UnEnchanted Read online

  Claire walked out of the factory in a white lab jacket, yellow helmet, and goggles, but they did nothing to impede her model-like beauty. There were some obvious whistles and jabs among the boys, and even Brody stood a few inches taller as they tried to impress the tour guide. She smiled warmly at them and motioned the class to follow her into the factory. Her walk sashayed and her red heels clicked on the cement sidewalk to a rhythm that only she could hear.

  The boys followed mere inches behind the tour guide while the popular girls, including Savannah, hung back shooting hateful glares towards Claire. They flipped, powdered, and glossed their lips in preparation for what could only be described as an obvious retaliation. To the girls, a challenge was issued and a battle line was drawn; this meant war. Mina felt a moment of pity for the poor tour guide; she had personally seen what it was like to be on the receiving end of jealous girls from Kennedy High.

  Mina looked at Nan to see if she noticed, but Nan was preoccupied with her texting. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed Nan’s sleeve and led her after the group of students into the factory; Nan texting the whole way. Mina decided to hang back to what she deemed a safe distance between the love-struck boys and the hate-filled girls.

  Claire took them through fluorescent lit hallway lined with photo murals of the Babushka's baking factory’s history. She paused every few feet to explain the history. “This is our founder Larry Brimwell. In 1911 he started the bakery out of his two bedroom home and then moved it into a rented building in the international district in 1913.” A grainy black and white photo could be seen of a man with a white apron and hat, rolling small balls of chocolate on a small kitchen table. Out of focus and barely visible underneath the table was a small brown-haired boy playing with a wooden car.

  The next wall mural was depicting a smiling Mr. Brimwell outside of a small vacant building with a “For Rent” sign in the dirty paned window. A severe, unsmiling, stiff blonde woman stood next to Mr. Brimwell, one hand holding a small clutch purse, the other clasped the hand of the same young boy who was looking away from the camera. It was obviously his wife, Mrs. Brimwell. Mina stopped to stare at the picture of what was supposed to be a happy family. The picture seemed odd, forced and wondered what was really going on in Mrs. Brimwell’s mind.

  “It was Mrs. Brimwell who saw the potential of the turning the bakery into a full scale factory and invested all of her inheritance into the company against her father’s wishes. Soon after they purchased this current factory, Larry died of scarlet fever and his wife and son were left to take on the family business, alone.” Claire stopped speaking, her voice quavering for only a split moment, her eyes looked wet with tears, before she cleared her throat and bedazzled the group with her smile again. “Through hard work and perseverance they made it into the baking empire it is today.”

  “Who runs it now?” Pricilla Rose, or Pri for short, raised her hand and asked the question before being called on.

  “Why that would be Mr. Brimwell’s son.” Claire spoke offhandedly as if this information was impertinent.

  “Well that would make him almost a hundred years old,” Pri commented. “He must be very agile and have full control of his faculties to run such a large business at his age.

  “Silly me,” Claire chuckled. “Please forgive me, I meant to say his great grandson, B.J., who met you at the front door.” Heads bobbed in understanding but Pri didn’t seem satisfied.

  More facts were mentioned and the tour kept moving. Mina grabbed a chewed up pencil out of her backpack and her blue spiral Five Star notebook and aggressively began jotting down every fact that Claire spoke. Mr. West told them they would have a paper due concerning their tour, and Mina needed an A on this paper, badly. Sometime during the lecture on the usefulness of different sugars in the chocolate process, Mr. West had become separated from the tour group and not one of the students noticed their ward’s absence.

  Claire seemed to enjoy the extra attention from the boys, particularly Brody, and did nothing to discourage them otherwise. The tour went through the stock room, the drying room, and the mixing rooms. Every room looked the same, sterile and depressing; the workers even more so in their drab white coats, shower caps, and listless droning movements. The expression on every one of the workers face was the same; blank.

  Mina noticed that many of the students were becoming bored and more than a few could be seen trying to stifle their yawns, so as not to upset their guide. Mina felt her eyes start to go heavy as if she hadn’t slept in days.

  Slowly the atmosphere of the tour changed. Mina hardly noticed when the facts quit coming forth readily and Claire’s voice no longer echoed loudly enough to reach the back of the room. In fact, Claire had hardly spoken above a whisper for the last five minutes. The rest of the class became incidental as the tour now seemed to only consist of one V.I.P.; Brody.

  Claire would lean in and gently put her hand on his shoulder to direct him if he was turning the wrong way. She would whisper a comment that only he seemed to hear. Everything about the small movements and encounters between the two seemed odd, out of place. Claire stopped walking to listen to a comment that Brody made and she turned her head coyly to the side and laughed. Now Mina wished that she wasn’t at the back of the group, so she could hear what was said. But someone obviously did overhear; Savannah moved in for the kill.

  Savannah flipped her blonde hair and physically stepped between Claire and Brody and tried to turn the attention to her, unsuccessfully. Her nose turned up in challenge. “I heard that the factory is really not a factory at all but a front for illegal…” Claire’s eyes turned dark and Savannah froze unable to finish her sentence as Brody grabbed her elbow and turned on her, interrupting.

  “You have GOT to be kidding Savannah? Really, you want to do this now?”

  Savannah’s eyes went wide with confusion. “Do what now? Brody what are you talking about?”

  Brody’s voice grew louder and everyone stopped talking to listen in to what was sure to be the biggest argument of the semester and they were going to witness it firsthand.

  “It’s over between us. I’m sick of you, I’m sick of your dog, I’m sick of your childish ways, it’s time for you to grow up!” Brody looked feverish and tense. Sweat beaded off of his forehead.

  Savannah’s eyes glistened with tears and her perfectly cherry-glossed lip started to tremble. “You don’t mean that. Yesterday, you told me…”

  “Well that was yesterday and this is today. Don’t you get it? You’re too much of a baby.” The words left Brody’s mouth but they seemed awkward and forced. Savannah turned and ran back down the hallways towards the bathrooms. Pri dutifully ran after her.

  Claire turned to the group and smiled brightly. “Well now that that embarrassing scene is over with, let’s be on our way shall we?” Her smile was so blindingly bright that it was almost painful look at.

  Did no one else seem to notice the effect the bewitching tour guide was having on Brody and the boys? Apparently not. The girls were so upset by the obvious scandal of the break up that they were no longer paying attention to the tour but whispering among themselves excitedly. Mina could only guess it was because of the apparent and sudden availability of the hottest guy in school. No one ever could hold a grudge against Brody Carmichael.

  Nan nudged Mina and motioned to the group of girls with her chin. “I told you that everyone loves gossip. I’ve already been texted by three different people that aren’t even here that Brody and Savannah broke up and it only happened minutes ago.” Nan frowned and her fingers flew over the touchpad. “No, that’s not right. I was here, I saw it.” Nan began murmuring to herself as she tried to fix whatever new rumor was now flying through their high school ten miles away.

  Claire finally led the tour group to the third floor and was allowing the kids to walk the railed catwalk over the production floor. By now many of the students had become bored and started horsing around. It seemed that whatever love spell that once charmed them had
worn off and they were back to being normal, erratic teenage boys. All except for one hypnotized Brody. His movements become slower and he was transfixed by Claire’s every movement.

  Mina watched as Claire’s hand stroked Brody’s bicep in a demure manner. Warning bells went off in Mina’s head that something was definitely wrong. A tingling began in Mina’s hands and spread throughout her body and up her spine like an electric current. Jumping, Mina looked around and behind her for the source of the probing culprit, but no one was near her.

  Another intense feeling of wrongness overcame Mina and she felt as if she was being propelled forward through the crowd against her will. Mina tried to regain control of limbs but her body didn’t seem to cooperate. Flinging out a hand in a final act of desperation, the chewed up pencil Mina had been holding onto launched from her hand to land at the feet of Steven and Frank. The boys were distracted and looked to be having some sort of argument over a video game. Mina watched as the pencil rolled right in front of Steven’s foot, wincing when his foot came down and and he slipped on pencil. A domino effect occurred as Steven lost his balance and pitched forward into Frank.

  Frank, caught off guard, tried to catch his friend but ended up slamming backwards into Claire and Brody. Claire’s heel snagged in the catwalk and she stumbled headlong into Brody, pushing him towards the railing. But Mina’s bad luck continued as the rickety walkway that hung thirty feet in the air, shifted under the weight, causing everyone to lurch to the right.

  The sudden jostling woke Brody from his hypnotic state. Mina saw his sudden confusion, followed by shock as the catwalk tilted again. He stumbled backwards; his arms flailed widely as he reached for a hand railing and missed. His blue eyes filled with terror as fell backwards over the safety rail.

  Chapter 2

  Screams of horror reverberated off of the walls. Mina who had been walking steadily through the crowd the entire time was the closest to Brody. Adrenaline took over as she lunged for Brody missing his body entirely but grabbing the shoulder strap of his black Jansport backpack. Either his momentum was too strong, or something mysterious was at work because despite Mina’s efforts, Brody seemed to fly backwards over the railing.

  Mina gritted her teeth and held on to the backpack. The railing slammed into her stomach, causing her to cry out in pain. There was a moment of suspended animation when she thought she had him and they were safe, but then her feet slowly lost contact with the floor. Screaming, Mina started moving upward and over, her feet dangling uselessly. She was going to go over the railing with him. That was until hands grabbed Mina around the waist anchoring her. Brody and Mina’s downward momentum stopped with a jolt and a loud rip. Mina kept a death grip on the backpack strap and felt another surge of tingling cover her body making the hairs on her arms rise in protest.

  Brody had one arm through the other strap; it had slid down to his elbow. Reaching up he used his other hand to hold on to get a firmer grip. He stared upward, a panicked look on his face, the catwalk still swaying precariously.

  “Don’t worry! I got you, Brody.” Mina tried to sound comforting when her muscles burned and arms shook from the strain of holding on to someone twice her weight.

  “And I got you,” Nan’s voice was muffled from exertion. She was the one who grabbed Mina from going over. Other students began to aid in the rescue. Steven and Frank reached over to grab the backpack helping relieve the burden of Brody’s weight. They helped pull him up to where Brody was able to grab onto the lower safety bar.

  Their own safety set aside, a few students laid on their stomachs and knees to reach through the rails to grab onto Brody as he slowly pulled his own weight up to where his feet could find purchase on the catwalk.

  Mina felt like she couldn’t breathe until Brody had stepped back over the railing and was safe. Once he was out of danger she fell to her knees on the diamond shaped grating, ignoring the painful prods as she was overcome with a feeling of intense relief. Brody’s backpack was dumped on the floor next to her and it looked as if Brody was trying to lean down and talk to Mina, but Steven and Frank pulled him away in excitement. Mina looked at the ripped backpack and had to blink twice to see if she was delusional. The rip she had heard was Brody’s backpack ripping, and it was in the exact same place and size as the hole in her backpack from this morning. Only he could probably afford to buy a new one.

  Even though Brody was safe, Mina felt like she wasn’t. She felt as if she was being smothered. As if some unseen force was watching her, judging her, and the feeling was becoming unbearably strong. She felt trapped.

  Claire looked rattled and scared, her blonde hair disheveled, her safety hat gone. Limping she tried to stand and gain control of the students who were celebrating, hugging and crying. Several students slapped Mina’s back.

  “That was awesome!”

  “I can’t believe you acted to so quick?”

  “You saved his life.”

  “Way to go Grimes!”

  “I think it’s time we go,” Claire spoke, her eyes downcast shamefully. Everyone followed her to the closest emergency exit and down the steps to a side door that led outside. The bright sunlight touching the students' faces seemed to burn away the weary fog that had previously overtaken them.

  Mina felt the feeling of unease slightly diminish once she was a good distance away from the building, but it didn’t leave.

  They took the long way and walked around the side of the bakery until they came to the front entrance and the bus. Mr. West was there along with the gentlemen who had greeted them when they first arrived. For an irresponsible chaperone, Mr. West was quick to see that there was a problem. He read the agitation on Claire’s face and instantly came alert.

  “What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked her.

  “There was an unfortunate accident on the catwalk,” Claire spoke up, her face red with embarrassment.

  Mr. West’s eyes went wide in fear. His bald head looked like a pendulum as he began swinging it back and forth, trying to take a head count of his pack of unruly students.

  “Yeah, Brody almost died!” Steven blurted out. Savannah let out a high pitched squeak of alarm.

  “He fell backward off of the catwalk, but Grimes…I mean Mina, saved him!” Frank yelled.

  Nothing else could be heard over the roar of voices as everyone spoke up at once trying to relay their own version of the death-defying story. Mina was uncomfortable with all of the staring, so she tried to maneuver to the outside of the crowd and duck behind Nan, who no longer was preoccupied with her phone.

  B.J. paled and looked to Claire. “Is this true? How could you have let this happen?”

  Claire pinched her lips together angrily. “It wasn’t my fault; they were messing around on the catwalk and a support cinch failed.” She pointed at Steven and Frank.

  Mina’s stomach dropped and she felt sick. None of them knew the real reason. None of this would have happened if Mina hadn’t dropped her chewed up number two pencil. This whole mess started because of how clumsy Mina was and her inherited bad luck. It was another epic disaster to add to her list in her sock drawer at home. She felt so disheartened.

  “Why would you take them on the catwalk Claire?” B.J. accused. His round face turning red like a tomato with anger, but that didn’t dissuade Claire.

  “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve been taking people on the catwalk for years and it’s never bothered you before. It’s the best view of the factory floor and I’ve always ended the tours up there.”

  They drew closer together and the heated argument became undistinguishable amongst the growing babble of twenty students. Mr. West’s head seemed to be shaking in disbelief and he kept looking over at Mina skeptically. Mina didn’t blame him. She could hardly believe her own actions.

  “Brody!” Savannah cried out and ran to him, stopping short a few feet away. “Are you okay?” She asked hesitantly, unsure of her reception.

  Brody looked past her and over the heads of the students, searchi
ng for something or someone. It wasn’t until he panned the crowd and found Mina hiding behind Nan, that he finally responded. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he answered vaguely. Brody frowned when Mina didn’t look at him. He had been watching her and never once she did glance his way after she saved him. He tried to thank her for saving his life and was about to when Steven and Frank pulled him away.

  Why didn’t he ever notice how pretty Mina was? Brody guessed it was because he was always distracted or surrounded by girls so often they tended to blend into the background. And she was quiet, clumsy definitely, but reserved at the same time. It wasn’t until he was falling and had a second of monumental life-changing clarity, that he realized how far he had shut himself away from the world. Brody never really lived the life that he was capable of. Sure his family had money and he was considered a spoiled rich kid, but he hadn’t done anything to change the world.

  An instant later, he was given a second chance as someone grabbed his backpack, halting his descent. When Brody had looked up to see who had saved him, he almost let go of his backpack and fell to his doom from sheer shock. He never expected Mina, quiet, clumsy, shy Mina to be the heroic type. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was because he knew he was going to die, but when he saw that she couldn’t hold on to him, when he saw that she was falling over the railing with him. He felt his frozen heart thaw and beat loudly in his chest for what may have been the first time. NO! NOT HER!

  Brody didn’t want Mina to die and he felt a sudden fear, not for his life but for hers. He was actually preparing to let go of his pack and let himself fall, to save her, when someone grabbed her and anchored them both. That split second, that single breath, that one heartbeat that lasted an eternity changed Brody forever.

  “Brody, I’m so sorry!” Savannah spoke again interrupting his thoughts. “I’m sorry about how I acted in the factory. You’re right, I do need to grow up and I promise to never bring up my dog again in conversation.”