"Olive," called Mrs. Birchwood, "have you finished sorting the periodicals?"

"Almost, ma'am," Olive replied.


Looking at Olive now, you'd never recognize her. In the last few months, she'd been learning exponentially. (Wow, exponentially, there's a word Olive never thought she'd use.) Ever since she'd started taking Aggie's smart pills, Olive had felt more focused than ever, and she a sudden urge to read. She read everything she could get her hands on, even if she didn't completely understand it. The more she read, the more she learned. The more she learned, the more she wanted to do something about it. She had recently enrolled in junior college, much to the surprise of her mother and sister. But since right now she didn't have the money to pay for tuition, she'd gotten a job at, of all places, the Aristotle Archives, the largest library and media center in the kingdom. In addition to the general public, the archives were popular with scientists, nobles, scholars, reporters, anyone coming to do serious research. Given her past, Olive felt so honored to be working there. I had been the perfect place for her to expand her mind. Also, she'd been holding out for a scholarship to pay for school.

But her intellect wasn't the only thing that had changed about Olive. About a month after she'd started learning, Olive had looked in her bedroom mirror one morning, and saw that her dopey-looking face had faded away. In its place, she saw a lovely, young woman staring back at her. Wow, she was cute. She had really noticed this when she charmed Hector, a young and handsome construction worker from the city. Hector had been working in the area, when he first saw Olive on her way to work. He could tell she was a noble, and was almost immediately smitten. It had taken him a couple of weeks to work up the courage to talk to her, the whole time thinking, 'Make your move now, or she'll get away.' Olive was disbelieving when he'd told her this. No guy had ever been shy around her. Normally, they just didn't want to talk to her. This must mean something. Thank you, smart pills!

But not all had been well. For the most part, Olive and Hector had a good relationship. But a few nights ago, Olive had taken Hector home for dinner to meet her family. Mother and Hattie had been particularly rude to Hector, obviously because of his working class background, but Olive was flat out embarrassed that they told him about how stupid she used to be. Not cool! Hector had left early. She didn't blame him. But she hoped he wasn't mad at her.


Olive tried not to think about it as she stacked the periodicals on the shelf. Focusing on work helped to ease the stress. She finished up, and she was done for the day. She made her way to the front desk, where Mrs. Birchwood and her assistant, Marion, were busy sorting, stacking and filing. Marion handed the sign out sheet.

"Thank you for not letting your personal life interfere with your job," said Mrs. Birchwood.

"How could your family embarrass you in front of your boyfriend?" asked Marion, "And how could they say you're stupid? You're like one of the smartest girls I know."

"Look," said Olive, as she signed out, "I don't want to talk about it. I would like those books I reserved."

Marion quickly produced Olive's books, one on Greek mythology, one on Italian cooking, one on French fashion, and her favorite gossip magazine. She smiled.

As Olive headed for the doors, Mrs. Birchwood stopped her. "Olive, hand it over." She held out her hand.

Nervously, Olive pulled a model of one of Da Vinci's flying machines out of her purse, and handed it to Mrs. Birchwood. She turned to leave as Mrs. Birchwood added, "And the other one." Olive rolled her eyes and pulled a bust of Zeus out from under her skirt. Mrs. Birchwood sighed as Olive handed it to her.

"Olive!" she sighed.

"I know," she replied. "I've been trying hard not to!"

Mrs. Birchwood shook her head. "I understand. I like you, Olive. But this has to stop."

"I swear, it's a psychological thing. I can't help myself."

Mrs. Birchwood nodded, understandingly. "If that's the case, there's something I want you to do."

She wrote down a name and address on a sheet of parchment, then she gave it to Olive.

"This is the address for a psychiatrist friend of mine. If this is a psychological problem, I want you to talk to him and get this thing sorted out. And no, this isn't optional, if you don't talk to this guy, you could be dismissed. Is that clear?"

Olive sighed. "Crystal clear, ma'am." She took the parchment and headed for the door.


Outside, Olive found, to her surprise, Hector waiting for her. He held up a sarsaparilla. She smiled. "You read my mind." Olive walked up and hugged her boyfriend. But she could tell he had something on his mind.

"You're not still mad, are you?"

Hector sighed. "I'm not mad. I'm just upset and confused." Olive sipped her sarsaparilla as Hector walked her home.

"Yeah, I didn't appreciate your family calling me a dirty pauper," Hector said, "but was even more appalled that they called you 'stupid'. You're one of the smartest people I know. How could they call you stupid?"

Olive sighed. "It's not something I like to talk about. It wasn't even that long ago. For my whole life, I was just dumb."

Hector looked surprised, but seemed willing to listen.

"For as long as I can remember, I was just dumb, I said dumb things, I made dumb mistakes, I…I just did a lot of dumb things. It didn't help that my mother and my sister never did anything to make me try to work hard or learn." At this point, Olive looked like she was ready to cry. Hector put an arm around her.

"You shouldn't be living with a family like that," he said, comfortingly. "You should stay with someone who respects you, who sees the best in you, who's in love with you."

"You're probably right," she agreed, "but I don't know anyone who…" she paused. "Wait, are you asking what I think you're asking?"

Both stopped and Hector turned to face her. "Olive of Lamia, it would honor me if you moved in with me. I would appreciate the company, separate bedrooms, of course, you deserve to be someplace where people appreciate you, not keep putting you down. So, what do you say?"

Olive couldn't keep it hidden, she was just so excited. "Oh my gosh! Yes! Yes! Of course." She threw her arms around Hector and hugged him hard. Hector smiled.

"But it may have to wait a little bit," Olive said, breaking the hug. "Don't get me wrong. I really want to, but I need some time to get some of my affairs in order. The last few months, I feel like I've started taking care of Mother and Hattie, since they're both too lazy to take care of themselves. But Mother may be moving in with her new boyfriend, so they may not need me much longer. But yes, I will gladly move in with you." She kissed him. Then they continued on.

"If you don't mind me asking, what changed?" Olive didn't understand. "What made you suddenly work harder to be smart?"

"Well, a few months ago, my sister and I met a witch who gave me these pills that made me want to use my brain. Unfortunately, I'm almost out of pills."

"Couldn't you ask the witch for more pills?"

"I could, but I have no idea where to find her. I actually tried looking for her a while back, I fairly certain she lives in the woods near Frell, but I've never been able to find her again." Olive sighed. "I'm scared. I don't want to go back to the way I was. I like being smart."

"Well, I don't think you can lose what you've learned. Sure, you can forget thinks you may have learned, but now you know that you can be smart and you can learn. And besides, if you ever need a little encouragement, you'll always have me." Olive smiled.

When they reached Olive's apartment, Hector walked her to the door. "I guess I should just let you go here."

Olive nodded. "I'd hate for my mother to insult my boyfriend again. Hector smiled and kissed Olive one last time. As she kissed him back, Olive noticed a package sticking out the mailbox, addressed to her.

"What is that?" she asked, breaking the kiss. She pulled the package out the mailbox and read the attached note.

Dear Olive,

Looks like those smart pills are working. I'm glad to see that at least you have made something of yourself. Here's a refill. I'll be back to check in on you again.

Mz. Mac

Olive suddenly looked around and thought she saw a familiar gypsy hat disappear down an alley across the street.

"What's going on?" Hector asked.

"I'm…not sure," was all Olive could answer.

After a short pause, Hector spoke up.

"Well, I guess I'll head out, but I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed Olive on the check "Love ya," and headed off.

Olive smiled as she watched her boyfriend headed off down the street. "I love you, too, Hector." She waited until he was out of sight, and then headed inside.


When Olive got up to Aunt Maggie's apartment, the first person she saw was Hattie, sitting in an easy chair and chewing on her locket.

"Where have you been all day?" she asked.

"Same place I go everyday," Olive replied, "At work."

Olive sat down on the couch and pulled out one of her books. Hattie still couldn't believe Olive could read.

"So, where's your smelly construction worker?"

Olive looked up and glared.

"After the other night, I didn't want to bring him around here. You and mother were terrible to him."

"Well, he's poor, how else are we supposed to treat him?"

Olive shook her head. "And you used to call me stupid," she muttered to herself.

Olive stuck her head into her mythology book.

"Since when do you read so much?" Hattie asked.

"You'd be surprised. There's so much good stuff in a book. And sometimes, it's actually fun."

Hattie tried to retort, but nothing came to mind.

"Yep," Olive muttered. "No comment."

After a long pause, Olive finally asked, "So tonight, we're meeting the Baron?"

"That's right," answered Hattie, "and he has a son my age. I could have a boyfriend, too. Oh, there's nobody for you. Sorry. But then again, you've got your poor construction worker."

Olive smiled. "Yeah, but he's handsome. And he just asked me to move in with him."

Hattie looked surprised. "You're leaving us?"

"Not right away. But you'll be fine. You're about to have servants and butlers and cooks."

Hattie nodded. "I suppose you're right."


At around seven o'clock, Olive had bathed, fixed her makeup, put on a clean dress and was waiting at the door to meet the Baron. Hattie had just put on a new dress, so in her own way, she was thinking about her appearance. Mother was clearly nervous. The scars from her recent facelift were still visible. She was shaking like the middle of winter and she was sweating thru the underarms of her dress. She got some tissues for Mother to soak up the sweat.

Just then, the bell rang.

"Oh my goodness," Mother exclaimed. "He's here! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

Olive stepped forward and lightly slapped her mother. "Snap out of it!" she shouted.

Mother took a deep breath and calmed down. "You're right, Olive. Panic does no one any good. I'll just get the door."

Mother opened the door and in walked Baron Wilhelm von Stroker. He was dressed almost entirely in black, with a cape that wrapped around his body. Olive wondered if he'd trip over it. He had greasy, black hair and a sleazy moustache. And to top it all off, he had a rapier attached to his belt. He was accompanied by a younger man, who looked almost exactly like him, except that he didn't have a sword or a moustache. He wasn't the most attractive man ever, but he wasn't hideous either. And he had money, Mother had checked this time. So in her mother's book, the guy was a catch.

"Good evening!" the Baron announced, as he took a bow and introduced himself. He had a thick accent. "It's lovely to see you again Dame Olga."

"And you as well," replied Mother. "And these are my daughters, Hattie and my special, Olive."

Olive rolled her eyes. She'd come such a long way, Mother had even noticed, and she still called her "special."

The Baron took the girls' hands and kissed them each. "Charmed."

The Baron turned to the young man with him. "And this is my son, Gustov von Stroker." Gustov stepped forward and bowed. The girls curtseyed.

"Now, which one of you is Hattie?" he asked. His accent was not as strong as his father's.

Excited, Hattie stepped forward. "That would be me," she said, sounding all giggly.

Olive thought he was a bit of a show-off, but Hattie seemed to like him so she ruled him alright.

"So, who's hungry. I hope you're all in the mood for Chinese, because I made reservations at the Mandarin's Palace." Everyone seemed pretty excited.

"Ms. Olive," said the Baron, "I understand that you also have a gentleman caller. Will he be joining us tonight?"

"No, he won't," she said, "he's busy tonight."

"He's poor," stated Hattie.

"He's working class!" retorted Olive.

The Baron stared for a moment and then replied, "Interesting."

"Well, shall we go? I have a carriage waiting downstairs." Mother took the Baron's arm, Hattie took Gustov's arm and they headed downstairs. Olive held back. In the last few months, she'd come such a long way. And the smarter she'd gotten, the more her mother and Hattie looked like idiots. They were selfish, lazy, gold-digging, and rude. Olive wasn't regretting her decision to move in with Hector. And she hated that her mother still called her special. And yet, she still loved them. How could she not? They were her family. Well, maybe it wasn't love so much as sympathy. And possibly the belief that they would never grow up.

Eh, she'd think about it more later. She stuffed one of her books into her purse and headed off to join the others.