“You took great care of my stuff,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll show you everything she gave me,” Trina said. “I think you better take it all back even if it’s not yours, ’cause she may have stolen it from someone else. And you were majorly cool to me last summer. Were you at B.J.’s?”

  “Not this time,” I said. “But we’re tight so I spend a lot of nights with her.”

  We left with my baseball doll, the bear, two movies, and three of my horse books. Aunt Cathy gave Trina a gift certificate for a riding lesson at Horse Heaven. The kid promised to talk to her friends at school and see what else she could find. She apologized a couple more times as she walked us to the car, and swore she’d never sleep over with Priscilla again.

  Annie asked me if I ever babysat and offered to pay me major bucks to stay with Trina. I explained that I was on the varsity cheer squad so I could only do it on weekends when I didn’t have a competition and after practice, if that worked for her. And I’d have to take the kid with me to Horse Heaven on Sundays so I could muck stalls.

  Trina was jumping up and down, begging her mom to have me come next week when I got in the car. Annie just laughed and said she’d call me to set up times. I gave her my cell number and told her that I wasn’t allowed calls at Mom’s and Bruce’s which earned me a really long look from the woman. I waved at Trina as we drove away.

  “I never thought about babysitting as a job,” I told Aunt Cathy. “And fifteen bucks an hour! If I had the kid every weekend, I’d be able to buy Xanadu a show bridle for Christmas.”

  Aunt Cathy laughed. “Line up a few more kids and you could even get a new show saddle.”

  “Oh yeah!”

  We drove all over Stewart Falls for the next hour, but we still didn’t find everything. Some of the parents weren’t too happy, and a couple said their daughters would not be spending the night with Priscilla again. I knew I should be worried about the brat losing friends, but after her latest stunt, I honestly didn’t care.

  We found one more of my Army bears, and he had lost his combat boots and beret. I didn’t find my Horse-Opoly or other games. When we got home, Warren met us in the driveway. He helped tote my stuff into his room. I spotted Cappy and my pink and purple afghan on the couch in front of the TV along with a few board games, videos, DVDs and CDs.

  Aunt Cathy put her arm around my shoulders. “We’ll hunt down the rest of your belongings after school tomorrow.”

  “After cheer practice, too,” I said. “I’ll meet you at school at five.”

  When Aunt Cathy left, I headed upstairs with Cappy and my afghan. Stressed out and exhausted, all I wanted was sleep. I heard the TV in the family room, but I couldn’t be bothered to speak to Mom, Bruce or their favorite child.

  I’d just crawled into bed in the guestroom when Mom tapped on the door, then came in. “Sarah, are you okay? I’m sorry about the breakdown in communications. I forgot to remind Bruce you weren’t supposed to go to the farm today.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Only a couple of Grandma’s customers saw me and I told them the horses didn’t hurt me. So, I didn’t do what Bruce gets in trouble for, taking a shingle off Grandma’s roof and driving away her customers so she doesn’t have money to pay for horse feed.”

  Mom sat down on the bed and I moved away from her, turning my back. “Cathy told me Priscilla let some of her friends borrow your things. She’s going to ask for them tomorrow at school. I’m sure they’ll return them to her soon.”

  “They weren’t borrowed. She stole my stuff again and gave it away. The kid’s a liar and a thief. You’re going to let her get away with it, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, Sarah, don’t be this way. Priscilla just loves to share with her friends.”

  “Then why doesn’t she share her own belongings?” I took a deep breath, bunched up my pillow, and put it between me and the wall so I could lean against it. Then, I looked at Mom, hoping I didn’t cry in front of her. That would be the worst thing I could do. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?”

  “Okay, let me try to explain it. Do you remember when I was five or six and Sam was still here?” We rarely talked about my cousin. She lived with Aunt Cathy’s ex-husband, and I’d only seen her once when I visited my dad at Fort Lewis, and her dad had been there too for some kind of Army training.

  “Of course, I remember Samantha,” Mom said. “And it may surprise you, but I haven’t forgotten your childhood.”

  She could have fooled me, but I didn’t say that. I was trying to make a point, and I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to comprehend it or not. Sometimes, I felt like my mother had been replaced by an alien from outer space and this pod person sitting on the edge of my bed wasn’t truly related to me. I smelled the wine on her breath. So, it was my real mother.

  “All right,” I said. “I don’t know if you remember this or not, but it made a big impression on me. We went to the store and Sam and I stole some candy. Warren ratted us out and Dad was so pissed. He marched Sam and me back into the store, made us apologize to the manager, pay for the chocolate bars, and grounded me for a month. And when Aunt Cathy came to pick up Sam, you told her.”

  “It was a stage, and you outgrew it,” Mom said. “You never stole again.”

  “Because you and Dad taught me that it was wrong,” I said. “Aunt Cathy made Sam and me write letters to the store manager and Grandma said we should have been spanked, but Dad told her that the two of you didn’t believe in corporal punishment. He said he wanted me to think about what I’d done and you agreed with him. Well, when does Priscilla have to think about other people?”

  “I was younger then.” Mom leaned over and patted my shoulder. “Adam and I overreacted. A stern lecture would have been enough, like what I did with Priscilla tonight.”

  Tears burned, but I wouldn’t let them fall. I wasn’t going to cry around Mom. It wouldn’t make any difference. Priscilla was her favorite, and I was nothing. “She hates me and I don’t want to share a room with her. I don’t even want to be around her ever again. If I had somewhere else to live other than Priscilla’s Palace, I’d go there in a heartbeat. I wish Dad was stationed in the States. I matter with him.”

  “Oh, Sarah.” Mom heaved a sigh and stood up. “Priscilla’s a little girl, not a monster. She makes mistakes. So do you. Will you just grow up? This drama queen routine of yours gets old, real fast. Having your aunt involved in this silliness upsets the whole family. You need to stop acting like such a big baby.” She left the room.

  I was all through, not just with Priscilla, but also with Mom and her husband. I’d get all my stuff out of this house. As soon as possible, I’d leave too. They wouldn’t care, but I did. I was done. I pulled out my diary and began to write about my absolutely, rotten mother and this totally, filthy crap-fest.

  I murmured the lines from the play, tears sliding down my cheeks. “Why and I trust I may go, too, may I not? What, shall I be appointed hours, as though, belike, I knew not what to take and what to leave?”

  Everything seemed possible the next morning. I showered, washed my hair, and happily noticed that the bruises on my face had faded quite a bit in a week. The make-up base Kaitlyn gave me worked. I was able to cover the purple, black and yellow marks on my cheeks, jaw, and forehead. Eye shadow, liner, mascara, blush, and I styled my hair to hide the rest. I looked human for the first time in days. I opted for my dark blue slacks, a white blouse and my light blue academy sweater.

  After I dressed, I headed for what I thought of as my old bedroom. Mom hadn’t approved of my switch to the guest room but living with Priscilla was so over. I checked out my side of the room. Warren had emptied the closet. I still needed to clear out the dresser and nightstand. I’d take down my pictures and bulletin board tonight. I should have everything out of here before Friday.

  I ignored the kid, still sacked out in her canopy bed and filled two cheer duffels. One held the sweats, pom-poms and other stuff I needed for practice. I loaded skirts, sweaters and tops into the second bag. While Aunt Cathy and I toured Stewart Falls last night, I’d talked to Vonnie on my cell and she expected the clothes.

  I went back to the guest-room and gathered up Cappy and my afghan tucking them under one arm. Then I picked up the two duffels and headed for the kitchen where Warren packed lunches for the two of us. “Can you give me a ride to school? I don’t want to take my cheer stuff on the bus.”

  “No worries.” He took my stuff. “You finish this and I’ll load up the car.”

  “Cappy and my afghan stay downstairs for the day,” I told him.

  “Got it.” He headed for his apartment with my stuffed tiger and the multi-colored blanket.

  Mom wandered into the kitchen in pursuit of her first cup of coffee and the bottle of aspirin for her hangover. “Sarah, don’t you have an appointment with Doctor Conway this morning?”

  I tucked the roast beef sandwiches into plastic baggies. I put one sandwich in a paper sack for me, one in a bag for Warren. “I’ll call from the school and reschedule to see him this afternoon. Aunt Cathy will take me. I can’t miss any more classes, or practices.”

  “I’m glad you’re feeling so much better.” Mom sipped her coffee and went to look at the family calendar on the fridge. “What time will you be home? Priscilla gets here at 4:15.”

  “Hello? Were you listening when I said I had cheer practice today?” I added a packaged brownie and cup of fruit to each lunch. “Have you cleared getting me kicked off the squad with Aunt Cathy and Dad? They’re the ones who pay for my cheer stuff.”

  Before Mom answered, Warren returned. He lounged in the doorway, one shoulder against the wall. “You need to find a different babysitter, Mom. Sarah has a conference with her core teachers today to reschedule her sophomore project. There was only so much I could do to rescue her research paper after Priscilla broke her computer.”

  “What?” Mom demanded. “I thought you took it to class with you.”

  “I did, but even if Sarah calls me Superman, that’s not my name,” Warren said. “She’ll be working with her core teachers every day until Thanksgiving if she doesn’t want to fail English, World History, and Spanish. And with the tuition the Colonel pays, you don’t want to start a war with him when Sarah fails tenth grade. He really will get the Army lawyers involved and have her shipped off to boarding school. Since I’m graduating in June, he’ll probably be content with me moving in with a friend so I can stay at the academy.”

  Mom refilled her mug, and then put a bagel in the toaster. “What time will you be home then, Warren? You need to take care of Priscilla.”

  “Sorry. I put off a bunch of the kids I tutor when I looked after Sarah last week. I’m booked up for the next month. After that, there will be college mid-terms and academy exams. You may as well figure I’m busy until Christmas break. How much more rent do you and Bruce want since I’m unavailable for baby-sitting, cooking, laundry, and housework?”

  Mom looked at Warren as if she’d never seen him before. “The rent is to teach you responsibility.” Her voice cracked on a whisper. “I’m not your enemy. Why don’t you know that?” She turned to me. “Sarah, you know how much I love you and Warren.”

  “Leave me out of it,” I said. “Personally, I think if you and Bruce need more money, you should tell Dad instead of going for every nickel and dime you can squeeze from Warren. Maybe you can hire a housekeeper who will clean and babysit your little princess here at Priscilla’s Palace. I remember Bruce paid a nanny for years until Warren was old enough to run the house.” I put the extra lunch stuff on my brother’s shelf in the fridge where we kept our food. I grabbed my backpack. “We gotta go. We’ll be late to get Vonnie.”

  “A teacher conference at the academy?” Mom took a deep breath and eyed me again. “What time should I be there today?”

  “Don’t bother coming. I don’t need you, and Book City does,” I said. “My teachers are used to Warren taking care of me. He’s been doing it for the past six years since you and Dad split up.”

  Warren handed Mom a piece of paper. “The only thing I can’t do is sign her back into school after an absence.”

  “Well, I’m glad I still have some use.” Mom said sarcastically. She scribbled a couple lines, then passed me the note. “Have a good day, Sarah. Be careful. Don’t overdo it. If you want to come home early, call your Aunt Cathy or Grandma.”

  “Okay.” She looked so pitiful that I hugged her before heading for the front door. I knew she didn’t really care about me and it was all an act, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. Not sorry enough, however, to go back inside and promise to babysit the brat who stole my stuff, especially after learning what Annie said a babysitter should be paid. No more working my butt off for free!

  Once we got outside and headed for the Mustang, I nudged Warren with my elbow. “I’m too busy for Priscilla? Did I ever tell you that you’re my hero?”

  He laughed. “I can’t believe they want you to take care of the kid after the way she acted this weekend. Talk about dumb. If you had an ounce of meanness, you’d do it and she’d fall down a lot.”

  I shook my head. “No way. I’m not a bully. I’d never knock a little kid around. My brother raised me to be a better person than that.”

  “And don’t you forget it, shrimp-bait.” Warren opened the passenger door for me. When I was in the car, he handed me a flash drive. “Here you go. It’s your sophomore project, everything you had up to last week when you were too sick to work on it. You do have to meet with your teachers to readjust the deadlines, and they will let you work in their rooms between last period and cheer practice.”

  “I only have a couple of questions. Where do you keep your tights and cape? How did you come up with this? You’re a rocket scientist, Warren. I’m out of the house and I have a life. I owe you big-time.”

  “No, you don’t.” Warren started the car and backed out of the drive. “You would if I’d thought of it, but I didn’t. Timber came up with the rescue plan for both of us. I just put it into action. You’ll find all your other class assignments on that drive.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I knew Timber was one of the nicest guys on the planet, but I’d never thought of him being that smart. Was that the right word? I had a lot to think about. For some reason, Timber suspected we’d be stiffed with Priscilla even after her stunt last weekend. I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask him why he caught on when Warren and I didn’t. I mean most people would have figured that there had to be a break from the emotional games. Now what was I going to say to Timber about the way he stepped up to help me?

  Okay, he was majorly decent, good-looking, and kind, but I was Jason’s girl. I loved him. I had watched him for years, even before I started high school. Wanted him for the same amount of time while he dated Hailey and finally he loved me too. I took a deep breath. All right, I’d go on making cookies for Timber and being a friend to him, but that was totally it.

  I had enough to do. I had to get my other belongings out of the house, catch up on school assignments, learn a new dance, and most important of all, keep Jason happy so the football team would win this Friday. Sooner or later, Timber would catch on to the truth. I was Jason’s girl and nothing was going to change that!

  THIRTEEN

  Louie, Louie” filled the car and I grabbed my cell phone. “Hey, Abbie. What’s up?”

  “I should ask you that,” Abbie said. “Can you get to school early to meet with the squad? Timber told me about your problem and we’re signing up to watch your stuff. Did you find all the Army bears?”

  “Not yet, but Aunt Cathy and I are looking for them again tonight.”

  “Okay. Well, Darcy says she’ll pass a list to her mom at the elementary. If any of your stuff shows up, Mrs. Gallatin and the other teachers will grab it. They’ll also discuss the Stewart Falls Academy Honor Code with Princess Priss and her little entourage. Highlanders don’t steal.”

  I took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to thank you guys.”

  “Hey, we’re a team,” Abbie told me. “If we don’t watch out for each other, who will? See ya at breakfast at school. Bring Vonnie, okay?”

  “We’re on our way to get her right now. You’re great, Abbie.”

  “Remember that when I bitch you out next time for messing up a dance.”

  “You got it,” I said.

  After she hung up, I checked my text messages and answered them. When we arrived at Vonnie’s a short time later, she was the only one home. While Warren carried in an armload of my things, I unpacked the duffel with my regular clothes. Vonnie hung up my stuff in the half of the closet she’d cleared. It took less than ten minutes and we were on the road to the academy.

  I grabbed a blueberry muffin and a carton of milk before I went to join Abbie and the other cheerleaders at a long table in the Commons. Surprisingly, the J.V. squad clustered on the far side of the room around B.J. and Dallas. They had several guys with them, Gabe Abbott, B.J.’s boyfriend Ringo, and his best buddy, Mike Sinclair. Something was up and I wondered what. Or were B.J. and Dallas just sharing the news about their promotions to Varsity?

  Well, I couldn’t find out now. I’d ask at our practice after school. Vonnie slid into the chair next to me. I glanced at Abbie. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m still holding out for a swirly,” Marcie said. “But Abbie’s being a butt-head and won’t let me teach manners to Princess Priss. So, I signed up to take care of your board games. I’ll put them under my bed and nobody will even know they’re there.”

  ‘I’ve got your movies covered,” Jenny said. “When you stay over, we can watch them. No way will my brothers touch girly stuff. They wouldn’t even before we moved in with my grandparents and now, forget about it. Whenever they screw up, Gramps cuts out their paintball trips.”