The Prophecy by Melissa Luznicky Garrett

plan. I’m sorry to say you’ve forced my hand in the
matter.”
    I
didn’t like where this was going, and from the look on everyone else’s faces,
neither did they.
    “What
are you talking about?” Caleb said. There was a nervous quality to his voice
that I had never heard before. “What contingency plan?”
    “I made
a few phone calls the other day. Lucky for you and your sister, there’s plenty
of space at the high school for two more students.”
    Charley
reached into her pocket and pulled out a shiny bronze key. “There’s also a
furnished apartment already waiting for us.”
    Jasmine
jumped to her feet, a look of abject horror on her face. “You can’t be serious!
You can’t just kidnap us and hold us hostage here!”
    Charley
closed her eyes and let the hand holding the key fall to her lap. “I am your
mother, Jasmine. I hardly kidnapped you. And I’m just trying to do what’s best
for everyone.”
    “What’s
best for everyone ?” Jasmine shrieked. “This is definitely not what’s
best for me .”
    “You
tricked us,” Caleb said. “You laid out options that you knew no one would agree
to just to push your own agenda.”
    “Agenda?”
Charley laughed. “The only agenda I have is to see that our Spirit Keeper is
kept safe. And if I, as the head of the Council, have to protect her myself, I will.”
    “But—”
    “No
buts, Caleb. It’s settled. And I don’t appreciate your unsupportive tone,” she
added as an obvious afterthought.
    “What’s
settled?” Jasmine cried, her eyes welling with tears. For once I actually felt
sorry for her. “Nothing has been settled. I just want to go home!”
    Charley
sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sarah doesn’t want to move to the
reservation and no one wants me to be Spirit Keeper, although I can’t
understand why,” she added in an undertone. “Moving here to offer Sarah
additional protection is what’s good for the tribe as a whole. Surely you can
understand that, Jasmine.”
    “So,
what? You’re asking us to be her bodyguards?” Caleb said.
    “I
don’t need anyone to babysit me!” I yelled.
    Jasmine
turned her angry, tear-filled eyes on me. “This is all your fault!” She bolted
from the room, slamming the front door behind her on her way out.
    “Don’t
worry about her,” Charley said. “She’ll be fine.”   
    “I’ve
got a headache,” Meg said, sounding tired. “Obviously there’s a lot still to
talk about and, quite frankly Charley, you ambushed us.”
    Charley
looked horrified at the suggestion. “Well, excuse me for wanting what is best
for Sarah.”
    “That’s
just it,” David said. “I’m not sure you do.”
    Charley’s
eyes widened. “How can you even say that? Sarah is my best friend’s daughter.”
    I
swallowed down the lump that seemed to have become stuck in my throat. I didn’t
like Charley, and I knew she didn’t like me. She was definitely up to
something.
    The
burning question was what ?

 
    ELEVEN
    The
first day of school came much too quickly. Rolling over, I pulled the covers
over my head in denial. The door creaked open, admitting the scent of pancakes
and fried bacon. The overhead light blazed suddenly and I groaned, in no mood
for my aunt’s natural morning chipperness.  
    “Rise
and shine! You don’t want to be late for your first day of senior year.”
    I slowly
came out of hiding and squinted at her before slamming my hand against the
snooze button. “The reason I have an alarm is so you don’t have to come in here
every morning to wake me up. I’m not a kid anymore.”
    “Yikes.
I guess someone—”
    I
pointed a quick finger at her in warning. “Don’t you dare say it.”
    Meg
smiled. “And I suppose, since you’re not a kid anymore, you can make your own
breakfast?”
    I sat
up and yanked the band out of my hair, running my fingers along my scalp to loosen
the braid I’d slept in. I gave her a sheepish grin. “Well, breakfast would be
okay.”
    “Uh-huh.
I