Through the next hour Mina stayed in the gym, retelling the same story over and over. Just when didn’t think it could get any more humiliating, it did, because by lunchtime she was on YouTube.

“That was exciting!” Nan gushed as she pushed her tray along the lunch line. She was wearing another black shirt, this time dedicated to a certain sparkly vampire. She picked up an apple, turkey sandwich and a pink frosted cupcake from the line and swiped her lunch card through the electronic reader.

Mina was too stressed to eat. She grabbed chocolate milk from the cooler and paid, following Nan to their favorite table by the window. They were stopped three times by students wanting pictures and autographs.

“I bet your followers have doubled,” Mina commented as Nan waved cheerily at the group of freshmen who kept pointing and whispering.

“Tripled! But who’s counting?” she smiled. Obviously Nan was.

Mina shook her milk, and began to think about her string of bad luck getting to school.

“What’s with the scowl?” said Nan.

“You wouldn’t believe the morning I had.”

“I know, I was here, remember.”

“No, I’m talking about before I even got to school.” Mina began to relay the entire morning’s events, even up to Principal Hame's office, but Nan only heard one thing.

“WHAT!” she squealed, kicking Mina excitedly under the table. “Are you serious? You get to go to Brody Carmichael’s house?”

“Nan, you’re not listening. Something strange is going on. I think I’m going crazy.” She looked out the window and could see the sky beginning to turn green, a sure sign that a storm was coming.

“You bet you are. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about the Carmichael’s as soon as you saw me.”

“You’re missing the point.”

“No I heard it. You’re being terrorized by strange domestic animals. I’ll buy you some repellent.”

“Don't forget the donkey. I don't know if I would call that a domestic animal. What do you make of that?”

“You said yourself it could have been a large dog. But do you hear yourself? You are going to Brody’s house. You’ve had a crush on him for two years. When were you going to tell me?”

“I’m telling you now!”

“Are you excited?” Nan leaned in eagerly, her hands likely itching for her iPhone.

“Not really, because I don’t really plan on going. I was hoping you would go for me,” Mina slid the blue folder with the sticker of the Happy Maids’ logo across the table to Nan.

Nan looked at the folder in shock and slid it back. “Uh, no! This is your dreamy stalker moment, not mine. You do it.”

“I can’t, Nan. I just can’t.” Mina looked at Nan and pleaded silently. “I’m not ready to talk to him.”

Nan peeled the paper from around her cupcake and gave it a bite. “If you can’t talk to him now, after you saved his life, you’re never going to talk to him. Besides I have a good feeling about this. Trust me.”

Mina wished she did trust Nan. But every time Nan said those two words, she ended up in trouble.

“So how’s Charlie?” Nan said, changing the subject.

“He’s doing well. He really likes the new school.” Mina knew why her friend was trying to change the subject, but she let her get away with it.

“Do they think they can get him to talk?” Nan asked, swiping her finger through the frosting on her cupcake. Mina’s brother Charlie was born shortly after their father died, and even though the doctors could find nothing wrong with him, he never spoke.

“They hope so. They seem to think it’s because he was in the womb when Dad died, that he absorbed some of Mom’s post-traumatic depression or something.”

“What do you think?” Nan asked, licking the rest of the frosting from her fingers.

“I think Charlie doesn’t speak because he doesn’t need to.”

“You still think he will just one day awake from whatever silent spell he’s under and begin talking, like some sort of fairy tale?”

“Nan, you know I don’t believe in fairy tales.” As soon as the words left Mina’s mouth, a crash of thunder shook the cafeteria and the lights flickered on and off. Girls screamed in fright and the boys laughed out loud, pointing fingers and trying to re-scare some of the girls.

“Whoa…freaky!” Nan bobbed her head and looked around in wonder. “That was cool.” They looked out across the campus and could see the wind begin to pick up, but no visible rain yet.

“It’s just a storm,” Mina tried to answer carelessly. But her heart was racing with adrenaline. When it finally settled, Mina went on. “But Nan, if I believed in fairy tales, then wouldn’t there have to be a dashing Prince to save me from my pathetic life?”

“Well, you know,” Nan began to counter….

“Forget it. There are no happily ever afters. Look at my mom; she’s a maid for crying out loud, a widowed mother with two children. Where’s her happy ending?” Mina opened her chocolate milk and took a drink. “There are no such things as fairy tales.” Another crash of thunder shook the metal roof of the ceiling, causing Mina to spill chocolate milk down her violet jacket. A downpour of rain followed a second after, pinging loudly on the roof.

“Do you see what I mean?” Mina pulled her wet hoodie away from her body as she tried to wipe up the mess with a wad of napkins. “I’m cursed to be a loser forever.”

“You know, Mina.” Nan said thoughtfully as she grabbed napkins that didn’t have frosting on them to help her friend. “Not every tale has a happy ending. In fact, many of them are grim.”

Chapter 4

Mina couldn’t believe she was doing this. The only reason she decided to go through with it was because she heard a rumor that Brody was staying after school for a polo meeting. But still, you never knew. She was nervous just to meet Brody Carmichael’s mom.

She hoped if she rode her bike like a madman, she could drop off the folder and ride out without seeing him. So Mina did just that. It was a fifteen-minute bike ride to Sunset Drive and she was winded by the time she rode up to the palatial estate. Every house, including Brody’s, was surrounded by tall walls and heavy iron gates. She pedaled over to the call box and hit the green button.

“No solicitors,” a voice rattled through the high-tech electronic speaker. Mina looked around in surprise was and saw that a camera next to the gate had zeroed in on her.

Mina pushed the green button once more and leaned in. “Um, I’m dropping off an information packet for Happy Maids. We were told to bring it by this afternoon.” The voice didn’t come back on right away. Mina assumed it was because whoever was working the voice box was checking with the Carmichaels.

“Name?”

“Mina Grime.”

“Enter. Stay on the path. Don’t ride that thing on the grass!”

The giant iron gates swung inward and Mina rode up the driveway, mesmerized by the extravagance that money provided. What she had originally thought was the main house turned out to be the garage, which housed the family’s vehicles. Mina’s whole family plus the Wong’s could all live comfortably in the Carmichaels’ garage.