Maeko kicked her locker. She had tried about thousand times to open that damn thing with no luck and the bell was about to ring. She scowled and tried again. When that didn't work, she howled and pounded the locker with such fury people stopped to stare. Finally, resigned to her fate, Maeko decided to grab her things and get to class before the bell rang.

"Excuse me," said a voice from behind her.

Maeko turned around. It was that redhead she'd seen early hanging with that blond jock. What was her name? Jean or Jane, some kind of J-name? Anyway she seemed nice enough, so Maeko decided for now to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"You're new aren't you?" the redhead said.

"Um, yeah," Maeko responded, blushing. Was it really that obvious? Well duh, you practically have new kid written all over, she thought to herself. As if that thick accent wasn't enough of a clue. "Sorry about the noise," she responded, wincing at the way her accent made every syllable sound harsh and out of place.

"It's okay, I had this locker last year," the redhead responded. "It is notoriously hard to open. Do you need a hand?"

"Um, sure," Maeko said. If it would get her to class and end this conversation it couldn't be all bad.

The redhead reached over, turned the lock a bit, and opened the locker. Maeko almost felt like applauding but that would seem dorky. She grabbed her books and ran to class, barely taking time to mutter "Thank You" to the redhead. She scrambled into class, her sneakers squeaking against the tile. She dived into her seat just as the bell rang.

Mr. Hearst applauded. "Bravo, bravo. Ms. Tanaka, I don't think I've seen such a beautiful dive. I thought only our Katherine was capable of such a stunt."

The whole class applauded with Mr. Hearst. A few whistled and cheered. Both Kitty and Maeko sank into their seats. Why did teachers feel they had to be clever? It never works.

Maeko finally got around to reading Jonathan's letter during lunchtime. The handwriting was smudged and smeared, quite different from his usual clean, precise script. Maeko guessed he'd dashed it off in a hurry. She made a note to start writing a letter once she got her homework done.

Dear Maeko Takahashi alias Kumiko Tanaka,

How are things in school? I'm assuming you ran into no trouble with the papers. If you do need any other documents, let me know.

I very much appreciated your last letter but that's not why I am writing. Circumstances have risen in which I feel that your correspondence would threaten our carefully laid plans.

I will continue to send Care packages and money but I'm afraid one can no longer expect to hear from me in any other form. The packages will no longer be delivered to your apartment but to a different location: you will be able to pick them up at the post office.

Keep studying, work hard, and keep a low profile. If you do those things, one can apply for citizenship in a year.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

Maeko felt sick. No more letters from Jonathan? Didn't he know what this meant to her? Now she was trapped in a strange country with no one to talk to.

She went and threw away her lunch. She no longer felt hungry. Uncomfortable questions swirled in her mind. What was she going to do if one of her papers didn't check out? What if she had to run to Canada? What if the INS caught her and set her back to Japan? And most importantly, why can't he write anymore? Is he in some sort of danger?

"Hey," the redhead said, "would you like to sit with us?" She gestured towards a table jammed with people of all shapes and sizes. There was Katherine that girl who sat next to her in class, the guy with shades she'd seen around school. She was sad to say she could only put a name to one of them. She would have to learn the others.

"No thank you," Maeko said, "I have to go to the library." She said that rather hurriedly, not carrying if she mixed up phrases or butchered syllables, then dashed off, loaded down with a backpack and her Japanese- English dictionary and phrasebooks.

Maeko found herself a small, secluded corner in the library and sat to work. She decided to put that obsessively analytical mind to work and set about drawing up what her mom would call "some specifics."

She opened to a clean page in her notebook and began writing.

Questions

Who is Jonathan?

Why did he help me out?

How did he find out about me?

Why has he decided to stop writing to me?



Obviously this was going to be quite a daunting task. Maeko decided to make a list of what she already knew to clear things up.

Clues

Jonathan is a male, probably the age of my parents or older, who lives in Japan or somewhere near it.

Evidence: His handwriting seems very American Male, very straightforward and simple. He knows an awful lot about Japan, way more than any mere tourist.

Jonathan is probably independently wealthy.

Evidence: He has no problem getting a hold of anything I might need.

Is definitely unmarried.

Evidence: He never spoke of any wife and he seems to have an awful lot of time on his hands.

Maybe he read about one of those "Miracle Child" articles they churned out about me.

Evidence: Everyone in Japan seems to have read those damned things!



Maeko stopped there. She needed to get to class. She'd deal with it when she got home.