Olivia rushed downstairs on Tuesday morning, her hair still dripping from the shower. She bounded through the small kitchen and into the family room, where she was frantically searching for the remote control between the cushions of the couch when she heard a noise: whooooosssshhhh!
Olivia stopped in her tracks and stood up. She scanned the room, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe someone flushed the toilet upstairs, she thought, bending down to look for the remote control again--
Whoooooooosssssshhh! The noise was louder this time.
That sounds so close, Olivia thought, her heart beginning to race. I think it's coming from right behind the couch!
She grabbed a cushion and crept to the end of the couch, holding the pillow over her shoulder like it was a baseball bat. Ever so slowly, she peered around the edge of the sofa . . .
"Whoooooossssshhhhh!" Her father exhaled, and Olivia found herself staring at the bottoms of his bare feet.
Ew, she thought, relaxing again. Her dad was lying on the floor in his pajamas with his eyes closed. For a split second she thought maybe he was hurt, but then his right leg came up in slow motion, and he brought his left hand over to touch his big toe. He held the toe aloft, his ankle shaking slightly.
"Whoooooosss--"
"DAD!" Olivia yelled.
Her father jumped as if she'd thrown a bucket of ice water on him. "What is it?" he cried.
"What are you doing?" Olivia demanded.
"I'm practicing li ching," he answered matter- of-factly.
Olivia had never heard of li ching, but her dad was always taking up obscure martial arts. None of them ever made him any less embarrassing. "You scared me," she said.
Her father raised his chin. "He who masters li ching can do scary things!"
Olivia rolled her eyes and said, "Where's the remote?"
Her dad shrugged and glanced around the room. Then he said, "Oh!" and reached into the pocket of his pajamas.
Olivia grabbed the remote from him and flipped straight to The Morning Star. On screen, Serena Star was standing in front of Franklin Grove Middle School, talking into her microphone.
"Anonymous sources say Garrick Stephens, the Franklin Grove student who hijacked a dead man's funeral on Sunday"--a leering photo of Garrick appeared beside Serena Star's head--"is kingpin of the Beasts, a gang of bullies who con- stantly reference the occult," Serena Star reported gravely.
"Serena Star was at your school?" Mr. Abbott said curiously.
Olivia shushed him with a vigorous nod.
"Some students believe that Mr. Stephens and his friends' strange behavior," continued Serena Star, "may be symptomatic of a much larger problem. One that's nothing short of . . . GRIMARKABLE!" A graphic with the word "GRIMARKABLE!" appeared beside her head.
What a ridiculous word! Olivia thought. She was shocked, though, when the graphic was replaced by Charlotte Brown's flushed face, over a caption that said CHARLOTTE BROWN, HEAD CHEER- LEADER.
"I was in the girls' bathroom, re-applying gloss, when two Goth girls came in," Charlotte said. Olivia shut her eyes in embarrassment. "They were dressed from head to toe in black rags, and their nails were covered in black nail polish." And then, "They growled at me!"
"So you think it's a problem," Serena Star's voice said offscreen, "that so many Franklin Grove students are obsessed with darkness?"
"Totally!" Charlotte agreed.
"Interesting," Olivia's dad murmured.
Serena Star reappeared on screen. "It's clear that a sinister, corrupting influence is alienating the good students, like Charlotte Brown, at this school." Olivia rolled her eyes as Serena Star walked dramatically toward the camera, stopping only when her face filled the screen.
"America, where there's smoke, there's arson! Who is behind the dark forces strangling Franklin Grove? Young Garrick Stephens clearly isn't smart enough to be the real ringleader, so who is it?" Serena demanded. "I, Serena Star, am deter- mined to find out, because the Star of truth must shine!" she cried, thrusting her microphone into the air and bringing it down. Then, with sudden calm, she smiled and said, "I'm Serena Star.Wake up, America!"
Olivia shut off the TV. Her father noticed the frown on her face and said, "Don't worry about those Beast boys, Olivia. I'll teach you li ching so you can protect yourself."
Olivia groaned and walked into the kitchen. She was staring into space, thinking about Serena Star and eating a yogurt, when some- thing in the next room caught her eye: a sparkling feather was sticking out from the top shelf of the tall glass cabinet where her parents kept the good china.
Olivia realized that after she and Camilla had pored over Great-aunt Edna's priceless artifacts last night, her mom must have moved them all up there so that they wouldn't get damaged.
Without another cheerleader in the room to give her a boost, Olivia had to drag her chair over to reach the top shelf.
Leaving the ostrich fan where it was, she care- fully carried the wooden box back to the kitchen and set it before her on the breakfast table. She still couldn't get over how beautiful it was. The box was made of gleaming cherrywood, delicately carved in a pattern of flowers and birds.
Olivia opened the lid and gazed at Great-aunt Edna's precious necklace, which lay glittering on the deep-blue satin lining of the compartment. For some reason, that made her think of Garrick Stephens in his luxury Interna 3, but she wiped the thought from her mind.
Olivia carefully lifted out the sparkling necklace and set it aside. Then she pressed ever so gently on the bottom of the compartment, just as her mother had shown her. There was a soft click, and the false bottom sprung open to reveal a stack of yellowed letters beneath.
A half hour later, Olivia was still sitting there, reading. The letters were so romantic. She folded one and unfolded another. It read,
My Dear Duke,
You know that it cannot be.We are of
different worlds. Oh, how I wish we could
be together, but I dare not allow myself to
imagine a future in your arms. How
wonderful it would be to live together in a
home of love and peace, to have a precious
child--a babe with your handsome eyes . . .
But I must not write of such dreams. How
my head battles against my heart!
Please do not look at me when I bring
this afternoon's tea. I do not think I could
bear it!
With love and sadness,
Edna
As she finished the letter, Olivia felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"I made you some toast," her mother inter- rupted. Olivia hadn't even noticed her come into the kitchen.
Olivia quickly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "Thanks," she murmured.
Her mom sat down opposite her and slid the plate of toast across to Olivia. She studied Olivia's face. "So . . . how are the movie plans coming along?" she asked.
"Good," Olivia replied quietly.
Her mother nodded. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked gently.
Olivia felt a lump in her throat. "Nothing," she said, looking down at the plate. Her mom reached over and took her hand.
Olivia fought the urge to cry. "I guess"--she gulped--"the family connection with Great-aunt Edna has made me think, you know, about my own biological parents."
Her mom sighed and nodded. "It's healthy to want to know about your birth parents, sweet- heart," she replied softly. "I only wish I had more to tell you about them."
"I know," Olivia said.
"I'd be happy to get the adoption file out again for you to look at," her mom offered.
Olivia took a tissue from the box on the corner of the table and blew her nose. "There's not much to look at," she quavered, looking up at the ceiling tearily. "It just says that someone dropped me off at the adoption agency anonymously."
"With the note that had your name and date of birth on it," her mom added. Then she smiled and squeezed Olivia's hand. "You know I've always loved your name."
"Don't forget the ring," Olivia said, wiggling her finger and forcing a smile.
"And the ring," her mom agreed, standing up and coming around the table to give Olivia a big hug. Olivia buried her face in her mom's shoulder.
"I love you so much, sweetie," her mom whis- pered, and Olivia found herself feeling a tiny bit better. Then her mom glanced at the clock over the stove. "The Mom Express is departing for school in fifteen minutes sharp," she teased. "And you still haven't done your hair."
Olivia grinned again in spite of her tears.
"Why don't you go finish getting ready, while I put away Edna's things?" Mrs. Abbott suggested.
"Thanks, Mom," Olivia said and padded upstairs to do her hair.
Twenty minutes later, Olivia was staring out of the car window as her mom drove her to school. Her mind continued to buzz with questions about her real parents: Who were they? Why'd they give us up? Were they in love, like Edna and the duke?
Two blocks from school, Olivia noticed a black- clad person walking on the sidewalk up ahead. Even from the back, she could tell it was Ivy.
"I'll get out here," Olivia blurted. She really wanted to talk to her sister, but there was no way she could risk her mom seeing Ivy up close in case she noticed the resemblance.
"Why?" her mom asked.
Olivia hesitated. "For the fresh air . . ." she tried.
Much to her relief, her mom pulled over with- out asking any more questions. Olivia hugged her good-bye and got out of the car. She waited for her mom to drive away and then shouted, "Ivy! Wait up!"
Ivy turned, her face set in a scowl, and kicked some dirt off her boot as she waited for Olivia to catch up.
"You don't look too happy," Olivia observed.
"I'm not," Ivy replied flatly.
"What's wrong?"
"I still don't have a quote for Serena Star," Ivy explained. "But don't worry about me.What's the matter with you?" Olivia looked at her quizzically, and Ivy said, "Just because you always look sunny doesn't mean I can't tell when you're feeling cloudy."
Olivia smiled, and she and her sister started walking together slowly.
"Camilla and I are doing a movie for media studies," Olivia began.
"I saw the Beasts working on theirs." Ivy nodded. "Apparently, Garrick's going to make Charlotte Brown a star."
"Yeah." Olivia sighed. "Well, Camilla and I are doing ours on this relative of my mom's who I never even knew about: her great-aunt Edna. She just died recently, and it turns out she left my mom her love letters, plus some other stuff. There's a ruby and diamond necklace you'd love."
"Really?" Ivy said, her eyes lighting up. "That sounds killer."
"It is," Olivia agreed.
"So what's wrong?"
Olivia sighed. "Do you ever think about our real parents, Ivy?"
"Every time my father drives me crazy," Ivy said, cracking a smile.
"I'm serious," Olivia said. "All this stuff about Great-aunt Edna has really got me thinking-- about our family and history and stuff. I mean, I love my mom and dad and I feel superlucky that they adopted me, but I wish so badly that we knew something, anything, about our biological parents. Who knows? Maybe we have grandpar- ents somewhere, or aunts and uncles and cousins. We could have a whole big family we don't even know about!"
"I thought about our parents a lot when we first found each other," Ivy said. "I'm lucky that my dad's seriously great and that now I have you. But I'd like to know more about where we came from."
"Exactly," Olivia agreed as they crossed the street in front of school. "I mean, who wrote the notes when they put us up for adoption?"
Ivy stopped in her tracks. "What notes?"
"You know," Olivia clarified, "the piece of paper they left with the baby's name and date of birth on it."
"I didn't get a note," Ivy said. Then she mur- mured, "At least not that I know of." She bit her lip thoughtfully as they resumed walking.
"So how did you find out about where you were born?" Olivia wondered aloud.
"My dad told me it was in the adoption file." Ivy replied. "But he never said anything about a note."
"Well, you should ask him. Serena Star doesn't have to be the only person in Franklin Grove determined to discover the truth," Olivia said.
"Thanks for reminding me." Ivy winced. "I only have until lunchtime to save all of vam- pirekind! But as soon as I get through with that, we'll dig up our parents together. Okay?"
"Sounds like a plan," said Olivia with a grin. "Good luck getting your quote!"
Ivy was already hurrying up the steps ahead of her. "I need it!" she called over her shoulder.
By the break before third period, Ivy was flitting around school like a bat that couldn't find its way out of a cave. Her sister came bouncing toward her, jacketless to reveal a pink long-sleeved T-shirt that had the word "Yay!" printed on it in blue bubble letters.
"Hey!" Olivia said. "Any luck?"
Ivy shook her head, feeling faintly sick.
Olivia's eyes widened. "You mean you still haven't found a quote?"