Ironwood Tree

Chapter Two:IN WHICH the Grace Twins Are Triplets Jared couldn't move from the doorway. He heard the clanging of swords and cheering, but the sounds seemed to come from far away. He watched in horror as the coach confronted his double. The man got red in the face, and some of the other players looked at Jared's double in shock."Great." Jared grimaced. There was no way he could explain this.The coach pointed toward the large gym door, and he watched Not-Jared stalk toward it -- and toward him. As Not-Jared got closer to Jared, it smirked. Jared clenched his hands into fists.Not-Jared passed Jared without a single glance, slamming through the double doors. Jared wanted to find some way to wipe that smile off its face. He followed after it, into a hallway lined with lockers."Who are you?" Jared demanded. "What do you want?"Not-Jared turned to face him, and something in its eyes made Jared go cold all over. "Don't you know me? Am I not your own self?" Its mouth curled into a sneer.It was strange to watch it move and speak. It wasn't like watching Simon, with his tidy hair and the smear of toothpaste on his upper lip. And it wasn't quite himself either -- the hair was messier, and the eyes were darker and...different. It took a step toward him.Jared took a step back, wishing for any kind of faerie protection, and then he remembered the pocketknife in his jeans. Faeries hated iron, and steel was at least part iron. He opened one of the blades. "Why don't you all just leave us alone?"The creature threw back its head and laughed. "You can never get away from your own self.""Shut up! You're not me." Jared pointed the knife at his double."Put that toy away," Not-Jared said, its voice low and harsh."I don't know who you are, or who sent you, but bet I know what you're looking for," said Jared. "The Guide. Well, you're never going to get it."The creature's grin widened into something that still wasn't really a smile. Then suddenly it shrank back as though frightened. Jared watched in amazement as the Not-Jared's body shrank, its dark hair paled into a sandy brown, and its now blue eyes went wide with terror.Before Jared could fully comprehend what he was seeing, he heard a woman's voice behind him."What's going on here? Put that knife down."The vice principal rushed up, grabbing Jared's wrist. The pocketknife clattered to the linoleum floor. Jared stared at the blade as the sandy-haired boy ran off down the hall, his sobs sounding a lot like laughter."I can't believe you brought your knife to school," Simon whispered to Jared as they sat together outside the vice principal's office.Jared shot him a look. He had explained several times -- even once to the police -- that he was onlyshowingthe kid the knife, but they'd never found the other boy to confirm the story. Then the vice principal had asked Jared to wait outside. Their mother had been in the vice principal's office a long time, but Jared couldn't hear what was going on."What kind of faerie do you think that thing was?" Simon asked.Jared shrugged. "I wish we had the book so I could look it up.""You don't remember anything that could shape-shift like that?""I don't know." Jared rubbed his face."Look, I told Mom it wasn't your fault. You'll just have to explain."Jared gave a short laugh. "Yeah, like I can tell her what happened.""I could say that kid stole something from Mallory's bag." When Jared didn't respond, Simon tried again. "I could pretend I did it. We could switch shirts and everything."Jared just shook his head.Finally their mother emerged from the vice principal's office. She looked tired."I'm sorry," Jared said.He was surprised by the calm tone of her voice. "I don't want to talk about it, Jared. Get your sister and let's just go."Jared nodded and followed Simon, looking back just in time to see their mother sink down in the chair he'dDiTerlizzi, Tony is the author of 'Ironwood Tree' with ISBN 9780689859397 and ISBN 0689859392.