Fantasy

9-Abby

In the morning Randy comes and picks Jessica and me up. On the way home we're driving on the turnpike and Randy tries to merge into another lane, but a minivan cuts him off, almost running us off the road. Jessica and I grip the seats.

"Hey," Randy exclaims, "that jerk nearly ran me into the trees!" Being the competitive, egoistic person he is, he punches the gas pedal and starts to pass the van.

"Randy it's not worth it, just let it go," Jessica pleads, but he turns the wheel and merges in front of the minivan, cutting him off.

The minivan driver lays on the horn, and if that isn't enough, he leans out the window and shouts, "Where'd you get your driver's license, kid? A gumball machine?"

"Ha, get back to me when you can tell the gas pedal from the break!" Randy shouts back before accelerating. The engine roars as we pull away from the angry driver.

We stop at the CMRA and get out again. "What are we doing here?" I ask.

"Well, Riley wants you to give Jenna a progress report." Great, we got absolutely nowhere. He goes to punch in the code. The first digit is 3. The second is 0, sweet. The code so far is 3, 0...something...2, 3, 8. I'm getting there. We walk down the stairs into the control room where Jenna is waiting. Randy stops a few yards short of her. "Alright, have her call me when you need a ride home," he says, then turns toward the door to the garage. I walk up to Jenna who waits with a big smile.

"So, how did it go? Did you succeed?"

I take a deep breath, "Uh, Jayce couldn't make a dent in it; he thinks it must be magic."

Jenna's smile falters and she bends over a little and pulls me into a hug. "It's okay Abby; don't give up. I know you can do it," she encourages me mournfully. I laugh nervously. Jenna pulls away and sniffles. It kind of bothers me that she considers the trip to have been basically the end of my chance into the CMRA. I don't, especially thinking back to the quote on Jayce's knife. If Thomas Edison had given up we'd still be using candles for light.

Jenna is about to turn to Jessica when a voice from behind her says, "Hey Jenna!" It belongs to a boy of about thirteen with pumpkin-colored hair and aquamarine eyes. He's wearing blue jeans and a maroon-colored Areopostale sweatshirt. "Dad wants to see you in his office. He seemed pretty mad about something," he continues.

Jenna goes slightly pale. "I'll be right there, thank you Aaron," she says, her voice strained. I watch her walk to Mr. Shaw's door and go in. The boy, Aaron, turns to Jessica and me.

"Hi, Jessica," he greets her before addressing me. "So, I guess you're Marie and Sarah's sister," he states, extending a hand. "I'm Aaron Shaw."

I shake his hand, "I'm Abby, so, is Mr. Shaw your dad?" He nods. "Cool."

"Not really, I mean, he's always working, but I guess there are perks to being the President's only kid."

"Like what?"

"Like, I might be able to help you open that locket."

"Why would you help us?" Jessica chimes in.

"I don't know; maybe I'm curious about what's inside, too, or maybe I'm just trying to be nice. Either way, if you want my help you have to be able to keep a secret," he replies ominously.

"What can you tell us?" Jessica demands.

"You promise not to say a word about it?" he asks us. Jessica and I are kind of at a dead end for the time being, and besides, whatever Aaron can tell us won't hurt.