Mina looked for Brody by her locker after school, and felt a pang of sadness when he wasn’t there. Maybe he had gotten tired of her? After all, she wasn’t that exciting. Mina opened her locker to grab her bag and when she shut it, he was right behind the door.
“Oh! You scared me.” Mina put her hand to her heart.
“I would never do that on purpose.”
“If I didn’t know better,” Mina frowned at Brody. “I’d say you’re definitely stalking me.”
“Of course. I’m trying to prove to you that I don’t care about social status, and you promised to give me a chance.” Brody grabbed her backpack and marched off with it toward his car.
“I promised no such thing,” she said after him.
When she caught up Brody reached for her hand, and they walked to his car hand in hand. Mina felt as if she was on cloud nine, but a shiver of doubt cast a shadow on her happiness. This couldn’t be happening. It just wasn’t right, just didn’t fit with the long string of bad luck that had followed her all her life. Brody high-fived one of his friends on the way to the car, a jock who’d never be caught dead speaking to her. Nor did she belong with someone like Brody. She was used to the stares and whispers about being an oddball, but ever since Brody started paying attention to her, the whispers had gotten worse. She even got a rude letter shoved into her locker after lunch, probably from one of Savannah’s friends.
She stopped ten feet from Brody’s car, refusing to take another step.
“Brody, really, this is unnecessary. It’s a little overboard, with the rides to school and back, sitting with me at the lunch table. I think you’ve proven your point. You were right; I was the one that was uncomfortable with you, not the other way around. And I think you’ve paid back your debt.” Mina stood as still as she could, half-hoping and half-dreading that he would confess.
Brody refused to let go of her hand, with his other hand he lifted her petite chin so she could look into his eyes. Were people looking? Mina tried not to care. “Please believe me when I say that this isn’t about a debt I owe or a bet to prove myself.”
“I feel like this is some sort of sick joke, and you’re trying to mess with my emotions.” Mina turned away from his touch.
“This isn’t, believe me.” Brody leaned forward, tantalizing close to her mouth, but a bunch of catcalls and whistles alerted them to their very loud teenage audience. Mina stiffened when she overheard someone call her a Grimey Gold-digger, and quickly pulled away, but not far enough that Brody couldn’t steer her back toward his car. She got in it without a word, happy to be out of sight. For the rest of the ride she stared out the window in silence, ignoring Brody’s worried glances, lost in her thoughts.
Grimey Gold-digger? They thought she was after Brody for his money? It was the farthest thing from the truth. Yes, she had secretly crushed on him from afar, but it had nothing to do with his money. This was worse than she had imagined. Mina was so distracted by her own inner monologue that she was surprised when Brody pulled up to the library again.
“How did you know?” Mina asked, speaking for the first time since entering the car.
“I knew that you were looking for something pretty hard yesterday, and it didn’t look like you found it. Maybe if you tell me, I can help you look for it today?”
Mina shook her head. “I don’t know what exactly I’m looking for. All I know is that I’ll know it when I see it.”
Brody followed Mina into the library with his book bag and they headed toward the table she’d sat at before. This time he brought homework and was content to sit with Mina as she poured through encyclopedias, journals, and microfiche film. After another three unsuccessful hours, Mina was ready to give up.
“You didn’t find what you were looking for, did you?” he asked.
“Afraid not.” Mina leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to check another shelf. I’ll be right back.”
Brody raised one eyebrow at her in disbelief.
“I promise I won’t run off without telling you. After all, I don’t want to walk home.”
Mina walked a few aisles down and peeked through the shelves to spy on Brody. What was he doing here? She couldn’t fathom why he would want to hang out with her, especially in a library. She would have thought he would have gotten bored and gone home already, but to stick with her for two whole days? Leaning against the shelf, Mina felt defeated. She was here to look for a clue, not pine over Brody. She needed a sign, anything to help her family.
Yesterday, she had finally convinced her mother to tell her everything she knew about the Grimm family curse and the Story. Supposedly there were signs that would appear to tell her she was the chosen one. Like the appearance of animals. Sara also explained that once chosen, the Grimoire would appear; a book of power that was supposed to aid her.
“How do I get the book?” Mina had asked, feeling as if she was already losing precious time in breaking the curse.
“You don’t,” Sara told her. “It will come to you.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t father have it and Uncle Jack before him?”
“Your father did, but after his passing the book disappeared. Its own way of protecting itself, I guess. When the Story chooses the next Grimm member, the book decides if it’s going to help them.”
“What do you mean it decides?” she’d asked. “Shouldn’t it just automatically help the next family member?”
“Unfortunately no. The book goes into hiding and then it chooses whether or not to appear and help. What if the next Grimm descendent wasn’t honest, was greedy and selfish? What if they were evil? The Grimoire would be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands. So it must protect itself, and after you’ve been weighed and tested then it will make itself known to you.”
“That sucks.” Mina furrowed her brows in thought. “Where did it appear to Dad?” she asked.
“In a library in Nebraska.”
“Okay. So what about our library?”
“Worth a try,” Sara said, shrugging,
Mina sat in silence as she thought through her options. “Why is it called a Grimoire, anyways? I thought that was something evil, or a book of spells or something.”
“No honey, it's just a record of the tales your family members have lived through. Over time it has gained powers of its own. If your ancestor's name was Smith it would have been called the Smithoire. But Mina, are you sure you want to do this? We’re talking very powerful magic.” Sara then spent the next hour trying to talk Mina out of following through on finding the Grimoire.
In the library, her first approach was to open up every book on Fairy tales and see if she could find the Grimoire. It looks different according to each person that held it, her mother had told her. So it could be disguised as a children’s book, a magazine, a Bible, anything.
But maybe it wouldn’t appear to Mina, because she hadn’t yet proven herself worthy. Apparently saving Brody Carmichael’s life wasn’t enough. Mina was about to give up, when something white caught her eye, and she stood up. Bending down, she tried to see between the shelves and over the books. There it was again, a flash of white. Following it, Mina crept along, keeping herself low to the ground. There! She caught a glimpse of white feathers. What? The feathers surprised her and she stopped in her tracks, confused. Was this some kind of joke?
