Part 2 {Rachel}

She was standing in a group of teachers and, from what Eliana could hear, they were discussing the lack of respect that students had for the cafeteria meatloaf. Eliana tapped Mrs. Cornwallis on the shoulder. The woman turned around, looking at Eliana over the top of her red sparkly glasses. “Yes, deary?” she asked, flashing her biggest smile.
“Do you want Mr. Roosevelt back?” she asked, smiling politely at the other teachers around her.
Mrs. Cornwallis looked slightly disturbed. “Eliana, dear, If you’ll remember from chapter 17, section 5 of our history books, Mr. Roosevelt is dead. He’s been gone since 1919. Perhaps you should ask Addison to help you study. I’m sure he’d do just fine with that.”
“Oh, actually I meant this Mr. Roosevelt,” Eliana replied, holding up the bust.
“Oh, yes, of course!” Mrs. Cornwallis said, laughing aloud. “How silly of me! Actually, you may keep it for now,” she said, as if she were doing Eliana the highest favor.
“Actually, I-”
“Oh, not for keeps, dear, I’m sorry,” Mrs. Cornwallis interrupted. “Take it home to your dear daddy and ask him if he’d be willing to teach our class a little about modeling clay. The art class is joining us next Friday, and I thought it would be perfect to combine art and history, don’t you?”
“Well, yes, but my dad doesn’t really do much sculpting any-”
“Marvelous!” Mrs. Cornwallis interjected. “Now you be a good girl and run back to your seat. And mind that you don’t break Teddy!” Mrs. Cornwallis then turned away from Eliana, and the teacher’s group moved in closer, picking up where they left off.

+++++

“Hey Add!” Addison turned to see his brother pushing through the crowds of people towards them.
“Hey Hayd,” Addison said, giving his brother a high five. “Nice game.”
“Thanks,” Hayden said, wiping his forehead. “If Jake hadn’t have made that last shot, we’d have been sunk for sure. Where’s Eliana?”
“Right here!” Eliana called, pushing through a group of teenagers. She carried Teddy under her arm. “I missed it, did you win?” she asked.
Hayden nodded. “It was close, though. Jake made the winning shot.” He glanced down at the sculpture she was holding with raised eyebrows. “Um, what’s that?”
“A bust,” Eliana replied, switching arms.
“Of who?” Hayden asked, squinting at the face. “It looks like a giraffe with antlers.”
Addison grinned. “Mrs. Cornwallis isn’t too good at sculpting, I guess,” he said.
“She said it’s supposed to be Teddy Rosevelt.” Eliana said. “Here, Add, hold him for a second.” She handed off the statue and began digging in her purse.
“What are you looking for?” Hayden asked.
“This,” she said, handing him a small bag. “Congratulations on the game.”
Hayden opened the bag and grinned when he saw what was inside. “Wow… is this one of those ones from the Billabong?” he asked. Eliana nodded.
“What is it?” Addison asked.
Hayden reached into the bag and pulled out what looked to be a long, skinny, neck warmer. “It’s for Elliot!” he said.
“What???” Addison cried.
“It’s a snake sweater,” Eliana said.
Addison rolled his eyes and Hayden laughed. “Thanks, Ellie,” he said. “It looks like just the right size. I might not even need a heat lamp now!”
Eliana laughed and Addison tugged at his brother’s arm. “Let’s get out of here before someone sees you holding that thing,” he said.

{Libby}

“Teddy Roosevelt was bad enough. And now a snake sweater? What is the world coming to?” Addison lifted his hands in mock despair.
“Well if you were worried about people staring at you, they certainly are now,” Eliana pointed out. Addison quickly resumed a casual pose, causing his brother to start laughing again.
“Let’s get out of here already,” Addison said again.
“Ok, ok! We’re going! Hayd, did you drive here?” Eliana asked.
“Nope, Mom dropped me off straight after my dentist appointment. Can you give us a ride?”
“Of course!” The boys lived conveniently across the street from Eliana and often car-pooled.

The drive home was uneventful. Addison insisted on listening to classical music, as usual.
“It’s proven that if babies listen to classical music they develop more quickly mentally and are more advanced than those who listen to say, rock music.”
“But Addison, we aren’t babies!” Hayden said, exasperated. “I think it’s too late.” Addison grumbled something and Eliana changed the station.

Eliana parked the car in front of her house. The lights were on both upstairs and down.
“Hey, you guys wanna come in and see dad’s latest?”
“Sure!”
“I think Mom finished the plot for her new novel too. She might give you a preview.”

Eliana’s mom was chewing on a pencil and sitting at her computer. She hardly ever wrote by hand, but apparently chewing on a writing implement helped her to think.
“Hey Mom,” Eliana said, glancing at the computer screen. “How’s it going? I brought Hayd and Addison in to see Dad’s painting.”
“Hi guys! I’m so glad you arrived,” Mrs. Vostras answered. She looked up at the three of them through her cat-eye reading glasses. “I need your opinion on the new plot.” Mrs. Vostras had been writing a sci-fi series about a PE teacher for a few years now. She was working on her fifth book.
“So Mr. Hogland has to defend the school from martians,” she was saying. Eliana went into the kitchen and returned with a plateful of chocolate-chip cookies. She passed them around as Mrs. Vostras finished, “And so the principal really is carrying on illegal business deals over the border and Mr. Hogland figures it out by using his bugged running shoes to intercept the frequency used by the principal’s contacts.”
“Wow. Sounds … complex,” Hayden commented, taking another cookie.
“The only part I don’t get is why Mr. Hogland is so worried about the principal’s dog,” Addison said. “Why doesn’t he just get rid of it?”
“Because the dog food is so suspicious. That’s what tips Mr. Hogland off in the first place.”
Addison nodded, comprehending.
“Sounds good, Mom,” Eliana said. Mrs. Vostras pinned her dark brown hair up with a few bobby pins.
“I’m going to start on it, now that I’ve gotten your opinions. Go on up and bother Mr. Vostras,” she said, laughing. “And take whatever that hunk of plaster is with you.”
“Don’t worry Mom, Teddy Roosevelt is going back to Mrs. Cornwallis just as soon as possible.”

To be continued...leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

ps. We hope your eye strain is alleviated by the background change, but don't get used to it. Genius requires constant change. You better believe it.