The Hidden Room

It was a hot Californian day Clara Rhone’s best friend and her little sister were playing with her stuffed animals and toys. They were in her room and into her things everything from her books to her plants were moved. Her costumes for drama and staged Jewry were all over the floor. Her mother was in the living room with her dad talking about Clara’s behavior at school and how she had changed since seventh grade.

"It just isn’t like her, not the girl I knew who played the clarinet and acted in the school plays. It like she is now into hanging out and being cool," said her mom.

"Well maybe we should get her tested for manic depression."

"Mary, she has the roller coaster symptoms."

"I don’t know, Tony, she doesn’t talk to me, you or Jenny her best friend."

"She doesn’t do any of the stuff she used to do and her grades are falling. It we have to do something rash; it’s going to be a major heart break."

"You know, Tony, we’ve been letting it ride for about two months and no change."

"Mary, I think you are right! Girls that age change. I think she has found a new circle of friends and is going to discover drugs any day now!"

"If she hates us for it and things turn into a battle field here we have to still be the parents."

"I know she used to be close to us but relationships do change." Tony looked at Mary for a while.

"We tried grounding her but we can’t always watch her. She always gets away."

"She is probably getting out of detention right now and walking home or simply going out with her friends."

"If she were into drugs already, I think we would have noticed by now. She hasn’t shown any physical signs of drug use and I’m sure Kelly and May would have found them by now."

Clara walked home slowly carrying her books and a few make up assignments. She was proud of herself at being able to forge her dad’s signature on some absent excuse notes. Even if they did look on line to see if she gone to school her hacker friend Billy Chois could always change attendance records. She only cut class once or twice. She trudged home thinking about her newfound friends. Yet inside she missed her old friends. She thought about how she heard some of her drama club friends talk about getting parts in the school play at the next lunch table from her. She remembered eating lunch with them and May in seventh grade. She made sure her short skirt she wore changed into before school started was in her bag deep.

She was about three blocks from her home when a dirty smelly man in a jean jacket and wide brimmed hat stopped her.

"Hey little girl got something for you. Been by your house and by the looks of things there I think you will need it. My name is Frank Tell and I know you want to be cool."

"I do like being cool and now that you mention it my parents are pretty lame."

He reached out his hand and handed her a compact disk. "Keep this a secret to make it work just open the case and tap the center three times. It will set you free. By the way, don’t tell anybody where you got it. This is not for just any ordinary girl! This is for a very special girl."