Don't Die Dragonfly (14 page)

Only half-listening, I shrugged, my attention focused across the room where Thorn was whispering with Velvet. I thought Velvet was giving a phone number when I overheard her say “four” and “ten,” but I could have been wrong. There was more whispering, then Thorn followed Velvet back into the candy room.

When Thorn reappeared minutes later, she was alone.

“What’s up?” I asked her. “Where were you just now?”

Her purple-black lips curved in a mysterious smile. “With Velvet.”

“Doing what?”

“Mixing up something for Blankenship.”

“What?” Manny asked, giving her a puzzled look. “We only came for a good luck sachet.”

“This is something extra.” Thorn handed Manny a small object wrapped in shiny foil. “It’s fragile, so hold it gently. And do NOT open it.”

“What’s inside?” Manny asked.

“A secret.” She pretended to zip her lips.

“Give us a hint,” I begged.

“Okay—a small one.”

Manny and I leaned close to listen.

“It won’t work unless you break it. Then if you want, you can eat it.” Her kohl-shadowed eyes sparkled. “And it tastes delicious.”

Lunch break the next day was torture. Josh talked me into joining his friends in the cafeteria, and I reluctantly agreed. Sitting across a table from Evan made each bite of my sandwich taste like cardboard.

Evan played me like a well-fed cat toying with a cornered mouse. He brought up the topic of double dating, then pretended to be hurt when I refused to go.

“That’s too bad,” he said sounding sincerely disappointed. “Have I done something to offend you?”

He actually looked me in the eye when he said this. I would have given anything to be honest. But Josh was watching. “Of course not,” I lied.

“Great! Let’s plan another double date. You can even pick the movie.”

“That’s so generous of you,” I said through clenched teeth.

“I’m just a nice guy,” he said with a chuckle. Then he turned to Josh, bringing up shared memories that excluded me.

In a final cruel twist of the knife, he turned and asked me, dripping with concern, “So, do you think they’ll ever find out who vandalized the school?”

I could only mumble, “I don’t know.”

So, Evan came off like a nice guy, and I sounded like a selfish jerk. It took extreme self-control not to fling my lunch in his face.

You won’t always win, I wanted to shout at Evan. Not everyone is dazzled by your cocky grin and football finesse. When you push people too far, they push back and they push hard.

I crossed my fingers under the table and thought about Manny’s plan. The
Shout-Out
was all over school, and Mystic Manny had students buzzing with curiosity.

* * *

By my last class, I was exploding with curiosity. “What’s been going on?” I asked Manny. “Any news? Has he talked to you yet?”

“Shssh!” Manny put his finger to his lips, then led me over to the back of the room. “And no, Mr. B hasn’t shown up.”

“But he’s had all day.”

“You think he’s going to discuss something this personal when anyone else is around? He’ll wait till school ends. Be patient.”

Why was everyone telling me to wait? Did I have “Impatient” tattooed on my forehead? Okay, so I wanted things to happen quickly. Like now.

After the final bell rang and only the teacher, Manny, and I were still in the computer lab, guess who showed up? Smoothing his garish polyester jacket, Mr. Blankenship cleared his throat nervously. Then he strode over to Manny and the two retreated to a quiet corner of the room.

I ducked behind a bulky computer terminal, close enough to hear Mr. B say, “ … my dog Zinc. I knew the message was meant for me. Your last column was right on the mark with the prediction about green meaning money—I found a ten-dollar lottery ticket the next day. So, I can’t ignore this. You’ll help, won’t you?”

“No prob,” Manny said smoothly. “I was expecting you.”

“Astonishing. You are truly a gifted young man.”

“It’s just what I do,” he said humbly, and I almost gagged.

“What precautions do I need to take?”

“Take this charm,” Manny offered. “It’ll ward off bad luck.”

“Unusual odor.” Blankenship sniffed, puckering his face. “But why do I need this when I already have a rabbit’s foot?”

“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?”

“Blankenship 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!”