Sarah Gellar Pages does not use cookies. - Privacy Policy.
Swans Crossing: The Return
©Stephanie Blydenburgh (1997 &1998). Additional Copyrights: "Make it Light" ©1997 Alicia Lazaraus "Moving to Brazil" storyline ©1997 Miss Swan "Hold You Up", "My Love", "Cross That Line", "Vision in Polka-Dot Pink", "Over You", "Gotta Grow Up", and "Talking Sweet" ©1992 Heliosphere Productions and/or Newlifier Limited
Previously in Swans Crossing...
To end summer with a bang, Sydney Rutledge threw a "Good-bye to Summer Party". In addition saying farewell to summer, Swans Crossing was also bidding adieu to Garrett Booth, Sydney's ex-flame and enemy, who was leaving for France to attend boarding school. To stay in town, he plotted to have Owen Fowler, a young musician, direct a music video starring Mila Rosnovsky, former child star and Garrett's girlfriend. Once Mila became a rock superstar, he hoped his father would see how important he was in Swans Crossing and let him stay in town.
Meanwhile, J.T. Adams and Neil Atwater, brilliant young physicists, were almost ready to test run their secret rocket fuel project, UB2B. Little did they know, however, that they were being followed.
And Jimmy Clayton and Callie Walker, sweethearts and co-workers at the local auto shop, just found out that two bald men, who they had come across several times during the summer, were tracking J.T. and Neil. . . and closing in.
Chapter One
Her heart rate began to quicken. Callie Walker turned to Jimmy Clayton.
"That's the guy who followed Saja!" Jimmy whispered loudly, his dark green eyes widening.
Callie nodded. "The guy we chased out of Swans Shop!"
"The one with the Band-Aids on his head!" Jimmy added.
Callie peered through the door of the Tool n' Die, and looked at her seedy boss Barek staring intently at the TV screen. An image of a bald man crouching in the bushes watching two teens was what had Barek's attention. The man on the screen, whom Jimmy and Callie had had several run-ins with, was watching local teen geniuses J.T. Adams and Neil Atwater.
"He must be the one after J.T and Neil!" Callie told Jimmy, her blood running cold at this realization. "Well, one of the ones." She took his arm and without mentioning it, they knew where they had to go. They headed back to the Swans Crossing Country Club where Sydney Rutledge was having a pool party.
After hearing the roar of motorbikes outside the Tool n' Die, Barek hit stop on the VCR.
"Really great stuff Owen," he said, grabbing his leather jacket and motorcycle helmet.
"There's a lot more," Owen Fowler said, taking a bite of his triple ripple ice cream. Owen, a talented musician, was working on filming a music video. Barek had asked to view it, so after catching some footage at Sydney's pool party, he headed to the Tool n' Die.
"I'll have to take a rain check," Barek explained hastily, as he got on his motorcycle and sped out of the auto shop.
---------
Sydney climbed out of the swimming pool, laughing.
"We killed you guys!" she exclaimed, wringing out her wet raven hair and high fiving her friend Glory Booth.
"No way!" J.T. said, his eyes shining. He grabbed two towels, and wrapped one of them around Glory, his girlfriend.
Sydney, J.T., Glory and several of the other guests at Sydney's "Good-bye to Summer Party" had just partaken in a rousing game of pool volleyball, boys against girls.
"We would have creamed you," J.T. explained. "if all the guys were here. Both Jimmy and Owen are gone."
Glory looked around. "Yeah. And hey, Callie's gone, too."
Sydney rolled her green eyes. "Big deal. Wherever Jimmy goes, Callie goes. And wherever Callie goes, Jimmy goes. Obviously, they're together."
Glory looked concerned, as she often did when the slightest thing was wrong. "They wouldn't just leave... what if something happened to them?"
Just then, Callie and Jimmy came bursting in to the pool area of the Swan Club.
"See Glory, they're fine." Sydney said, wearing a smug look.
"J.T.!" Jimmy called. He ran up and put a hand on J.T's shoulder. "Man, we've got to talk to you."
Callie nodded and turned to Glory and Sydney. "Will you excuse us for just a minute?"
Glory and Sydney said okay and walked over towards Mila Rosnovsky and Sandy Swan, two of their other friends.
"What's going on?" J.T. asked, noticing the worried expressions on Jimmy and Callie's faces.
"No time to explain," Callie said hastily.
"Where's Neil?" Jimmy asked urgently as he and Callie led J.T. by he arm.
"I don't know," he said. He looked around the club. "Hey Neil!!" J.T. bellowed.
"Shhh!" Callie said. Neil appeared and trotted up to the three casually.
"Yeah?" Neil asked. Callie grabbed his shoulder. "Hey!" he cried in surprise.
"We can't explain, just hide!" Jimmy said. Callie and Jimmy ushered J.T. and Neil into the pool shed, just in the nick of time.
Barek walked through the gate and entered the Swan Club, looking slightly out of place, wearing black jeans and a black shirt, while everyone else was wearing swimwear. Not to mention the fact that he was about twenty years older than most of the guests.
Jimmy and Callie walked away from the pool shed, trying their hardest to keep their composure. Jimmy had his arm around Callie and the two wore phony smiles as Barek approached them.
"Callie... young James?" he said as he came up to the teens.
"Yeah?" Jimmy asked casually.
"You wouldn't happen to know where J.T. and Neil are... would you?" Barek asked them. Callie nudged Jimmy.
"No, sorry." he answered coolly.
"Why would we know where they are?" Callie snapped defensively. Now it was Jimmy's turn to nudge her. She quickly shut her mouth.
Barek threw up his hands in surrender. "Hey... sorry! Just askin'." he said and walked away.
Jimmy and Callie exchanged wary glances and hoped that no one would tell Barek that they had seen J.T. and Neil.
---------
Sydney walked over to the table where her mother, Margaret Rutledge, the mayor of Swans Crossing, was sitting.
"Mother?" Sydney's mom turned around, her face obviously stained with tears.
"Sydney!" Mayor Rutledge exclaimed, quickly wiping off her face.
"Mother! What's wrong?" Sydney asked, her voice full of concern.
"Oh, nothing dear." she sniffed. "Just my, uh, my allergies acting up,"
Sydney looked at her mom, her face twisted with care and confusion.
"Honey... I'm going to go home. I just have," she paused. "A lot on my mind right now, and, well, I need some rest." Mayor Rutledge said vaguely. Sydney didn't really buy her mother's story, but since she was her mother, she nodded slowly.
"OK... well, how will I get home?"
The mayor reached into her pocket book and handed her daughter the keys to the Mercedes. "Go ahead and drive home. I could use a walk anyway." she mumbled, and strolled out of the country club.
Sydney furrowed her eyebrows together as she stared after her mother. She fingered the car keys. "Since when do I have my license?"
---------
"I can't believe that the party's almost over," Mila Rosnovsky said in a depressed tone of voice.
"I know," her boyfriend Garrett Booth said monotonously.
Mila sighed. "There's really no way you're going to be able to stay in Swans Crossing... is there?"
Garrett turned away. "I don't know. I'm trying my hardest." he took Mila's hand and squeezed it. "We'll always have the summer." he said wryly.
Tears welled up in her eyes. "But I want to spend my first year at Swans Crossing High School with you." Mila said, choking on her words. Garrett put his arm around her.
She laughed pitifully. "Who am I supposed to go with to the prom?"
He chuckled and lightly kissed her forehead. "Is that all you care about?" he asked jokingly.
The couple teased each other some more, and the problem was forgotten... for now.
---------
After asking the party guests where J.T. and Neil were, and getting no straight answers, Barek decided to give up for now, and he left the club.
Jimmy followed after him, to make sure that he left. Sure enough he got on his motorcycle and headed in the direction of the Tool n' Die.
"OK! He's gone!" Jimmy called out to Callie.
Quickly, in her usual level headed manner, Callie grabbed two beach towels and opened the door to the pool shed.
"Hey!" Neil exclaimed. "Would you mind telling us what's going on?" He and J.T. wore very irritated expressions.
Callie and Jimmy chose to ignore their displeasure. Deftly, Callie draped the towels over their heads. "They can hide at my house." She told Jimmy and he nodded in agreement.
"But how are we going to get them there?" Jimmy asked. J.T and Neil were acting surprisingly cooperative, and did not complain at the towels being placed over them. "We can't let them go on their bikes, someone might see."
Callie tapped her finger against her cheek. "Hey! Sydney's got a car," She began to search the area for Sydney. "Granted, she doesn't drive, but maybe her mother would drive us over to the docks."
Sydney walked by with Sandy, laughing about something. "Sydney!" Callie yelled.
Sydney turned around. "What?"
Callie approached her. "Look, I can't explain why, but could your mom give us a ride to my house?" she motioned behind her to Jimmy and J.T. and Neil with the towels on their heads.
"Well, my mother already left," Sydney started. Callie's face fell. "But for some reason, she gave me the keys." Sydney handed them over to Callie. "Will you be careful?"
Callie nodded eagerly. "I promise. Thank you!" she quickly hugged her friend and then tossed the keys to Jimmy. She grabbed his hand. "Let's get out of here!"
---------
Barek went back to the Tool n' Die and threw the door open angrily. "Where are those kids?" he asked himself. He tossed his jacket off and opened up a hidden compartment in his motorcycle. Inside sat a miniature walkie-talkie. He picked it up, and, after checking his surroundings, pressed the button. "Hello?" he asked.
"Barek?" a voice on the device said, in a thick Russian accent.
"I know who this "Professor Vann" is," he said in a growl.
"Yes..." the voice said. "Two very young professors."
Barek rolled his eyes. "They're just these local kids! We've spent an entire summer tracking two teenagers! Do you know how much money this is going to cost the party? I mean... how could two kids be involved in a plot to bomb Russia?"
The other end of the device was silent. "Boss?"
Barek was losing his temper. "What?!"
"We still have orders from the party to arrest. These kids, as young as they are, still are ordering chemicals from our country, which in the hands of the Americans, could be very dangerous."
Barek had to admit he had a point. "So go out and find them!"
"Yes boss," the voice said. "Over."
Barek replaced the walkie-talkie and sighed. What a waste his job could be.
---------
"Jimmy?" Callie said over the loud roar of the wind. Jimmy and Callie were driving Sydney's red convertible with the top down, and the wind was tossing her auburn curls all over her face. Jimmy turned to look at her.
"Huh?" he asked, turning back to the road. Callie glanced at the speedometer, which was nearing 60 miles per hour. She gripped the side of the leather seat. "Could you please slow down?" His mouth turned up in a smile. "So, I guess we can add speed to your list of fears." He laughed, but Callie failed to see the humor in it.
"I just don't want to get pulled over," she said quietly. Noticing she was upset, he slowed down to around 35.
J.T. and Neil were hidden in the back, and they were grumbling. "Are we there yet?"
Jimmy pulled the car into a parking spot and got out of the car. "We're here," he replied, escorting them out of the car. The four teens stood on the docks which were located on the outskirts of Swans Crossing. Callie took a deep breath of the warm, salty air. She loved this smell, as she lived with it everyday of her life. Instead of living in a normal house, she and her hermit father Captain Elia Walker lived in a submarine. Callie's father was a very prominent marine biologist, and for most of Callie's life they traveled around the world studying different species. However, now that Callie was high school age, he decided to settle down and dock for a little while in Swans Crossing, which was a harbor town on the New England coast.
Jimmy pulled Callie aside. "Do you think that your dad is going to be okay with this?" Jimmy had met Callie's father on several different occasions, and though he was perfectly nice, he was not used to being around a lot of people, especially Callie's friends.
Callie shrugged. "I guess we'll have to find out, won't we?" She hopped up onto the ladder and climbed down the hatch.
"Dad?" Callie called. Her father, who had been down below, came up on to the top deck.
"Hi..." his voice trailed off when he saw, Jimmy, J.T. and Neil standing in his living room. Jimmy smiled for good measure, and the Captain gave a half hearted wave.
"What's going on Callie?" Captain Walker asked under his breath.
Callie gave Jimmy a nervous glance. "Um, Dad. This is really hard to explain, but J.T. and Neil are in some trouble."
Captain Walker nodded. "OK, what does that have to do with us?"
Callie shifted her weight from one foot to another. "They need to stay here," she blurted.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." he pulled his daughter aside. "But not for too long,"
Callie beamed at her father. "Sure, no problem."
"And they have to stay out of the way," he added.
"Alright. Thank you!" she hugged her father. She turned back to her friends. "Let me show you to your room," Callie led J.T. and Neil down some stairs. "Are you coming?" she asked Jimmy. He shook his head.
"I'll wait here," After Callie had taken them to their room, Jimmy and the Captain stood in silence. "So, uh, how's it goin'?" Jimmy asked, trying to make conversation.
Captain Walker shrugged. "Fine," he replied shortly. Then, as fathers often do, he got a surge of curiosity. "So, are you and my daughter... together?"
Jimmy blushed. "Way to make a guy feel comfortable," he thought to himself. "Umm," he mumbled nervously. Callie came back into the room, saving him from further embarrassment.
"They're just settling in," she said with a laugh. Jimmy nodded, and Captain Walker figured this was his time to exit. "Do you want to stay for dinner?" she asked him. Jimmy thought about it for a second, but didn't really feel very comfortable around her father.
"Actually, I told my dad I'd come home after the party. I'll take Sydney's car back and get my bike from the Swan Club," he said. Callie felt a little disappointed, but then he took her hand. "I'll call you?"
Callie smiled widely. "Great," she said softly. He squeezed her hand and then headed up the ladder. "Night Callie," he said.
She felt her heart flutter. "Night Jimmy,"
---------
The air was growing cold, and clouds were settling around the moon. Sydney shivered. All of the guests had left, but she was stuck at the Swan Club, waiting for Jimmy to return her car.
She thought back to the image of her mother crying at the party. "Did this have anything to do with Garrett?" she asked herself. Her mind drifted to the scene between her and Garrett at the party earlier in the evening.
"That is if my plan fails to impress my father," Garrett said, when Sydney asked if he seriously was going to announce to Swans Crossing his discovery that she was switched at birth with Sandy Swan.
"You're a dreamer," Sydney said, stepping up to him. Like Mila was really going to be discovered as a rock star!
Garrett grabbed Sydney's arm and pulled on it. "I'm your worst nightmare," he said. Just then the mayor came up to them.
"What is this?" Mayor Rutledge said angrily. Garrett and Sydney looked up at her.
"Mayor," Garrett addressed her.
"What is this?" she asked again. "Take your hands off my daughter," she told him with a scowl.
"Gladly," he said, and walked away. Sydney sensed her mother was upset.
"Mother don't worry, it's okay." Sydney said trying to assure her mother.
"No it is not okay. It's just another sign that everything is changing... for the worst."
The mayor's words echoed in her mind. "The worst, the worst," She was so lost in thought that when Jimmy tapped her on the shoulder she jumped.
"Here's the keys to your car," he said, handing them over to her.
"Thanks," she said absently.
He thanked her and left the club. Sighing, Sydney gathered her things. She walked out to the parking lot, deciding it wouldn't be too big of a deal to drive home, even though she had been behind the wheel only one other time in her life. She put the key's in the door, and unlocked it. As she was going to get in, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
The parking lot was dimly lit, and she was alone, so this too startled her. She let out a shriek and turned around to face the person behind her.
"Garrett," she said angrily. "Nice of you to sneak up on me. What are you still doing here?"
Garrett smirked at her. "We still have some things to discuss."
Sydney sighed, frustrated. She pulled the keys out of the door and leaned against the car. "What now!?"
Garrett lowered his eyes. "Look, I am beginning to realize that this plan of mine might not work as well as I had thought."
Sydney grinned smugly. "Well what took you so long?" He ignored her question.
"I must admit that Mila isn't the best singer in the world," he said sheepishly.
She scoffed. "What was your first clue?"
Once again he ignored her sarcastic comment. "So that's where you come in," he said, giving her a cocky smile. She grabbed her brown hair and tugged at it in frustration.
"Well, hurry up. What do I need to do now?" she asked in an furious tone.
"I want you to get a recording of Sandy singing, and then you and I are going to dub it over Mila's music video and send it to her some record producers. When they see how great her voice is and how good looking she is, they're sure to sign her, and then I, as her agent, will get enough of the credit to impress my father." Garrett smiled when he was through, obviously impressed with his intricate plan.
Sydney, however, was stunned. Her jaw dropped. "You want me to double cross one of my friends?" she asked incredulously.
Garrett rolled his blue eyes. "Oh, come on Sydney! Don't feed me that innocent friend baloney! You'd have no problem double crossing Sandy if it was for your benefit."
She thought about this. "But... it is. I mean, if I do this for you, will you hand over that birth certificate?"
"Maybe," he said with a laugh. She kicked the car tire, enraged. Garrett loved the power he felt over Sydney, but looking at her in the moonlight, he could almost remember what he had seen in her when they used to be in love.
"You," she said, her eyes gleaming with hatred. "are the most egotistical, irritating, jerky..." Sydney began, but was interrupted when Garrett grabbed her by the shoulder and kissed her hard on the lips. She was so stunned and blown away that the only thing running through her mind was "I'm kissing someone I hate... and I like it."
Chapter Two
Their lips parted, and Sydney and Garrett stared at each other. The air between them was silent, as both were reeling from what had just happened. Sydney tried to avoid the stare of Garrett's blue eyes, but she was drawn to them. The look shared between the two was something that neither of them had ever experienced before. It was a look of confusion, repulsion, and tenderness.
"Sydney," Garrett started, touching her on the arm. At his touch she panicked. She shoved the keys in the door and entered the car. Her mind was spinning so fast that all she could do was start the car and tear away from the parking lot without saying a word.
After saying goodnight to Jimmy, Callie walked downstairs to the living quarters. J.T. and Neil had already made themselves at home, and were leafing through some leather-bound books from Captain Walker's library.
"Guys?" Callie said. The two looked up from their books. She handed them her father's cellular phone. "You have to call your parents and tell them that you're sleeping at the other's house," she explained.
"But won't we be here longer than a night?" Neil asked, while J.T. began dialing his phone number.
"Yes," Callie answered. "But I guess we'll have to figure out what to do about that tomorrow." Callie was secretly worried about how long her father would let them stay. The two made their telephone calls, and the boys' parents seemed to buy the stories. Callie excused herself, and then picked up the phone to make a call.
"Hello?" said a sweet voice on the other line.
"Glory, hi," Callie said. This is going to be really hard, she thought to herself. She could almost hear Glory smiling on the other line.
"What's up?" Glory laid down on her floral print bed and adjusted the blue plastic telephone.
"Glory, J.T. and Neil are in trouble," Callie blurted out.
Glory's blood ran cold. "What's wrong?" she said quietly, her voice breaking.
Callie sighed. "I can't explain what's going on. Look, you promise you won't say anything?"
"Of course!" Glory would do anything for J.T. She could already feel hot tears springing to her blue eyes.
"Some people are after them. It has to do with their science project, but I'm not exactly sure what yet. But for their safety they're staying here for a little while," she explained. She could hear Glory gasp.
"I'll be right there!" Glory said, feeling utterly nauseated.
"Wait! You can't come over now! It's getting late, and I don't think it's safe."
The tears were now streaming down Glory's face. "But what about J.T.? I need to see if he's okay."
Callie felt so bad for her friend. She was almost angry at J.T. for putting all of the ones he loved in such danger. "Glory," she said soothingly. "I promise that tomorrow, first thing in the morning, you can come over and see him, okay?"
Glory sniffed. "Thanks Callie."
"Get some rest, alright?"
"Alright." The girls said goodnight, and Callie set the phone in the cradle. She trotted down the stairs to get some rest herself, wondering why she had gotten into this mess.
---------
The next day was a cool, beautiful Sunday morning. The sky was blue and everything was still so green that it was hard to believe that it was almost September. Mila sat on the bench in front of Swans that morning, breathing in the fresh air. She smiled. What a beautiful day! she thought. Just then, Garrett came walking down the cobble stone road to meet Mila.
"Garrett!" she called in a sing-song voice. She ran up the road and enveloped him in a big hug.
He was taken aback by this. "What's going on?" he asked, pulling away from her slightly and trying to keep his voice normal. He didn't want her to know that all last night he had been thinking about what had happened between him and Sydney.
She grinned jovially. "Well, it's a lovely morning, and I'm standing here with the most gorgeous, sweetest and all around most incredible guy in all of Swans Crossing."
Garrett groaned inwardly. You should add two timing to that list, he mused. "Thanks, Mila," he said softly, his voice edged with guilt. After hearing Garrett's somber and unusual tone, Mila immediately sensed that there was something wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked him, her voice full of compassion.
"I'm fine," he mumbled, and took her hand to lead her into the diner.
Sandy heard a knock at the door of her and Owen's studio. She ran up the basement stairs to answer it. The rapping behind the door was persistent. "Coming!" Sandy bellowed. She pulled the door open to see Sydney. Without so much as a 'hello', Sydney pushed her way into the room.
"Sydney, hi," Sandy said, her mouth twisting into a half- smile, although her friend's pushiness was irritating. "What's new?"
Sydney marched up to the expensive recording equipment and began to rummage through stacks of cassette tapes. Sandy stared at her, horrified. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed. Sydney glanced up with an annoyed expression on her face, as if Sandy was the one who was being bothersome. "I am looking for a demo tape," she said simply, and returned to her search.
Sandy rolled her eyes and brushed away a strand of her curly blond hair. "Well, it would have been nice if you asked." She joined Sydney and began to look for the cassette.
"Oh," Sydney said sheepishly, pursing her lips. "Can I have a demo tape?"
Sandy almost wanted to laugh. "I guess," she replied. "What for?"
Sydney felt a sick feeling in her stomach. Well Sandy, I am going to make you look like an idiot by putting your voice over a video of Mila dancing... all so I can get a birth certificate that proves that you and I were not switched at birth! Of course she couldn't say that, so instead she muttered something about needing demo tapes to organize what songs would be sung at the re-election concert.
Sandy smiled. "Sure, that's fine." She searched through the pile of tapes, finally retrieving the one Sydney needed. "Here you go." She handed the cassette to Sydney, who took it with a faraway look on her face.
"Thanks." Sydney began to head up the stairs. "I'm really sorry Sandy, I have to run." She contemplated for a moment about confessing to Sandy what was really going on. Then the thought of all of Swans Crossing calling her Sandy Swan flashed in her brain, and decided against it.
After he had eaten breakfast with Mila, Garrett also headed over to the recording studio to meet Owen, but ran into Owen before he arrived.
"Hey Owen!" Garrett called. Owen got off his bicycle and walked over to Garrett. He was carrying his video camera under his arm. "Garrett, hi."
Garrett, being the smooth talker that he was, launched into his proposition to Owen. "Look, to be able to make Mila a star there's a little something you have to do for us."
Owen pictured the blond beauty and smiled. "Anything. What is it?"
"Well, I know that Sandy was going to be included in this music video," he explained, placing his arm around Owen, vehemently selling his story. "But, let's face it Owen, she's not going to sell any records."
"Why not?" Owen asked. Garrett ignored him. "We need a gorgeous girl like Mila. Someone with real star quality," he said with emotion, gesturing with his hands.
"True," Owen agreed.
"However, and let's be honest with each other, shall we?" Owen nodded. "Mila doesn't have the prettiest voice-" Garrett paused, "at all. Now, don't worry about the logistics of it, just leave it up to me and I am going to make Sandy's voice and Mila's face the most famous combination in America!"
Owen grinned. "But what do I have to do?"
"Ah, my friend, all you have to do is shoot that video... minus Sandy," Garrett said with a hundred watt smile. Then, slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his leather wallet. He removed three bills and placed them in Owen's hand. Owen's eyes widened at the amount of cash Garrett had just handed him. "Just sealing the deal," Garrett explained in a hushed voice. "So will you do it?"
Owen was silent. He and Sandy had been best friends and recording partners for years. It wouldn't be very loyal of him to ditch her like this. But then again, I can always make another video for Sandy, he rationalized silently. Besides... what a way to get Mila to notice me! After running this through his mind for a few more seconds, Owen nodded and shook Garrett's hand. "You've got a deal!"
As soon as she woke up that morning, Glory threw on some clothes and raced out her front door. She had hardly slept at all the previous night, and had terrible nightmares about J.T. when she did drift off.
It was a fairly lengthy walk to the Swans Crossing harbor, but her thoughts were so jumbled that it seemed to only take a few minutes. When she arrived at the docks, she saw someone pull up on a mini-bike.
"Hi Jimmy," she said glumly when the person on the bike removed his helmet.
"Glory, hey." Jimmy knocked on the metal wall of the sub. "What are you doing here?"
Glory could feel the tears spring to her already swollen eyes. "Callie said I could come see J.T.," she explained. Jimmy nodded and the two stood in silence until Callie appeared in the hatch. Even though the atmosphere was very tense around the sub, Jimmy could feel his lips twitching up in a smile when he saw her.
"Hi guys," Callie said in a neutral tone. She was both happy to see Jimmy and sad to see Glory nearly in tears. Jimmy and Glory climbed up the ladder and entered the sub.
"Where's J.T.?" Glory asked urgently, her voice shaking.
"He's downstairs." Callie said. "Jimmy, could you go get him?" Jimmy obliged and Callie turned to Glory when he was gone. "Glory, it's going to be okay."
She began to cry. "No it's not! I know something is really, really wrong! I need to see him!" Glory was bordering on hysterics, and Callie put her arm around her friend.
"Shh, shh. It's alright. He's coming," she said soothingly. J.T. walked into the living room, and Glory flung herself into his arms.
"Whoa!" he laughed, and then noticed she was crying. "Hey... what's wrong?"
The tears fell faster until she was sobbing. "You're in trouble! I can feel it! Are you going to be okay?"
He stroked her strawberry blond hair lovingly. "I'm fine Glory, I promise."
Jimmy and Callie figured this was their cue to give the couple some space, and they moved to the stairs.
"But then why are you here?" she asked innocently, sniffing. J.T. pulled her to a set of chairs and the two sat down.
"Look, Glory, before I say anything, how do you feel about me?" he asked quietly. Glory reached up and pushed a trendil of his wavy brown hair from his forehead.
"J.T., I love you," she said, stumbling on her words.
"Good," he said with a sigh of relief. "I need you right now."
She looked up at him and saw his face crinkled in a worried expression. "I'm always here for you. You know that."
He nodded solemnly. "My work has gotten me in trouble," he began. "I can't explain what Neil and I are doing, but some guys want our formula for UB2B, and they know who we are now." Glory felt the color drain from her face. "These wouldn't be the same guys who kidnapped me... would they?" she asked.
J.T. could not meet her eyes. "Yeah- yeah, it's the same guys." Glory's hands began to shake as a wave of horror swept over her. "J.T., those guys were going to hurt me! And now I know that they'll hurt you!" She jumped from her chair. "You have to quit, J.T. This has gone too far!"
J.T. jumped up as well. "But Glory! This is my life, and Neil and I have come so far. You don't honestly expect me to just give up, do you?'
"Yes I do! J.T., I don't want you to get hurt!" Glory could barely speak because she was crying so hard. "Please!" she pleaded. "Please stop your project before it's too late."
J.T. sat back down. "Glory, I love you, but I also love my work. I'm not going to give up- not now, not ever." After hearing his determined words, Glory continued to sob.
On the stairs, Callie and Jimmy could hear the emotional argument between the couple.
"Wow," Callie said softly. "I can't believe J.T. won't give this up."
Jimmy nodded in agreement. "I know. He's risked the lives of everyone around him, even his own girlfriend." Jimmy was hovering over Callie now, standing so close that she could feel his breath on her neck. "Callie?"
"Yeah?" she managed to say, even though she felt completely weak with him standing so near.
"I would never do that to you. If you asked me to give something up for you, I'd do it," he told her, staring deeply into her eyes.
Oh wow, she thought, and was at a loss for words. Thankfully, her smitten smile was all he needed to see to know that she was blown away by what he had said. He leaned closer to her, and cupped her chin to kiss her.
"Callie!" Glory wailed, just as Callie and Jimmy's lips were going to meet. The two jumped apart, and Callie reluctantly started walking towards the living room to see what was wrong with Glory. Meanwhile, J.T. appeared at the stairwell, and he and Jimmy went downstairs to talk.
Glory was still crying, this time so hard that she had to sit down. "Callie..." she gasped. "He's going to end up hurting himself! I love him! I don't want anything bad to happen to him!"
Callie hugged her friend. "I know Glory, I know." In her heart she wanted to tell Glory how selfish and ignorant J.T. was being. But she knew she couldn't do that. Glory had positioned J.T. on such a high pedestal, and Callie wasn't about to be the one to burst her bubble. "Look, you and J.T. have been through a lot, and I promise you can stay here as long as you need to, and I will keep an eye on him, okay?"
Glory managed a smile. "Okay."
"I just really think you need to stand by him right now. I know he'll come to his senses sooner or later." Callie said soothingly to her friend. I hope, she added to herself.
Meanwhile, Jimmy had followed J.T. downstairs into the room he and Neil were staying in. He shook his head and raked his fingers through his dark brown hair. "Man, what are you guys doing?"
J.T. sat down on his bed. "What are you talking about?" He avoided looking Jimmy straight in the face. He could tell his friend had overheard the argument between he and Glory.
"You've already put Glory's life on the line before!" Jimmy admonished him loudly. "And now you're putting your own life at risk!" J.T. frowned. "Hey, I don't need this!" Jimmy softened a bit. "Look, you just need to put this in perspective. What's more important? Glory or your science project?" Neil looked up from his Popular Science magazine. "Science, of course," he answered for J.T. J.T. hit him on the head playfully. "You dweeb! Look Jimmy, of course I care about Glory, but Neil and I are standing on the edge of a huge scientific breakthrough!" "But you guys have kept what you've been doing a secret for way too long. So long that you've put your lives on the line!" Jimmy sat down in a chair across from them with a determined look on his face. "I want to know everything about your project... and I want to hear it now."
With the demo tape in hand, Sydney headed over to the stone wall that divided her property from the Booths' property. She walked up to the crude hole cut into the rocks and saw Garrett's face on the other side. She suddenly got a weird feeling in her stomach, which took her by surprise.
"I, uh, got the tape," Sydney said in a low voice. She placed the cassette in the hole and Garrett took it with a grin.
"Good work, Sydney. You're getting closer and closer to that little piece of paper," he said smugly.
Sydney rolled her eyes. "And speaking of that, would you mind telling me when you're planning on handing it over?"
Garrett paced across the lush green grass. "Why do you want this paper so badly, anyway? I mean, even when the certificate's in your hands you're still going to be Sandy Swan."
Sydney pursed her lips. "But it will be my dirty little secret... not yours."
He laughed. "But I'll still know, Sydney. I'll always know." Even though Garrett's words were threatening, his tone was light and almost tender. Sydney had to smile. She just couldn't believe how you could be so attracted to someone that you hated. "And you'll never tell, right?" she asked him, although she knew he probably would, eventually.
"Oh, never," Garrett replied sarcastically. He then looked deeply into Sydney's green eyes, and a look of contempt and adoration played upon her pretty face. I guess now would be a good time to bring up the kiss, he thought. "Sydney, about last night..."
Sydney felt her heart beating faster and faster in her chest. She didn't want to talk about it for fear she might confess to him how wonderful the kiss was. "I can't talk about this," she said turning her back to him.
"But we can't pretend that it didn't happen," he protested.
She looked back at him. "Yes we can. That's what I want to do. I just want to pretend it never happened, just like I pretended that you and I were never once..." her voice trailed off. "Just forget it, okay?"
He nodded slowly. "Alright, if that's what you want me to do."
"It is," she said quickly.
"Well, then, I'll talk to you later, I guess." Garrett turned and slowly started walking away from the wall.
Wait! Sydney wanted to cry. Please, come back! I want to see what it feels like again. Maybe we shouldn't forget! But by the time she got up the courage to talk to him again, he was gone.
J.T. explained his project to Jimmy. Of course, Jimmy wasn't the child prodigy that J.T. was, so he had a hard time understanding what was being said. Plus Neil jumped in occasionally, trying to illustrate UB2B, which made everything seem even more complicated. In fact, Jimmy was still stuck on one key fact that they had told him, that their code name for ordering the chemicals was "Professor Vann". The name sounded vaguely familiar to Jimmy, and his mind wandered to the morning before Sydney's pool party. He had been eating breakfast with Callie, and Jazz, the Swans Shop proprietor, was talking with them:
"So, Jazz, any more strange grownies appear since the other night?" Callie asked with a smile. Jazz, a twenty- something woman who liked to talk to the teenage patrons, had been complaining that the only people who came in during her grave yard shift were middle-aged adults, or "grownies".
"As weird as the skateboarding butler? Or the lettuce freak?" Jimmy and Callie laughed. "Actually," Jazz began with a shy smile, "the one was sort of cute in a bizarre kind of way..." "Ahh, new boyfriend?" Callie teased. "Yeah. If I were a pancake, he'd bite," she said with a sad laugh. Jimmy looked at her, confused. "No, I mean it. That's all he's into. Pancakes and finding out about some guy called Professor Vann. This is the story of my life!" she threw her hands up in mock frustration. Could Jazz's new crush be one of the guys tracking Neil and J.T.? Jimmy found that really hard to believe, but this new information could be crucial to finding out about who these guys were. "... so we need her to go to the post office." Neil concluded. Jimmy immediately snapped back to reality. "Huh?" Neil looked frustrated. "I said," Neil began in a slow, condescending tone. "Callie has to go to the post office for us."
"Why?" Jimmy asked. Neil sighed. "Because the last chemical for UB2B could be in our P.O. box. We need someone to get it out for us because those guys could be hiding out by the post office."
Neil, J.T., and Jimmy started heading up the stairs. "Why Callie though?" Jimmy questioned Neil. He didn't really like the idea because he didn't want Callie to be in any danger.
"Why me what?" Callie asked. She and Glory were sitting in the living quarters of the sub, and Glory was looking surprisingly calm. J.T. silently walked to her side and put his arm around her. She didn't resist.
J.T. quickly explained that Callie needed to go to the post office, and that the men were less likely to hurt her because she was a female and to their knowledge, had nothing to do with UB2B.
Callie was a bit miffed that they wanted her to do this just because she was a girl and therefore, was less likely to be hassled. However, she was in no mood to argue, so she accepted the assignment. As she was reaching for her jacket, Jimmy touched her arm urgently.
"Can I talk to you?" he inquired. Callie nodded and the two headed outside.
Jimmy brought her up to date on the conversation between J.T. and Neil. "So while you're at the post office, I'm planning on heading over to Swans to talk to Jazz and find out what she knows about the bald man," he told her.
"Well, I guess I'll see you later then," Callie said, walking to her mini-bike.
"Yeah... but Callie?"
"Yeah?" As she turned towards Jimmy, she could see a familiar look in his eyes. It was the same one that he had had on the stairs earlier.
"I don't know if I really want you to go over there," he admitted.
Callie was incredibly flattered. "That's really sweet Clayton, but I can take care of myself. I promise I'll be careful."
Jimmy offered his hand to her and she placed her hand in his. "You promise?" he asked.
She smiled broadly. "I promise." Slowly, Jimmy brushed back her auburn curls and leaned towards her. Their lips met in a soft, lingering kiss. Callie had never felt so happy in her life.
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.