Hooray for everyone who reviewed and made my day
I own nothing besides the plot!
Jenny yawned, sitting up stiffly from where she had fallen asleep on the floor. The memory of everything that had happened the night before swept over her, and she grinned with an inexpressible joy.
We're going to find him. We're going to save him!
The excitement was so powerful it bordered on pain.
She looked around at everyone, most of whom were still sleeping with their heads on the table. As she looked around, she spotted Summer yawn and sit up.
"Morning, Jenny," she said absentmindedly. "Is your family gone?"
She nodded. "It's Saturday. Tomorrow's the last week of school. I'll bet Joey's out with friends, and Mom and Dad are doing whatever they do."
Her friend nodded. "Then it's time to nail down a few details before we…go. Michael! Get up!"
Said boy moaned and lifted his head an inch. "What?"
"We need to figure some things out. First of all, how are we getting into the shadow world? And then how are we getting out of it and into Svartalfheim? And once we get there, how are we finding the stave? And then how do we know what to carve? And…"
"Easy, sun bunny, take it easy," said Dee, stretching up from her chair. "The More Games Store is still there, even if Julian isn't. It's a halfway point. I have no idea how to get to Svartalfheim. The stave could be anywhere… and I guess Jenny will know what to carve… Now that I think about it, it isn't much of a plan."
"We have the store," reminded Jenny. "That's something."
"Right," agreed Zach, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "We have the store."
Jenny grinned. "Time to get going."
She reached for her cell phone. "Could everyone call their parents? I think we're doing the sleepover swap."
Audrey laughed. "Again?"
But within fifteen minutes, everyone's parents believed that they were staying over at someone else's house that night, and leaving directly to school.
"I think that's enough time," sighed Jenny, looking around at her friends. They were all ready in some way.
Audrey's hair was pulled up and away from her face. Dee was clutching a Swiss Army knife in one hand. Michael was wearing cargo pants equipped with everything he could even consider needing, and held tight in Jenny's right hand was her own talisman – a thin golden ring that said – I am my only master.
Summer smiled at Jenny. "I'm glad you've come back to life. We missed you. And I guess if we want to keep you, we'd better go."
Nods from around the circle as without a backward glance, the group of six filed out the door and headed downtown.
