"What about this one here?"

My younger sister Cathy said as she stood in front of my closet, holding up a black denim jacket for me.

"I'm definitely taking this one with me," I said giving her a look as if saying "Is that even a question?"

She frowned as she inspected the denim jacket more. "I don't think you should," she said shaking her head. "It's so out of fashion now. You might want to wear something fashionable during your first time visiting Germany, Bree."

Was she kidding? This piece of clothing was my favorite one I ever owned! (Aside from my purple beanie of course cause that's another long story).

Raising my eyebrows, I asked,"You want me to leave it?"

"Yes."

She had literally helped me pick that jacket at H&M. She said it was the best thing she'd seen me wear. She even said she was jealous of me because she wanted one too-

Oh.

It slowly dawned on me. Of course she didn't want me to take it.

I sighed rolling my eyes. "You don't want me to take the jacket with me so you could wear it all you want while I'm gone, don't you?" I said point blank.

She blinked three times. "Um...no..?"

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ugh fine." She laughed. "Take the stupid jacket!" She said throwing it at me, really pissed that I had figured out her evil scheme.

I smirked as I took it and carefully placed it inside my suitcase. "You really think you can manipulate me into giving you my wardrobe? You have other oblivious sisters to try your unprofessional techniques on, Cathy," I said, sending her the smirk. She really hated this one. But then again, that's why I did it. Duh.

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at me. "Don't get too cocky, Brat Bree,"

Ugh, that stupid nickname. "Remind me again why I let you help me pack?" I asked, folding a purple pajama that had a picture of a cat saying "Check meowt" on it and put in my suitcase.

She walked away from the closet and came to sit next to me on the floor. "Because nobody else wanted to help you." Ouch.

One thing I'm going to admit about Cathy, is that she knows how to fire back. And that can be equally awesome and terrible at times.

Cathy smiled smugly when I didn't reply, knowing that she won this one. I rolled my eyes again.

We had been packing for hours now, fighting over which stuff I should leave and which I should take. And boy oh boy, was it a disaster. But then again, she was right. I didn't have anybody else to help me but her so basically I had asked for it.

I had to keep reminding myself why I was packing in the first place. The day after tomorrow, I was going to Germany. I was flying to Europe for the first time in my life.

Now that was some exciting news. Finally!

I'm going to admit another tiny thing. Going to Germany was really exciting for me and all. But it wasn't the only thing I was excited about. Well, kind of.

Someone else was going to be on that trip as well, and I sort of- kind of- maybe couldn't stop thinking about it all night...

This whole school-trip thing happened so fast. I stared at the grey suitcase in front of me as I flashbacked to when it all started...

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

I was heading to Ms. York's office to help her with her work like I had done during all year of seventh grade.

I knocked twice before entering her office. "Ms. York?" I asked. No one was inside. That's kinda wierd. She's usually there most of the-

"Bree!"

I jumped in my place as Ms. York appeared from behind me, a wide smile was on her face and a beautiful glint was in her warm brown eyes.

"Ms. York... you scared me," I said as I put a hand over my chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry honey! You won't believe what just happened!" She was practically jumping from excitement. I couldn't help but smile. What a cute teacher she was.

"I was just at Mrs. Peters' office. She told me she was organizing an educational trip!" Ms. York said.

"Sounds great! What's it about?" I asked.

Ms. York swept her brown bangs out of her face- she always did that when she was about to spill something important. "Okay so from what I heard, the university of Brelin has uncovered a time capsule that belonged to the Brothers Grimm." She didn't pause to tell me who the Brothers Grimm were because she knew I knew about them. They used to write fairy tales. And since I had started showing a... sudden interest in fairy tales a little recently, their name instantly rang a bell in my head.

"And according to the University of Berlin, three brand new fairy tales were discovered in the capsule! Isn't that amazing?"

I smiled, genuinely thrilled to hear that. "Really?"

"Yes!" Ms. York replied in a slightly high-pitched tone. "They would be announcing the stories for the first time in the Brothers Grimm's Cemetery! But the bigger news is-"

"Mrs. Peters is planning a school trip for that event??" I asked before she could finish.

She nodded enthusiastically. My eyes were wide open. "That's... that's really cool!" I said. The idea of me flying to Germany started materializing in my head. I had just heard about this news and I already wanted to go so bad.

Stop daydreaming, Bree. I told myself. You still don't know whether you're going or not, dang it.

"Now listen, not everyone's going though," Mrs. York said. Oh here it is. My heart sank right after it was floating with excitement.

"Ah," I said, the disappointment visible in my voice. "Who's going then?"

"Mrs. Peters is invinting a few select students. Students who had proven to be passionate about writing and story-telling." Ms. York said, still grinning at me.

The spark of hope ignited in my mind again. Students who like writing.

Ms. York winked at me. Was she thinking what I thought she was thinking?

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself. "You think I could sign up?"

Ms. York smiled even more. "Why not? You're a fantastic young author, Bree. This event will be a powerful step in the history of literature. And I think you should be there when it happens. You deserve to be there."

I stood there speechless. The thought that Ms. York was so excited just because of an educational opportunity for me made me almost want to tear up. She really cared about me and wanted me to have some fun and adventure. And the idea that she thinks I'm a good writer made my heart do a little happy dance. I stepped forward and gave Ms. York a big hug. I really genuinely loved this woman since day one.

"Thank you so much, Ms. York," I said as I broke apart. "This... really means a whole lot to me. I'm gonna ask my parents and see if they agree to let me come."

"Call me if you need any help convincing them." Ms. York winked.

"You're literally the coolest teacher I ever met."

"I know that." Ms. York smirked and we both laughed.

"Nooow that we've had some good news and all that, let's get back to arranging essays shall we??" Ms. York casually said as she entered her office as if nothing major had just happened. Smiling, I followed her.

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

I tapped my feet anxiously on the floor as I sat in Mrs. Peters office.

It was happening.

After a lot of negotiation and convincing and pleading with my parents, they had finally agreed to let me go. The reason they were hesitant was because they were worried about me. Like, come on, you guys! It's not like I'm gonna run away from the airport! Jeez, I'm not a toddler!

"Alright, dear," Mrs. Peters said as she put the pencil down after finally writing down all of my data. "Welcome aboard!"

I smiled. I was officially going to Germany next September. And I was excited.

"Wow," I said.

Mrs. Peters smiled. "Yes, I think "wow" is quite the suitable term for it."

"So how many people will be going?" I asked, curious.

"About six students maximum." She replied adjusting her glasses. I nodded. I knew I should leave already. But something inside of me was still drawing me in.

"So, has anyone else signed up?" I asked, also curious.

Mrs. Peters shook her head. "You're the first person to sign up, Ms Campbell!"

Uh-huh. Alright. Her body language was telling me that I should probably get up and exit her office now. The woman must had other business she needed to get to.

I didn't budge though.

"Do you... have someone in mind that you want to ask?" I asked eagerly. I didn't know why I was asking these questions. It was like I was trying to reach a... certain point or something.
Or Was I?

As soon as that state of split hit me, I knew exactly what was happening in my head. Oh boy... not again.

"I can say I had a few in mind, but I can't really remember actually," Mrs. Peters replied as she scratched her forehead. "You know, the older you get, the harder it is to remember stuff," she laughed at herself and I laughed along too but I was impatient. I had something that I so wanted to say.

Don't do it, Bree. That's stupid! A voice in my mind stopped me.

I hesitated for a second. Yes it was stupid. But I wanted to do it, so I decided to ignore my brain like I had been doing quite a lot lately.

"Is it... okay if I um... suggest someone?" I asked in a very quiet tone, almost as if I was scared the voice in my mind would reprimand me if it heard me. Which was crazy because I'm the voice in my mind. So that means I'm scared of... myself?

Wait, what?

"Well, if you think you know someone who might be up for the challenge, I'd be glad to hear it." Mrs. Peters said.

I gupled.

It's not too late, Bree!! You can still get up and leave NOW!!

"Well, yeah I do know someone actually,"

Breanne June Campbell, don't you dare-

"There's this boy who shares English class with me," I said, my hands were literally shaking. What was I doing? It was none of my business! And... why was I nervous?

"And he's really great at writing stories! 'Fairy tales' to be exact!" I continued, ignoring the loud tremendous war in my mind.

"And yeah... I think this will be such a great opportunity for him as well." I finished.

Mrs. Peters squinted her eyes at me, as if she was recognizing something. "What's his name?" She asked.

"Well, his name is-"

SHUT UP BREE!!!

"Conner Bailey."

The moment the name left my mouth, I felt a sudden hot sensation in my face. Whoa. Did I just... did I just ask the school principle to invite a boy who'd been on my mind for such a long time now to join a school trip across the world along with me?

Brilliant! Way to go, Bree!

I could almost see my inner self rolling her eyes at me.

Mrs. Peters' laughter snapped me out of my trance. "Oh, YES! Of course! How come I had even forgotten about Conner Bailey?" She shook her head, still smiling. "Thank you for reminding me, Ms. Campbell! The boy is talented indeed, I'm definitely going to invite him to my office in no time."

I wasn't sure if I managed to hide my smile or not, but I think I didn't. And I didn't care.

"Great! So I'll... see you around, Mrs. Peters! Bye!" I said as I saluted her, quickly stood up and walked for the door. I had had enough anxiety for one day.

As I walked down the hallway and headed back to my History class, I couldn't stop thinking about what just happened.

If Conner did end up going on that trip, it would be because of me. I had dragged him to Germany with me. The thought made me happy.

Uh...happy for him, I mean.

Conner Bailey was slowly invading my mind in the past few months, and I was totally aware of it. And sort of fine with it as well.

And it wasn't just because he was a nice cool guy. Something else had come up actually.

During the middle of this school year- right after the day of our encounter in the library- Conner Bailey had completely disappeared along with his twin sister Alex.

Just like that. No warning. No previous alert. Nothing.

They were there the day before and then all of sudden, boom! They were gone.

A couple weeks later, Conner showed up again... without his sister. Which I thought was pretty... strange. I wasn't close with him so I couldn't ask him about it personally. From what I heard though, Alex had switched to another school.

I know right? It doesn't make any sense. Yeah that's what I thought too.

Why would she suddenly decide she wanted to switch schools in the middle of a school year? And why didn't her brother go with her? Why put two twins in two different schools? Something was definitely fishy about this whole thing. And what caught my attention the most was Conner's responses whenever anyone asked him about Alex. He would always look unsure and would ramble a lot. He also never made eye contact while answering that question and would constantly look to his left.

That's right, you guessed it: Signs of lying.

I know, I know. I sound like such a stalker now. But I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm a very curious person. Especially when something is being mysterious. If someone came to me and asked me: "Hey, have you heard about the yellow striped sweater?" I'd laugh at them and walk away.

However, if someone asked, "Hey, have you heard about the mystery of the yellow striped sweater?" My eyes would grow twice in size and I'd sit down and listen to the whole thing.

I think you get the point.

So, yeah, like I said, I loved mysteries. It was almost as if Conner Bailey somehow knew I liked mysteries and decided he should be even more interesting and become one himself. If I wasn't interested in him before, I'd definitely be interested in him now. I had to know what was going on. I needed to. Conner was obviously hiding something and I knew that it was so much bigger than 'switching schools'.

I don't know how, but I knew.

That's why I saw this school trip to Germany as a chance. That was why I had suggested him to Mrs. Peters. If Conner did actually go to Germany too, it could be the opportunity for me to finally get to properly know him. And it might also help me know more clues about his and his sister's unravelled mystery...

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

"What about this awesome pair of shoes? Please don't tell me you're taking these too," My sister Cathy groaned. But I heard nothing from what she was saying.

I was completely lost in my thoughts and flashbacks. After all that waiting and anticipation, the time had finally come. Germany was only two days away from me.

And not only that, but Going to Gernany with Conner was also two days away from me. Gosh, I was excited. But... kind of uneasy as well.

I had been on the internet a lot lately. I wanted to understand exactly what was going on. What does it mean when someone stares at you a lot? What does it mean when someone smiles whenever they see you? What does it mean when someone blushes whenever they talk to you?

Yes, I had typed all these things into the search bar and only one thing kept coming up. No matter what, it was always the same search result. I wasn't exactly sure how it made me feel, or how I had reacted. But I was pretty sure I'd stared at my laptop screen for a couple of minutes unmoving.

"Helllooo, Bree!! You there?"

I blinked back to reality. I was still in my room sitting cross-legged in front of my suitcase and my younger sister Cathy sat next to me.

"Oh, sorry, what?

Cathy narrowed her green eyes at me. "I was asking if you were going to take these Adidas shoes with you...." She leaned closer to me as if that would make her read my mind or something.

I stared at the pair of shoes, replaying the question over and over again in my mind, but I wasn't able to interpret it. It was like someone has asked you a question in another language and was waiting for you to reply.

"Uh... what?" I blinked again.

"Oh, I see." Cathy said, still eyeing me suspiciously as she slowly leaned away. "What's on your mind, big sister?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Oh nothing really. Just thinking about the trip." I shrugged, finally gaining my conciousness again.

"Is it that boy again?"

How in heck does she always know that?! Did I make specific expression everytime I thought of him? If so, was it that obvious? What if-

"You're definitely thinking about him alright," she smirked.

I sighed, giving up. "Fine. Yes I was."

"Uh-huh..." Cathy raised an eyebrow. "What were your thoughts this time?" I could tell she was really enjoying that talk.

I took a deep breath. I needed to talk to someone. And I needed someone that I trusted. Especially with that topic. Even though Cathy could really annoy me to pieces sometimes, she was also someone that I trusted completely. Make sense? Probably not. This is how it is with sisters I guess.

"Okay... so... um" I struggled to choose the right words. "He had been acting in this... way towards me, you know?" I said, pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. "And It has been going on since seventh grade. So, I uh... I decided I should get to the bottom of this and fianlly know what's going on."

Cathy tried to suppress a smile. "And did you find out?"

"Yes... I think."

"Oh, really? What is it then?" She asked pretending to be surprised as if she already knew the answer before I told her.

I gulped. I was finally telling someone. I was telling someone about that big secret that I had kept buried inside me for a long time. The most scandalous secret in the history of existence. The answer to one of the many mysteries in my life. One that I had figured out recently and on my own(with the help of Google of course). I took a deep breath and scrunched my nose as I finally let it out of me.

"I think he has a crush on me."

Cathy pretended to gasp. "Oh, really?! How shocking!" I punched her arm lightly. This wasn't a laughing matter. This was a serious problem here. What an idiot.

"But no, wait! I'm not absolutely sure yet! I don't wanna jump into conclusions just because he looks at me sometimes...." I said defensively. "I don't wanna be this annoying girl who thinks all the boys like her and stuff."

Cathy nodded understandably (though I was pretty sure she was still mocking me) "How are you going to know for sure then?" She asked.