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"Were you born in Los Angeles?"

"I think so," I said. "I don't know."

"You don't even know where you were born?" Star cried.

"She never said where I was born."

"At least see if you can find out where and we'll see if we can check birth records, for starters," Jade plotted.

"Yeah, you have to ha

ve a birth certificate," Star said, "and your parents would be on it!"

"Maybe it was a secret birth, in a basement or an attic," Misty suggested with her eyes full of stories. "And then they forged a birth certificate. I read that in this book and--"

"Where did your real mother live?" Jade asked, waving Misty off as if she was waving away an annoying fly. "Here, in Pacific Palisades, not far from us."

"So at least you remember her?" Misty said.

"I didn't know her very well. My mother wasn't ever all that eager to take me to see her. I don't think they got along well."

"What about your grandfather?" Jade asked. "I mean, the man you thought was your grandfather," she corrected.

"He died two years later. I remember him a little better, although he wasn't really very interested in me and I didn't see all that much of him either. He was around holidays and such, but not too often otherwise."

"No wonder," Star muttered. "He always knew you weren't his, right?"

"I guess. Geraldine said he knew I wasn't his child, but I don't know."

"Will you stop with that 'I don't know' ! If I hear it one more time, I'll go mad!" Jade screeched.

"Well, I don't," I said, tears coming to my eyes. "It's something I just found out and I guess I'm still in some shock about it."

Jade looked up at the ceiling a moment as she regained control of herself.

"Okay," she said. "Okay. Your assignment is to search for and locate any and all information that might shed light on your past."

"My assignment?"

"As a member of the OWP's. I'm the president, remember? I can give out assignments."

"When did we decide that?" Misty asked, her head tilted like a kitten.

"Just now. Any objections?"

Misty thought for a moment and shrugged. "I guess not," she said. Then her expression changed, her face brightening "Hey--when are we going

swimming' You mentioned it when we first came."

"Misty, can't you stay on the topic we're discussing?" Misty shrugged.

"I thought we were finished?'

"Oh, brother," Jade said. She looked to Star who smiled and shook her head. "All right, I guess we accomplished what we set out to do business-wise for now. Let's go to my room and I'll find bathing suits for everyone," Jade finished

"I don't know if I want to go swimming," I said.

"We all want to go swimming so you do, too. You're not going to start being negative, are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You're not going to disagree every time we decide something?" Her voice rose in pitch. My heart actually began to skip beats. I shook my head.