Dear Cambelle,
It’s great to hear from you! How have あなた been? あなた mom and Leah say hi. It’s kind of annoying that your aunt’s house doesn’t have a computer, so we have to カタツムリ mail each other.
I know あなた want to keep a low profile, but
We all miss あなた a lot Cambelle. My dad says あなた should come back. And mom wants to send あなた cookies. (She still thinks you're too thin).
I took your sister to the zoo yesterday. No wonder あなた nicknamed her Panda! She loves those bears.
Victor Terrah also emailed me. He wants to get a hold of あなた so あなた two can spar again. I could be wrong, but I think he's still sore from losing your last match.
Also, Puzzle is pining. He is curled up into a ball and only moving to eat and use the litter box. Leah says he misses you, but since none of us can understand him, we can't get him to move.
Lillian also says hello. She says when あなた come back she's going to take あなた on a shopping trip and to the movies. And she 発言しました she owes あなた some sort of explanation?
And President Poison is still trying to get a hold of you. He says it's important, but he won't tell me
My dad got a job as a banker. A banker! It must be a pretty boring job compared to his last one, but he says he likes it better. He doesn't need to get a job, because Poison has 与えられた him a government pension, but he says he wants to do something. Mom was part of a bake-sale a couple of weeks ago, and she now has a lot of ファン of her cooking, including Lillian and Scaffold.
Oh, Willow sends her regards. She says she's going to be in Georgia in a few weeks and she wants to stop によって and see how you're doing.
Mirror, Dart, Dirt, Sun, Pass, and Briar all say hi and ask that あなた come back to visit them soon.
I agree, あなた should come back. It's not the same without you. I mean, it's less dangerous for us, but without あなた we all kind of fall apart and don't know what to do. Did あなた know you're kinda our leader? Mirror 発言しました to tell あなた she and Dirt are going to Princeton in 次 年 for a 書く course. Dirt and Pass are still dating. Briar and Dart are starting to 日付 as well. Who would've thought?
Let me know what's going on with you. How's your aunt? Have あなた gotten any word on your father yet? Do あなた fit in at your school? Anyone interesting there?
Write me soon,
Larry

I smiled at the letter and laid it aside. Ah Larry. I miss あなた too. Larry Proson is my best friend in Maryland. He helped me uproot the 前 president, Philip McScarlet, who took over and made America hurt.
Mirror, Dart, Dirt, Sun, Pass and Briar are all my フレンズ from the group called Freedom's Flame. They were supportive of me while I went through McScarlet's persecution.
And Puzzle, my cat. I would've taken him with me, but he doesn't like to travel.
I heard my aunt チェリー drop something in the kitchen. "Any good news from Maryland?" she called.
"Mostly the same," I said. "I think I should go back. It seems like everyone is ロスト without me."
Cheryl Blake peered around the ウォール into my bedroom and smiled. She had vibrantly red hair, like my bronze-ish hair, so we were often mistaken for relatives. In truth, she was my adopted mother Paige Blake's sister, so she wasn't actually related to me at all. She got the nickname チェリー because of her red hair and her awesome home-made チェリー pies.
"If あなた want to go back I can get あなた a plane," she said.
"I think I will. I'll just wait until クリスマス break first," I said.
"If あなた wait until then, I'll go with you. I would like to see Paige again, and クリスマス is the prefect time."
"Sure," I said. チェリー disappeared and I picked up a piece of paper and grabbed a pen.

Dear Larry,
I'm great. チェリー is great, still 書く that novel of hers. I haven't found anything on my dad yet, but in truth I really haven't been looking. I don't know if I even want to see him. Does he know I exist? And if he does, does he care about me? I mean, my mom was a prostitute. What kind of man is he?
No, I don't fit in at my school. But thankfully all the people know who I am and I’m not being messed with. I’m being avoided instead.
Anyway, I’ve decided that you’re right. I’m coming back for a visit. I’d tell あなた もっと見る about what’s happened lately, but since I’ll be seeing あなた soon, it won’t matter.
See あなた soon,
Cambelle

A 月 later found me at the airport. Turns out I couldn’t wait until クリスマス vacation, so I just packed a backpack and told チェリー where I was going.
While waiting for my flight, someone behind me said, “Flying economy class Blake?”
I jumped and glanced behind me. It was my old friend Willow. She’d been part of the secret underground organization known as Freedom’s Flame. Actually, she’d been the leader. And she was the one who gave me the benefit of the doubt when I 発言しました I wanted to 登録する them.
“Willow! Hi. What are あなた doing here?”
“Just coming in to check something out,” she 発言しました with a smile.
“Does Poison still have あなた checking loyalties?” I asked.
“No,” 発言しました Willow. “This one is personal. Also, I have something from your mother.” She dug through her bag and produced an envelope.
“Why didn’t she just wait until I got there? I was supposed to leave 次 月 to visit them. Can’t it wait that long?”
Willow shifted position, and it struck me she was 芝居 weird.
“Well, Cambelle, あなた see, it’s not from your mother.”
“You just 発言しました it’s from my mom!”
She shifted again and I realized she looked uncomfortable.
“Willow, what’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s your real mother,” 発言しました Willow slowly. “She wants あなた back.”

I swallowed to keep my temper in check. “She what?”
“She wants あなた back,” 発言しました Willow. She’d stopped shifting position, and I realized she was braced for my temper attack. For her sake I would try not to lose it.
“Why would she want me back?” I asked through my teeth.
Willow shrugged. “She 発言しました she made a mistake giving あなた up. She says she loves あなた and is really proud of you.”
“Oh yeah right,” I muttered. “What have I done to be proud--?” I froze. “Oh great.”
“What?”
“She’s always wanted to be famous, and now she has the chance. Oh man I should’ve seen this coming! If it gets known that her daughter is the one who saved both the president and America she’ll become one of the most famous people in America! Ugh!”
“Yeah, well, that’s not all,” 発言しました Willow. “She’s taking it to court. She wants custody of あなた back from Paige. She’s hired a slew of lawyers that are telling us that unless we give in they’re going to sue Paige out of house and home.”
“Oh no,” I said.
“That’s what I’m doing here,” 発言しました Willow. “I know a guy, who knows a guy that knows a great lawyer. We’ll win the lawsuit. Don’t あなた worry.”
“But what if we don’t?” I said. I sighed. “Maybe it would be better if I just leave.”
“Cambelle, what are あなた saying? You’re a fighter! You’ve been a fighter for as long as I’ve known you. Why would あなた give up now because some person あなた don’t want to live with wants あなた back? That’s not like you.”
I thought about that for a moment. “You’re right. I can’t give up. And I won’t.” I glanced at my watch and snatched up my backpack. “I’ve gotta run, my flight’s about to leave.”

I fell asleep on the flight and dreamed about my friends. My cat Puzzle was first. Since I guess あなた could say I’m kind of special, I can talk to animals, and Puzzle and I have philisophical debates all the time. Then there was my friend Larry. He claims he can see the future, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe that fact.
I woke after that as the flight landed. I fought my way out of the airplane and grabbed my luggage. After that I flagged down a taxi.

A while later the taxi pulled up in front of my house. I stepped out and dragged my bags after me. “Thanks,” I said, handing the cabby his money.
I walked up to the door, and just as I reached it, the door was thrown open によって Larry, who was grinning at me.
“Welcome home, CB!”
A bunch of people were lined up behind him, all smiling expectantly at me.
I was baffled. “Hi guys. How did あなた know I was coming?”
My mom, Paige, and her new husband, Jase Lockland, came フォワード, 前進, 楽しみにして to hug me first. “Larry 発言しました あなた called him,” 発言しました Paige.
I glanced at Larry, who sent me a calm, yet slightly pleading look. Okay. I wouldn’t tell them that I had intended to surprise them.

Mirror, Dart, Briar, Dirt, Sun, Pass, Larry’s mom Terry, and Larry’s dad Mattineo were inside. We hung out for a while, played some card games, swapped stories, then everyone gradually cleared out.
Larry stuck around for a while afterward and I decided to take a short walk with him.
We were walking through the park near our school. Our pace was slow and leisurely. We weren’t in any hurry.
“So how did あなた know I was coming?” I finally asked. “Did Willow call you?”
Larry laughed. “I saw it a couple weeks ago.”
I smiled slightly to myself. “So あなた really can see the future.”
“At times, yes. But not if the future is in too much doubt. But apparently there was no doubt about あなた coming early.”
I laughed. “I’m just not patient enough.”
We were silent for a few moments, then Larry said, “So, I heard about the problem with your real mom.”
I sighed. “I don’t know what to do. I know Paige will fight to keep me, but if it hurts her, is it worth it?”
“Of course it’s worth it,” 発言しました Larry. “None of us wants to lose you.”
I sighed again, but 発言しました nothing. My mind was filled with doubts.