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I don't own the 39 Clues.

Jake Rosenbloom never thought his brother would stoop this low. Sure, he'd had his fair share of crushes on girls, but never once had he stared at a girl with googly eyes for thirty minutes straight.

"Atticus, stop doing that!" He whispered fiercely. "You're creeping her out!"

Atticus teared his gaze away from Natalie to face his brother. "I am not!"

"You are too! You were staring at her for thirty minutes! You didn't even look away when she stared back at you!"

The Cahills and Rosenblooms were in the living room, lounging around.

Amy was reading Pride and Prejudice again, while Nellie was flipping through a cookbook, looking for exotic dishes to create that night. At Amy's insistence, Dan was working on all the school work he had missed while on Vesper One's crazy chase. Natalie was absorbed in all the editions of British Vogue she had missed and Reagan was going through the get well cards she had received from school. William McIntyre had insisted her parents tell the school she had come down with a rare virus and had to be quarantined in a hospital.

"Then what do you want me to do?" asked Atticus.

"Go translate a lost Latin text or something. Actually, anything would be better than what you're doing right now."

"In actuality, some things are not better than what I'm doing right now. For instance, jumping out of a ten story building."

Jake rolled his eyes. "If you like her, then just talk to her or something. Though I hardly doubt she'll like you back. You're eleven and she's thirteen."

"Way to go for the encouragement," Atticus muttered. Nevertheless, he went to talk to Natalie.

"Um...hi Natalie."

Natalie looked up from her magazine, annoyed to be interrupted from looking at the latest Gucci purse. "Hi." She returned to the world of fashion after the half-hearted greeting without a second glance.

Now Atticus was completely lost as to what to do next. Professors he had no trouble talking to, but girls? Forget about it. He looked back towards his brother and he shrugged in response.

After returning to his seat, he asked," So what do you do when you want to get a girl's attention?"

Jake thought for a minute. "Nothing really. Usually, the girls approach me first."

And it was true. Whether he was in public or at a museum function, girls would swoon and flirt with him. Atticus had never wanted his brother's good looks because of this, but now he wished he had inherited some of those genes from his father.

He crossed his arms and frowned. If he could escape from the Wyoming siblings, he could devise a plan to catch Natalie's attention.


At dinner, Dan made an announcement.

"Next week, we're going to hold a funeral service for all those who died for us, including Mr. McIntyre, Irina, and Lester."

For too long, those matters had been pushed aside from Amy's mind due to the impending threat of the Vespers. Now that the threat was temporarily gone, her mind was wandering. She'd remembered all the people that had sacrificed their lives for them, and how Mr. McIntyre had died a tragic death.

After her talk with Ian, she had gone to Fiske's study, where she talked it over with him, Dan, and Nellie. They all agreed it was about time they were honored.

"It's going to start at eight A.M. next Saturday and end at around five." She turned to Ian. "Can you inform the Lucian branch of this service?"

Ian nodded. "I can try."

"I will send out a memo to all Ekats," said Alistair.

"And I'll make sure the Janus gets the message yo." added Jonah.

"I'll tell the Tomas." Hamilton said next.

"Thank you for the contributions."

Jake talked next. "Atticus and I will come too. I'll call my dad tonight."

"Thank you, Jake."

"Now then," Fiske clapped his hands together. "Let's see what dish Nellie has prepared for us tonight, shall we?"


In the middle of dinner, Jake's cell-phone rang. "Excuse me," he said, getting up to take the call.

"Hello?" He was standing in the hall outside the dining room.

"Hey Jake! It's me, Andrea!"

"Oh, hey Andrea!" Andrea was the lead female singer in his band, Vesuvius. He had named the band after the volcano that had erupted in Pompeii for their explosive talent.

"So, I was wondering when you're coming back to Italy?" She was also studying abroad in the same university as him. They had been friends since middle school.

"Not until a few more weeks."

"Oh." He heard disappointment in her voice. "How come? Only if you want to tell me though. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

"I'm attending a funeral service for my lawyer. He died a couple of weeks ago."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thanks."

"Well, I hope you feel better. Call me soon!"

"I will. Bye Andrea."

"Bye Jake."

Jake smiled as he pressed end call. Andrea could always put a smile on his face. They had met in the sixth grade while attending a grand opening party at a museum for an exhibit. Her parents were the archaeologists that had discovered the thousand year old artifacts and were close friends with his father. They had introduced the two middle schoolers to each other at the dinner. She had then moved to his school a few weeks later. Andrea had explained to him that she had recently moved into the neighborhood.

Ever since then, they had done many things together. Studying for tests, going to dances, partnering together for school projects, the high school senior prom, and the band.

When he got back to his seat, Atticus asked," Was that Dad?"

"No, it was Andrea."

"Really?" Atticus' eyes lit up. He had always been fond of her. Over the years, Andrea had been like a big sister to him.

"What did she say?"

Jake put his phone back in his pocket.

"Just asking about when I'm going back to university."

"Who's Andrea?" asked Amy.

"A college friend." replied Jake.

"He's known her ever since the sixth grade." piped up Atticus.

"Wow, that is a long time."

"It is."

"Are you dating?" asked Natalie.

"Why do you ask?" he looked up from his bowl of Vietnamese noodles.

"Because you're smiling."

Jake frowned. "What does my smiling have to do with dating?"

"She's got a point." said Dan, "I mean, come on, you rarely smile."

"I smiled when I kicked Dave Speminer in the face."

"I think everyone was smiling when you did that."

"I know I was," said Amy.

Ian placed the chopsticks back into the bowl. "He deserved it."

Atticus sighed. "I still can't believe that all along, he was Vesper One. He'd only become Mom's assistant to retrieve her information." His face darkened. "And to poison her. I should've seen it sooner. I should've seen that his name was an anagram for Damien Vesper."

Jake put an arm around his little brother's shoulder. "His trial's next week. Do you want to go?"

Atticus nodded. "I want to be there when they sentence him to life in prison."

"We'll all go. I want to see his face then too." Dan grinned. "it's going to be good."

"Da Wiz is going to come too! Man, once I get there, the paparazzi is going to flock to the courthouse. They'll report about the trial and that man is going to get the punishment he deserves!"

"I'm coming too." Hamilton smashed his fist against his palm. "Karma, my man, karma. Locking up Reagan and the others like that."

"The whole Council of Six is going to be trialed as a matter of fact," Ian said. He looked at Natalie. "As well as Mum again."

She nodded. "I hope she stays in jail this time."

"She will," Ian said firmly. "No judge is going to offer her a way out of jail this time."

Natalie played with her spring rolls, her appetite lost. Ian made a decision. He was going to speak with her tonight.

Just then, Dan's cell-phone beeped. Taking it out and reading it, he said, "It's from the guards. They said there's someone outside. I'll go check it out." Rising from his chair, he raced towards the main door.

A few minutes later, he came racing back. "Jonah, it's for you."

Jonah groaned. "Don't tell me. It's one of those crazy fan girls that track my every movement right dawg?"

"No. It's your dad."