The Secret Box by Whitaker Ringwald

Remember?”

13
Ethan
    FACT: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the phone, thought we should answer by saying “Ahoy.” It was Thomas Edison who suggested “Hello.” That’s a pretty cool fact.
    A nother fact: The first mobile handheld phone was invented way back in 1973. It weighed two and a half pounds and had only thirty minutes of battery life. In those days Google didn’t exist. If you needed to do research, you had to go to the library. The actual building. And if you needed a map, you had to go to a store or gas station and buy one. An actual paper map. Thanks to my new phone, it was easy to get driving directions to Juniper’s house.
    I typed the return address, which was in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and waited for the map to appear on the screen. Mom and Dad gave me the phone after I’d brought up my grade in English from C plus to B minus. My parents want me to get better grades. They never have grade discussions with Tyler, Mr. 4.2. But I get the lecture about once a month. “We know you’re capable of doing more,” they always say. “We just want you to do your best. That’s all we ask.”
    What if my best is a B minus? Would the world come to an end?
    There are all sorts of accolades for people who get As—clubs, awards, honors, scholarships, even trophies. But nothing is given to the B people. Statistically, there are more B people in this world than A people, but that argument never flies with my parents.
    I’m not sure what my problem is, exactly. I read more than anyone I know, and the facts all stick to my brain like fruit flies to honey. But when I sit down to take a test I get nervous and start second-guessing myself. Mom says introverts often lack confidence. Dad says that some people aren’t wired to be test takers. Tyler says I’m stupid.
    I scanned the New Hope tourist site. “New Hope lies on the Delaware River,” I said from the backseat. Jax was sitting in the front seat. “It’s the longest free-flowing river in the Eastern US. It starts in the Catskill Mountains and goes three hundred thirty miles to Delaware Bay. About five percent of the US population relies on it for drinking water. And—”
    â€œHow about giving us a factoid break?” Tyler said.
    I sighed and finished the sentence in my head. And it is fed by two hundred sixteen tributaries .
    Jax said something to Tyler, but I didn’t catch it. The atmosphere had changed and I’m not talking about the weather. When I’d asked Jax why she was sitting up front, she’d said it was because she couldn’t see very well through the plastic-wrap window. Maybe that was true but it felt like she’d deserted me. This had started as Jax and my adventure, but now we were splitting the prize with Tyler.
    â€œEstimated time of arrival?” Tyler asked.
    â€œWe should be there by ten o’clock,” I grumbled. Jax turned around and looked at me.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?”
    â€œNothing.” I folded my arms and slid down in the seat. Guess sulking ran in our family.
    Jax was squirming. She fixed her ponytail, then squirmed some more. When Tyler reached to turn on his music, she poked Tyler’s arm. “How come our great-aunt lived in Greece?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhere do you think she got such a weird box? Did she stick the LCD screen into it or did it come that way? Is she married? Do we have a great-uncle too? Did she—?”
    â€œWhat is this, Twenty Questions? Didn’t you Google her?” Tyler asked as if we were too stupid to think of that. Jax darted around and looked at me, wide-eyed. Google , she mouthed. Then she glared at me as if it was my fault we hadn’t done a search.
    I wasn’t about to admit to my brother that we had failed to do something so obvious. “We already did,” I told him. Jax watched hopefully as my fingers flew across the