Enchanted Ivy

grandfathers. 'We have to find them.' She spun in a circle, as if she'd see a clue as to which direction they'd run.

Jake smiled.

'It's not funny,' she said. 'Tye could be hurt. An innocent bystander could be hurt.'

'I'm sorry,' he said, smile disappearing. The tips of his ears turned pink. She stared, awed that she had made this golden boy blush. 'It's only ... I like your attitude. That's all.'

She continued to stare. She was more used to people telling her she needed an attitude adjustment.

'You don't have to worry about the Feeder, though,' Jake said. 'We have teams to chase it.' He pulled out a phone and flipped it open.

'You have teams?' Lily asked. This happened often enough to need teams? Like intramural sports? Varsity creature-chasing?

'Got a code thirteen, last seen in East Pyne courtyard.' He closed the phone, flashed her his megawatt smile, and said, 'See? All set. You can continue your test.'

She couldn't just resume her test as though nothing was wrong. Tye was missing, and that thing was still out there! She didn't know these 'teams.' How did she know they'd take this seriously? 'It's not like I encountered some overly aggressive squirrel. It wore clothes.'

'It will be taken care of,' he said. 'Trust me.'

He had the most trustworthy face she'd ever seen. It was like being told 'you're safe' by a superhero. He must have inherited that aura of competence from his grandfather. Still ... 'You sound like this happens all the time,' she said.

He hesitated, and his forehead crinkled as if he were thinking very, very hard about how to answer. 'Not all the time,' he said at last. 'Everyone's test is different. I've never heard of a Feeder attack as part of the test, but it would be too much of a coincidence otherwise.'

Lily gaped at him as she tried to wrap her mind around what he'd just said and everything that it implied. 'This was intentional?' she said. She thought of Mr. Mayfair's and Grandpa's reactions, more concerned about her guard than the creature that attacked her. She thought of how Tye had said that the Feeder had wanted Lily, not him. What the hell kind of test was this? Ordinary admissions tests didn't include mutant monkeys. The SATs didn't bite. 'I could have been seriously hurt,' she said. If Tye hadn't been there ...

'I'll make sure no other Feeder bothers you,' Jake promised.

'There are more of those things out there?' She thought of how Grandpa had left to check on Mom. Maybe he hadn't been worried about Mom's usual flightiness. Maybe he'd been worried about Mom's encountering a Feeder. Lily pulled out her cell phone and dialed Mom's number. No answer. She tried Grandpa's. No answer either. 'I have to check on my mother,' she said.

'Hey,' Jake said as she hurried out of the courtyard. She heard him jogging to catch up to her. 'What about your test?'

Screw the test, she thought. If Mom was in any danger because of Lily's test ... If creatures like that were loose on the campus because of her test ... If Vineyard Club was responsible for allowing vicious, unnatural creatures to roam around in highly populated areas because of her test ... She hadn't agreed to that. 'Admissions tests shouldn't involve blood,' she said. She'd fill out an application form and submit her essays just like everyone else. She had a decent shot at getting in on her own merit, right?

'You're safe now,' he said, 'and so's your mom. Your grandfather is with her—he was heading for the dorm, wasn't he? You don't have to worry.'

Lily snorted. That was like saying, Hey, you don't have to breathe today. 'She doesn't travel much,' she said, a massive understatement. They should never have brought Mom here. 'She's used to her and me being together.' Mom rarely left the triple-decker that was their home. She worked on the first floor in the flower shop, Grandpa lived on the second floor in his antique-laden apartment, and Mom and Lily lived on the third floor (the attic, really). They'd made it into their sanctuary and filled it with items that made Mom feel safe. The apartment was littered with art: leftovers from Mom's pottery phase (they had a shelf full of lopsided vases), her mosaic phase (she'd retiled the bathroom to resemble a Turkish bath), and her mobile phase (they'd hung a dozen spiraling mobiles of birds and sailboats and kites). Skylights flooded the apartment with sunlight, and every shelf, table, and windowsill held plants. Morning glories crawled over their kitchen window, and a miniature rose garden covered the entire dining room table. Without all of that, Lily knew that Mom wouldn't feel safe here, but she'd never thought that Mom actually wouldn't be safe here. Lily walked faster. 'My mom takes care of me. Like any other mom. But I also take care of her. That's how it works. I have to check on her.' And if her Legacy Test had endangered Mom, then she'd quit.

Maybe she should quit anyway. The Old Boys were clearly deranged, and Lily hadn't signed up to play head games. She wondered if they'd planted Dad's book to mess with her, too. Maybe he hadn't written it. She wondered if Mom would know.

'No one can fault you for caring about your mother,' Jake said. 'I'm sure the officers won't penalize you for deviating from the test.' He didn't sound confident, and for an instant, Lily wondered if she was being overly anxious. Mom was most likely fine. Grandpa was with her, as Jake had pointed out. Lily tried to imagine how she'd explain to Grandpa that she wanted to quit. It would kill her to disappoint him.

Entering the 50th Reunion tent again, Lily slowed at the registration desk, but Jake flashed the couple a brilliant smile and ushered Lily past. 'You know which room?' she asked him as they crossed the tent.

'Everyone was briefed on where you'd be,' Jake said.

'Oh,' she said. She bet 'everyone' would be briefed again if she quit the test, mortifying Grandpa.

As she followed Jake into a dorm and up a cement stairwell, she heard a familiar voice belting out show tunes. Mom, she thought. She's okay. Off-pitch, but okay. Grandpa must have already come and gone; Mom wouldn't be singing like that if Grandpa was there. Lily felt the muscles in her back slowly unclench. She hadn't realized how worried she'd been.

'You don't have to come with me,' Lily said to Jake. Introducing Mr. Mayfair's gloriously gorgeous grandson to Mom was not high on her list of things to do.

'I can't guard you if I'm not with you,' Jake objected.

'Can't you—I don't know—scan the hall for green monkeys and then wait?' she asked. 'Mom won't tell me how she's really doing if you're there.' With other people, Mom was all sunshine and cream. If Mom had seen a Feeder, she wouldn't admit it in front of Jake. And she'd never agree to talk about Dad. 'Please,' Lily said. 'I'll be fine. Does that sound dangerous?' She pointed toward the room where the singing was the loudest. 'I mean, other than to one's eardrums?'

Jake laughed. 'Yell if you need me,' he said. 'I'll be right here.' He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms so that his muscles bulged. Oddly, the obvious I-am-buff move did make her feel safer.

'Thanks,' she said, and meant it.

Lily knocked on the dorm room door, but the singing didn't falter. She tried the knob, and it turned easily. She sighed as she opened the door. Honestly, couldn't Mom at least remember to lock the door? 'Mom ...,' she began. She stopped and stared.

Oh, this was not good.

Mom had dragged one of the spartan metal dorm beds to the center of the room and was standing on the mattress. She had markers and pens and pencils strewn all around her bare feet, and she was drawing on the ceiling as she sang 'Everything's Coming Up Roses.'

Lily shot a look back at Jake. She didn't think he could see into the room from where he stood. She smiled brightly at him. 'Everything's normal,' she said to him. 'Just a sec!' She scooted inside and shut the door quickly behind her. 'Mom!' Mom held a Sharpie. Permanent marker. 'We don't live here! What are you doing?'

Holding up one blue-stained finger for silence, Mom added another leaf and then smiled up at her handiwork.

Mom had drawn an intricate mural of intertwining black leaves on the ceiling. Flecks of blue danced between the leaves like glimpses of sky.

'Come down from there.' Lily pointed to the floor for emphasis. 'Where's Grandpa? Did he see this?'

Mom frowned down at her. 'Lily! Is that blood on your shirt?' She climbed off the bed and cooed at Lily's shoulder. 'Sweetie, are you okay? What happened?'