Chapter Thirteen: Saving Sara
I found Sara the next day sitting at a lunch table by herself. Instead of eating, her head was buried in her dictionary. She didn’t even notice when I set my tray down next to hers.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Not very good,” she said in her British accent. “I’ve been having a little bit of trouble studying.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I can’t seem to remember how to spell any of these words no matter how many times I read them to myself”.
“You need to find your mojo,” I said.
“What’s a mojo?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but my dad said he thought that I found mine. I think it’s some kind of invisible force that makes you happy or something.”
She put her head back in the dictionary and began flipping through the pages. After a few minutes, she looked up and asked, “How do you spell mojo?”
I took the dictionary from her and quickly found the word. The dictionary defined mojo as a charm or magical power. I read the definition several times to myself before handing it back to her to read for herself.
“I don’t have any magical powers,” she said after reading the definition.
“Lady Sara, Queen of the Cat Kingdom did,” I said.
“Don’t be silly. She wasn’t a real person.”
“She was realer than the new Lady Sara. I bet she would have known how to spell mojo.”
“I’m under a lot of stress. The spelling bee is tomorrow. I have to win to prove to everyone that I am as big of a star as Autumn is.”
“The old Sara wouldn’t be worried about it. She could care less about what anyone thought. She would just go out there in her cat outfit and spell every word without blinking an eye. God made you made you who you are for a reason. Some people might call you weird, but they’re not in the finals of the county spelling bee either. You’re trying to be someone that you’re not. That’s why you’re having trouble learning these words. Lady Sara is the Queen of the Cat Kingdom. She’s not a diva. You’ve got to be yourself, Sara.”
“That sounds like Shakespeare. To thine own self be true,” she said.”
“Huh?”
“That’s from Hamlet.”
“What’s Hamlet?”
“It’s like my dad says when a referee makes a call he doesn’t agree with. No matter what happens, you still have to look yourself in the mirror when you shave.”
I was beginning to think that Sara was too far gone for me to help. What was she talking about? I don’t shave! Before I could ask, however, the bell rang signifying that it was time to return to class. Despite the interruption from the bell, I think I might have made some progress. Her accent was missing when she said that she would talk to me later. I could only hope for the best. In the meantime, I had another matter to resolve.