Graceful Read online

  He said it was like …

  Magic!

  Yes!

  No, I mean it WAS magic!

  What do you mean?

  I mean, there’s no way heads aren’t going to turn when the star of the biggest movie of the summer comes into a supermarket. Grace must have done it.

  OMG, you’re right!!!!

  The Hamburglar is never wrong.

  GTG, thanks!

  Rory: OMG did you fix it somehow so Jake can go out in public without being recognized?

  Grace: Maybe.

  You did?! OMG, I’m crying. I can barely see to type. How can I thank you? Why did you do it? How did you do it?

  I kept thinking about what you said the other day about how hard it was for Jake, and you were so kind to drop everything and come with me to the library when you were dealing with Madison and her mean comments, and I thought if only there was a way to make it so that when Jake didn’t want to be recognized, he wouldn’t be. It’s called a glamour. It’s like a mask he puts on so he looks different to other people.

  Like when Amanda and Leo went back in time to your birthday parties!

  Yes! That’s how I knew I could do it, since Angelina had done it to them. He’s not really changing or anything. He still looks like himself, except when he doesn’t want to.

  I’m going to need to tell him. He’ll eventually realize it’s not a coincidence that he keeps going out and not being bothered by fans.

  I know.

  THAT will be an interesting conversation!!

  I think he’s ready for it.

  I think you’re right. I love you for doing this. I know it’s not as big a deal as giving David his dad and grandfather back, but it’s going to change his life, and mine!

  You’re welcome. XOXO

  Enough about me! How are YOU doing?

  Good. Working some things out. I hope it doesn’t take too long to find the vortex once we’re all together.

  Have you tried on your own?

  A few times on my front lawn. I held onto the handles with the rods right in front of me, but the ends didn’t move, no matter what direction I turned in. They’re supposed to swivel toward what you’re looking for. Wherever the vortex is, it must be too far from my house for the rods to pick it up.

  We’ll help any way we can.

  I know, thanks!! Btw, is Amanda okay? It seemed like she wanted her space or whatever, so I haven’t wanted to bother her.

  I don’t know. She’s been doing stuff this weekend with her friend Stephanie, and I don’t want to get in the way. I got the cupcake like Angelina said, but Amanda wasn’t home when I went to bring it to her house after dinner Friday. I’ll make sure she got it when I see her in school tomorrow.

  I’m sure she wouldn’t think you’re in the way. You’re one of her best friends.

  I know. But Stephanie is her oldest best friend besides Leo of course. Like Annabelle is mine, and Bailey is yours. No matter how much you lose touch or grow apart as you get older and make new friends, no one will ever know you like the friends you had when you were little. Don’t forget about them. That’s your lecture of the day. :0)

  It’s a good one. I’m going to go give Bailey a call! XO

  XO. Thank you again for what you did.

  Aw shucks, it was nothing. :P

  Dear Julie,

  Uncle Roger has the BEST surprise for my friend Connor in the history of surprises. Remember, Connor’s the one who works for my uncle after school sometimes since he wants to be an inventor when he grows up? Well, he didn’t want to wait that long, so he’s been working on a super-secret project (actually, it’s a pair of 3-D glasses that people who wear glasses can comfortably wear). I know this because David is working on it with him as his beta tester (that’s someone who tests devices in early stages), and David told me. He and I agreed not to keep secrets from each other. ANYWAY, Connor showed my uncle his prototype (that’s like a sample, sorry if I keep explaining all the inventor lingo!), and my uncle thought it was great! He suggested a few ways to tweak it, like offering a version that snaps onto your real glasses, and now he’s going to help Connor find an investor (that’s someone who puts money behind a product to help it get started)! But the surprise is that while Connor was in school the other day, Uncle Roger hired a company to make fifty samples based exactly on the prototype, so that people can start wearing them, and then buzz will build around them! (Buzz is like gossip, but the good kind! Like when people are all talking about something new, and then everyone wants one!)

  So that’s the big news here! Do you have plans for Halloween? I haven’t dressed up since I was nine, but apparently in Willow Falls it’s a big deal, so I have to come up with an outfit.

  w/b/s

  Tara

  PS: I’m sorry about dumping all that stuff on you in the last letter. I feel much better. It’s amazing the power of the pool hole! I can go there anytime I need a break from life. I think I will be okay.

  PPS: One more thing … it turns out I’m a writer and didn’t even know it! Guess you might have suspected it after you got that huge box of letters a few months ago, but I never thought of myself that way. My dad said he would help me try to get a story published some day! And that we could try to write a book together! Me = didn’t think I was good at anything special. I’m enclosing a photocopy of my first story The Day Tara the Great Destroyed the Zombie Queen and Then Ate a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Try not to laugh, since I wrote it a long time ago! I hope you like it!

  PPPS: Loved the picture of your adorable dog Rapunzel! I didn’t expect her to be a black lab with such short hair! Thank you for explaining what irony means, because I never really got that till now!

  I plop down on the front lawn. Five more minutes to go. I’ve had to wait a week for the others all to be free at the same time. Amanda’s been busy with marching band, Tara started taking fencing lessons, and Leo’s friend Vinnie convinced him to try out for soccer. Basically they’ve all been leading these totally normal lives, while I’ve been going to school during the day, then staring into the window of Angelina’s store the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out where half of everything went. Getting inside must have been a one-time deal, because the key no longer works.

  I didn’t tell any of them about the stuff disappearing, or how panicked I am about finding the vortex. They may have promised to look out for me, but I can’t expect them to drop everything all the time. Bailey’s the one person I can confide everything in. I know she’s not going anywhere. Even though she obviously hadn’t been camping with Leo, Amanda, Ray, Tara, and Rory the night they learned about the vortex, Bailey would have been here if her mom hadn’t surprised her with tickets to a charity fashion show in River Bend. I couldn’t let her turn down something like that. Connor and David weren’t there that night, either, and even though they offered to come with me, too, I knew they’d have more fun working on Connor’s secret invention (which everyone seems to know about but me, so maybe it’s not that secret after all).

  My hand drifts up to the spot above my ear. Little tufts are just starting to grow in the bald spot. I hope my sunglasses came in handy after sacrificing a clump of hair for them!

  Leo arrives first, then Amanda, then Ray and Tara pull up in Ray’s car, leaving only Rory still missing.

  “Do you think Rory’s seen the picture yet?” Tara asks as soon as she’s hopped out of the car.

  Before I can ask what picture, Amanda says, “I don’t think so. We’d have heard the screams of horror.”

  “Remember, this is Rory we’re talking about,” Leo says. “She’s survived much worse embarrassment than this.”

  “True,” Amanda says, “but that’s when people didn’t notice her. Now she’s dating a movie star.”

  “Sort of dating,” Tara corrects her. “Not officially until she’s older. Remember her dad made Jake sign something?”

  I thought that was only a rumor, but the ins and outs of teen romance aren’t something I c