UnEnchanted
Chanda Hahn
Smashwords 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Chanda Hahn
Photo by Jorge Wiegand
Cover design by Chanda Hahn
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
To Richlie Fikes
Because you always asked me what was going to happen next…
Table of Contents
Today, I saved Brody Carmichael’s life!
Mina penned the jubilant words into her blue spiral notebook with her favorite ball point pen. She faithfully used the same pen when writing all of her entries, in hopes that it would change her luck and she could write something good in her notebook-- like today. Mina stared at the words written before her in her sloppy script and felt a pang of guilt. She started to close the notebook but paused in thought. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t seem… truthful. With a heavy hand and a heavy heart she added in parentheses next to her previous entry:
(Today was also the day I almost KILLED Brody Carmichael).
Feeling slightly better about telling the truth, she closed her notebook titled “Unaccomplishments and Epic Disasters” and tucked it in her dresser drawer with a sigh.
Nothing in the world ever went right for fifteen-year-old Mina. She was always late for class, her homework usually looked as if it had spent the evening being a chew toy for a pit bull when she didn’t even own a dog, her long-time crush didn’t know she existed, and she frequently spilled chocolate milk on herself whenever she became nervous. Mina was certain it was because she was the magnet for all the bad, terrible and so-so luck that existed in the world and therefore kept a notebook hidden in her unorganized sock drawer to prove it.
All of these events turned her into a cynic, especially since yesterday morning started out like any other event-filled disastrous day.
***
Mina dreamed she was flying. She was much more graceful in the air than on the ground where her feet always seemed to be tripping her up. But her peaceful dream was interrupted by the loud banging and crashing of thunder. She was no longer flying… but falling.
“Ouch! What the…?” Mina cried out, as she landed painfully on the mismatched oak wood floor of her bedroom. She had fallen out of bed. Struggling to untangle herself from her sheets and comforter, Mina saw a pair of small bare feet poking out of blue Toy Story pajamas standing next to her.
“Charlie, what are you doing?” she mumbled, still wrestling with her sheets.
Charlie, a young and solemn boy of eight, pointed towards Mina’s clock that was blinking 12:00 midnight. In his hands he held a pot and wooden spoon, obviously the culprit of the loud crashing thunder she heard in her dreams. The power must have gone out again, which was a regular occurrence for their city block.
“What time is it?” Mina asked, already feeling the dread build, knowing that today she was going to be late… again.
Charlie held up one hand pinching his ring finger and thumb together to sign the number seven.
“Charlie, how could you have let me sleep in so long? I’m going to be late!”
Charlie answered by shrugging his shoulders and banging on the pot with his wooden spoon. Mina knew that it wasn’t Charlie’s fault; she was a very deep sleeper. Her mother, Sara, said that she was harder to wake up than Sleeping Beauty. In Mina’s case, though, there was no prince charming to rescue her from her snoring, and with her horrible luck, there never would be.
Jumping up, Mina grabbed what she hoped was a clean pair of jeans from a random pile of clothes that littered her floor and slid into them. Silently she thanked her mother for never giving in to the skinny jean fad, otherwise her dressing time would have doubled. Next, she shoved her feet into her favorite Converse All Stars, bending the backs in the process.
Picking up a blue zipper hoody, Mina gave it a cursory sniff before deeming it clean enough to wear. She ran her fingers through her long brown hair trying to tame the stray locks, which were the same boring color as her eyes; brown. She stuck her tongue out at her own reflection in the mirror and pulled on her eyelid like a bad Japanese anime.
Giving a quick kiss on her brother’s head, Mina ran into the small sixties retro kitchen that was forever frozen in time, and grabbed her backpack from the breakfast table. Turning, Mina heard a rip as the backpack clung stubbornly to the back of the chair. The chair won and the shoulder strap ripped off of the back of the bag, causing all of her books to crash to the floor in a heap.
Sighing, Mina threw each book back into the bag and did her best to hold it shut while she scoured the kitchen drawers for safety pins.
Hearing the crash, Sara Grime walked into the kitchen with a quizzical look on her face. She was dressed in her work clothes; tan pants, blue polo with a stitched outline of a feather duster and a smiling mop. Sara worked for Happy Maids, cleaning homes so she could afford the tuition to send Charlie to a private school. Sara worked long hours without ever complaining, which was why Mina never allowed her mother to enter her pigsty of a room.
“Mom, did you sign my permission form?”
“What permission form?” Sara asked distractedly as she put a raspberry Pop Tart into the toaster for her daughter.
“For today’s field trip to Babushka’s Bakery. We are getting a factory tour. I gave it to you last week.”
“Oh, honey,” Sara wrung her hands worriedly. “Don’t you think it would be better if you didn’t go on the field trip? You know how clumsy you are. What if something should happen to you?”
“Mom, I have a paper to write on today’s trip and it’s worth a quarter of my grade.” Mina had finally found a few safety pins in a junk drawer and was fumbling with them to attach the strap back on to her backpack. She knew they didn’t have enough money to buy another one. She would have to make do with a quick mend.
“Well, maybe you could do some extra credit instead?” Sara wheedled, trying to get out of signing the permission form.
“Mom, I’ll be fine. I’ll stick to Nan like glue and you won’t have to worry about me. It’s just a boring bakery tour. What could possibly go wrong, other than I die of boredom?” Mina saw the look on her mom’s face and knew that she had won the argument, barely.
Going to a stack of mail by the fridge, Sara sifted through it until she pulled out the folded yellow permission form. Signing it, she handed it to Mina with one last warning. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will,” Mina promised, knowing it was a half-truth. She would be careful, but bad luck had a habit of following her everywhere.
Charlie shuffled into the kitchen still wearing his pajamas, but now he added a pair of yellow galoshes to the outfit. Sitting on a slightly dented chair, he pulled one of the boxes of cereal on the table towards him and began his morning routine of combining random cereals into one bowl. Today he chose Franken Berry, Cheerio’s and Grape-Nuts. A far cry from his normal combination of at least five cereals, he was obviously distracted today. The thought of eating cereal made Mina’s stomach drop in disgust, which was why she preferred Pop Tarts.
The toaster released her Pop Tart and Mina grabbed it midair, wishing she hadn’t as she began tossing it back and forth in her hands until it cooled. Once cooled enough, it went into her mouth while she slipped on her temporarily fixed backpack and darted out the door to grab her bike from the landing.
The Grime family lived in a small rented apartment above The Golden Palace, a Chinese restaurant, run by Mr. and Mrs. Wong. Mina loved living above the restaurant, unless she forgot to close her window the night before, then all of her clothes would smell like peanut oil. To make up for it, Mrs. Wong gave Mina all the pot stickers she could eat.
Mina carried the bike down the stairs to the sidewalk, nicking the paint from the wall on the way down. She had a love-hate relationship with the red 1950 Schwinn bike. She hated it because last year, on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, she thought she was being led outside blindfolded to be presented with a car. Instead she got the bike. The bike was old, scuffed, needed new brakes, oil and tires, but Mina didn’t care.
Once she got over the disappointment, and realized how unrealistic a car would be on her family’s tight budget, she began to love it. The bike allowed her some freedom. Besides, if Mina’s riding ability was any indication of her driving ability with a learner's permit, then the world would have been in for another terrible driver and a lot of dented mailboxes.
Swinging her bike onto the sidewalk, Mina waved to Mrs. Wong and barely missed colliding into an old lady walking her gaggle of toy poodles. “Sorry!” Mina yelled, losing a chunk of the Pop Tart she was still holding in her mouth. She watched in disgust as the poodles, who only minutes ago looked cute and cuddly, morphed into snapping, sugar-crazed dogs. They attacked the Pop Tart with a hungry vengeance, nipping each other angrily. The lady stared in shock as she tried to get control of her wild, pampered babies. Mina shrugged apologetically in response.
Ten minutes later, after cutting through two back streets and riding across three neighbors' back yards, Mina arrived at school. The school yard was devoid of human life, giving Mina the undeniable impression that she was tardy. She left her bike by the bike rack, but without a proper kickstand it sagged pathetically to one side against the nicer, newer bikes.
Running toward the bus barn, Mina was relieved to see the field trip bus was still there, until it pulled away from the curb.
“No!” Mina yelled, running after the bus, trying desperately to catch the notice of the driver.
A window slid down and a familiar blonde head popped out with something silver in her hand, “Mina, you really need to get a watch.”
“Nan! Tell him to stop!” Mina cried, feeling a stitch begin in her side.
“And a cell phone! You really need to be brought out of the dark ages. I could have called you.” The girl just kept talking, impervious to Mina’s desperation and waning stamina.
“NAN! Snap out of it! Stop the bus!” Mina screamed huffing and puffing.
“Oh, right!” The blonde head popped back inside. A moment later the bus slowly decelerated and pulled to the curb.
Out of breath, and slightly limping from the side stitch, Mina finally boarded the first steps of the bus. The bus driver gave her an indignant look; this would probably delay their arrival and he was a stickler for being on time. Mina ignored him and stepped to the front row where her teacher was sitting to hand him her permission form.
“You really should have been on time,” Mr. West commented. His balding head glistened from the heat of the already too warm bus.
“I’m sorry,” Mina answered quietly. “We had a power outage.”
Mr. West looked over her permission form and then nodded for Mina to take a seat. Walking toward the back of the bus was like being in a bad slow-motion dream. She had no choice but to be the recipient of twenty-some odd stares. Mina now knew what Forrest Gump felt like as she walked the aisle. But luckily for her, someone was saving a seat for her; Nan Taylor.
Ducking her head and sliding into the seat next to Nan, Mina poked her in the side in revenge. “That’s for making me run for so long.”
Nan grinned, showing perfect white teeth. Today she was wore an “I <3 Jacob Black” shirt, skinny jeans, and black flats. Nan was the exact opposite of Mina in every way, which was why they probably got along so well. Nan was always amused by Mina’s obvious lack of knowledge in all things social and popular.
“Well, maybe if you got a cell phone, you could have texted me you were running late,” Nan quipped, pulling out her latest iPhone, fingers flying over the touchpad.
“What are you doing? Are your chirping?” Mina asked accusingly.
Nan rolled her eyes and laughed, “Really, Mina, it’s called tweeting.”
“Okay. Are you tweeting?”
“Of course,” Nan smirked.
Mina’s stomach sank. “About what?” She had a feeling she already knew the answer. She saw something in Nan's hand when she had previously opened the window and leaned out.
“Oh, nothing much. I’m just tweeting the picture of you running like a madman after the bus to all of my followers.”
"Followers" made it sound like some sort of cult.
“Nan, how many followers do you have?” Mina hoped the number hadn’t gone up.
“Well, after yesterday’s rant about the garbage they pass off as lunch, I’m up to about three hundred.” She clicked "update" and immediately chiming could be heard from multiple phones on the bus. Snickers and heads turned Mina’s way pointing and whispering the words “loser” and “nerd”.
“Nan! How could you?” Mina whispered, scrambling over Nan so she could be by the windows and out of direct line of sight to most of the riders. Pulling her backpack up over her head, she hid behind the bag.
Nan made a chiding sound. “Mina, you need to learn to laugh at yourself; I’m trying to get you noticed. Hardly anybody knows who you are.”
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be the center of that kind of attention. I certainly wouldn’t.”
Nan raised one eyebrow in disbelief. “Nonsense. Everyone wants to get at least some attention. Well, except for you. You are the only one who doesn’t care whether people even know your name. Really Mina, It doesn’t even matter whether it’s good or bad, lies or truth, everyone wants to be popular; to be known for something.” Nan was the friendliest and most outgoing girl in the school. Everyone seemed to like Nan, not because she was popular or smart, but because she was fun and real.
“Not me,” Mina shrugged nonchalantly.
“Does that go for gossip as well?” Nan asked slyly.
“Yep, not interested in others’ either,” Mina snipped.
“So, I guess, in that case, you wouldn’t care about the current eligibility status of a certain boy?” Nan knew that her best friend had a secret crush on Brody Carmichael ever since her family moved here.
“Brody and Savannah broke up?” Mina sat up straight in disbelief, knocking her backpack to the floor.
“Ah ha! See, you are interested,” Nan smirked knowingly.
“No, I’m not,” Mina shrugged, trying to act disinterested.
“Yes, you are,” Nan taunted. She was right, Mina did want to know.
“Okay, fine… Did they?” Mina felt a flower of hope start to bloom and then shrivel up dead at Nan’s next statement.
“No, but see! Wouldn’t you want to know if they did?”
“I hate you Nan Taylor!” Mina shot out. “You’re a dream killer, you know that right? KILLER. K-I-L-L...”
“Gee, Grimy, keep it down,” a male voice shot out from behind their seat.
Mina’s face flushed red and she finished spelling at a softer level, “E-R.” Mina hated her last name. Grime was an easy target for name-calling: Grimes, Slime, Grimy. She couldn’t wait until she got married and could legally change her name; if Mina could ever overcome her awkwardness and talk to a boy.
Sitting back, Mina let Nan talk on about the latest episode of Glee and even sang a few bars from the new hit single she downloaded on her iPhone. Mina didn’t even own an iPod, the closest thing she had was an old CD player. That was something else about Nan, she was addicted to Glee and every popular reality show on TV. Mina didn’t understand her best friend’s infatuation. Mina’s own life was already a reality show; why did she need to watch someone else’s life?
The bus reached Babushka's Bakery, and all of the wary and bored teenagers filed off and waited in groups. This was Mina’s chance to scan the crowd and find the tall blonde-haired Brody Carmichael. Sure enough, he was standing next to Savannah White, who looked every bit a princess, with her long white-blonde hair, porcelain skin, and big blue eyes. Brody seemed distracted as Savannah latched possessively onto his arm, marking her territory as only a female could.
Brody was the fantasy of every girl’s dream. He was a perfectly blended cocktail of aristocrat and jock. The Carmichaels prided themselves on family lineage and could follow their founding members to when they first came over on the Mayflower. They raised racehorses, owned a clothing company, and were by far the richest family in the state. Yet, Brody never let it get to his head. He never raised his voice, never bullied anyone, and seemed completely oblivious to his social status and effect on girls.
Mina’s daydreaming was interrupted as a short, plump man hurried out of the gray, brick factory.
“Welcome, we are so glad to have you here. You can call me B.J.,” the man said, smiling and wiping what was obviously the remains of his breakfast, consisting of powdered doughnut, from his face. “Let me introduce your tour guide, Claire. She will take you around the factory and answer any questions you have.”
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 with 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 a 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, almost forced. Mina wondered what was really going on in Mrs. Brimwell’s mind.
“It was Mrs. Brimwell who saw the potential of 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. His wife and son were left to take on the family business, alone.” Claire stopped speaking, her voice quavering for only a split second, 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 stockroom, 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. 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 hallway 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, looking at one of the texts, 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 her 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 he slipped on the 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 he 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. Suddenly, 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 onto 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. 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 were 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 quickly!”
“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 became 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 was no longer 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 inherent 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, searching 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 did she glance his way after she saved him. He tried to thank her for saving his life 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 that 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.”
Her bottom lip trembled in a way that used to make him give in to anything she wanted, but her words confused him. “Savannah, what are you talking about?”
“About our argument in the factory?”
“What argument?” Brody was starting to get frustrated. He had been trying to think back on the last hour and was having problems recalling anything past the tour guide’s name.
“You don’t remember?” Savannah asked.
“No, I don’t remember much of anything after getting off of the bus. This whole morning is kind of a haze.” Brody felt himself start to lose his balance. “I think I should go home.”
Hope filled Savannah’s face and her lip quit trembling when she realized Brody didn’t remember their breakup. “You’re right, Brody, we should get you home.” She clutched his arm possessively and led him toward the bus and a panicked Mr. West.
“Brody, my boy, I hope your family doesn’t think it was negligence on my part. I got called away on an important phone call.” Mr. West placed his hand on Brody’s shoulder and gave a wary glance toward B.J. Turning toward the rest of the students, he called out in the tone that only a teacher can do. “All right students, lets load up.”
Mina filed behind Nan and Pri and waited to board the bus. She watched as unsteady Brody was led up the steps onto the bus with the help of Savannah.
“Well, I guess that was the shortest breakup in history,” Pri mumbled sarcastically.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Nan said, thoughtfully glancing at Brody. She watched him take a window seat and stared balefully out it toward her direction. Nan knew he wasn’t glancing at her, but at the clueless Mina behind her. Nan looked between the two of them and smiled to herself. He WAS staring at Mina.
“I mean, I don’t even know what he sees in her?” Pri kept ranting, like a frustrated teenage girl.
“Don’t worry, Pri. I have a feeling that the makeup is only temporary.” Nan turned to Mina who looked as if she was going to throw up from all of attention and talk that was now aimed her way. She couldn’t wait to tell her about Brody’s sudden interest, but after taking one look at the panicked Mina, Nan decided to hold her tongue. She would tell Mina at a different time, when she could get the biggest rise out of her.
Mina was going to be sick. She knew it. Her guilt was making her a nervous wreck. Should she apologize to Brody? That would mean she would have to go up to him and actually speak to the world’s most handsome boy. Definitely not. Maybe she could slip him a note? That wouldn’t do. What if his family sued hers? Yep, Mina was going to puke.
Mina felt a nudge from behind and she glanced up and saw that she needed to step onto the bus. When she did, she immediately wanted to get off as rows of students started clapping and calling out her name. Keeping her head down, Mina hastily made her way to the back of the bus and slid down as far as she could into her seat, in an attempt to hide. Nan slid in next to her.
“Kinda nice to be sitting next to a celebrity,” Nan laughed.
“No, it’s not. It’s horrible,” Mina groaned. “You were wrong. I don’t want to be popular.”
“Maybe I should get your autograph and sell it on eBay. Or better yet, I could auction off your old English papers. I wonder how much money I would get for a D plus?” Mina looked terrified at the prospect. “Then I could buy that new handbag I wanted,” Nan teased.
“I hope you choke on the handbag,” Mina shot back.
Nan chuckled and quit making ribs at Mina’s expense. She leaned out the bus aisle to take a peek. Sure enough everyone was still looking toward her, pointing and whispering in her direction. Sighing in regret, she leaned back dramatically and drummed her fingers on her thighs.
Mina noticed the lack of an electronic accessory in Nan’s hands and decided to comment. “Aren’t you going to tweet this? I thought for sure you would have taken fifty photos by now and embarrassed me further to your followers?”
“Can’t,” Nan sighed wistfully.
“Why not?”
“I don’t have my iPhone anymore.”
“What happened?”
“I threw it off the catwalk as soon as I saw you were in trouble.” She held out both hands palms up as if weighing imaginary items. “I mean, come on, it was either hold on to my stupid phone or save my best friend’s life. Duh! Not a tough decision.”
Mina reached over and hugged Nan as tightly as she could. She knew how much Nan’s life revolved around that stupid phone and her friend did help save her.
Nan made gagging noises as Mina squeezed harder and harder. “Gee, let go, let go.”
“Thank you, Nan,” Mina smiled.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re indebted to me for life. You’re my eternal slave and must sacrifice yourself to save me now. You owe me three wishes, etcetera, etcetera, blah, blah, blah.” Nan waved her hands in the air like it was nothing.
Mina and Nan sat back down in the seats and listened to the harmony of a busload of students, texting, talking and playing games on their cell phones. The chiming noise was a constant reminder of her loss.
“Nan?” Mina began, getting ready to apologize again.
“Don’t!” Nan snapped, holding her pink polished finger up to silence any more words. “I already regret it.”
Mina laughed.
Mina hadn’t told her mother what had happened at Babushka’s because she knew how she would react…badly. Sara was an extremely overprotective mother and anytime a crazy unexplained accident happened to Mina, she would pick up the family and move, no questions asked. Mina wasn’t really sure why.
In first grade, Mina took a trip to the zoo and was overcome with anxiety as all the animals in the petting zoo started following her around. They had moved the following week.
In fourth grade Mina's garden-variety science project produced two car-sized pumpkins overnight, they moved the next day.
In seventh grade during Home-Ec., Mina kept falling asleep during her knitting projects. Sara told the school it was mono and their family was packed by the time Mina got home.
Mina knew that what happened yesterday was worse than any of her other unpleasant accidents, which was why Mina kept the list. She hoped to one day find hidden a link to these disasters that made her mother want to bolt to a different city and state.
She was just lucky that her mother wasn’t close friends with any of the moms from school. If she was, Mina might come home from school to find their small apartment packed up in boxes and a moving truck in the alley.
“Mina?” Sara peeked her head into her daughter’s room and took one look at the floor and decided to try and look at the walls instead, anything to distract herself from the obvious piles of teenage debris. When Mina didn’t answer, Sara braved the obstacle course of clothes and magazines and walked into her daughter's dark room to open the blinds and window to let out the stuffiness and let in the light.
“Ahhhh, MOM!” Mina answered, throwing the comforter back over her head to protect herself from the onslaught of fresh air and light, both of which were toxic to a very sleepy teenager. Grumbling, she curled up under the covers and tried to ignore her mother’s movements throughout her room. All she wanted was to lie in bed comatose for another few hours as she gathered her thoughts and strength to face another day at school. Was that too much to ask? When Sara stubbed her toe on an unidentified object in Mina’s room, she let out a gasp of pain but held back any forthcoming remarks. Mina bit her lip guiltily under the covers knowing she really needed to clean up her room and was grateful that her mother never harangued her about it.
“I have to pick up a few things before taking Charlie to school. So we are heading out now. I’ll be late coming home because my boss, Terry, called and I’ve been asked to drop off a Happy Maids’ packet at the Carmichaels’ residence.”
“Wait! What? NO!” Mina shrieked sitting up in bed and throwing the comforter behind her. “I mean, don’t they have live-in maids? Why would they want to employ another company?” Mina knew that whatever happened she could not let her mother go to the Carmichael’s. What if they told her mother about what happened at the bakery? What if they tried to thank Sara? No. Mina couldn’t let that happen.
“Well, maybe they heard what a great job we do and want to hire the best. We definitely could use the extra money.” Sara looked at the piles of clothes and sighed wearily. She loved her daughter so much, and tried to give her the best that a single mother could. She spoiled her in the only way she knew how. God knew that it’d been hard on her ever since her husband James passed away when Mina was six. It wasn’t until after James’ funeral that Sara realized she was pregnant with Charlie. So Sarah tried to be a good mother and provider, and tried to not be a nag about the small things like a messy room.
“What if I do it?” Mina shot out without thinking.
“Do what, honey?” Sara nudged a pair of dirty socks with her shoe over to what she assumed was a dirty clothes pile.
Mina had to think fast. “I lent Brody my notes on a class so I have to go over there today anyhow. So give me the packet and I’ll drop it off for Mrs. Carmichael.”
Sara thought about it. “Well, that would work, because then I wouldn’t be late to the Brown’s. Why, thank you, Mina,” Sara smiled.
Mina tried and failed to return her mother’s smile when the full implications of what she had volunteered to do hit her. Mina was an idiot.
Sara put the packet on the kitchen table and Mina watched as her younger brother, wearing a Superman cape, followed her out the door. Mina ran back to her bedroom, grabbed a purple pillow off of her bed and screamed hysterically into it dancing around the room.
Green movement captured Mina’s attention and she froze when she realized that her mother had opened her window and blinds. Mrs. Orn, the eighty-year-old cat lady from the building next door, was watching her with a look of total disdain. She happened to be watering her window box full of daisies when Mina had made her dancing debut.
“Sorry, Mrs. Orn,” Mina called and dashed to the ledge to close the window and blinds.
Looking at the clock, Mina was glad to see that she had woken up with plenty of time to take a morning shower. Grabbing her robe, Mina flung it over the top shower bar and began to work on the infinite twists and turns of the shower spigots. It was easier to crack a double combination safe than it was to coax hot water out of these ancient pipes. Mina said a quick prayer to the god of plumbing and bathroom fixtures and, after a few spurts of murky brown water, hot water eventually began to rain down.
After a quick and refreshing shower, Mina donned her blue terry bathrobe and slippers and pulled on the ancient porcelain bathroom door handle. She must not have prayed hard enough to the god of bathroom fixtures because the bathroom door handle came off in her hands.
“NO….No..no..no. this can’t be happening!” Mina pounded frantically on the door and called for help before remembering her mother and brother had left early. Mina desperately tried to reattach the door handle but all she succeeded in doing was pushing the other one out the other side.
“AAARRRRGGGGHHH!” Mina screamed. Getting on her knees, she tried to look through the bathroom hole and find out what sort of lock it was. After assessing the situation, Mina discovered she had no clue what it was or how to get out. Frantically, she began to pull out drawers and open cupboards to look for something she could jam into the hole and turn the door. Scouring the bathroom from top to bottom, Mina’s eyes rested unwillingly on the toothbrush holder.
Would it work? Should she try? Grabbing the fattest toothbrush, which happened to be Charlie’s, Mina inserted it handle first and gave it a few turns. It pulled on the lock a bit. Opening up another drawer Mina grabbed a nail file and inserted it between the door frame and the catch. If she could budge the latch enough to push the nail file through…She did it. Freedom.
Mina could almost have cried in relief, another reason to talk to her mother about getting a cell phone. But this latest debacle had made her late for school. Grabbing a violet zippered hoody, Mina ran out the door having to double back and grab the Happy Maids’ packet from the kitchen table.
After pedaling for two blocks on her bicycle, Mina heard a slight mewing noise. Looking down and to the right revealed an orange tabby cat keeping pace with her. Mina swerved a few feet to the right to avoid the cat and almost ran over a large dog that was now on the left of her bike.
“Yikes!” Mina stood up and tried to pedal harder to outdistance the animals, but after a few more labored breaths, she looked behind her and they were still there.
“Go away! Shoo!” Mina was worrying that the dog and cat would continue to follow her and get hit by a car. They sped up and seemed to be chasing Mina. Who would have thought a dog and cat together would be chasing her on her bike?
A loud screech and the large colorful object flying toward her head was the only warning that Mina had of a rooster propelling himself from a nearby fence. Ducking, Mina swerved and almost lost control of the bike.
“What the…?” This was the oddest thing Mina had seen in a while. She turned her head to see the rooster land behind her next to the dog and cat, and it seemed to join in on the chase.
Turning her head, Mina had only a split second to register that there was a large animal directly in her path, and slammed on her brakes. Too late, Mina lost control and flew headlong over the handlebars of her bike to land crumpled on the sidewalk. In that instant, Mina recognized the animal that caused her wreck but she couldn't believe it. It was a donkey, in the middle of town. And was it wearing a hat?
***
Shivering and sore because of her wet hair and skinned hands, Mina rode slowly the rest of the way to school. She decided today was turning into another epic disaster. When she hit the sidewalk she must have blacked out for a split second. Either that or she was hallucinating, because when she dusted off her hands and looked around, there was no sign of the donkey, rooster, dog or cat. There was no evidence that they were ever there. Mina ran up and down the block looking for the donkey but with no success. Maybe it wasn't a donkey. Maybe it was another large dog? Pulling up to the bike rack, she didn’t even bother and threw her bike on the ground, her feet pounding the pavement as she ran up the stairs and into the school.
Mina glanced at her watch; she was five minutes late for class. Keeping her head down she tried to walk as fast and as quietly as she could, hoping to avoid the hall monitors. Maybe if she pleaded hard enough with her first-hour teacher, she would have pity on her and avoid writing a tardy slip. Yeah, right.
Her teacher, Mrs. Porter, had her back to the door, and was writing on the whiteboard, so Mina slipped into the classroom and tried to nonchalantly slide into her desk next to Nan Taylor. Mina took a quick peek at the rigid spine of Mrs. Porter, noticing that the teacher never turned or made any movement to acknowledge that she saw her late entrance. The grey-haired teacher turned slightly and began to shuffle some papers around on her desk; she didn’t even glance Mina’s way. She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when Mrs. Porter walked over and dropped a tardy slip that was already filled out with Mina’s name on the top line in perfect penmanship.
She never even saw her teacher fill out the form. Mina took the yellow slip of paper between her shaking fingers and looked towards Mrs. Porter’s desk in confusion.
Mrs. Porter’s thin pale lips tightened into what could only be described as an inhuman smile. “I find that it saves time if I fill out your tardy slips in advance, Mina. It’s less of a distraction for the class and you seem to be the only one that has this peculiar problem.” She held up a stack of the small carbon copy yellow forms and spread them so everyone could see her name printed on the next five tardy slips. “As you can see, you haven’t disappointed me yet.” Her eyes tried to crinkle as she laughed but everything looked strange and awkward on her. She was so old that the whites of her eyes were no longer white but a pasty grey. Her teeth even looked like faded yellow parchment and her clothes seemed to have come from the 1950’s.
Everything about Mrs. Porter was a throwback to some other era and time. Even her antique candy bowl that sat on her desk with ancient, uneaten candy corn seemed forlorn and out of place amongst the high-tech gadgetry of the school and classroom.
Mrs. Porter had been with the school since it first opened and refused to retire, which is why she only taught homeroom or study hall. Her teaching methods were so far outdated that she maked VHS tapes seem modern. Mrs. Porter had never touched a DVD player, TV, or computer. While other teachers had moved onto video chat guest speakers and live televised distant learning, Mrs. Porter had literally been left in the Stone Age. But there was one thing that Mrs. Porter did and did well, it was discipline. She prided herself on handing out the most detention slips and tardy notices, explaining that the other teachers have gone soft which is why our country is on the verge of rotting away underneath their feet.
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