Chapter 5

5

          That night Jordan slept fitfully once again and she awoke to the doorbell ringing. Groaning, she leaned forward on her bed to see what time it was. Nine AM. She had slept late, but it was a Saturday. “Saturday! Oh Man!” She groaned as she leapt out of bed and dashed down the steps. Through the frosted pane on the front door, she could see a figure prancing around on the front porch, obviously a bit agitated.

     Jordan flung open the door to reveal her good friend, Stacey- red hair and all. Stacey and Jordan had been friends for about 8 years. The first time they met it involved a collision. Jordan on her skates and Stacey on her bike, rounding the sharp corner of the narrow country lane and colliding into one another. Both girls were pretty scuffed up- but they walked away friends somehow. When they first met, Jordan learned that Stacey had just moved to the area from El Paso, Texas. Jordan was glad to have a friend. While there were a few young families, sadly most of the people who lived in her neighborhood were mostly old, retired and pretty boring overall, but that’s how Jordan gained a love and respect for the elderly- being around them, talking on sunny days and checking on them during hard, cold winter snaps.

     “Uh- you’re still in your PJ’s, chick,” Stacey cracked. “You goin’ like that?”

     “Come in and hang on. I’m sorry, Stace, I overslept. I haven’t been sleeping too well lately and well- I forgot. Sorry.”

     Smiling her usual lopsided grin, Stacey stepped through the doorway and scampered up the steps behind Jordan, who was retreating to get dressed.

     “So how’d the will thing go, Jordan?”

     “Uh- it went okay. I get to keep Candles.” Jordan turned toward Stacey, smiling a false grin and praying that Stacey wouldn’t ask too many questions. I mean, how do you tell your best friend that you inherited a future telling mirror, for crying out loud! While Jordan felt sure that Stacey would believe her after a little strenuous convincing, Jordan just wasn’t sure that it was a safe thing to do. She had no idea how the mirror worked, if it even did; and she didn’t want to risk looking like an idiot if the mirror didn’t work- that it turned out to be some delusional fantasy of a dying old woman after all. No, for now, it was best to keep that secret under wraps.

Setting her mouth into a firm line, Jordan vowed to herself that she would never know if the mirror worked, because she had no intentions of ever trying it out. She didn’t know exactly how she’d stall her mom on that issue; her mother was obviously enthralled by the mirror and its antiquity. It was going to take some pretty clever thinking to avoid having that mirror skulking in the corner of her bedroom.

     Finished dressing, Jordan tapped on her parents bedroom door.

     “Come in,” she heard the muffled reply. Cracking open the door just enough to stick her head in Jordan whispered,  

     “Mom, Stacey is here and we’re going shopping for awhile. Okay?”

     “Yes, Jordan. That’s fine. Be careful and check in once or twice.”

     “Okay mom,” Jordan agreed and she and Stacey scrambled down the steps and out the front door. They climbed into Stacey’s beat up Volkswagen, and headed toward the mall. Thankfully, Stacey seemed to have forgotten about the topic of the will. Jordan would have to keep the conversation directed or the subject might come up yet again.