Swans Crossing: The Return
©1997 by Stephanie Blydenburgh
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Chapter Seven
"Well, it all began at the very end of the school year," Neil began, as he proceeded to tell the agents the story of UB2B. "We told my dad that we were going to be working on creating a new collagen facial mask."
Agent Pensky raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well, my dad is in the cosmetics business. If he thought we were working on something like a facial mask he would fund us and let us use his lab for research," Neil explained.
"So basically you lied to your dad?" Pensky asked in a critical tone.
Neil seemed to get nervous again, as if he was trying very hard not to say anything incriminating. "Well, yes, I uh, um, I suppose I did. I mean, uh, it was for a good cause and everything. I figured we'd tell him the truth once we became famous," he stuttered.
Pensky sensed his apprehension, and let him off the hook with that question. "Continue."
"Well, we tested the first rocket at the beginning of the summer, but it didn't go very far, and blew up right away. We realized we needed to create a heat shield, so we began to work on that. I tried to test it myself in the mine field, but it didn't work either and I ended up in the hospital." Agent Guyette frowned. "I'm still confused. What exactly was UB2B?"
"It was a self perpetuating rocket," J.T. jumped in. "It wouldn't need any fuel besides the UB2B elements put into it. Sort of like solar power except it wouldn't be the sun that would move it, it would just move on its own. It could be used to power rockets at NASA so that the astronauts on missions would never run out of fuel. It could eventually even be used for something as simple as powering our cars and electricity in our homes. UB2B never loses its power and you never have to replace it. It would cut down immensely on pollution, and when used in space shuttles, we could greater the distance we could travel," he explained sullenly. When he talked about it aloud all he could do was think of how this great discovery would never be introduced to the world, especially not by him and Neil.
Pensky and Guyette appeared to be impressed. "Quite a discovery for two people as young as yourselves," Guyette remarked with a small smile. "But according to the men from the WTO, you were planning to use this fuel to bomb the former Soviet Union, and they wanted to get it first so they could bomb us and take the rest of the world hostage with a missile powered by UB2B."
Neil shook his head wildly. "No! That's not even close to why we were doing this! We wanted to win the Nobel Peace prize, be famous for doing something to better the world. We knew we were too young to begin with, so we created Professor Vann. But even though we were breaking the law in essence, we were doing it for good reason! We weren't going to bomb anyone!"
Guyette and Pensky exchanged glances. "We need to discuss your statement alone for a moment, so if you will excuse us," Pensky told them.
The men exited the room, and Neil and J.T. sighed. "Whew! That was sort of tense," J.T. commented, leaning back in his chair and running his fingers through his unruly hair.
Neil nodded. "At least it's over," he said. Just then, the two men came back into the room.
"We need you to sign this saying you agree that you were interrogated, and you agree that what is on this tape is the statement you gave us." Pensky handed the slip of paper and a pen to the boys. J.T. and Neil took it and each signed the paper.
"You will be required to attend court on Friday. You will need to give the judge a testimony similar to what you have told us. The others we have in custody will also be put on the stand, and you will be cross examined by their lawyers. Then, after hearing what has been said, the judge will make a decision upon what your punishment will be," Guyette explained. "I think it would be in your best interest to have a lawyer present at the hearing. Your friends who were taken hostage along with you will be summoned to testify. But for now, you're free to go. We have your parents in the waiting room, so we are releasing you to their custody right now."
J.T. and Neil looked at each other worriedly, both thinking the same thing. How were they going to explain this to their parents?
"Saja!" Sandy called, hurrying across the docks. The crowd had thinned out, the reporters had gone away, and now it was just the two of them standing near the waterfront in the moonlight.
"Sandy, hi," Saja replied shyly, standing up. He had been sitting on the docks, soaking his feet in the water.
"Can I join you?" she asked him. He gave her a warm smile. "Of course." Saja and Sandy sat down, and there was an awkward silence.
"You're really brave you know," Sandy told him, staring off into the horizon.
He looked at her, and realized how pretty she was in the moonlight. "Brave? Me?" Saja said in a surprised tone of voice. She looked back at him, and smiled bashfully. "Yeah, you. To be able to keep your head in such a dangerous situation takes a lot of courage." she said. He shook his head humbly. "Nah. I had no choice, really."
Sandy laughed. "Don't be so modest! You," she paused and looked into his eyes. "You are really an amazing person," Sandy remarked quietly. After she said this she looked away, nervously avoiding his eyes.
"Do you mean that?" Saja asked her tentatively. No one had ever been so sincerely complimentary towards him.
"Of course I mean that. You're brave, and you inspire me a lot. With my song, giving up meat, and being myself," Sandy was speaking very softly, but Saja could hear her because the twilight was so silent and still.
Being yourself? Saja thought to himself. He didn't really think he was one to inspire self-assurance. After all, he wasn't even really Saja, he was Bobby. Over the years he had "tried on" a myriad of different personalities. Nonetheless, it felt nice to have someone hold such regard towards him.
"I admire you Saja," Sandy told him, almost in a whisper.
Saja grinned at her, touched. "I wish there was a way to let you how much that means to me."
"Dad, I-" Neil said, trying to keep his voice down. It was embarrassing enough having his father pick him up from the police station. He didn't want all of the staff members at the SCPD to be staring at him as well.
"I understand perfectly," Mr. Atwater responded in a sharp tone. "You lied to me, you broke the law, and then you nearly got six other people killed!"
"I know, I mean, it wasn't supposed to be that way..." Neil insisted, his voice raising several octaves. "No one was supposed to know about this."
Mr. Atwater was fuming. "Oh... I get it!" he exclaimed sarcastically. "So if you hadn't gotten caught everything would be fine?"
Neil nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I didn't mean it that way."
Neil's father shook his head, and looked at his son, who was purposely trying to avoid his eyes. "I'm really disappointed in you," he told him softly.
This seemed to hurt Neil more than the yelling had. "I'm sorry," he replied to his father, feeling defeated.
Mr. Atwater turned away, and began to walk out of the police station. "’Sorry’ just isn't good enough."
The next day was the second day of school at Swans Crossing High. Garrett walked through the hallway, tossing his backpack over his shoulder. He was feeling incredibly confident and totally overjoyed that he was able to go to school in Swans Crossing, and not in France. He had gone to the front office and gotten his schedule, his locker number, and Mila's locker number. He found Mila's locker, and ducked down in the row behind it. A few minutes later, Mila came walking down the hall with Sydney.
"What a day yesterday was!" Mila remarked. She twirled her combination lock and tossed her books into her locker.
"Yeah," Sydney replied monotonously with a faraway look in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Mila asked, noticing her friend seemed rather forlorn. Sydney nodded, but said nothing. Mila continued, "Well, I was upset yesterday." she paused. "Actually, when I think about it I still am. Garrett's not here." Sydney rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I'm not?" a male voice answered. Garrett jumped up, and Mila's jaw dropped.
"Garrett?! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, running up to him and giving him a big hug.
"Well, my dad was so impressed with my rescue effort yesterday that he let me stay in Swans Crossing!" He smiled broadly. "So here I am!"
Mila hugged him tighter. "I can't even believe this! This is so great! So you're here for good?"
Garrett gazed at her tenderly. "I'm here to stay."
Sydney saw him look at Mila, that same look he'd given her in the parking lot when they kissed after her end of summer party. She felt her stomach turn, wondering why, after all she knew now about her family history, she was wishing he would look at her in the same romantic way. Garrett and Mila seemed to take no notice in the fact that Sydney was standing there with them, so she scurried away.
Garrett looked up and saw Sydney take off. He felt a strange sensation come over him. "Mila, I have to go, uh, find out where my classes are, so I'll see you later?"
Mila nodded enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the tension between her boyfriend and her best friend. "Okay." Garrett kissed her cheek. "Bye."
Jimmy pulled opened the double door to Swans Crossing High and he, Callie, and Glory stepped inside.
"I'm going to go see if J.T. is here," Glory told them quietly. She excused herself and began trotting down the hall.
Jimmy noticed that Callie had remained pretty silent on the walk to school. "Are you all right, Walker Woman?" he asked her.
She turned to him and shrugged. "Well, it's been a weird couple of days. It's kind of hard to get over all of this so quickly, you know?"
Jimmy sensed that she was getting a bit defensive, and decided not to pursue the subject any further. "So, what do you think of Swans Crossing High?"
Callie looked around and began to take in her surroundings. Swans Crossing High was similar to the other schools she had attended, although it seemed shinier and cleaner. The inside of the building was proof of just how wealthy the town of Swans Crossing was. There wasn't any graffiti on the lockers, the floor wasn't littered with trash, and the windows overlooked a beautiful, grassy campus.
"It's a very nice school," she responded, leaning up against the locker beside Jimmy's. "I don't know, I just-" Callie stopped and looked up at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Well, it’s just that I haven't really been to a school in a very long time," she said softly.
Jimmy looked into her brown eyes, which were clouded. She’s been really fragile ever since the whole deal with Barek and her sub, he observed. "How long is ‘a very long time’?" he pried gently.
"Elementary school, actually," Callie told him in a quiet voice. "I mean, you know my dad and I didn't really settle down until we came here to Swans Crossing." Jimmy could tell from the look in her eyes that just speaking of her father was making her upset. "I'm kind of nervous about starting school here. I don't really know how things work at this school, or any school for that matter."
Jimmy lowered his eyes to meet hers. "Well, if it makes you feel in any better, I'll show you the ropes."
Callie nodded. "Okay," she replied somewhat noncommittally.
Jimmy glanced at her and frowned. She was trying hard to hide it, but she still appeared to be so woeful. "I'm really glad you're here, you know," he told her in an effort to lift her spirits. She looked up at him. "Really?" she asked.
His frown turned into a smile. "Yeah. It's going to be a lot better going to school this year, when..." his voice trailed off.
"When what?"
"When I can be with you," he concluded softly.
Callie’s lips finally started twitching into a smile. "Thanks. I'm, uh, going to like going to school with you too," she said coyly.
Jimmy shut his locker and then outstretched his hand. Wordlessly, Callie placed her palm on his, and they walked down the halls of Swans Crossing High together.
"Sydney!" Garrett called down the hall.
Sydney kept walking, acutely aware that Garrett was coming up behind her. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes.
He grasped her arm, and forced her to turn around.
"What?" she demanded hoarsely.
"Why did you run off like that when I was with Mila?" he asked.
She avoided his stare. "No reason," she replied.
Garrett shook his head, an arrogant smile spreading across his face. "I think it's because Sydney's a little jealous," he taunted her.
She turned away. "Don’t be ridiculous! Of course I’m not!" she exclaimed defiantly.
"Come on Sydney, as much as you hate to admit it, you still have a thing for me, don't you?" Garrett raised his arms above her, pinning her to the locker.
"You're delirious," she murmured, involuntarily submitting to his gaze. Why does it feel so good to have him so near? Sydney asked herself. He might very well be my brother! But then a sudden thought occurred to Sydney. What if I really was switched at birth with Sandy Swan? Then that wouldn't make Garrett my brother, it would make him Sandy's brother!
A slow, vindictive smile began to spread across Sydney’s face. I don't think Garrett could imagine anything worse than being related to Sandy Swan! she thought to herself victoriously.
Garrett noticed that she was grinning. "See!" he exclaimed, feeling slightly triumphant. "I knew that you still had feelings for me."
Sydney rolled her eyes and pretended she hadn't heard him declare her "love" for him. "Garrett," she began. "There's something I have to tell you."
At around nine o' clock that morning, J.T. awoke in his hammock which he used as a bed, feeling tired and groggy.
"What a night," he moaned, scratching his head and stumbling out of bed. He had gotten to sleep at about three that morning. The police had released Neil and him at around nine o' clock the previous night, and then upon arriving home he had been grilled by his parents for an eternity. J.T. looked around his room forlornly, at his desk where his computer used to sit. As a punishment his parents had repossessed his computer, among many of his other things that had been used in the development of UB2B.
J.T picked up some papers that sat on his desk and flung them at the wall. "This isn't fair!" he yelled to no one in particular. All of this time, energy, and money wasted! he thought furiously. The telephone rang and he grabbed it so violently, he nearly knocked down his desk. "What?" he answered in a hostile voice.
"J.T., it's Glory," Glory said, her voice becoming subdued. She hadn't expected him to answer so rudely.
"Glory, hi," he replied, his tone softening, but not by much. "Where are you?" On her end of the line he could hear lots of noise, so she was obviously on a pay phone.
"I'm at school, where I thought you would be, too," she told him, her face wrinkling in confusion. She found it sort of strange he didn't know it was a school day.
"Well after a night like last night, I didn't really feel up to going to school," he answered defensively.
"What happened?" she asked with concern.
J.T. rolled his eyes, thinking of all the awful events that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. "I was grilled by the police, given a court date, and then sent home to be grilled again by my parents."
"I'm sorry." Glory felt so bad for J.T. All he had ever wanted to do was help people, and to make a name for himself in the science world. He didn't deserve this.
"Don't be, Glory," J.T. assured her, sounding much more like his normal self. "I didn't mean to take this out on you, it's just been a really rough time for me right now."
Glory felt her heart soar. She wished she could reach through the phone and hold his hand. "It's going to be okay, I know it is. You're a strong person."
J.T. sighed and sat down at his now empty desk. "I guess. I just hate to have brought you into this. You're going to have to testify at the hearing, you know."
Glory raised an eyebrow. She hadn't known she was going to be a witness, but she wasn't about to let J.T. know that this made her a bit uncomfortable. "That's all right."
J.T. heard a school bell ring on her end of the phone. "I guess you have to go."
"Yeah," Glory agreed. There was an awkward silence. "I'll call you when I get home?"
"Okay," he said in a strained voice. "Bye."
"Bye," she replied, and slowly hung up the phone.
There was something in Sydney's tone that made Garrett uneasy.
"What?" he asked her urgently. "What do you have to tell me?"
Sydney ducked from under him, and then looked him straight in the eyes. "When you told me that I was switched at birth with Sandy Swan, I thought it was all a big joke."
Garrett nodded. "Yeah?"
"Well, now I don't care if I am Sandy Swan, because at least I'm not the one who's related to her," she declared boldly.
He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you talking about?"
Sydney opened her mouth to speak, but then the bell rang. "I guess I better go," she said, and started walking away from him. "We'll talk about this later!"
Garrett scowled at her, but felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Who is she talking about? Who's related to Sandy Swan?
Meanwhile, inside a plush office in Hollywood, California, Robert Clark went through a stack of mail that was sitting on his desk.
He came across a large manila envelope. The return address was in Swans Crossing. Hmm, he mused. That's where Mila lives.
Curiously, Mr. Clark opened the envelope, and saw that it contained a single video tape. Clutching the package in his hand, he exited his office.
"Dave?" he called.
Dave Nascarella, a talent scout at the record company, ducked out of his office. "Yeah Bob?"
Mr. Clark scowled. He didn't like it much when subordinates called him "Bob" or "Bobby".
"I think we need to find a VCR and take a look at this tape," he told him, tossing the envelope to Dave.
Dave glanced at it, and saw that it was from Swans Crossing, Maine. "Isn't this where your niece lives now?" he asked.
Robert nodded. "I want to see what this is all about," he replied.
Dave shrugged, and went into the conference room where he knew there was a VCR. He popped the tape into the machine, and a gorgeous blond girl of no more than fifteen years old appeared on the screen.
She danced around to some pop music, and then began to sing. Her voice was beautiful! He watched the video, enchanted. It wasn't often that the record company found someone of such profound talent, and in such a strange way. The company rarely ever received music videos, it was usually just demos that they checked out.
"Bob!" Dave called urgently. "I think you better come see this!"
And thanks to darkforce3@earthlink.net for correcting an inconsistency in my previous chapters and for the idea for the situation between Sydney and Garrett.
Chapter Eight
Garrett sat in math class, staring at Sydney's back. He wasn't able to concentrate on Mr. Pahl pacing in front of the chalk board drawing cubes. His mind kept wandering to the scene between him and Sydney an hour or so earlier in the hallway. Garrett had been talking to Sydney, taunting her, claiming she still had a thing for him. Then she said in a low voice, "There's something I have to tell you."
"What?" he asked her urgently. "What do you have to tell me?"
Sydney ducked from under him, and then looked him straight in the eyes. "When you told me that I was switched at birth with Sandy Swan, I thought it was all a big joke."
Garrett nodded. "Yeah?"
"Well, now I don't care if I am Sandy Swan, because at least I'm not the one who's related to her," she declared boldly.
He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you talking about?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but then the bell rang.
Garrett just couldn't figure this out. How could someone be related to Sandy when he had doctored the birth certificate as a hoax, to get revenge on Sydney for what she had done to him?
"Psst! Sydney?" he called softly, so the teacher would not hear them. She ignored him, so he began to tap her on the shoulder with this pencil. "Sydney?"
When Mr. Pahl's back was turned, she turned around and glared at him. "What do you want?"
"I want to know what you were going to tell me about Sandy," he said.
Sydney smiled slyly. It was nice to hold something over Garrett's head for once. "Not here," she protested.
Garrett felt uneasy. Why won't she talk about it here? What could this possibly be about? "Please Sydney?" he asked in a pleading voice.
She shook her head and turned back to face the front of the class. "Sorry Garrett."
Garrett buried his face in his hands, which Sydney took as a sign of defeat.
The bell rang and Mr. Pahl excused the class. Garrett jumped from his desk and rushed out the door. He leaned up against the wall and waited for Sydney to come out of the classroom. When she did he grabbed her by the arm.
"Hey! What are you doing?" she yelped.
He pulled her over to the drinking fountain. "I want to know what you were trying to tell me earlier, and I want to know it now."
Glory sat down at a table with Mila, Sandy and Nancy during lunch time.
"Where's Sydney?" Mila asked, noticing her friend was gone.
Nancy shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows? Sydney's been acting pretty strange lately." She looked over at Glory, who had just arrived at the table. "So where's J.T. ?" she asked her.
Glory's face became guarded. "He's not at school today," she answered in a fairly harsh tone.
Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Well I know that," she said coolly. "So where is he?"
Glory sighed. "I'd really rather not talk about it," she replied softly.
Nancy shrugged again. "Fine. So, Mila, are you going to the cheerleading tryouts today after school?"
Mila nodded enthusiastically. "I can't wait." She looked across the lunchroom dreamily. "And it won't be too hard since Garrett will be there."
Nancy rolled her eyes, but Mila didn't notice. "So good old Garrett gets to stay in town huh?" she said to no one in particular. "Lucky us," she added under her breath. She turned to Mila again. "Well, you're a shoo-in as far as cheerleading goes. I'm sure no one else is going to be able to show you up."
Glory looked up from her sandwich. "I'm going to try out," she spoke up quietly. All eyes were now on her.
"Oh you are?" Nancy said. She gave Mila a glance as to say, "Well, good luck!" and then smiled a big, phony smile. "That's nice."
"So Sandy, are you excited about the concert?" Glory asked, deciding she didn't like where this conversation was going.
Sandy smiled. "Very. A little nervous too, though."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be great," Glory told her brightly.
"Thanks," Sandy replied shyly.
"I can't wait either," Mila spoke up.
Now it was everyone's turn to look at her. Sandy groaned inwardly. Leave it to Mila to steal the limelight from me, she thought bitterly.
Glory pursed her lips. "I'm sure you'll do great, too," she lied. She knew that Mila couldn't come close to having the inborn vocal talent that Sandy did.
The girls stared at each other awkwardly, the tension thick at their table. Callie walked by, and Glory called her over. "Callie! Come sit with us!"
Callie shrugged and sat down at their table, a little reluctant. Glory was really the only one there that she was good friends with.
"Hi Glory," she said, and then said hello to the other girls as well. Nancy didn't hide the glare she gave Callie.
"So how are you?" Glory asked, trying desperately for some normal conversation. It seemed that ever since the hostage situation the day before, everyone was tense and guarded.
"I'm okay," Callie answered quietly, staring off into space. She was searching the cafeteria for Jimmy, a little upset that she hadn't seen him much during the school day. He promised to "show me the ropes", she thought wryly.
In the distance, someone slammed their locker, creating a loud noise. The noise made Callie jump and gasp.
Glory looked at her with concern. "Callie? Are you okay?"
Callie didn't answer. The noise echoed in her ears. Her mind drifted back to the day before:
Barek and Captain Walker turned around. Barek took the gun that was placed against the Captain's temple and aimed it at Callie.
"No!" Jimmy shouted in panic. Things seemed to move in slow motion as Barek pulled back on the trigger.
I was almost killed, Callie thought with sudden realization. If there had been any bullets in that gun I would have died!
"Callie?" Glory said again, trying to snap her friend back to reality. "Callie?"
Callie rose up from the table, wanting more than anything to get out of the loud cafeteria. "I gotta go," she mumbled. "I'll see you at home Glory," she told her as she left the table.
Nancy rolled her eyes. "What a weird girl."
"Umm," Sydney began, staring into Garrett's steely eyes. Should I really tell him this? she asked herself. She wanted to tell him, she knew it would kill him, just as the thought of her being switched at birth with Sandy had hurt her. What I need is some time. I don't think I'm ready to tell him yet. The suspense is killing him already, she thought smugly.
Just then she spotted Callie walking by.
"Garrett, I have to talk to Callie. Meet me by my locker after school, and I'll tell you everything."
He was about to protest, but Sydney ran off after Callie before he got the chance. He cursed her under his breath and walked away.
"Callie!" Sydney called, and ran up to catch up to her.
"Hi Sydney," Callie replied in a faraway voice.
"Look, I know that you said at my party that my birth certificate hadn't arrived yet, but I need to know if you've heard anything," she said, a bit of desperation entering her voice. She really had no clue what was to turn up on the paper. It would either say she was a Swan, a Rutledge, or a Booth, which would be the most dreaded thing of all.
Callie, who looked sort of dazed to begin with, stared blankly at Sydney. "Oh," she answered in a flat voice. "Oh my god. I did get it."
"Well where is it?" Sydney demanded.
Callie thought back to a few days before, when she had been in the post office. Another bad memory flooded in her mind:
Callie hopped off her motorbike and casually strolled into the post office. She had listened to and promised to follow Jimmy's warnings about being cautious, but ever since he had kissed her so sweetly in front of the sub, she felt as if she was walking on air.
Humming to herself, she pulled open the door to the post office and walked over to J.T. and Neil's P.O. box. She inserted the key that they had handed to her and unlocked the mailbox. Inside sat two envelopes. She pulled them out and read the return addresses. The smaller envelope contained Sydney's birth certificate. She's going to be so happy! Callie thought. She looked at the large, manila envelope. It was addressed to Professor Vann and the return address was in the Ukraine.
Callie's breath caught in her throat. "The Ukraine? Could the people tracking Neil and J.T. be... the secret police?" she wondered out loud.
Suddenly, a person came up behind her. Before Callie was able to scream, a hand clamped over her mouth, and everything went black.
She shuddered thinking about it.
"Well?" Sydney asked again.
Callie looked at her. "Well what?"
"Where is my birth certificate?" she asked again in a frustrated tone.
Callie turned away. "I don't know."
"You don't know! How could you not know! This is my birth certificate! What are you doing going around losing my mail?!" she yelled angrily.
"I didn't mean to lose it. I was at the post office getting something for J.T. and Neil. I saw it there, I didn't throw it on the floor on purpose! That was when those guys came in...." her voice trailed off.
"And you got kidnapped," Sydney finished for her.
"Yeah, so if I were you, I wouldn't be too upset about what I did."
"Well, I guess I don't mind that you threw it on the floor, considering you were kidnapped when it happened."
"Gee, thanks Sydney," Callie replied sarcastically.
"But you didn't even tell me about it! Now what am I going to do?" Sydney moaned.
"What's wrong? You know that there's no way you and Sandy were switched at birth. It's just another one of Garrett's dumb pranks," Callie assured her.
Sydney sighed. "Callie?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
As soon as Sandy was done eating, Owen came running up to her, a jovial look on his face.
"Guess what?" he exclaimed, slightly out of breath from running.
"What?" she asked, getting up from the table. The two walked to a corner in the cafeteria.
"Mila should hear this too," Owen said, motioning for Mila two join them.
"What's up Owen?" Mila asked. For a second, he said nothing, dumbfounded by her beauty. Then he spoke. "Okay, I went to the pay phone during lunch today to check my messages on the answering machine at the studio," he started.
Both girls nodded.
"And guess who called us?"
Sandy didn't know, but Mila's eyes lit up. "Uncle Bobby?" she squealed.
Owen nodded. "Yup! He's coming to Swans Crossing to see us play at the concert tomorrow!"
Sandy looked at them in confusion. "Who's Uncle Bobby?"
"Bobby Clark, my uncle, the record producer," Mila explained.
Sandy's blue eyes widened. "Robert Clark? Are you serious? How did they hear us?" she asked.
Owen became a bit uneasy. "I sent in the video," he told her softly.
"What video? We never shot the video," she said.
Mila was still grinning. She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. "Yeah we did, Owen and I did it," she remarked nonchalantly.
Sandy's jaw dropped. "You what?"
"Owen filmed me singing one of your songs. ‘Talking Sweet’, to be exact."
Sandy was now fuming. "You sang my song?! Who said you could do that?" she yelled. A few students passing by turned to stare at them.
"Well Owen did," Mila answered calmly, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Sandy was ticked off at her.
Sandy turned to Owen. "I can't believe you let her sing one of my songs! So let me get this straight, you told Mila to sing my song, filmed her, and sent it in to Robert Clark?"
Owen looked at the girls sheepishly. "Well, not exactly. You left out dubbing your voice over Mila's," he told them in a meek voice.
Both Mila and Sandy's jaws dropped. "What?!" they cried in unison.
It was Mila's turn to fume. "You dubbed her voice over mine? Wasn't my singing good enough?"
Owen didn't want to answer her question, so he just pretended she hadn't asked him.
Mila turned on her heels. "That's it! I quit!" she declared angrily and flounced off.
Sandy looked at Owen, who was wearing a bewildered expression. She thought of how they had been partners for years, and how they'd been best friends as long as she could remember. She knew in her heart that Owen would never hurt her intentionally, but the way that he had just betrayed her and even Mila was wrong. This time, she couldn’t just forgive and forget. "I'm with her," Sandy said to Owen softly. "I quit."
"Oh wow," Callie breathed after Sydney had told her the story. "Your mom and Grant Booth?"
Sydney shook her head in despair. "I don't even know anymore. I could be Sandy, I could be Garrett's sister. I don't even know who I am anymore," she could feel tears welling in her eyes again, stinging them because she had cried so much in the past few days.
Callie hugged her friend, realizing how upset she was. "It's okay. Look, you don't have any hard evidence about this. Don't jump to any conclusions, okay?"
Sydney sniffed. "But if I was really switched at birth with Sandy than it's Sandy and Garrett who are brother and sister, not me and Garrett," she smiled in spite of herself. How I'd love to see the look on his face if I told him that, she thought.
Callie looked at her skeptically. "You know that I never believed that you and Sandy were switched at birth, but I think you need to talk to everyone about this. See if Garrett knows anything and then ask your mom."
"I could never ask my mom," Sydney interrupted quickly. "I don't think she would tell me the truth anyway."
Callie tapped her finger against her cheek. "Well, you could always get a paternity test," she suggested.
Sydney looked back at her, her face brightening a bit. "How would I go about doing that?"
"I think all you'd have to is go to a doctor with Grant Booth and have blood tests done," she explained.
"Why would Sydney go with my dad to see a doctor?" spoke up a voice from behind them. Sydney and Callie turned around to see Garrett.
"May I see him?" Jazz asked, walking up to the counter at the Swans Crossing County Jail. Barek and his accomplices were being held there until their hearing the next day.
The warden nodded and took the keys off of the desk. "Right this way Ma'am," he said, leading her to the jail cells.
Sitting in the cell were Barek and the two bald men.
Jazz shyly looked at the one bald man whom she knew, and he jumped from his seat on a tiny, flat bed and came over to the bars.
"Hello," he greeted her.
The warden turned to leave. "Just holler if you need me," he told Jazz as he walked away.
"Hey," Jazz said softly, holding on to the bars. The bald man laced his fingers through hers. "Who is watching your soda shop?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I got someone to cover for me." She studied his face in wonder. How could someone so kind have done what he did to those kids? she asked herself.
"Will you be at the trial tomorrow?" the man asked her.
Jazz nodded. "Yes," she replied hesitantly.
"I hope you will be a good witness for us," he told her, looking into her eyes.
Why does that sound like a threat? she thought, feeling a bit uneasy. "I really don't know much."
He smiled. "That's good."
She looked up at him in confusion. "Why?"
"You can be," he paused, searching for the right word. "Good character witness."
Jazz swallowed hard. "Okay," she agreed. "I guess I have to go now."
"See you tomorrow," the man told her casually.
I guess I have no choice, she thought as she left the jail.
"I better go," Callie said, realizing that Garrett had overheard them. "I'll talk to you later Sydney."
"Wait!" Sydney exclaimed. "Don't go!"
Callie shook her head. "I think you need to explain this to Garrett right now, on your own."
"Explain what? What is going on? Why are you talking about my father?" Garrett asked in confusion, eyeing both girls suspiciously.
Sydney looked helplessly at Callie who was already retreating down the hall. She sighed, and looked up at Garrett. "I guess I have to tell you the truth."
Lunch was almost over, but Callie didn't want to stick around the cafteria to see any more chaos. She decided to go to her locker and get her stuff for her next class, which was World History.
"Walker woman!" a voice boomed from down the hall. Callie smiled and looked up to see Jimmy waving to her. "Hey," she said when he approached. He gave her a hug, which surprised Callie. It made her feel good inside that he was being so publicly affectionate.
"Hi, how have you been?" Jimmy asked, leaning against the wall as she rummaged through her locker.
"All right, I guess," she replied quietly, pulling a blank spiral notebook from her locker. "It feels strange for everyone to be acting so normal after what happened yesterday."
He nodded compassionately. "I understand."
"I mean, what we went through," Callie’s voice trailed off. Suddenly, many different images began to flash through her head. She saw her and all her friends tied up, the sub sinking into the lake while her father looked on watching, expressionless, she could remember what it looked like to be staring down the barrel of Barek's gun, and when he pulled back on the trigger....
"Callie?" Jimmy asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and jumped. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, breathing heavily. Why can't I push those memories out of my mind? she asked herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No," Jimmy argued, looking at her troubled expression. "Something’s wrong, I can tell. What is it?"
Callie lowered her eyes and looked back at him, not sure of what to say.
Garrett nodded. "Good, tell me the truth."
Sydney gulped. "Well..."
"Sydney!" Sandy yelled down the hall, running towards them.
Garrett pounded his fists together. Interrupted again! he grumbled to himself.
Sandy had obviously been crying because her face was red and tear- stained. Sydney decided to put her talk with Garrett on hold until she found out what was wrong with Sandy. "We'll talk after school Garrett," Sydney told him. "Meet me on the field where the cheerleading tryouts are going to be. I know you're heading over there later anyway."
"All right," he sighed, and reluctantly walked away.
"Well, what's wrong with you?" Sydney asked impatiently. The bell rang and Sydney and Sandy began walking to class, since their next class was together.
"I'm not going to sing at the concert tomorrow," she stated with a sniff.
Sydney stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" she cried incredulously. "You're not going to be in the concert?"
Sandy shook her head and tugged at her blondish curls. "I can't, Sydney. Owen betrayed me. He let Mila sing my song in the video and then he dubbed my voice over her image," she whined.
Sydney looked away. "Oh," was all she could say. Wow, I never thought this would happen. I can't believe I did this for Garrett and now MY concert is going to be ruined!
"So I'm not singing," Sandy said. "I just thought you should know."
"But you have to!" Sydney protested. "I mean, just because Owen did something cruel to you doesn't mean that you should give up your one chance to hit the big time."
Sandy thought about this for a moment. "But I can't sing without a band! And there's no way I’m playing with Owen now," she argued. "Or her," Sandy added bitterly, referring to Mila.
The girls got to their class and sat down. Sydney buried her head in her hands. She had a terrible headache. It had been a rotten day at school.
"Just think about it. Please?" Sydney asked Sandy again desperately.
Sandy nodded. "Well, okay. But I'm not guaranteeing anything."
Sydney sighed. What a day! she thought to herself, groaning in misery.
"I-I just..." Callie's voice trailed off.
"Yeah?" Jimmy prompted.
"I can't get the thought of Barek and the gun out of my head," she admitted. "I just keep seeing him everywhere."
Jimmy hugged her close to him. "I know. I think about it a lot too. If he had hurt you..." he left it at that, and Callie pulled away to look at him.
"If he had hurt me, what?" she asked.
"If he had hurt you I don't know what I would have done," he finished softly.
Callie felt her heart thumping in her chest. Things might be bad with everything in my life, but as far as me and Jimmy go, things couldn't be better, she thought to herself.
"And if you want to talk about it, I'm here," Jimmy added. The bell rang, and he started walking her to class.
"Thanks, I just might take you up on that," she told him with a smile as they arrived at her class. Before walking in, Callie paused at the door. "I guess I'll see you later then?"
He nodded. "Yeah, actually, can you come by the Tool n' Die after school today?"
"Sure. What's up?"
Jimmy smiled mysteriously. "You'll see. Just come by at about three-thirty, okay?" He kissed her on the cheek.
"Okay," Callie agreed. She watched him retreat down the hall until he was out of sight.
After school that day, Glory headed over to the locker room to change for cheerleading.
"You ready for the tryouts?" Mila asked her, changing into a pink t-shirt and black athletic shorts.
Glory nodded nervously. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
Mila flounced out of the locker room. "See you there," she said as she left.
Glory sighed and went back to her changing. I wish I wasn't so distracted, she thought to herself as she gathered her long, strawberry blond hair into a ponytail. J.T. was so strange on the phone this morning, she thought, remembering the way he had snapped at her and how distant he was during the rest of the conversation.
Glory pushed the thought out of her head. "Concentrate on cheerleading," she told herself aloud, and walked out of the locker room.
"Glory!" a male voice called to her. She looked up, and saw J.T. standing before her.
"J.T.! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
He answered her by giving her a long kiss on the lips. "That's finishing what we started the other day before the police came," he said with a smile.
She laughed. "You seem happy," she commented.
"Well, I had to come see my favorite girl try out for cheerleading," he replied cheerfully.
Glory sighed with relief. Guess I was worried about nothing!
Sydney marched out to the field, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. She could see Glory, Mila, and several others preparing for the cheerleading tryouts. She also noticed that Nancy had front row seats and that J.T. had showed up to watch Glory.
However, she didn't see Garrett anywhere. Good, Sydney thought. Now I don't have to tell him.
At that moment, Garrett started coming up the field. Sydney groaned. Spoke too soon.
Garrett headed over to her and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Okay. Now you have no excuses. What is going on here?" he demanded.
"Garrett, you and Sandy are brother and sister," Sydney blurted out.
A look of shock and dismay crossed his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?"
"You and Sandy..." she said again, slowly.
"No, I heard you, I just don't know what you're talking about."
Sydney took a deep breath, preparing to tell all. But what if you and Garrett are brother and sister? a voice in the back of her mind kept repeating. She ignored it and began to speak. "After you left that night when we made the tape, my mother dropped a letter. I picked it up and read it," Sydney explained. "It was from your father. He was denying my mother's claims that I-" her voice broke, and she cleared her throat, "I was his child."
Garrett's jaw dropped.
"But see, since Sandy and I were switched at birth that makes you and Sandy brother and sister," she added quickly. "Not you and me."
Garrett was silent for several moments. It took him awhile to register what she had just told him. "Sydney," he began in a low, hollow voice when he had gotten over his shock. "The birth certificate was a phony."
"What?!" she shrieked.
"I did it to get back at you for getting me in trouble with Officer Moore and my dad."
Sydney reeled from his sudden confession. It was all a joke! All that misery and it was all a hoax?! Then she realized that there was more to what he had just said.
"Then if you made that up..." Sydney paused, afraid to finish her sentence.
Garrett nodded gravely.
"Then we really are brother and sister!"