No Ordinary Girl

Chapter Twenty-One

We were at Mischa's a good two hours. Following our little talk, Ace sat with her in her parents' study to see if he'd be able to help her trigger forgotten memories, discover something that might help us in the search for Haley. Nothing really came of it, although he was apparently able to bring her back to fond memories of her and Haley; games they used to play, silly faces at meal time, walks in the park, and bedtime stories. Mischa was flabbergasted by the fact that, under Ace's control, she was able to relive those moments as if she were there again, and was even able to recite the bedtime stories she used to read to Haley, word for word.

Her mother was super kind when we left. She even offered us homemade blueberry muffins. Simone declined of course, but Ace and Leo were all over it. "That sounds lovely," Ace said in his charming accent. "Yeah, I'll have one, too," Leo added.

Boys and their stomachs....

We also scored some yummy cookies, made with plain old white flour and sugar, not those healthy ones we usually eat at RAMS, made with flaxseed, and who knows what else. Seriously, what have they done to cookies? It's a tragedy, if you ask me.

I was exhausted when the girls and I got to our room. I plopped down on my pull-out bed and just wanted to get some sleep, but they were grilling me for some dirt on Mischa.

"Tell us she's not as perfect as she seems," Brianna was saying. "I love her hair."

"No, she's not perfect," was all I said.

"Did she have anything to do with it?" Kendra pried.

I sat up on my elbows. Clearly, I was not getting out of this conversation. "I don't think so," I grumbled.

Brianna perked up, and bounced over to the small kitchenette in our room. "I know what you need," she trilled.

Why did these girls have so much more energy than I did? They'd probably both had gotten a good night's sleep. Their beds looked like heaven to me; queen mattresses and fluffy duvets. My pull-out bed was a lumpy hard mess, a spring threatening to burst out right in the middle of my back. It was so not fair. But I was the new girl and Kendra had won the coin toss, fair and square, and I didn't have the guts to ask for a switch.

Brianna came back with a cup of coffee. "Two sugars, on cream, just like I take it," she said. "You'll love it."

The coffee was offered with the best of intentions, and I was so tired of being tired. I sipped it. Thankfully, it wasn't horrible, but what I really craved was one of Alicia's 'energy pop' pink drinks.

"Does she have any secrets?" Brianna asked, curious. I got the feeling that Brianna loved to gossip, and this was the closest thing we had.

I winced. "Well, it's not really my place to tell you all her secrets. She's not perfect," I went on, enjoying my coffee. "She's pretty much just like us. She thinks she's fat."

Kendra was wide eyed. "What?! She's just a little curvy... she looks great."

Brianna tilted her head, and crossed a skinny leg over the other. "Well, she could lose a few pounds."

Kendra was clearly offended. "You're awful."

Brianna tried to backpedal. "Well, I just mean... I don't know if she should be wearing short t-shirts and showing off her navel ring. She doesn't quite have the belly for it, does she?"

"You're being really mean," Kendra pointed out.

Brianna shrugged. "I'm just telling it like it is."

"Your dead grandmother is in this room right now and she's appalled," Kendra went on. "I can see her."

Brianna's eyes grew wide. "What?! Is she?"