hand.
“My intuitive skills are a bit rusty these days. Dial the number and find out.”
“She probably wants me to stop talking to Amy and Ashley since I’m a bad influence.”
Nona’s arms came around me. “Give her a chance,” she said softly.
With a heavy sigh, I dialed the familiar number.
The phone rang and rang, but no one answered. When the answering machine finally picked up, I slammed the receiver down.
“She’s not home,” I said with relief. “What a shame.”
“You could have left a message.”
“Oops. Forgot.” I shrugged innocently. “I’ll try again later.”
Nona gave me a knowing look, but let it drop.
For now, I had a reprieve.
Stalemate.
*
Wednesday came and went without any drama. School, friends, homework. Normal stuff.
I managed to avoid any more encounters with Evan. Thorn was gone Wednesday and Thursday on a field trip to the Sacramento County Courthouse for her government class, so we couldn’t ask her about the fortune cookie.
By Thursday afternoon, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. And I realized Danielle hadn’t been at school for two days. During lunch break, I asked around and found out she was sick again. Sick, or avoiding Evan? I sympathized with her, but wondered how she could afford to miss so much school. Didn’t she care about her grades? A prickle of unease settled in my gut as I remembered the image of a dragonfly dripping blood. If Danielle skipped another day, I’d personally go over to her house to make sure she was all right.
*
“What was the message in the fortune cookie?” I asked Thorn when I finally ran into her Friday during break.
“Didn’t you read it?” she asked.
“No, but whatever it said impressed Mr. B.”
“Good. When Velvet told me I could create my own fortune cookie, how could I resist? So I went with a simple, short message.”
“What?”
“Three words.” She smiled. “‘Change the test.’”
Nothing subtle about Thorn, I thought with admiration. She wore her drama outside, but inside she operated on plain old common sense. “Simple and to the point,” I told her. “It might just work.”
“It will work. Don’t put out negative karma or it will come back to bite you in the butt. What you need is some positive reinforcement.” Thorn reached up to take off one of her dangling purple fishhook earrings. “Here.”
I eyed it suspiciously. “What’s this for?”
“Good luck.”
Then the bell rang and she was hurrying off. I looked down at the earring in my hand. I wouldn’t put it on, of course. I only wore tasteful gold studs or hoops. Still, there was something wonderfully weird about the gaudy purple stones on the silver hook and feather coiled around the center. Thorn didn’t care about fitting in, what anyone thought, and the only rules she followed were self-made. A little drama on the outside might be fun.
When I met Josh for lunch, he pointed to the fishhook earring swaying from my left ear. “What’s that for? Is it Halloween already?”
“No—I’m just trying out something different.”
“How come?” he asked, tilting his head as he studied me.
“Maybe I’ve only been pretending to be normal, but deep down I have a wild, dangerous side. My secrets would shock and disturb you.”
“Not a chance.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right,” I said, a bit disappointed.
“You’re great the way you are.” He playfully tapped my earring. “So don’t change anything. But if you want to wear a hook, that’s cool. I’ll just have to take up fishing.”
“You’ve already caught me.”
“And I’m not letting you go.”
Smiling, we hooked fingers and headed for my favorite lunch spot, away from the buildings, on a grassy area with a wide willow tree spreading out like an umbrella. I was relieved he hadn’t wanted to go in the cafeteria where I’d have to face Evan again.
But we’d only been alone for a few minutes before Evan showed up.
“Josh!” he exclaimed, shoving between us. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” His smooth exterior had definitely cracked.
“What’s up?”
“Everything’s ruined.” Evan raked his fingers through his tousled dark hair. “You gotta help me.”
Josh set down his apple and put a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder. “What happened?”
“Bla
nkenship won’t let me play in the next game! Says I’m off the team! And a scout will be here for our next game! I can’t miss out on my chance! I deserved an A, but I flunked!”
“Your bio test?” Josh guessed. “The one you said was so important?”
“Yeah.” Evan nodded. “I knew all the answers and was the first one to hand in my paper. Then, before class is even over, here comes Blankenship with my test marked up in red. I don’t get it—what went wrong?”
I bit into a chocolate chip cookie to keep from smiling. The chocolate was yummy, but payback was sweeter.
“That sucks, man.” Josh shook his head sympathetically. “Maybe you can work things out with your teacher—take a make-up test. I’ll help you study.”
“Forget that, Josh! There’s no time to study. The scout’s only gonna be here once. It’s the only game that matters. What the hell am I going to do now?”
Evan hung his head, looking so miserable that, if I hadn’t hated his guts, I might have felt sorry for him. Evan may have gotten away with the vandalism, but he hadn’t succeeded at framing me and now he was off his precious team.
I must have been smiling, because suddenly Evan whirled toward me with a pointed finger, “You!” he growled. “I don’t know how, but you did this!”
I blinked innocently. “Me?”
“This is all your fault! You’d do anything to cause problems cause you’re jealous that Josh and I are tight.”
“How could I have anything to do with your flunking a test?”
“You must’ve told Blankenship.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said calmly.
“Liar!” He jabbed his finger close to my face. “You’re behind this!”
“Back off, man,” Josh said, gently pushing Evan’s hand down. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s trouble. Conniving, back-stabbing, sneaky, little bi—”
“Watch it! I don’t know what your problem is, but you’re way out of line.”
“Look at her! Can’t you see? She’s happy I’m ruined. She’s got it in for me.” Evan’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You can’t believe anything she says—she’d make up anything to turn you against me. She’s even crazier than Danielle, and Danielle is one messed-up chick.”
“That’s enough.” Josh hands tightened to fists. Evan looked shocked.
“Josh! You know me.”
“Yeah, I know you,” he said with a grimace. “Too well. I can overlook most of the stuff you pull, but you’ve got no right to attack Sabine.”
“You’re taking her side against me?”
“Appears so,” Josh said coolly.
“What would your brother say?” Evan glared at Josh.
I could see Josh tense. They faced each other, tight-lipped and angry.
“Fine!” Evan snapped at Josh, breaking their stare down. Then he turned to me, “Watch your back, Sabine. This is not over.” And he stormed off.
I may have won this round, but the war had only begun. And I’d made a dangerous enemy.
During my final period, I congratulated Manny. “It worked. Evan flunked and he’s off the team until his grades improve—which could be a quite a while without Danielle doing his homework.”
“Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.” Manny said. “Didn’t I tell you my powers of persuasion were infallible?”
“Thorn’s fortune cookie helped.”
“All part of my grand scheme, which came off beautifully, even if I say so myself.”
“And you will,” I teased. “Over and over.”
“Why deny brilliance? But you and Thorn helped, too. We make a great team, like Charlie’s Angels. I’m Charlie and you girls are my ‘angels.’”
“Thorn would knock that grin off your face if she heard you say that. And there’s nothing angelic about me—except sometimes I see angels.”
“Like now?” Manny whipped his head around, as if expecting a winged-being to pop up behind him.
“No.” I shook my head. “But Opal says people who attract trouble usually have a lot of angels watching over them. So you must have at least a dozen.”
He barked out a laugh so loud that everyone turned to look. But shameless Manny just bowed and waved to the class while I scooted low in my chair and hid behind the latest earth-shattering Shout-Out article I’d been proofing, “Teachers with Bad Breath—Is Mouthwash the Answer?”
After school, I stopped by my locker and felt a bit abandoned when no one was there to meet me. Josh had left early for a dentist appointment and Penny-Love was rah-rahing at cheer practice. I saw a lot of familiar faces as I started for home, but not anyone I wanted to hang out with, until I spotted a black-haired girl heading away from school, her single fishhook earring swinging with each step.
“Thorn!” I called, hurrying to catch up with her. “Wait up!”
She stopped, grinning when she saw me. “Hey, Sabine. I’ve been hoping to see you. I heard about Evan.”
“News travels fast.”
“Especially when it concerns the most popular jock at school. Everyone’s talking about poor, poor Evan,” Thorn said, her eyes twinkling under glitter eye shadow. “Off the team and flunking bio.”
“Such a tragedy,” I replied in mock sympathy.
“And after he worked so hard to stay on the team,” Thorn added. “Trashing the school, painting walls, copying a test, knocking out the janitor, and—”
“Trying to frame me,” I finished.
“Which backfired on him.”
“Even Josh knows he’s got problems. He’s too loyal just to give up on Evan, but he won’t fall for Evan’s lies anymore. And no more double dates.”
“So let’s celebrate.” Thorn adjusted her backpack straps. “Want to go to Trick and Treats for something sinfully chocolate? Anything you want—my treat.”
“Oooh, sounds great!” My mouth watered, until I remembered that I’d promised Nona I’d come directly home today. “But I can’t. Nona needs help with spring cleaning.”
“Spring cleaning in the fall?”
“Nona doesn’t follow normal rules. And she’s done so much for me, I don’t mind cleaning out the pantry and defrosting the freezer.”
“Some celebration,” Thorn grumbled. “Work, work, and more work.”
“But there are perks of the job—like ice cream.”
She brightened. “Ice cream?”
“A half-finished carton of Heavenly Hash may melt during the defrosting if someone doesn’t eat it first.”
“Say no more. I’m always willing to help a friend.” Then Thorn gave me a deep look. “But are you sure—sure you don’t mind being seen with me?”
“Why would I?” I tried not to think of Penny-Love’s reaction to my hanging out with Thorn.
“Your preppy cheerleading girlfriends won’t like it.” Thorn wiggled the silver ring in her left eyebrow.
“You think that matters to me?”
“Well … doesn’t it?”
“Maybe it did a little at first, but not now.” I jiggled my fishhook earring. “Being a little different is cool.”
“So, does that mean you’ll let me dye your hair blood red and spike it?” She arched an eyebrow at me.
“Not that different.” I punched her playfully, then we fell in step and talked all the way home.
At the entrance to our driveway, we stopped a moment while I checked the mailbox. Then I glanced at Thorn, wondering what she’d think of my home. It had taken me a week to work up the courage to invite Penny-Love over, and at first, she was put off by the dirt, weeds, and livestock smells. But she didn’t complain anymore and got along great with Nona, always eager to hear matchmaking stories.
As Thorn and I walked down the driveway, her eyes widened at the farmhouse I now called home.
“I know it’s rundown,” I said before she had a chance to criticize. “It’s older than air and needs a paint job, but that’s so expensive, and Nona does plan to fix those win
dow frames and the broken porch step.”
“It’s—It’s … ” Thorn shook her head. “Fabulous!”
“Really?”
“You’re lucky to live in the country, instead of in a neighborhood where neighbors are close enough to hear you flush the toilet. Your animals are cool, too. Is that floppy-eared animal a goat?”
“Yeah. A Nubian.”
Thorn spread out her arms expressively. “It’s so roomy here. You should see the tiny box I live in—only three bedrooms and I have five siblings. But you have all this space for only two people!”
“Actually three.” I pointed to the barn where I could see Dominic lifting an ax and splitting wood.
“Who’s that? Your brother?”
“No!” Heat rose in my cheeks. “We’re not related—I barely know him. He’s just Dominic. He helps with the chores.”
“So he lives here?”
“Not in the house, the barn apartment.”
“Cool. He looks about our age, but I haven’t seen him at school.”
“He could be a drop-out or have graduated early, for all I know. I’ve asked my grandmother, but she won’t tell me any personal stuff about him.” I shook my head. “Don’t bother trying to talk to him. He’s complicated—doesn’t like people much. He’s just—different.” I changed the subject. “Anyway, you’ll love my grandmother. Come on inside.”
“Lead the way.”
I pushed open the front gate and a streak of white zoomed by my legs, rubbing against my ankles. Picking up Lillybelle, I cuddled her silky body in my arms.
“What fabulous mismatched eyes. She’s beautiful!” Thorn scratched Lillybelle by the ears and received an appreciative purr. “I wanted a cat, but my sister Meg is allergic. So we have fish.”
“Lillybelle loves fish,” I said teasingly.
“Well, she isn’t invited over to my house. But you can come anytime.”
“Is your family into the Goth look, too?”
“Not even!” She almost doubled over with laughter. “They’re so Brady Bunch, I want to puke most of the time. They can’t figure out what to make of me—and that’s the way I like it.”
Lillybelle squirmed in my arms and bounded toward the pasture as I stepped up on the porch. Opening the front door, I called out for Nona. She didn’t answer and wasn’t in the living room or her office. When I checked the kitchen, I found the freezer door open and packaged food stacked on the counters.
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