Chapter Two

The impasse between Melody and her parents had stifled the atmosphere in the Tinker house so much it could be cut through with a knife. No one, it seemed, wanted to broach the subject, and routine family meals became exercises in restraint and anger management. Why did Melody have to be so difficult? Wanda wondered while eating her chef salad. Throughout (and, perhaps, despite) it all, however, the couple continued to long for a second child, but acknowledged that the financial stress of their failing business and the emotional stress of dealing with Melody had cooled their desire somewhat.

The Tinkers hated everything Melody had become -- the way she dressed, the way she talked, her fascination with the unknown, her disinterest in the family business and her stubborn, taciturn nature. "What are we going to do, Stephen?" Wanda inquired. "She gets worse all the time. I love her to pieces, but she's just plain odd! I've never seen a kid like her in my whole life. And she's mine."

"There's nothing we can do," Stephen calmly concluded, "but wait this storm out."

It wasn't long, though, before Melody asked for something else -- a robot crafting machine. This was where Stephen and Wanda had to draw the line. Of all their daughter's oddities, this one took the cake. She hated toys and the notion of making them -- but she wanted to make robots? "Are you nuts?" Wanda asked. "A robot crafting machine? Melody, darling -- robots? That's kind of a waste of time."

"No more a waste of time than making toy bricks and kites, mom."

Uncharacteristically, Stephen rose his voice. "Melody Autumn Tinker!" he shouted. "Apologize to your mother this instant!"

Since Melody refused, Stephen felt that he had no choice but to punish her. It hurt him more than it hurt her. "I'm afraid we'll have to ground you."

"Fine!" she shouted as she stormed upstairs to her room. "It's not like I have any place to go anyway." Quietly, however, she resolved to earn the money to buy the crafting station herself.

Just then the phone rang. It was Lisa Ramirez, Wanda's neighbor from around the bend. Lisa and her husband, Checo, owned a furniture store in town, and they, too, had a daughter, who, however, was considerably younger than Melody. Wanda was glad to hear Lisa's voice. She didn't realize how deeply Melody had hurt her until she confided in Lisa.

"All kids are difficult when they're her age," Lisa laughed. "It comes with the territory. I just hope that when the time comes Checo and I will have enough armor so Tessa's slings and arrows can bounce off of us."

"I don't know, Lis, it just seems like it's always been this way with her. She seems to know exactly which buttons to push. Steve adores her and will let her have her way at all costs, but I just think she's being unreasonable."

Hanover Academy was widely regarded as the top college-preparatory boarding school for young women in Sim Nation. Its graduates have often enrolled at the equally exclusive Academie Le Tour, and afterwards have gone on to reach the top of their career paths. A school like this often has a lengthy waiting list just to get in, and Hanover was no exception.

Liesel Hanover, the youngest daughter of former headmaster Wilhelm Hanover III, had been assigned to become headmistress of the Bluewater Village campus of Hanover Academy. Her maternal grandparents were Donald and Lula Simwell, the co-founders of the Simwell Friends School, which had roots in what used to be called Old Town. As the daughter and granddaughter of educators, she wanted to create an environment conducive to learning.

Preparations for the coming semester at the Academy were in full swing. The grounds were being thoroughly cleaned and beautified, and anything that was broken was being fixed.

Liesel spent her waking hours in the office reviewing applications and making phone calls to schools requesting students' records. She wanted to put together an entering class worthy of Hanover's sterling reputation. She had no idea what she was really going to be in for.

On a Wednesday afternoon almost a month later, Melody raced to her parents' shed with a letter in her hand. Unfortunately, she could only make out three words on it -- but the three words she could decipher were the ones she wanted to read. "You've been accepted."

"I got in!" she shouted with glee to the top of her voice as she looked at her mother sitting down in her recliner.

Stephen, who had been working the cash register, gave his daughter a bewildered glance. "You got in -- what?" he asked her. Perhaps the crux of his shock was that he didn't remember the last time he saw her this cheerful -- if ever.

"I got into Hanover Academy, Dad. Do you have any idea what this means?"

Stephen paused for a moment to collect himself. "I thought we were going to invite Sim City Academy's headmaster and work on you getting in there. What kind of school is this?"

Wanda didn't know how to react, either, but for a different reason. "Melody," she said finally, trying to catch her breath as her daughter twirled around the room with the letter in her hand, "try to understand why your father is surprised. You didn't even tell us you'd applied to this boarding school."

"Mom," retorted Melody, rolling her eyes, "can't you two at least try to be happy for me?"

"We are happy for you, Melody," Wanda said in her soft voice, "we're just surprised and disappointed that you didn't talk to us about it first. My goodness, a boarding school? Why would you want to go off to a strange boarding school?"

Melody managed a slight chuckle. "Mom, this isn't just any boarding school. It's Hanover Academy, the top college prep school in the country. They have a real art program and a state-of-the-art science lab. Can't you see? I have a real opportunity here. And I intend to take full advantage of it." Disappointed in, but not surprised with, her parents' reaction, she took her letter and returned to her bedroom.