Graceful Read online

  For Grace, Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, Connor, and David, who let me know they had more to say

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  GRACE

  Chapter Two

  GRACE

  AMANDA

  LEO

  RORY

  TARA

  DAVID

  CONNOR

  Chapter Three

  GRACE

  Chapter Four

  GRACE

  AMANDA

  RORY

  LEO

  TARA

  Chapter Five

  GRACE

  Chapter Six

  GRACE

  AMANDA

  LEO

  RORY

  DAVID

  CONNOR

  Chapter Seven

  GRACE

  Chapter Eight

  GRACE

  Chapter Nine

  GRACE

  Chapter Ten

  GRACE

  TARA

  CONNOR

  DAVID

  Chapter Eleven

  GRACE

  Chapter Twelve

  GRACE

  AMANDA

  RORY

  TARA

  Chapter Thirteen

  GRACE

  Chapter Fourteen

  GRACE

  Chapter Fourteen and a Half

  Chapter Fifteen

  GRACE

  RORY AT THE VORTEX

  TARA AT THE VORTEX

  AMANDA AT THE VORTEX

  Chapter Sixteen

  GRACE

  Chapter Seventeen

  GRACE

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Dear my favorite reader (that’s you!),

  Writing the Willow Falls series these past few years has been a total joy. The Last Present was intended to be the last book. It even said so in the title! But it turns out Grace, Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor weren’t ready to say good-bye. Plus, you guys made it VERY CLEAR that IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS was the series allowed to end yet, and who am I to argue? If you’re new to the series, it goes like this: 11 Birthdays, Finally, 13 Gifts, The Last Present, and then this one, Graceful. If you haven’t read the others, and you don’t know why Rory hates bunnies or how Tara made her school principal cry or what happened to Amanda and Leo on that sandbar when they were stuck back in time, then you’re probably not ready for Graceful yet.

  But if you do know all those things, then I hope you’ll enjoy seeing your old friends again. Thank you for welcoming them into your life in such an amazing way.

  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you guys ROCK! (Or as Grace would say, you guys are totes awesomesauce!)

  xx,

  Wendy

  What is essential is invisible to the eye.

  — from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

  Invisible lines of energy fling themselves across continents and oceans, and out to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Where the lines cross, a vortex of energy sinks deep into the earth and waits. This concentrated energy contains all the possibilities in the universe, all the mathematical outcomes of your choices. If you were to stumble into it, you might feel a tingle, something you could blame on a cool breeze, or déjà vu. Or you might feel nothing at all. Our limited senses simply may not allow us to comprehend the true nature of reality. We think a tree is a tree. But if you look deeper, past the bark and the sap, into the molecules that make up the wood, deeper into the almost completely empty atom until you reach the smallest particles of matter, you will find only waves of energy. Not a solid “thing” at all. And those particles? They have no idea they’re part of a tree. We, too, have no idea what we’re a part of.

  There are rumors of a select few who have come close to understanding, but they have not come forth to reveal themselves.

  “Admit it, if you suddenly had magical powers, you would have turned that leftover meat loaf into pizza, too.”

  Bailey shakes her head as we pedal down the uneven cobblestones of the hidden alley. “As much as I’m against your mom’s meat loaf for many reasons,” she says, “the first thing I would do if I had your powers is get straight A’s on every report card.”

  “You already get straight A’s,” I point out.

  She shakes her head. “Remember, I got that A-minus in gym last year for refusing to play dodgeball? Such a barbaric sport.”

  I pull to a stop in front of the last store on the right and swing down my kickstand. “Let me guess, barbaric was on your Word of the Day app today?”

  “Yesterday,” she says. “I’ve been waiting for an occasion to use it.” She hops off her bike and lets it fall right over onto the street as she’s done every time since we were six and learned to ride without training wheels. As the bike leaves her hands, I see it fall in slow motion, taking much longer to hit the ground than logic says it should. Time acting wonky is one of the weirdnesses that I’ve had to get used to ever since the vortex on the edge of town decided to pick me to share its power with when I turned ten. I hadn’t asked for this gift, hadn’t even known such a thing existed, but it’s my destiny and I’m learning to live with it. The only people who know are my parents; my older brother, Connor; and a group of his friends who basically saved my life when they realized what was happening to me. They have now become my friends, too, which is very cool, because they are three years older and still want to hang out with me. They even call themselves Team Grace. I have a team!

  I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone else about the whole magical vortex thing, but Bailey’s been my best friend ever since I started a petition in first grade to ban soda in the cafeteria, and she was the only person to sign it. She’s crazy smart, and I know I can trust her.

  “Ready?” Bailey asks as we approach the door of Angelina’s Sweet Repeats and Collectibles. She pulls out the silk pouch where we keep the key to the store. It was Bailey’s idea that such a special object shouldn’t get shoved in a pocket or tossed in my bike basket. We made the pouch on my mom’s sewing machine from the pants Connor wore the Halloween he was a pirate. Then we added glitter and sparkles because everything looks better with glitter and sparkles.

  She hands me the key and steps back.

  Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. A few stray pieces of glitter waft down from my hand as I lift the key to the lock. I slip it in and take one more deep breath. Then I try to turn it to the right. It doesn’t budge. To the left. Nothing. I lean my forehead against the cool glass door and my breath forms circles of fog.

  It’s been six weeks since my birthday. Every day I come here and try to get inside. Sometimes with Bailey, often with Connor and Team Grace. Once even with my parents, which was awkward, because they’re still really freaked out by everything. Mom has already texted me nine times since Bailey and I left an hour ago.

  But it doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, or who I’m with. The key never turns. The door never opens. All I can do is stare at all the clothes and toys and books and random stuff from the other side of a thick pane of glass. I wish I could use my power to open the door without the key, but I’ve tried and it doesn’t work. I can only do small magical things, like changing that meat loaf into pizza, or making my parents lose track of time at the beach so we can stay longer.

  Almost as soon as my powers came, they were gone. For a few days I could sense people’s thoughts, and even make things move with a wave of my hand. That was fun. Made cleaning my room go a lot quicker! But now most of those things are gone. Angelina D’Angelo had the power of the vortex for a hundred years. I only had it for a week.

  At first I’d tried to explain to the others how it felt to be able to see