Zoe stood up and rubbed mud off her arms. “Doug, you shouldn’t be apologizing. This is all Arcade’s fault.”

“WHAT? How is this my fault?”

“HOW is it your fault? How about THIS? ‘We can’t disappoint Loopy. Show us the power of pure gold,’” she said in an exaggerated mocking tone. “Don’t you remember your own words, Arcade? You couldn’t just ignore it, could you?”

“I’ve never been able to ignore it, Zoe. The thing heats up, glitter falls, and we go somewhere. You know that.”

“But now you’re commanding it! You’re going where YOU want to go. And this time you lost a book. And you almost lost your token. Who knows what else you could have lost! And what did you learn, exactly? Did you learn what the power of pure gold is? I don’t think so! Because it looks to me like gold CORRUPTS people. You saw the greed in those prospectors’ eyes. It wasn’t good, Arcade. And guess what? I think that was the same look you had on your face right before you decided to take us through those doors.”

Ouch.

“So . . . just sayin’ . . . if that old woman on top of the Empire State Building was right, and the token really is testing you—I’d say you failed this time.”

The front door opened, and in walked Mom and Dad. Their smiles turned to confused frowns when they got a look at us.

“Mud? Really? In the living room?” Mom ran upstairs and came down dragging a steam cleaner and holding a stack of towels. “I expect this to be cleaned up immediately.”

Dad just stood with his hand on his hip. “It’s dry as the Sahara Desert outside. Where in the world did you get muddy?” Then he tipped his head, looked into my eyes, and grinned. “I’m glad school starts tomorrow. Seems like you all need something better to do with your time.”

Chapter 16
MS 230: Day #1

Zoe thumped on my bedroom door to wake Doug and me up for the first day of school. It’s a weird tradition that she insists on never breaking. But this time, I was ready for her! I flung the door open and jumped in her face. “HA! You thought I’d still be sleeping, didn’t you? Well, I’m changing my ways, sister!”

Zoe gave me a once over and then stared at me, stone-faced. “Sleep in your clothes again?”

“Maybe. But at least my clothes are stylish.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m off to the subway. I’m going early today so I can find all my classes. Michael said he’d help.”

“Oh, so that’s why you brushed your hair,” I said with a little wiggle of my head.