37 Ways to Start Fire - Episode 2

 

    Here’s part 1 if you haven’t read it yet or need a refresher!

       POV of Nicki Hoffman

       Home. That was still a strange concept. From someone somewhere I had first heard that word and wondered what it meant- what it felt like. Now I would find out. Was home the big blue dollhouse my sister and I arrived at the night before? I looked over at my twin sister, Isabel. She was talking to Isabelle- yes, her new friend had the same name as her.

       They hadn’t left each other’s side since we arrived. I squinted at them. They really could almost be sisters, but I would never admit that, because I am Isabel’s one and only sister. Surely by now she knows Isabelle’s entire life story, and Isabelle knows hers. Not that there’s much to our lives so far. We came directly from American Girl- we weren’t pre-owned like some of the other dolls here, I learned. I almost longed to be pre-owned, to have countless adventures under my belt. I supposed adventures would come to me with time, but patience is not one of my virtues. 

       I shook my head, walking into the living room. A curly-haired doll was sitting on the arms of the couch, game controller in hand. 

       I sat down next to her. What was her name again? She had introduced herself the night before. I thought back to last night, when everything had seemed strange to me. Now I received a sort of deja vu from the faces and other surroundings around me, but it was not the familiar and kind sort. There was Stella, with the blue hair, and Nicole- who, besides from having a similar name as me, stood out in every aspect of her character- Lea, who the first thing she said to me was “E aí? Meu nome é Lea Clark,” which she explained is Portuguese for “Sup? My name is Lea Clark.” Cécile, Min-Ji, Felicity, Kaya, Blaire… Too many names and faces swirled around my head. Oh, of course, the doll who sat next to me was Courtney. I had previously noted how Courtney seemed to get in trouble in one way or another quite frequently. For example, in the time it took me to remember her name, she had attracted the attention of Lea, who shooed her off the arms of the sofa. She then walk right into Stella, who was carrying the mail. 

       Envelopes scattered around the kitchen. I watched as they shared a laugh and bent down to pick up the mail. As Courtney picked one up, she glanced down. 

       “Hey- what’s this?” She asked. 

       Stella took it from her, and teased: “I don’t know, but it’s rude to read other people’s mail, silly!” 

       Courtney shrugged and dashed away. 

        From behind me, a figure with straight brown hair and round glasses emerged, scaring me half to death. 

         “HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE?!!” I screamed. 

           She ignored my question and stuck her hand out to me. “The name’s McIntire, Molly J. McIntire.” 

        Hesitantly, I shook her hand. Molly wasted no time telling my why she had been so creepily standing in the corner. 

       

        “Can I trust you?” She asked. 

         I hesitated. “Maybe? Uh, I guess?” 

         “Good. Now, I am inviting you to join the top secret spy squad, The Order of the Phoenix-“

         “Isn’t that something from Harry Potter?”

         “What? Huh? Oh, I don’t know. I just saw it somewhere and thought it sounded cool. We can change it later.” 

         “Ok… what exactly do you spy on?”

          “We can’t talk about this confidential stuff right out in the open, where everyone can hear it!” 

             Molly whipped a business card out of her pocket and handed it to me. I stared at it like I didn’t know exactly what to do with it. On it was a time and location, circled with a note that said “Meet me here!” I looked up. Molly was already gone. 

       At 3 o’clock exactly, I went upstairs to the pink bedroom. It wasn’t much of a bedroom, considering there was no furniture. Molly and Courtney were there. 

       They both explained to me their crazy spy organization, cutting each other off mid sentence in their excitement.

      “To answer your earlier question of what we spy on-“ Molly started.

      Courtney finished for her, “We spy on a lot of things, but we really need an agent to spy on E-“

      “COURTNEY!!!” Molly yelled. “WE CAN’T SAY HER NAME ON THE BLOG!!!” 

       “WHAT DO YOU MEAN???!!” Courtney shouted back. “WE’RE NOT ON THE BLOG RIGHT NOW!!!?!!! UNLESS-“ She looked awkwardly at the wall. 

       Molly rolled her eyes. “You met our girl, the girl who owns us, obviously, when you got here, I assume?”

       “The teenage girl with wavy blonde hair? Yeah.” I nodded. 

       “Well, what Courtney was saying is, we need an agent to spy on… E… because she keeps getting new dolls and not telling us! She tells Marie Grace, of course, but us? Huh uh.” 

       

      “That’s not all,” Courtney added. “You saw me and Stella run into each other earlier and knock the mail everywhere, right? Well, when I picked up that letter, I accidentally read some of it because it wasn’t in an envelope for some reason. I think it said something about you and Isabel.”

       

       “Something about my sister and I?” My heart stopped. “What exactly did it say?” 

       

       She looked concerned. “I didn’t read all of it… but I saw the words ‘new girl’ and ‘going to have to leave’. I think… that one of you is going to have to leave the dollhouse.”

       I gasped and ran out of the room. I flew downstairs, not thinking, nothing on my mind except finding my sister. She was in the living room with, who else of course, Isabelle. I stopped. They were talking excitedly. I realized just how left out I felt with the two of them. Isabel and I were supposed to be close, and now she’s best friends with someone she’s known for just a day. 

      I staggered back, and thoughts that I normally tried to avoid thinking filled my head. How could she? Did she even care? Maybe it was just me, after all. Fine then, I wouldn’t tell her, and if one of us was sent away, so be it. Tears filled my eyes. 

       Home. What a strange concept. From someone somewhere I had first heard that word and wondered what it meant- what it felt like. Now I knew that this blue dollhouse that my sister and I arrived at last night could never be home. 

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       Hi everybody! Ok, wow. That got dark quickly. You can blame my friend who proof reads this series, who said I was at a great stopping point. I didn’t disagree. I actually feel a little bad making it so sad, so I can assure you that there will be a happy ending! You’ll just have to wait until the next episode! 

       

       And, as Courtney and Molly introduced, I think I’m going to start calling myself by the pen name “E” on the blog. Since I’m a pretty important part of this series, I thought it might be helpful to, you know, have a name. 

       That’s all for now! Have a great week, and remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3

       - E, the girl behind JustDolling