The Samantha Granger Experiment: FUSED Read online

  Copyright © 2010 by Kari Lee Townsend

  Cover and internal design © 2010 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover design by JenniferJackman.com

  Cover images © moodboard/Corbis, Lenta/iStockPhoto.com

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

  (630) 961-3900

  Fax: (630) 961-2168

  www.jabberwockykids.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher.

  Source of Production: Versa Press, East Peoria, Illinois, USA

  Date of Production: October 2010

  Run Number: 13614

  Printed and bound in the United States of America.

  VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  This book is dedicated to my family. To my own personal hero and husband, Brian, for understanding how much this dream meant to me and supporting me as I sometimes let things slide to achieve it. And to my creative children, Brandon, Josh, Matt, and Emily, for being awesome at brainstorming and my biggest fans.

  I love and adore you all!

  Contents

  1. ZAPPED!

  2. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??

  3. SIDE EFFECTS

  4. GAME ON!

  5. RECALCULATING

  6. SUPER WHAT?

  7. KNOCK, KNOCK. WHO’S THERE?

  8. LOVE IS ON THE MENU

  9. DOUBLE TROUBLE

  10. BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED

  11. IT’S A DATE!

  12. TRICK OR…TRICK!

  13. LICENSE TO RESCUE

  14. WANNABE SIDEKICK

  15. GRAM IS IN THE HOUSE!

  16. TAKEN!

  17. THE PARTY’S OVER … OR NOT

  Acknowledgments

  About the author

  ZAPPED!

  OH, MY GOD, YOU’RE not going to believe this!” I spoke in my cell phone to my best friend, Melody Stuart, as I cut through the woods from her house to mine. Thank you, fashion gods, for the layered look. Shivering, I buttoned my short, blue velour jacket over my long black-and-silver sparkly tanks to keep out the September evening air.

  We lived in the Adirondack Mountains, and the setting sun had made the path home hard to see. I’d been a Girl Scout since forever. This should not be happening to me!

  “I’m lost,” I said.

  “Again?” Melody the Drama Diva shrieked right on cue.

  I’d moved to Blue Lake from the West Coast at the beginning of summer and had been nervous about meeting new friends. But when I showed up to soccer camp the first day and saw that Melody wore the same vintage ribbon as me around her ponytailed hair, I knew I’d met my partner in crime.

  “Samantha…how do you get lost? You, Ms. Queen of Technology, who gets the latest everything. Doesn’t your new cell phone have that built in find-my-way-anywhere thingy?”

  “Yeah, but my mom works for Electro. She practically gets all that stuff for free.”

  “You’re lucky.”

  Mel wished she had parents like mine: ones who bought her whatever she wanted. Hers never gave her anything except their time.

  “No, you’re lucky,” I said. “I’d love to have a brother or sister.”

  Mel was the oldest of five children, with an at-home mom and a teacher for a dad. They might not have a lot of money, but they did a ton of family stuff. I’d trade all my electronics to have my parents back together.

  “Quit changing the subject. How did you get lost again?”

  I groaned. “I know I have this awesome phone and everything. But the extra navigation thing doesn’t do me much good when I’m too busy texting and talking to you to remember to turn it on. The phone’s got all these crazy functions and apps. I still haven’t figured out how to use half of them.”

  “I’m surprised your mom gave you something so high tech. It’s not like any cell phone I’ve ever seen.”

  “I was surprised, too, but whatever. It’s mine now.” I hit the speaker-phone icon and stepped over a fallen tree trunk, trying not to snag the green satin ribbon on my black leather ballet flats as I sat down to program the GPS feature for home.

  “My getting lost is your fault, too, you know.”

  “Nice try, genius.” Melody’s voice rang out even louder through the speaker, making her tone anything but melodious.

  “I try,” I said, grinning.

  “Well, try harder. This one is all you, Dorothy.” She snorted. “You’d better click your heels and follow the yellow brick road home before your mom sounds the alarm. I’ve seen how she gets when you miss curfew.”

  “You have no idea.” My mom is the queen of sophistication. A top executive with a calm but aggressive manner. She never loses her cool about anything, except when it comes to my safety. She wouldn’t stop short of turning the town upside down to find me. “See you in school tomorrow.”

  I hung up, still holding my fully charged, top-of-the-line little friend as though it were Dorothy’s ruby-red slippers and my ticket home. My phone was my life. What if someone special wanted to text me? I was officially a teenager now. My eighth-grade year. New home. New school. New friends. I just wanted to be accepted, to fit in. And, okay, to experience my first kiss. I’d even picked out the perfect boy.

  Trevor Hamilton.

  I sighed dreamily as I stood and wiped off the back of my low-rise jeans, and then held the GPS feature of my phone up before my eyes. Squinting, I struggled to see the map since I didn’t have my glasses on and I’d turned the volume down. That annoying, monotone talk-like-I-have-an-IQ-of-10 voice drove me nuts. I’d rather take my chances following the highlighted route, even if I did wind up in Oz.

  The colorful fall leaves, twigs, and acorns crunched beneath my feet, and the smell of pine hung heavy in the air, reminding me of the cleaner Gram used. I picked up the pace, knowing my mom would call out the cavalry if I was more than five minutes late. The last thing I wanted was for Trevor’s dad, Sheriff Hamilton, to come to my rescue—again!

  A light up ahead caught my attention, and I prayed to the god of have-pity-on-me that it wasn’t a search party with a flashlight. As I walked closer, I wilted. No Sheriff Hamilton in sight, just…well, I wasn’t sure.

  It wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen.

  I came to a stop and stared at an enormous hole in the ground with a bright blue-green light shining within. I needed to get home, but curiosity grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. Like discovering where your parents hid your Christmas gifts and trying to resist the urge to take a peek.

  I crept forward, trembling a little. Maybe some new kind of rare gem was down there, and I would be the first one to discover it. I’d be famous. Now that would definitely make the other students at Blue Lake Junior High think I was cool.

  I hurried my steps until I stood on the edge of the hole and then blinked rapidly. What the heck was it? The rock inside the hole was huge and sort of looked like a crystal, but it glowed so brightly that it hurt my eyes. It smelled like the time my mom forgot she had eggs boiling.

 
I was no science dork, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out this thing wasn’t “of this world.” A need to know what it felt like settled over me. The crystal looked sort of watery, yet solid. Just one little touch. What could it hurt? I touched the tip of my finger to the freaky, glowing crystal-type thingy.

  Not a good idea.

  A force more powerful than anything I’d ever experienced ripped through my body, making me feel like I was having surgery with no anesthesia. The glowing blue-green light illuminated my insides until I screamed in agony, the smell of burning flesh turning my stomach seconds before the force threw me twenty feet backwards.

  I landed hard, the breath whooshing out of my lungs and my eyes rolling back. I was knocked out cold like I’d gone a round with Oscar De La Hoya. Moments later, I opened my eyes, pain free and smelling like me again: cucumber-melon body splash and mint double-stuffed Oreo cookies.

  I fixed my standard ponytail and examined my body, but I couldn’t find a single burn mark, cut, bump, or bruise. I felt strong and energized. All I found were a tiny chocolate stain on my new jacket from eating cookies at Melody’s house and a ton of dirt and grass stains on my new jeans.

  “What the heck happened?” I said out loud to hear my voice and make sure I wasn’t dead. I couldn’t wait to tell Melody. I had to send her a picture. I glanced around.

  My elation over having survived my “close encounter” evaporated as fear filled my every pore. The kind of fear only royally ticked-off parents can instill. Scrambling to my feet, I searched the ground for a good ten minutes. I looked everywhere: under rocks, trees, leaves, you name it. I even retraced my steps but found nothing. Forget the stains on my new clothes; I couldn’t find my Electro Wave anywhere. I might not be dead now, but I would be when I got home.

  My mother was going to kill me.

  • • •

  “You’re lucky I didn’t call Sheriff Hamilton, young lady. I was just about to. Do you know how worried I was?” My mother, Victoria O’Reilly-Granger, swept her precisely cut, styled, and highlighted blond bob behind her ears and then crossed her arms over her cream silk blouse, her blue eyes sizzling. She stood as tall as her impressive five- foot-ten inch frame would allow, tapping her imported slipper on the hardwood floor.

  I took after my dad—medium-brown hair, medium-brown eyes, and medium height. Trevor looked more like my mom—beautiful. That could be a problem, if my parents were any example.

  Fairy tales could only last so long, and Beauty and the Beast were never meant to be. Okay, so my dad wasn’t a beast, but he sure as heck wasn’t Prince Charming all the time. Then again, my mom had her Wicked Witch of the West moments. Maybe they really were better off apart. That thought turned my stomach, and then I bit my bottom lip as another disturbing thought hit me.

  Did that mean Trevor and I were better off just friends?

  “You should have called to tell me you were going to be late,” my mom finally said, pulling me away from my depressing thoughts.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I thought you were going to be mad because I got lost again.” Stained clothes safely hidden in my room, I plopped my sweat-suit-clad butt on the Italian leather sofa in our great room and tucked my freezing feet beneath the afghan Gram had made.

  FYI: That was the only comfortable, homey thing in the entire room. I sighed. Where was Gram when I needed her? She seemed to be the only one who got me. Sometimes I wished I still lived with her.

  “I’m not mad. I was just worried. Anything could have happened to you out there.” My mom walked across the Persian throw rug, stopping to straighten a crystal figurine perched slightly off center in the middle of the glass coffee table. Sometimes I felt like I lived in a museum instead of a home. Guess Dad had felt the same since he was the messiest person I knew.

  “Mom, nothing happened,” I said, recapturing her attention. “See, I’m fine.” I spread my arms wide. No way would I tell her about the “incident.” She’d haul my butt off to the nearest emergency room and keep me out of school for a week. I wasn’t about to miss a chance to talk to Trevor again.

  I’d started crushing on him the second I saw him at football camp over the summer. Mel liked a boy named Scott Randolph, so she’d dragged me with her to the camp and introduced me to everyone. Trevor had talked to me, but there was something about him. Like he wouldn’t let anyone get too close. His mom had died a few years back, so maybe that had something to do with it. It made me want to get through to him even more.

  Now that school had started, fate had intervened by giving me the chance. Trevor’s locker was right next to mine. We also shared a homeroom. No, missing school was not an option. Not to mention, tomorrow night was my first soccer game.

  “Cell service goes in and out by the minute, depending on where you’re standing, especially in the woods.” My mom’s voice cut through my thoughts. “What if the battery on your phone had died?” Her voice softened, and she sat beside me. “I just want you to be more careful, honey. That’s all.”

  “I know, and I will. I promise.”

  “Okay.” She gave me a quick hug, her exotic perfume teasing my nose and reminding me of our house in San Jose—in the Silicon Valley part of northern California. The three of us had lived there together as a family before everything fell apart.

  “You’re still in trouble, young lady. Fork over your Electro Craze.” Holding out her hand, she wiggled her long, elegant manicured fingers.

  “When did they change the name to Electro Craze?” I asked. “The box you gave me said Electro Wave.”

  She frowned, wrinkling her forehead. “I’ve never heard the name ‘Electro Wave.’ You must have read the box wrong.” She swiped her hand through the air. “Doesn’t matter. Your privileges will be taken away for a couple of weeks.”

  It suddenly hit me what she’d asked for. “You want my cell like now?”

  She nodded, and I swallowed hard. How could I have forgotten? I decided to just tell her. Maybe my honesty would help my case.

  “Um, well, about that.” I widened my eyes, hoping to look innocent, vulnerable, helpless. Anything to kick her motherly instincts up a notch and make her go easy on me. “I kind of, sort of…lost it in the woods.”

  “What did you just say?” my mother said in a calm but stern tone and with a hard look in her eyes that could bring top executives to their knees. “Do you know how much that cell phone cost?”

  “Don’t you get like a huge discount since you got that promotion?” I squeaked.

  My mother just stared at me. Finally, she clenched her jaw and pursed her lips, going into full-blown Evil Queen mode.

  “That is beside the point. I think we’ve been way too lenient with you, Samantha Marie Granger. You’re a teenager now and obviously spoiled. It’s time you took responsibility. No more gadgets until you can prove you can handle them.

  “And don’t think you can go to your father to play us against each other. He’ll agree with me on this one,” she said, and then muttered more to herself, but I heard her anyway, “or so help me God; he’ll pay even more.”

  So much for honesty helping my case. I’d never asked for anything other than a piece of them, but they’d given me a piece of the material world instead. A piece by the name of Electro Wave—I know what I saw. Now they wanted to take it all away. Talk about harsh.

  “You can’t be serious. How am I supposed to listen to music or talk on the phone or…or…not get lost,” I sputtered, desperate enough to say anything.

  “Might I remind you that you got lost with a built-in GPS?” Her perfectly shaped blond brow crept up, and the corners of her lips tipped down. “In fact, how did you get home if you lost your navigation system?”

  “I…I don’t know,” I said, just now realizing I hadn’t had to think twice earlier. Even in the dark, I had known exactly where I was going, but I hadn’t questioned it at the time. I’d kind of had more important things on my mind. Like trying to find a way to tell my mom I’d lost my cell phon
e without her killing me.

  Maybe a better sense of direction was a side effect of the incident, and I would no longer need the GPS feature. Still, that didn’t solve my communication problem. How would I live without texting? I wanted, no, I needed my phone.

  “Please, Mom,” I begged. “I’ll do anything.”

  “Sorry, sweetie. That’s not going to work. It’s time you grew up. There are consequences for your actions in life. You need to start learning that now.”

  Anger surged through me at the injustice of it all. This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t even my fault. “My phone is my life, Mom. You can’t do this to me!”

  “I can, and I did.” Her ice-blue eyes locked onto mine and narrowed into her Angelina Jolie impersonation, her I-brought-you-into-this-world, I-can-take-you-out stare. No way would I win this argument.

  “Guess you’ll have to find some other means to entertain yourself. From this day forward, your life is about to change in a big way.”

  CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??

  THE NEXT MORNING AT breakfast, missing my Electro Wave desperately—I refused to call it anything else—I poured the milk into my Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. I would do anything to improve my skills for that night’s soccer game.

  I yawned and then took a sip of orange juice. I’d hardly slept at all the night before, feeling too wired after all that had happened. The last big change to happen to me had been when my parents announced they were getting a divorce almost a year earlier.

  They both worked for Electro, a huge electronics corporation. After having some big fight over who knows what, they had separated. Sometimes I wondered if they were splitting up because of me, but they always said I had nothing to do with it. I had gone to live with Gram in Los Angeles until Mom transferred to Blue Lake, but I still hadn’t come to terms with any of it.

  The thought of them divorcing was worse than starting my period for the first time ever on the first day of school in sixth grade. I’d leaked all over my new white cotton pants. To this day, I refused to wear white again. But I wasn’t stupid. No way would I give up my Sevens. They were the best jeans on earth. Having my phone taken brought me right back to that first day of sixth grade.