“We’re sorry, but the number you are calling is no longer in service.”
I clicked the phone off. My hands were suddenly ice cold.
No longer in service? That’s impossible.
I realized I must have dialed the wrong number.
I punched it in again, slowly and carefully this time.
Again I heard the three shrill tones. And the same recording: “We’re sorry, but the number you are calling is no longer in service.”
I clicked off the phone again, squeezing it hard in my cold, wet hand. “It has to be a mistake,” I told myself.
I had an idea. Aunt Rose. My dad’s sister. My aunt was away, but I knew she checked in with my mom every day.
I’ll call and leave a message on her answering machine, I decided. She checks her machine all the time. I’ll tell Aunt Rose to call me here and let me know what’s happening with Mom.
Music from the TV drifted up from downstairs. I heard Jada laugh about something she was watching.
I raised the phone close to my face and pushed Aunt Rose’s number. I cleared my throat and rehearsed my message.
The phone rang once. Twice.
And then three shrill beeps rang in my ear. And the same recorded woman’s voice came on, speaking so slowly, so clearly:
“We’re sorry, but the number you are calling is no longer in service.”
13
Maybe the phone is broken, I thought. That didn’t really make sense. But it was the only thing I could think of.
Who else can I call? I asked myself, my mind spinning.
I glanced at the clock. A little after seven. Mom was probably at work or on her way there. I’ll call her at the phone company.
I had to get mom’s number from my wallet. I didn’t know it by heart, because I never call her at work.
I dialed the number. The phone rang once. Then a taped message began. I groaned as the woman’s voice droned on and on…. “If you are calling to add service or upgrade your present service, press three…. If you are calling about a repair, press four….”
After a long while, the voice told me to stay on the line for a service representative. Then I listened to bouncy piano music for nearly ten minutes.
Finally, a woman—a live woman—picked up and asked if she could help me.
“I—I’d like to speak to my mom,” I stammered. “She works there. In the supervisor’s office.”
“I’ll transfer you,” the woman said.
I heard several clicks. A silence. Then five more minutes of piano music. “I’m going to go Craaaazy!” I exclaimed out loud.
“Can I help you?” a man asked at the other end of the line.
“I’m trying to reach my mother,” I replied shrilly. “Alice Miles. Has she come in?”
Silence. Then, “Could you repeat the name, please?”
“Yes. Alice Miles,” I said. I spelled Miles for him. “She works in the supervisor’s office,” I added.
A longer silence. I could hear him typing on a keyboard. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t find an Alice Miles.”
“Huh? But—she has worked there for over ten years!” I cried. “This is CitySouth Bell, right? Main office?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied.
“Then she has to be there! Alice Miles.”
Another long silence. More keyboard clicking. “I’m sorry, miss,” he said finally. “But no one by that name works here.”
14
I felt stunned. As if I’d had the breath knocked out of me.
I gripped the edge of the desk and struggled to breathe.
That man is wrong, I told myself. He made a mistake.
Of course Mom works at the phone company.
I decided to try again. I picked up the phone—but it rang in my hand. I was so startled, I dropped it onto the desk.
Fumbling, I picked it up and answered. I hoped it was Mom. But it was Caitlin, a friend of Jada’s.
I called downstairs to Jada to pick up the phone. I’ll try again as soon as she gets off, I decided.
I waited. And waited. I could hear Jada jabbering on with her friend. She is never getting off! I realized.
Sighing, I opened my math textbook. I had almost forgotten that we had a math test the next day.
Maybe this will help me forget about reaching Mom for a while, I thought. I tried to concentrate on the math problems. But it wasn’t easy.
Later, it took me hours to fall asleep. I lay covered up to my chin in the twin bed, staring at the ceiling. Thinking about Mom. And Beth. And listening to Jada’s steady, shallow breathing in the bed across from mine.
I don’t know when I finally fell asleep. But I was awakened by a rustling sound in the center of the room.
I blinked one eye open, then the other. Half awake, I squinted through the darkness at Jada’s bed. Empty. The covers had been tossed back. The pillow hung over the side.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
But then I saw a figure moving near the dresser. I was still half asleep, half awake. My eyes wanted to close.
I forced them open. I struggled to focus.
Jada. I realized it was Jada standing across the room in the dark. Staring hard, I could see her pulling a sweater down over her head.
She was getting dressed. Silently. Without turning on any lights.
I turned to the bed table clock. Just past two in the morning.
She had lied about getting a drink of water. She is sneaking out again, I realized. Why? Where would she go at two in the morning?
A tree branch tapped at the windowpane. I could hear the wind howling around the side of the house.
“Jada?” I tried to call out to her. But my voice was clogged from sleep.
I saw her bend to pull on her boots.
Then darkness rolled over me. Heavy and silent.
15
I guess I fell back to sleep.
I had several strange dreams. Colorful, loud dreams. I remembered someone chasing me. And falling, falling for miles.
The loud buzz of the alarm clock snapped me awake. I sat up, eyes wide open. I shook my head hard, shaking away the memory of the dreams. Then I turned to Jada’s bed.
Still empty.
Did she really get dressed in the middle of the night and sneak out of the house? Or was that a dream too?
It had to be a dream—right?
I pulled on a clean pair of straight-legged jeans and an oversize sweater. Then I brushed my hair, put on my shoes, and hurried down the stairs.
I smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. And I heard my aunt and uncle talking. “That burglary was just two blocks from here,” Uncle Will said.
“Wow. And was it the same weird guy?” Aunt Janet asked.
“Yeah. A neighbor saw him. The guy wears a blue cape and mask. Like it’s Halloween or something,” Uncle Will replied. “And he leaves a little card. With a blue weasel on it.”
Aunt Janet laughed. “A blue weasel? This guy is freaky!”
“It isn’t funny,” my uncle muttered. “He’s real dangerous.”
I stepped into the kitchen. Uncle Will sat at the table with the newspaper and a mug of coffee. Aunt Janet stood at the sink, sipping from her coffee mug.
And Jada sat across from her father, a bowl of cereal in front of her. “Good morning,” all three of them greeted me at once.
“Morning,” I muttered.
My aunt poured me a glass of orange juice. As I took my seat, Uncle Will jumped up. “I’m late,” he said. He emptied his coffee mug. Then gave us a quick wave and hurried away.
Aunt Janet hurried into the hall, carrying a stack of envelopes for him to mail.
Jada and I were alone in the kitchen. She spooned up cereal with one hand, twisted a strand of her blond hair with the other.
I leaned across the table and whispered, “Where did you go last night?”
She lowered her spoon and glared at me. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”
“In the middle of the night,” I whispered. “Did you get up?”
“Of course not,” she replied sharply. “Are you starting that again?”
“I…I thought I saw you getting dressed in the dark,” I said.
She snickered. “Dream a lot?”
I took a sip of orange juice. “Sorry,” I muttered to Jada. “I had a lot of weird dreams last night.”
“Face it. You’re weird,” Jada said. She raised the cereal bowl to her face and slurped down the milk.
A few hours later, Miss Colgate passed out the math tests.
I signed my name at the top. Then I glanced down the page at the math problems. “Whoa,” I muttered.
What was this stuff? None of it looked familiar.
I raised my hand. “Miss Colgate? Are you sure this is the right test?” I asked.
I heard stirring around the room. A few kids snickered.
Miss Colgate drummed her fingers on her desktop. “Yes, it’s the right test,” she replied. “Is there a problem?”
“Well…isn’t the test on chapters seventeen through twenty?” I asked.
Miss Colgate narrowed her eyes at me. “No, Selena,” she said softly. “We haven’t read those chapters yet. Today’s test is on chapter nine.”
I let out a long sigh. I knew what had happened. Jada.
Jada again. She knew I hadn’t been there for the assignment. She deliberately told me the wrong chapters to study.
What am I going to do? I asked myself. I can’t let her keep doing this to me.
Why does she hate me so much? There has to be a reason.
I failed the test. I didn’t know how to work any of the problems.
After class, I hurried out to the hall to catch up to Jada. I grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around.
“Why do you hate me?” I screamed. “Tell me. Why do you hate me so much?”
I expected her to deny it. I expected her to say “Selena, I don’t hate you at all.”
But instead, her eyes flashed and her mouth twisted into a cold grin. And she said, “Why do I hate you? You’ll find out. Real soon.”
16
Jada went to Stan’s house for dinner. Aunt Janet and Uncle Will took me out for Chicago-style pizza. We had a nice time.
I didn’t mention the mean trick Jada played on me in math class. And I didn’t tell them about Jada’s strange answer to my question, even though it stayed in my mind.
I really wanted to solve my problems with Jada without getting my aunt and uncle into it.
I was up in our bedroom, reading the right math pages, when Jada returned home. It was a little before ten.
I tried acting normal with her. I was tired, and I really didn’t feel like a fight.
“Hi. What’s up with Stan?” I asked.
Jada pulled a nightshirt from the dresser and started changing for bed. “Not much,” she said. “He got a new CD player.”
“Cool,” I replied.
“We hooked it up and tried it out,” Jada said. She tossed the clothes she had been wearing on the floor beside my bed.
“Where does Stan live?” I asked.
“By the railroad tracks,” Jada said. “In a tiny little house. Stan’s room is about as big as that closet.”
I shook my head. “That’s too bad.”
“His mother is the worst cook,” Jada groaned, climbing into bed. “I couldn’t believe what she gave us for dinner. I think she made it with dog-food helper.”
I laughed. “My mom is even worse,” I said. “She’s even cheaper. She uses helper helper!”
Jada frowned at me. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
She clicked off the light, even though I wasn’t ready for bed.
That’s the nicest talk I’ve had with Jada since I arrived.
My last thought before drifting off to sleep.
Later, I was awakened once again by a rustling sound. I blinked open my eyes and glimpsed Jada climbing out of her bed. She tiptoed across the room.
I glanced at the clock. Two thirty-five.
The tree branch tapped at our window. Pale light washed in from a big half-moon.
In the dim light, I could see my cousin quickly pulling a sweatshirt down over a pair of tights.
So it wasn’t a dream, I told myself.
Jada really does get out of bed in the middle of the night and silently gets dressed.
But—then what?
What does she do? Where does she go?
She turned suddenly toward my bed.
I shut my eyes. I didn’t want her to know I was watching her.
She stood perfectly still for a moment. Checking to make sure I hadn’t woken up. Then she bent down and silently began to pull on her boots.
I’m going to follow her, I decided.
I’m going to solve the mystery. I’m going to find out where she goes at night.
Jada crept out of the bedroom into the dark hall.
As soon as she was out of sight, I jumped out of bed.
I straightened my pajamas as I tiptoed across the room to the bedroom door. “Oh—” I tripped over the pile of clothes Jada had dropped on the floor.
I staggered forward a few steps. Caught my balance.
I froze, listening hard. Had she heard me?
No.
I crept into the hall. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dim light.
I could see Jada moving slowly, carefully, to the end of the hall.
She isn’t going to the stairs, I realized. Doesn’t she plan to go downstairs to get outside?
My heart raced. My bare feet were suddenly cold. The cold ran up my body, making me shiver.
I took a few silent steps closer. The floorboard creaked under my feet. A loud craaack.
Did Jada hear it?
She stopped with her back to me. For a moment, she stood as still as a statue.
And then she whirled around quickly.
I was caught!
17
I let out a gasp. Tried to melt into the shadows. And fell back. Into a doorway.
I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound. And waited, listening hard.
Did Jada see me?
Silence. Such a heavy silence, I could hear the thudding heartbeats in my chest.
And then I heard Jada’s soft footsteps moving away.
Safe. She didn’t see me.
Still trembling, I poked my head out from the safety of the doorway. Squinting into the grayness, I saw my cousin step up to the wall at the end of the hall.
What on earth is she doing? I asked myself. And why do I have such a bad feeling about this?
I saw Jada’s hand move. She reached up to the bookshelf against the wall. Did she pull out a book? It was too dark to see.
I heard a soft hum. And the bookshelf began to slide.
I blinked several times and tried to focus. I thought maybe the darkness was playing tricks on me.
But no.
The bookcase slid aside. I could see a doorway behind it. A hidden room!
Jada glanced back one more time. Then she vanished into the room.
I heard the soft hum again as the bookshelf slid back into place.
My mind spinning, I crept out into the hall. What was she doing in there? A shiver ran down my body. I hugged myself, staring at the bookshelf.
I had a sudden urge to run up to it. Find the switch. Slide open the shelf and follow Jada into the secret room.
No, I decided.
I don’t want another fight with my cousin. She is already so mean to me. She already hates me.
I’ll wait till she’s out of the house, I decided. And then I’ll do my exploring.
I’ll examine the secret room when Jada isn’t around. Maybe I can find out what she is up to without upsetting her. Without having to face her.
Shivering, I took one last glance at the bookshelf. Then I tiptoed back to my room and slid under the covers.
The next morning, Jada’
s bed was still empty. I dressed quickly and hurried downstairs.
Jada sat at the breakfast table, running her hands through her unbrushed hair. “Morning,” she muttered.
“Morning,” I echoed. I slid across from Jada and studied her.
She had dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was a mass of tangles. She yawned loudly.
“What’s your problem?” she snapped.
I guess I was staring too hard. I lowered my eyes. “Nothing,” I muttered.
I wanted to say, “Where did you go last night? What do you do in the middle of the night?” The words were on the tip of my tongue.
But instead, I reached for the box of cornflakes and began to fill my bowl.
I heard a woman’s voice. And realized the kitchen radio was on.
“Another house robbery in Elmwood,” the woman was saying. “Witnesses told police they saw a masked figure in a blue cape running through the neighborhood. Police say they have no clues as to the identity of this daring burglar who enters houses in the middle of the night….”
18
I didn’t want to go into that secret room by myself. I had no idea what I would find in there. I wanted someone to come with me.
So after school the next day, I caught up to Stan. He was pulling books from his locker and shoving them into his backpack.
He slammed the locker shut when he saw me coming. “Selena—what’s up?”
I glanced around the crowded hall. Kids were laughing and talking, pulling on their coats, getting ready to leave. I glimpsed Jada at the end of the hall, talking to Cindy and a couple of other girls.
I leaned close to Stan and whispered, “Can you help me this afternoon? I’m a little worried about Jada. Can you help me do some spy work?”
He scratched his thick brown hair and narrowed his dark eyes at me. “Spy work? You mean spy on Jada?”
“Not exactly,” I replied. “There is something strange going on at her house. Can you come over there with me?”
He pulled his wool ski cap over his hair. “Isn’t Jada going ice-skating with Cindy this afternoon?”