Aries Rising

by Bonnie Hearn Hill

  “If you want me to interview Ms. Berry, I’ll interview Ms. Berry.”

  “I do,” she said in that strictly business way of hers.

  And with that, I felt dismissed.

  “Is something wrong?” Snider asked.

  Oh, no, nothing’s wrong, Snider. You ask me to avoid looking into the Gears. You ask me to interview Berry, who everybody calls Cherry Berry. That will be fun, all right.

  “Not at all,” I said. Capricorn needs praise. Think praise. “Thanks for taking all this time for me. I appreciate it.”

  NOTES TO SELF

  I got so distracted trying to talk to Snider that I forgot to tell her about my new idea (well, Chili’s) for people—two of whom will be Frankenstein and Hunter—to win free charts and consultations. It was so weird looking at Snider the way the book described her, listening to what she said—and didn’t say. In spite of her insistence about the Gears, I am more convinced than ever that I have the ability to find out who they are. And, yes, I’m still convinced that they’re planning something for the fifteenth. And still going to do my best to stop it.

  Star Crossed

  Focus on Mr. Franklin

  Shakespeare was a Taurus—and so is this English teacher

  With a passion for Shakespeare and what he calls “writing your truth,” Mr. Franklin is the subject of our first Star Crossed scope.

  Is it a coincidence that he shares a Sun sign with the guy he calls the bard?

  “I don’t believe in something I can’t touch, taste, or see. Astrology, for example. Be sure you put that in the article.”

  Taurus trait: Slow to change their minds.

  Raised by his mother, Mary, a widow with three sons, and a grandfather who was retired from the Marines, Mr. Franklin learned discipline at an early age.

  “A sports scholarship got me out of there, and a knee injury got me out of that,” he says. “I coached for a while, but when an opening for an English/drama teacher came along, I went for it.”

  He strives to teach students—and not just the English geeks—the importance of finding their voice.

  “You’ve got to write your truth your way,” he says. “Write as if everyone you know is dead. You can always edit later or just hit the delete key. But if you can’t find your voice and speak your truth now, how difficult do you think it’s going to be five or ten years from now?”

  Taurus colors: Blue, brown, yellow

  Check out those eyes—and that car

  Taurus relationships: Steady, long-term

  Students at Terra High will no doubt be reading Shakespeare and writing their truth in Mr. Franklin’s classroom for years to come.

  20

  LIKE THE ARCHERS, THOSE BORN IN SAGITTARIUS ARE THE WANDERERS. AND THEY DO WANDER. FROM PLACE TO PLACE, AND SOMETIMES FROM PERSON TO PERSON. THEY DON’T WANT TO SETTLE, BUT THEY CAN MAKE GOOD PARTNERS IF THEY PICK INDEPENDENT MATES. AND THAT’S A BIG IF. RULED BY JUPITER, THIS MUTABLE SIGN FREQUENTLY LACKS SOCIAL GRACES AND IS KNOWN TO SAY THE WRONG THING AT THE WRONG TIME. YOU’LL NEVER TAME THE ARCHER, BUT IF YOUR GOAL IS A LOVING STATE OF MUTUAL INDEPENDENCE, YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT WITH A LOT OF FREEDOM, A LOT OF LATITUDE.

  —Fearless Astrology

  Sagittarius.

  The Archer.

  Fire sign.

  Sign of Raven-Symone, Miley Cyrus, and my own mother.

  I didn’t recognize Mom in my hasty read, except the love of travel, of course. The description was a much better fit with Jillian Berry, subject of my next interview.

  No, Ms. Berry was not the teacher I would have chosen.

  For starters, she’d given me a B minus my freshman year in beginning art. True, I had no talent for it. I’d taken her class just to see if some of my dad’s creativity had trespassed into my genes. It hadn’t. Berry had made that clear, and I was okay with her evaluation.

  My dad could see that cosmic “it” from every angle; I couldn’t. But maybe I could write my version of what people like my dad saw. While he saw images, colors, nuances, I heard and felt them.

  “Hey, Logan,” Berry said when I entered her classroom. “How’s Mac?” The way she used my dad’s nickname made me squirm.

  “He’s fine. Just working hard.”

  In every group of people, there’s always one who wears too much perfume. And in the small world of our high school, Berry was that person. Her vanilla fragrance smelled like angel food cake.

  Her ratty curls were overconditioned and looked as if she’d left the house before her hair was completely dry. Her famous boobs, which had shown up without covering in paintings all over town, were hidden by a gray crushed velvet jacket.

  “He’s such a brilliant artist. Too bad he’s stuck in that advertising agency. And how’s your mom?”

  “Still on tour. She’ll be home soon.”

  “Cool.” She paused as if she wanted to say something else, then looked up at me. “You’re going to record this interview, right?”

  “No,” I said.

  Snider preferred that we use recorders for backup only. She thought that relying on our handwritten notes would make us stronger writers.

  “Hope it won’t be all messed up the way Mr. Franklin’s was.”

  “It won’t be.” I sat down beside her desk. “Before we start, I need to know your birth date.”

  She scrunched up her lined eyes at me and said, “I’m a Sadge and proud of it. Ask away.”

  So she didn’t want me to know the exact date. At least she seemed cool with astrology.

  I tried to remember what I knew about Sagittarius. Simple stuff. Love of travel. Check. Far from shy. Check. Few social graces, translated as lack of class. Question there. My mom was the social grace-iest person on Earth. This teacher across from me . . . not so much.

  “Ready to get started?” I asked. “This is supposed to be fun. I’ll show you a list of qualities about your sign, and then you tell me if they’re true or false, and why.”

  She nodded, toyed with her hair, and said, “Shoot.”

  I handed her the list.

  “Travel, for sure,” she said. “After I got my credential, I taught English in France and Germany.”

  “Great.”

  “The need for freedom is another one. I’m the freest person I know.”

  We both laughed, but I felt a little creepy. We’d barely begun, and the interview was already getting off track. At least I could use the France and Germany quote.

  I reminded myself that Capricorn Snider was not about to value me if I didn’t work hard on this, so I gave it another shot.

  “What about your art, Ms. Berry? Is creativity a Sagittarius trait?”

  “I don’t know about that.” She lowered her voice and flashed me a bold smile. “But I think the primitive approach I use is.”

  No way was I going to say the nude word. “You mean not painting faces? Is that a Sadge thing?”

  She nodded. “A Sadge attitude, and I think it’s a statement about love as much as anything.”

  Meaning that the men in her life might as well have been faceless? Nothing I wanted to think or write about.

  “Maybe we could talk a little more about teaching in France and Germany,” I said lamely.

  She grinned again. “Poor Logan. I don’t mean to rattle you. Sometimes I speak before I think.”

  Always, Sagittarius. “No problem,” I told her.

  “You seem a little uncomfortable, and I can understand why. Don’t let the Gears get to you.”

  I straightened up in my chair. “I’m doing all right.”

  “Oh yeah?” She looked down at her outstretched hand and began to count it out. “One, they sabotaged your first column in the school newspaper.”

  “That’s true,” I said.

  “Two, they attacked Ms. Snider’s reputation.”

  I nodded and said, “Right again.”

  “Three, they threatened you at home and harmed Paige.”

  My pen froze on the notebook. “How do you k
now that?”

  “I heard it from Mr. Franklin. Mr. Chiliderian saw him somewhere and mentioned it. He was worried.”

  “He was?”

  “Oh, yes. Mr. Franklin thinks so highly of you. He’s concerned.”

  Frankenstein? Thinks highly? Of me? Was that what she was trying to say?

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Of course.”

  As I looked at her perpetual smile, I realized that Berry wasn’t a bad second interview. Ms. Snider must have a sense of humor to give me this assignment. Berry was so out there that kids would love reading my astrological take on what made her the way she was. And I could do it without directly mentioning the faceless nudes.

  Furthermore, this out-there art teacher had done something nice for me. She’d told me that Frankenstein cared.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “I’ve had better days.”

  “Remember what I said, Logan. Don’t be afraid of the Gears. Don’t you realize that what happened proves they’re the ones who are afraid of you?”

  That’s what Chili had said.

  “It’s just a little hard to believe,” I told her. “Especially hard to believe after I saw the glass shatter in Chili’s bedroom.”

  She shook her head and nailed me with her dark eyes. “Although you are looking for them, don’t think they aren’t keeping an eye on you. The next thing they plan won’t happen if you are anywhere around.”

  “You’re right,” I said.

  If I were in a better frame of mind, I would have hugged her. She’d helped me realize something I hadn’t grasped on my own. I didn’t need to look for the Gears. They were already looking for me.

  NOTES TO SELF

  Berry is so right. The Gears know that I’m going to figure out who they are and where they will strike next. But now there’s a new twist, thanks to Berry. The Gears are watching me, making sure I’m not around when they do whatever they have planned for the fifteenth. New challenge. How do I make myself invisible so that I can sneak back to school and catch the Gears in the act?

  A CHARACTER I’D LIKE TO TAKE TO LUNCH

  By Logan McRae

  For starters, I would like to rule out Sweeney Todd and Hannibal Lecter. Literature is seldom safe, but lunch should be.

  My favorite characters are in the books my mother read to me, and the best were the ones she’d saved from her own childhood. Yertle the Turtle, by Dr. Seuss, told the story of a turtle who wanted to be king of all he could see. As I snuggled against my mother and looked at the illustrations within the kelly green cover of that book, the sound of her voice became letters and words, and I felt as if I were reading, maybe even writing that story in rhyme.

  At first Yertle built his empire with no problem; he just stepped on top of one shelled citizen after another. Pretty soon, he had a turtle skyscraper. But as he attempted to climb even higher, a nobody on the bottom sneezed, and you can guess what happened to Yertle and his kingdom. The nobody turtle’s name was Mack, and although he didn’t set out to be a hero, he brought down the king.

  Since my childhood, I’ve read about many heroes and villains, from Jo March to Holden Caulfield, from Desdemona to Dr. Jekyll. For this assignment, I considered choosing Zeus, who ruled Mount Olympus and was the god of sky and thunder.

  I wouldn’t mind asking Zeus how to throw thunder bolts at one’s enemies, wouldn’t mind asking how a single god managed to father everyone from Athena, Apollo, and Dionysus to Hermes, Heracles, Helen, Perseus, and the Muses. Zeus and I could connect by e-mail or telephone. That’s as close as I’d want to get.

  Mack’s another story, an average turtle, probably as average as I am. He’s my choice for a lunch date. Because I’d like to congratulate him, and because I’d like to ask him how it feels to be the one who tumbles the stack.

  21

  AQUARIUS WOULD RATHER THINK ABOUT A PROBLEM THAN JUMP IN HEADFIRST. BUT THERE’S A TIME TO STOP THINKING AND JUST TAKE ACTION. IF YOU ARE AN AQUARIAN TRYING TO FIND THE COURAGE TO RISK, MAKE YOUR PLAN AND THEN FOLLOW IT WITHOUT REMORSE.

  —Fearless Astrology

  I was ready to take action. Somehow, the book had given me what I needed—the courage, I guess—to do that. There were other changes too. I spoke up more in class. Other kids were more interested in what I had to say. At least once or twice a day, someone would ask me when I was going to expose the Gears.

  We were supposed to be working on homework in Paige’s room. Instead, we’d been reading Fearless and watching Paige fool around with some fabric. We found out that Paige had a Scorpio Moon, which explained her secretive side. Just as we turned our attention to Trevor, my cell phone lit up with Nathan’s name.

  My heart began to pound.

  ? I managed to text back.

  He was going to ask me out again. I knew it.

  Yes. I mean no. Any night but Friday, the fifteenth, which was when I had to find the Gears. I needed some time to figure out what to tell him.

  I didn’t want him to think I was playing games.

  It was the first time he’d signed off with a heart.

  “Just shoot me now,” I said, and put down the phone.

  “Nathan?” Chili asked, and Paige looked up from where she crouched with the velvet fabric on the floor.

  “He wants to get together Friday,” I told them. “And you know I can’t.”

  “What are you going to tell him?” Paige asked.

  “The truth?” Chili suggested.

  Such a tell-all Gemini, but maybe she was right. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea to let Nathan know I was trying to trap the Gears. Maybe he’d even want to come with me.

  “No, that’s no good,” I said to them as well as myself. “What if I’m wrong? I don’t want to look like a fool in front of him. Right now, if I’m wrong, no one will know except the three of us.”

  “You really think it will be Friday night?” Paige asked.

  “There’s a really good chance. Remember what I told you in San Francisco.”

  “Aries Moon,” Chili chimed in. “Raising mischief.”

  “Which brings us back to Nathan,” I said. “What am I going to tell him?”

  “Can you say you’re sick?” Paige asked.

  Chili shook her head. “How would she know that she’s going to be sick on Friday?”

  “I meant tell him yes now and back out on Friday. A sudden flu, you could say.”

  “No,” I said. “I’d have to fake being sick for a couple of days after, and he wouldn’t want to come around me.”

  “That’s true. What if you said you already had plans with us?”

  “Paige,” I said, “do you really think he’d believe that you two wouldn’t drop every possible plan in your life to give me a chance to hang out with him?”

  “He might not know how close best friends are,” Paige said.

  “She’s right,” Chili said. “Couldn’t you tell him that we’d planned a special night far in advance in order to celebrate Paige’s birthday?” Before I could protest, she said, “And, yes, we know Paige’s birthday was in March, but he doesn’t. Say you don’t want to hurt her feelings, but you could get together on Saturday instead.”

  I plopped down on the bed. “Now, that is a Gemini tall tale if I ever heard one.”

  “Not a lie,” she said. “We do get together every birthday, and if Paige’s birthday were on Friday, we would be doing that, right?”

  “Right.” Paige came over and sat down beside me. “Where should she say we’re going, Chili?”

  “I don’t know. What about Java & Jazz?”

  Paige’s face turned bright red. “Maybe we really could go there on Friday.”

  “Only I’ll just pretend to,” I said. “Instead, I’ll be at school waiting for the Gears to show up.”

  Which posed another problem. If the Gears were following me, how could we make them think I was with Paige and Chili?

  “How are we going . . .” Chili was already ahea
d of me.

  “Maybe we could go somewhere like the theater in the mall,” I said. “We’d walk in together, and I could sneak out one of the back exits.”

  Paige fiddled with the amethyst around the neck of her black T-shirt. “I’d rather go to Java & Jazz, and it is my birthday.”

  “Your fake birthday,” Chili reminded her.

  “Maybe we can go there first, and then to the mall,” I said.

  “No, no, no.” Chili shook her head so hard that her hair fell out of her ponytail. “Logan, you have to be seen with us. But it can’t be you, get it? The Gears can only think they’re seeing you.”

  “So we have to get someone to be my double?” I asked.

  “Of course.” Paige’s voice was barely a whisper. She got up and walked across the room. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  “But who?”

  Then I realized that she was staring at Calypso and smiling. “Oh, no. You can’t possibly think we can make anyone believe that this . . . this . . . dress form is human, let alone . . .” I gulped. “. . . let alone that it’s me.”

  Without saying a word, Paige picked up my jacket from the bed and placed it around Calypso’s shoulders.

  “Picture this.” She picked up her baseball cap and put it over the headless neck. “Pretend this is your beret. Pretend there’s some curly auburn hair hanging out, hiding your face, the way it does sometimes. We could probably borrow a wig from the drama department.”

  Chili giggled and jumped up from the bunk bed. “This is our answer, Logan. From the waist up, we could make her your double.”

  I stared at the mannequin as they began tightening my jacket around it and realized that Paige was right again. Calypso could be me. Maybe. If no one got too close.