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of us. But at least I have friends, I thought. I'm not

alone. And I'm not afraid of what's to come.

10 Geraldine's Secret

Once Misty and I fell asleep, we slept through the night, comforted in knowing we were beside each other. I didn't have any nightmares either. The next morning Misty was up before me, exploding with her characteristic energy, talking about having breakfast and getting started as quickly as possible on continuing to redo the house, or as she now called it, "the club."

While we were having breakfast, both Star and Jade called to say they were coming over as soon as possible. Jade sounded as if she had just woken, but Star's voice was full of energy. By the time they arrived, Misty and 1 had already painted most of the hallway.

"We found out who her father was," Misty told them almost immediately. "It was in the next letter. Her mother's brother-in-law, Alden. You were right, Jade. He was a younger man He's dead though, killed in a car accident, a DWI," she added, without stopping for a breath.

They both looked at me, waiting to see my reaction. What was I supposed to do? I wondered, or what was I supposed to feel? I never knew him, never even recalled seeing him or speaking to him How could I feel sad or disappointed or anything?

"As soon as I finish this," Misty continued, "I'm going up into the crawl space. We think there might be pictures of him in one of the cartons and I'll bring the other stuff down so Cat can put whatever she wants in her room. Finally," she added

"I'm glad you're making all these decisions yourself," Jade snapped at her.

"I'm not making them myself. Cat and I talked about it last night, right, Cat?"

"Yes," I said, but Jade still looked annoyed.

"We should share important information immediately," she said.

"What did you want us to do, call you last night?" Misty asked, holding her brush up and away like a torch. We had spread newspaper on the floor to catch any drips. It was a good idea because we had paint all over our clothes and splattered on our faces, too.

"Of course you should have called. You know we were all concerned and interested. It was her assignment to find these things out and report back. Did you forget all that we pledged and did at my house?" Jade chastised.

"I'm sorry. Boy. This is worse than being in school and living with those rules."

"Either we're together or we're not," Jade snapped.

I looked at Star. Usually, she would have something to say to ease any conflict or challenge Jade, but she remained quiet.

"Damn all these family secrets," Jade said. "They fall like rain around us."

She marched toward the kitchen. "I'm making some coffee," she muttered.

"What's the matter with her? Her mascara run or something this morning?" Misty asked Star in a whisper.

Star stepped closer to us to speak softly.

"Her parents finally settled their divorce late yesterday. Her father suddenly decided to give up fighting for full custody. He's building a new house and he's met someone new, someone who has a daughter about Jade's age and a son in college. They're going to move in with him. It all came as a surprise, even though it must have been going on for quite a while," Star explained.

"Oh," I said. I looked toward the kitchen. "No wonder she's made that remark about family secrets falling like rain. But I thought she hated their bickering over her and she would be happy when it was settled."

"Yes and no," Star said. She looked at Misty. "It's nice to be wanted a lot by both your parents, even under those circumstances. I think it gave her a sense of security. Now that's it's over, her mother is talking about having a small celebration," she continued, still in a whisper, "but Jade doesn't want any part of it."

"I don't blame her," Misty said. "I hate it when my mother is happy about something in the divorce going her way." She stared after Jade for a moment and then turned to Star. "Sorry we didn't call you last night when we made the discovery. As I said, Cat read another letter and--"

"Oh, I don't care about that, and I don't think she's re- ally upset about it either. Let's just get to work. I think it's a good idea to rip your sister's bedroom apart and turn it into something nice," she told me. "The way we're feeling it'll be good to rip anything apart," she added, and laughed.

Jade returned and looked at the repainted walls.

"You're doing sloppy work," she criticized. "You're supposed to put tape over the places you don't want to paint."

"Here," Misty said, handing her the brush, "do it right while I go up into the crawl space."

Jade looked at the brush and then stepped back as if it was the most disgusting, vile thing she had ever seen.