Enchanted Ivy

the floor from nerves.'

Lily felt her face redden. She wasn't that nervous.

Should she be?

Honestly, these people could make a rock nervous. All of them were staring at her as if they were a pride of lions and she was a plump gazelle. She wanted to shout, Stop looking at me! But thankfully, before she blurted out anything she'd regret, all eyes shifted to Mr. Mayfair.

He drew himself straighter, and Lily suddenly understood what the term 'presence' meant. This man had presence. You couldn't not look at him. It felt as if all the oxygen in the room had been pulled toward him. 'Lily Carter, you are here because your grandfather, Richard Carter, has recommended you for the Legacy Test.'

She dragged her eyes away from Mr. Mayfair to look at Grandpa. He was still smiling in that rather alarming way.

'First, we must ask you not to speak of this test to anyone beyond this room,' Mr. Mayfair said. She thought of Mom and wished she could still hear the piano notes.

The man with the book chimed in. 'It isn't a pain-of-death sort of command. We'd simply prefer that the media not catch wind of our little tradition. They would misunderstand. Willfully misunderstand, I might add.'

Everyone nodded so solemnly that Lily thought maybe she'd misheard and he'd said it was a pain-of-death command. Standing here in this room, she could believe it. She felt as if she were surrounded by royalty. These people radiated self-confidence. She had the sense that each of them could fill a room with his or her presence if he or she so chose. Together, they made the air feel thick.

'Can we have your word that you will keep the contents of this conversation private?' Mr. Mayfair asked. In the same kind voice he'd used with Mom earlier, he added, 'Of course with the exception of your family.'

She didn't dare do anything but nod.

He smiled approvingly, and Lily's knees shook. She didn't know why it mattered to her that he approved, but she felt a flood of relief when he smiled. 'The Legacy Test is offered only to the very select few,' Mr. Mayfair said. 'Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton University.'

She stared. Obviously, she must have misheard. Automatic acceptance? As in no grades, no SATs, no essays? Just 'yes, you're in'? She looked from face to face, ending on Grandpa's. He looked as if he were about to burst into a song and dance routine, which was wholly uncharacteristic of him. 'Grandpa? Is this a joke?' She'd heard rumors that legacies were sometimes favored, but she'd never imagined a formal process.

'Surprise!' Grandpa said.

Surprise? Surprise?! That was all he had to say? 'Why didn't you tell me?' She could have prepared! She could have studied! She could have at least worked herself up into a fine state of nervous nausea!

'He was not permitted,' Mr. Mayfair said.

Yeah, right. Since when did Grandpa need permission from anyone for anything? He ran his own business. He ran their family. If he tried, Lily thought, he could run the world. He was the strongest, smartest man that Lily had ever met ... but maybe she'd only seen Grandpa next to ordinary people. Maybe next to giants, he wasn't so tall. That was a disturbing thought. She felt as if she were betraying Grandpa to even think it.

Lily realized that everyone was staring at her again as if waiting for her to say something, but she had no idea what she was supposed to say. 'What's the test?' she asked at last.

She heard a whoosh as the Old Boys exhaled en masse. Several smiled, and a few even chuckled. Mr. Mayfair graced her with an avuncular smile, and she basked in his approval. 'The test varies from candidate to candidate,' Mr. Mayfair said. 'For you, Lily ... you must find the Ivy Key.'

She flashed back to a treasure hunt at a classmate's fifth-grade birthday party. Back then, the prize had been gummy bears and a yo-yo.

The woman with the ivory-tipped cane said, 'Find the Key, and your future will be assured. Your destiny, secure.'

'You will still need to complete an application form, of course,' the man with the book said. 'Appearances, my dear. Must keep up appearances. But you will be guaranteed a yes response.'

Her head spun. She wished she were sitting down.

The man with the book laughed at her expression. 'All you have to do is pass.'

'And if I don't pass?' Lily asked.

One of the perfect-posture women said, 'If you fail, you are free to apply with the rest of the applicants. This test is outside the purview of the admissions committee. But if you fail here, you should not expect an invitation to join Vineyard Club. Indeed, you would not be welcome.'

Success meant her dream come true; failure meant exclusion from this (admittedly nice) clubhouse but still a shot at her dream come true. Yeah, she could totally live with that. No wonder Grandpa was smiling so widely he looked like he might burst. She felt the same expression spreading across her face. She was smiling so hard that her cheeks ached. She felt as if a hundred birthday presents, including the pony she'd wanted in third grade and the lime green Volkswagen she wanted now, had landed right in front of her. 'What's the Ivy Key?' she asked. 'What does it look like? What does it open? What do I do to find it? How do I start?'

At her flood of questions, Mr. Mayfair and several others smiled indulgently.

'That's the test, my dear,' the man with the book said.

But ... it could be anything! A locker room key, a dorm room key, a key to a top-secret safe in the university president's office where he kept world-domination plans ... How would she even know if she'd found the right key?

'Do you accept our challenge?' Mr. Mayfair said. His eyes bored into hers. His expression was so intense that there was only one possible answer.

'Yes, of course, I accept!' she said.

All the Old Boys applauded.

CHAPTER Two

Mr. Mayfair opened the library door, and music—or sort of music—poured in. Piano notes fell over one another like a rushing waterfall. The cascade of chords exactly matched how Lily was feeling. She pictured herself years later with gray streaks in her hair and an alum's black and orange jacket, remembering this day and saying, Here, right here, this moment—this is when my life changed.

Better not screw up.

As Mom hit another discordant jumble of notes, Mr. Mayfair's smile slipped. He leveled a look at Grandpa that Lily would have labeled 'meaningful' if she could have identified what it meant. 'Are you certain?' he asked Grandpa again. 'Once she knows—'

'I am,' Grandpa said firmly.

'Very well then. It begins now,' Mr. Mayfair said. 'Good luck, Lily Carter.' He shut the door, leaving Lily, Grandpa, and Mom alone.

As soon as the door closed, Mom sprang off the piano bench. 'She's starting?'

Grandpa beamed. 'She accepted the test!'

'Oh, sweetie, yay!' Mom skipped across the room and enveloped Lily in a hug.

Lily felt her jaw drop. 'You knew about this?' Mom had kept a secret? Lily was torn between being annoyed and impressed. How long had Mom known about the Legacy Test? Days? Weeks? Years? 'When did Grandpa tell you?'

As soon as the question was out of her mouth, Lily wished she could suck it back in. She knew better than to ask Mom to remember anything.

Mom's shoulders slumped, and her face collapsed. 'I ... I don't know.'

'Never mind,' Lily said quickly. But the damage was already done.

Shooting Lily a look that made her feel as if she'd poisoned a baby, Grandpa patted Mom's hand as he guided her toward the door. 'We'll be checked in at the Fiftieth Reunion tent,' he said to Lily. 'Ask for our room number at