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  Nan scribbled in her notebook and flipped up the edge so Mina could see what she wrote. News reporters, photographers, media in the gym.

  Mina's brows furrowed in confusion. “Why?” she mouthed quietly this time.

  Nan gave an exasperated head bob that could only mean one word, duh, and began scribbling in her notebook. This time only three words appeared on the lined paper.

  You and Brody!

  Mina's head began to shake back and forth in disbelief. This was exactly the kind of debacle she was afraid would happen. What if her mom found out and made them move?

  Nan rolled her eyes and began nodding her head in affirmation.

  Mina glared at Nan and shook her head violently, as if by this motion she could deny what Nan had said. Maybe she was joking.

  Nan widened her eyes, pinched her lips and grinned while nodding further. If someone else looked at Mina and Nan right then they would have seen two bobble heads at war with each other.

  Nan stopped nodding and scribbled in her notebook and held it for Mina to read. “Promise me that I get an insider’s scoop later.”

  Mina whispered, “okay.”

  Nan used her hand to cross her on heart. Mina smiled and did the same, the whole while shaking in her shoes. With a few more quick notes, Mina was able to discern what she had missed by being late that morning. Apparently an announcement had been made over the speakers and the assembly would take place during second period in the gym.

  What was supposed to be a glorifying rally seemed more like an executioner’s sentence. Why couldn't she be more like other kids and enjoy these things? Instead she was terrified and tried to think of ways to escape. Maybe she could feign sickness and go home. One look at Mrs. Porter sitting in her desk made Mina realize the futility of that plan. She would definitely make her tough it out or maybe even go so far as to escort her to the nurse’s office herself. Any other period and she knew she would be able to come up with some excuse and slip out unnoticed. Her only other option would be to leave as soon as the bell rang.

  The forty-five minute class seemed to drag on and Mina gave up trying to study for her algebra class. Her eyes began to water from staring at the clock for so long. Mina had actually grabbed her bag and was moving toward the door one second before the bell sounded.

  Yes! Mina escaped the room, turned right down the hallway toward the exit when she walked right into Principal Hame.

  “Ah, Mina! Just the person we were looking for. Please come with me.” His heavy hand on her shoulder felt like an iron manacle snapping around her neck. She watched someone exit the school doors and the sound of them closing reverberated in her ears, similar to a jail door being shut with finality. Mina winced.

  “Um, Principal Hame, I'm not feeling well this morning and think it would be beneficial if I went home, immediately.” She tried to slump her shoulders and look sick.

  “You can't leave now. We have something very special planned for you.” He brushed off her terrible acting and shuffled toward the office, pulling her alongside him. In the background, Mina heard the noise of lockers being shut and the excitement of students moving toward the gym. They loved any excuse to skip a class.

  Principal Hame guided Mina into his office and had her sit in one of the chairs facing his desk. His office was decorated with pigs and lots of them. Ceramic pigs, pig bobble heads, a Hog Heaven monthly calendar. Everywhere you looked there were pigs, mostly because his secretary gifted him with a pig decoration every bosses day, Christmas and birthday. Mina wasn't surprised at the pig decor; she had been in Principal Hame’s office on numerous occasions. They creeped her out at first and the ones dressed as clowns needed to be burned and shot. Mina knew she was a lost cause for tardiness when she began naming the pigs. She stared dejectedly at a ceramic pig with a red polka dot tie perched on Principal Hame’s desk. This one she named Lucky, because he was the least stupid looking of the collection.

  Principal Hame slumped into his chair and had a moment of awkwardness as his chair slid back three feet from the desk. After a few grunts and pushes, he maneuvered the chair back to the desk. He didn’t win any awards for being suave. “As you may have heard, Channel 6 and the Herald Stadium are here to do an interview with you about your heroic efforts yesterday. What I need to know Mina, is whether you love your school?”

  Mina was perplexed at the question. This was not what she expected to hear come from her Principal's mouth. “I don't understand Principal Hame?”

  Principal Hame coughed. “Well Mina, what I should be asking is maybe how much you like your school here and friends, Nan Taylor. It would be a shame if our school lost funding and had to close down because of bad publicity.”

  “How could this be bad publicity? I'm not sure I understand what your question is. Of course I love this school. I'm terrified of giving an interview and would actually prefer not to. So if you could find a way out for me, it would be appreciated.”

  “Mina you have to do the interview. I just want to make sure that you don't place blame on Mr. West for the incident that happened at Babushka’s. If it was publicized that he wasn't there when the accident occurred, it could be seen as negligence and we could lose our most valued supporters and be forced to cut funding or even, God forbid, close. The Carmichael's have a lot of powerful friends. I need to know whether you think Mr. West is to blame for the accident.”

  Mina was at a loss for words. “Of course not! He wasn't the one to blame it was my- no one’s fault. Just an accident.” she had almost said it was her fault. Mina had almost admitted the truth. Secretly she knew that it was her fault. How could she place blame on an absent teacher when she knew that even if Mr. West was there, the same events would have probably unfolded with the same outcome. It was just her bad luck that followed her everywhere. She couldn't possibly blame her teacher.

  Principal Hame smiled brightly. “Excellent! Glad to hear it. Well, we better get you to the gym.” He stood up and ushered Mina out the door, quickly following close on her heels.

  “No really, I'm not feeling that well and would rather go home,” Mina pleaded. In retrospect, she wished she had used the time in his office to try and blackmail him into letting her go home and not do an interview. But Mina wasn't assertive enough and just the idea of confrontation had her sweating.

  Again Principal Hame ignored her, “Make sure you tell the reporters how much you love our school. We would love to get a new pool installed you know. Good publicity equals good funding.”

  “But I...”

  “You heard me, do your school proud.” Principal Hame escorted Mina down the corridor and before she knew it she was at the gym. He entered the doors first and the feminine voice of Vice Principal Merris talking on the microphone filtered into the hall where Mina stood frozen.

  She tried to take a few breaths to calm herself before entering the double doors; maybe she could slide onto the risers without anyone knowing she was late. Mina pulled the hoody over her head to hide her identity and with a quick pull similar to yanking off a band aid, she opened the door and ducked in. She was almost to the nearest bleacher and about to sit down when Nan spotted her and waved. Mina knew something bad was about to happen when she realized Nan wasn’t waving at her but at a large group of people off to the side.

  “THERE SHE IS!” Nan yelled waving at the Reporters while pointing to Mina.

  Yep. Mina thought to herself, she was definitely going to kill Nan.

  Principal Hame sauntered proudly to the center and took the mic from Vice Principal Merris. “And here she is: Kennedy High School’s own real life heroine. Wilhelmina Grime!” He started clapping which caused a chain reaction amongst the whole student body.

  Mrs. Colbert, the music teacher, came forward and gently led a nervous Mina to the half court line in the gym. Principal Hame heartily slapped Mina’s back as if she was a linebacker instead of a five-foot-four girl. Mina choked back a snappy retort, when a bright flashing light blinded her. Photographers appeared
from nowhere, the band started playing the school theme song and the whole student body began stomping on the bleachers.

  No longer was the air filled with cries of Slimy Grimy, Loser or Nerd, but her name; they were chanting her full and much-hated, antiquated name, Wilhelmina Grimes. Everyone, except for one tall good-looking boy. Mina felt her heart sink when she saw that Brody Carmichael wasn’t standing with the other students, chanting or cheering for her. He was sitting. Just sitting and staring at her, brows furrowed, leaning forward to see her over the crowd. When she briefly made eye contact, what she saw in his eyes scared her. He didn’t look happy, he looked mad.

  “Mina, tell us what happened at Babushka’s Bakery, the day you saved the Carmichael’s son from certain death?” The reporter from the Channel 6 news station thrust a microphone in front of Mina’s face. Another flash from the Herald Stadium newspaper photographer caught her off guard, making her dizzy. But that wasn’t what irritated Mina, it was the reporter's poor choice of words.

  “He has a name.” Mina shot back, furious that the reporter would refer to as the Carmichael’s son, and not by his name. She thought he deserved better.

  “Of course he does,” The reporter countered absentmindedly. “Are you going to answer the question?”

  “Not until you rephrase your question correctly.”

  “Now Mina,” Principal Hame interjected. “Now’s not the time to argue semantics. They are doing a lovely story on our school and on you because of what happened yesterday. It will be good publicity and may even help us get grants for our library.”

  “Of all the self-centered, hare brained….” Mina stuttered under her breath, knowing that no one outside of the few feet around them could hear them over the band. What a game was the principal playing, earlier he mentioned a pool and now it's a library.

  “Ah ah ah. Now remember it’s for the good of the school,” Principal Hame chided.

  “Fine! There was some rough-housing on the catwalk, someone fell into BRODY CARMICHAEL,” Mina spoke his name loudly. “And he fell over the safety railing.”

  “And you saved him?” The reporter asked disbelievingly.

  “Yeah, I guess I did. I wasn’t thinking, I just reacted. I grabbed for him and got his backpack. I started to go over the railing too except that Nan…” Mina pointed to her friend who was screaming in the bleachers, “grabbed me and saved both of us. She’s the real hero of the story, not me. She even sacrificed her iPhone in the attempt to save us both.” As soon as Mina directed to attention to Nan, the reporter and her flock of photographers moved on and up the bleachers toward a surprised Nan Taylor.

  “That was a brave thing you did,” Mrs. Colbert leaned in and whispered over her shoulder.

  Mina shrugged. “I didn’t do anything special. I only did what anyone else in my situation would have done.”

  “I’m sure that is NOT the case, but you can keep telling yourself that if it will help you sleep better.” Mrs. Colbert smiled knowingly. Her short spiky hair, blue colored wing- tipped glasses gave her that alternative edge that students loved. Her unique quips and riddles left you often times more confused than enlightened.

  “Why are they not interviewing Brody? I thought for sure they would be all over him instead of me.” Mina glanced over her shoulder to see a furious Brody glaring in her direction again. She swallowed nervously.

  “They can’t. The Carmichael family has forbidden the newspapers or paparazzi from harassing their son.”

  “But I thought no one could silence the media, they do whatever they want?” Mina looked back up toward where Brody was now sitting. Not a single photographer bothered him. Another flash of light in Mina’s direction, and she was seeing stars again.

  “That’s what they want you to think, but the biggest pocketbook speaks loudest.” She grinned causing her cheek to dimple. “They allow their names, photos and stories to be printed, but the Carmichael’s control all publicity regarding their son.” Mrs. Colbert walked away to settle down Steve and Frank who took their shirts off and were waving them above their heads in typical teenage boy fashion, trying to get on the news.

  Mina stayed in the gym and all through the next hour had to retell the same story over and over. It was torture of the worst kind. Mina didn’t think it could have gotten any more humiliating. It did, because by lunchtime she was on YouTube.

  “That was exciting!” Nan gushed as she pushed her tray along the lunch line. She was wearing another black shirt, this time dedicated to a certain sparkly vampire. She picked up an apple, turkey sandwich and a pink frosted cupcake from the line and swiped her lunch card through the electronic reader.

  Mina was too stressed to eat. She grabbed chocolate milk from the cooler and paid, following Nan to their favorite table by the corner window. They were stopped three times by students wanting pictures and autographs.

  “I bet your followers have doubled,” Mina commented as Nan waved cheerily at the group of freshmen who kept pointing and whispering.

  “Tripled! But who’s counting?” she smiled. Obviously Nan was.

  Mina opened her milk, and began to think about her string of bad luck getting to school.

  “What’s with the scowl?”

  “Ugh, you wouldn’t believe the morning I had.”

  “I know, I was here, remember.”

  “No, I’m talking about before I even got to school.” Mina began to relay the entire morning’s crazy events even up to Principal Hame's office but that isn’t what stuck with Nan.

  “WHAT!” Nan squealed, kicking her legs excitedly under the table. “Are you serious? You get to go to Brody Carmichael’s house today?”

  “Nan, you’re not listening. Something strange is going on, I think I’m going crazy.” She looked out the window and could see the sky begin to turn green, the surest sign that a storm was coming.

  “You bet you are. How come you didn’t tell me you’re going to Brody’s house as soon as you saw me?”

  “Nan you’re missing the point.”

  “No I heard it. You’re being terrorized by strange household domestic animals; I’ll buy you some repellent.”

  “Don't forget the donkey. I don't know if I would call that a household domestic animal. What do you make of that?”

  “You said yourself it could have been a large dog. But do you hear yourself? You are going to Brody’s house. You’ve had a crush on him for two years. When were you going to tell me?”

  “I’m telling you now!” Mina argued.

  “Are you excited?” Nan bit her lip and leaned in eagerly, her hands itching for her iPhone.

  “Not really, because I don’t really plan on going there. I was hoping you would go for me,” Mina pleaded and slid the blue folder with the sticker of the Happy Maids logo across the table to Nan.

  Nan looked at the folder in shock and slid it back. “Uh, no! This is your dreamy stalker moment, not mine. You do it.”

  “I can’t Nan. I just can’t.” Mina looked at Nan and pleaded silently. “I’m not ready to talk to him.”

  Nan peeled the paper from around her cupcake and gave it a bite. “If you can’t talk to him now, after you saved his life, you’re never going to talk to him. Besides I have a good feeling about this. Trust me.”

  Mina wished she could say that she did trust Nan. But every time Nan said those two words, she usually ended up in trouble.

  “So how’s Charlie?” Nan quickly changed the subject.

  “He’s doing well; he really likes the new school.” Mina knew what her friend was trying to change the subject and she let Nan get away with it.

  “Do they think they can get him to talk?” Nan asked swiping her finger through the frosting on her cupcake. Mina’s brother Charlie was born shortly after her father died, and even though the doctors could find nothing physically wrong with him, he never spoke.

  “They hope so. They seem to think it’s because he was in the womb when Dad died, that he absorbed some of Mom’s post-trauma
tic depression or something.”

  “What do you think?” Nan asked, licking the rest of the frosting from her fingers.

  “I think Charlie never spoke because he never needed to.”

  “You still think he will just one day awake from whatever silent spell he’s under and begin talking, like some sort of fairy tale.”

  “Nan, you know I don’t believe in fairy tales.” As soon as the words left Mina’s mouth, a crash of thunder shook the cafeteria and the lights flickered on and off. Girls screamed in fright and the boy’s laughed out loud, pointing fingers and trying to re-scare some of the girls.

  “Whoa…freaky!” Nan bobbed her head and looked around in wonder. “That was cool.” They looked out across the campus and could see the wind begin to pick up but no visible rain or thunderclouds yet.

  “It’s just a storm,” Mina tried to answer carelessly. But her heart was racing with adrenaline. When it finally settled, Mina went on, “But Nan if I believed in fairy tales, then wouldn’t there have to be a dashing Prince that comes rushing in to save me from my pathetic life?”

  “Well, you know,” Nan began to counter, trying to bring up what she saw on the bus yesterday.

  “Forget it. There are no happily ever afters. Look at my mom; she’s a maid for crying out loud, a widowed mother with two children. Where’s her happy ending?” Mina opened her chocolate milk and took a drink. “There are no such things as fairy tales.” Another crash of thunder shook the metal roof of the ceiling, causing Mina to spill chocolate milk down her jacket. A downpour of rain followed a second after, pinging loudly on the roof.

  “Do you see what I mean?” Mina pulled her wet hoody away from her body as she tried to wipe up the mess with a wad of napkins. “I’m cursed to be a loser forever.”

  “You know Mina.” Nan said thoughtfully as she grabbed napkins, that didn’t have any hint of frosting on them, to help her friend. “Not every tale has a happy ending. In fact many of them are grim.”