Jaclyn Hyde Read online

  Dedication

  For Ana, Ella, and Noah

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One: Fog Island: The Musical

  Chapter Two: Who’s Ready to Science?

  Chapter Three: Stay Away from Cedar Street

  Chapter Four: Do Not Open

  Chapter Five: Rotten Apples Fresh from the Tree

  Chapter Six: A Brand-New Person

  Chapter Seven: Carved Up

  Chapter Eight: I’m Jackie!

  Chapter Nine: Baby Spiders

  Chapter Ten: Not Ready for Human Consumption

  Chapter Eleven: Fog Brain

  Chapter Twelve: The Moose Is Loose

  Chapter Thirteen: It Sure Is Foggy Out

  Chapter Fourteen: Shoot for the Moon

  Chapter Fifteen: Hot Potato

  Chapter Sixteen: Hyde and Seek

  Chapter Seventeen: We’re All Bad

  Chapter Eighteen: An Onion Sandwich

  Chapter Nineteen: It’s Been a Long Time

  Chapter Twenty: The Happiest Moment

  About the Authors

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Prologue

  Dr. Enfield placed his lab mice inside the maze and started the timer. The three mice took off. In last place, as usual, was Mouse #1, who Dr. Enfield affectionately called Peanut. She always seemed to lag behind the others. After a minute had passed, Mouse #2 and Mouse #3 were halfway to the finish line. Peanut had gotten confused and was now trapped in a dead end.

  That’s when it happened.

  Her tiny mouse nails grew into thick yellow claws. Her soft gray fur became wiry and matted. Her teeth sharpened into fangs. And Peanut realized that there was a faster way to the finish line.

  She took a big bite out of the wall in front of her and plowed through headfirst. When she reached the next wall, she tore through it with her claws. Knocking down wall after wall, she headed straight for the piece of cheese at the end of the maze.

  She was almost there when she saw Mouse #2. She let out an angry screech. It was a sound no normal mouse had ever made. Peanut bit down on Mouse #2’s tail, then climbed over his head to reach the finish line first. She gobbled up the cheese in one bite.

  But Peanut wasn’t finished. She chomped through the thick outer wall of the maze and leaped out onto the lab table. She scurried toward an open window, knocking into a glass beaker, sending it crashing to the ground. She climbed onto the windowsill. Then she looked back at Dr. Enfield. Her eyes glowed bright green.

  Dr. Enfield dropped his notebook. “What have I done?” he whispered as Peanut jumped out of the window and disappeared into the foggy night.

  Chapter One

  Fog Island: The Musical

  Mr. Collins clapped his hands. “Five minutes until showtime,” he announced.

  The cast and crew of the eighth grade musical gathered backstage. This was the final dress rehearsal before the opening night of Fog Island: The Musical, an original musical based on the history of their town.

  Mr. Collins paced between the empty auditorium seats. “You should all have your costumes on and your props in place. And I want to see a wig on every head.”

  Jaclyn Hyde pulled a loose thread from her costume, a red checkered pioneer dress. She straightened the dress and checked that her boots were evenly tied. Then she ran her hands over her pigtails to make sure there wasn’t a single hair out of place. She was ready. She had practiced the dance steps in front of the mirror for weeks. She knew every last toe tap. She had run through the songs every night at her piano until she could sing them in her sleep—and sometimes, according to her parents, she did sing them in her sleep.

  As Jaclyn took her spot in the dimly lit wings just offstage, she thought about what a shame it was that no one would see her perform. She was the understudy. But still, she was determined to be the most perfect understudy the world would never see.

  Jaclyn strove for perfection in everything she did. She got nothing less than straight As. She packed as many activities into her schedule as possible and tried to do each one better than the last. There was a poster in the school guidance counselor’s office that said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars.” Jaclyn never liked that poster. She thought that if you did the math correctly, you shouldn’t miss the moon in the first place.

  Jaclyn peered out at all the other students starting to take their places onstage and sighed. She decided to use the next few minutes to practice the opening dance one more time.

  “One, two, kick, turn!” she whispered to herself as she sped through the steps. She finished the number, bending down on one knee and throwing her hands high in the air. She paused for a moment to catch her breath.

  Then she heard clapping. Standing behind her was Fatima Ali, leaning coolly against the brick wall of the auditorium, her straight black hair pushed back by the sunglasses on her head.

  “You must be the hardest working understudy in the history of theater,” said Fatima.

  Jaclyn smiled bashfully. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Well, at least the history of this theater.” Fatima gestured toward the Fog Island Middle School auditorium, with its peeling green velvet seats and beige carpet. She took a step forward and stumbled over a warped floorboard. “This place could really use an upgrade. Nothing has changed since it was built in October 1992.”

  Fatima was the editor of the school newspaper and knew almost everything there was to know about their school. She also knew almost everything there was to know about Fog Island. That’s why Mr. Collins had asked her to help him write Fog Island: The Musical.

  “Fatima, I need to speak with you before we start the show,” Mr. Collins shouted from the front row.

  “Be right there!” Fatima rolled her eyes. “It’s probably about that stupid moose costume again . . .”

  Several years before, Mr. Collins had purchased a very realistic (and very expensive) moose costume, and he was obsessed with finding a way to incorporate it into every musical. Last year, he directed The Three Moose-keteers, and the year before that The Sound of Moose-ic and before that, Foot Moose. He loved that costume and was extremely disappointed when Fatima informed him that there were no moose on Fog Island, and so he would have to hang up the costume until next year’s production, which he had already decided would either be The Moose-ic Man, or an original adaptation of Cats called Moose.

  Paige Greer ran over to Jaclyn and Fatima. She was covered in cardboard branches and paper leaves. Her face was painted green, and there were twigs sticking out of her hair.

  “What’s my line again?” she asked.

  “‘It sure is foggy out!’” Fatima reminded her.

  “Right!” said Paige.

  Paige had only agreed to be in the musical because Fatima and Jaclyn were doing it. The three of them spent as much time together as possible. Plus, the show happened to fall during the off-season between soccer and basketball. Paige didn’t even think twice about diving face-first into the dirt when she was protecting the goal, but she was terrified of public speaking. That’s why Fatima had written a special part for her: the Tree. It was perfect because Paige was the tallest kid in school, and she had only one line. Still, she was nervous about remembering it.

  It sure is foggy out, Paige mouthed to herself. “I think I got it.”

  Shane Zeigler stomped backstage, carrying a heavy box. Shane always had a grin on his face like he knew something everybody else didn’t. He stopped behind Jaclyn. “Move it, loser, VIP coming through! Very Important Props!”

  “Okay, okay,” Jaclyn said, stepp
ing aside.

  He sidled up to her. “By the way, Mr. Collins wanted me to give you something.”

  “What is it?” Jaclyn said, reaching out her hand.

  “This!” Shane took a glob of glistening blue gum out of his mouth and planted it smack in the middle of her palm.

  “Ugh! Gross!” Jaclyn flung the gum off her hand onto the floor.

  Shane snorted with laughter.

  “Beat it, vermin,” Fatima snapped.

  “Yeah!” said Paige. Then she turned to Fatima and whispered, “Wait, what’s a vermin?”

  Shane ignored them and pointed at his gum. “Hey, Jaclyn, if you’re hungry, there might still be some broccoli in there from lunch!” He cackled, and Jaclyn could see bright-blue gum juice coating his braces.

  Mr. Collins popped behind the curtain and scowled. “Shane, stop goofing off! I told you ten minutes ago to set up the props and plug in the fog machine. It’s not that difficult.”

  Shane hadn’t signed up to be a stagehand. He’d been caught trying to flush a pie down the toilet in the teacher’s lounge, and had been forced to help out with the musical as a punishment. Before Shane could respond, Mr. Collins spotted the gum on the floor. “Is that your gum? Clean that up this instant! Why can’t you be more like Jaclyn Hyde? She never causes any problems. Honestly, you would do well to take a page out of her book.”

  Shane gave Jaclyn a withering stare. “Little Miss Perfect,” he said, shaking his head. He picked up his gum and skulked away.

  Mr. Collins spotted Fatima. “Fatima! There you are. What would you say to a moose dream sequence?”

  “No!” Fatima insisted.

  Mr. Collins sighed. “Well, it was worth a try.” He hurried away and took his seat at the piano.

  Jaclyn turned to Paige and Fatima. “Why is Shane always so mean to me?”

  “Because he’s a lizard spawn,” said Fatima.

  Jaclyn frowned. “He’s been this way ever since third grade, when he broke my flamingo.”

  When Jaclyn was in third grade, her class went on a field trip to an art studio. They each got to paint their own piece of pottery. All the other kids chose something simple—a mug, a bowl, a plate—but Jaclyn chose an elaborate flamingo figurine. She painstakingly painted each individual feather a different shade of pink and was almost finished when Shane snuck up and smashed the head right off it. Jaclyn had no idea why he’d done it then, or for that matter, why he continued to torment her now.

  Fatima shrugged. “Everyone has a Shane. That one person who won’t stop bugging you.”

  “That’s true,” said Paige. “Remember Winston? He repeated everything I said.”

  Fatima arched her eyebrow. “Paige, Winston was your parrot.”

  “Yeah. And he was really annoying.”

  Mr. Collins’s voice rang through the auditorium. “Places, everybody! Let’s take it from the top.”

  Paige took her place at the back of the stage. Fatima went out into the audience to watch. Jaclyn stood in the wings as the curtain rose, and Mr. Collins banged out the notes of the first musical number, “This Land Is Fog Land.” It was an elaborate song about how the early settlers stumbled upon the island completely by accident when their boat crashed in the fog. Singing front and center was Marina Littlefield. Marina was playing the lead role of Penny Pogwilly, founder of Fog Island and the narrator of the musical. Jaclyn couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy being Marina’s understudy. No matter how well Jaclyn knew the part, there was no denying Marina’s naturally beautiful singing voice, which landed her the lead role in the musical every year.

  Jaclyn mirrored Marina’s every move offstage, mouthing the words to the song as Marina belted them out loud. Jaclyn hit every beat perfectly, even the complicated shuffle step that caused Marina to trip over her own feet. They reached the end of the number, and everyone landed in the exact right position at the exact right moment. It was the first time that had ever happened.

  Mr. Collins was thrilled. “Fantastic work, everyone.” He was about to begin the second song when they heard booing from the back row.

  The principal, Miss Carver, marched up the aisle. She had a hunched back and a face so sharp-featured she looked like a vulture. Her gray hair was plaited in a tight braid that went down to her waist. She wore a stiff woolen skirt and sweater that made the students itch just by looking at it. “THAT WAS DISGRACEFUL!” she barked.

  Mr. Collins jumped up from the piano. “Miss Carver! I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I wish I wasn’t. I’ll never be able to unsee what I just saw!” She banged her fist on the stage, where the students were frozen in fear. “You were spinning when you should have been twirling! You were twirling when you should have been tapping! And you were tapping when you should have been leaving the stage altogether!”

  Jaclyn took a step onstage. “Miss Carver,” she said sweetly, “if you don’t mind my saying, the whole cast has been working really hard—”

  “I DO MIND YOU SAYING!” Miss Carver snapped. She jabbed her finger at Jaclyn. “You were the worst of all!”

  Jaclyn’s lip quivered. “How? I wasn’t even onstage.”

  “Then why could I see you? The understudy is supposed to be completely out of sight, not hovering in the wings hoping for a moment in the spotlight!”

  Jaclyn’s heart sank.

  Miss Carver stomped over to Mr. Collins, who backed up until he was against the brick wall. “You’d better get your act together before opening night,” she sneered. “If you embarrass me, I’ll tear down this auditorium and turn it into the school dumpster!”

  Fatima piped up, “Actually, until 1998, it was both the auditorium and the school dumpster.”

  Miss Carver turned to her. “Silence, you know-it-all!” She glared at the cast. “Ironic, isn’t it? That a musical about the history of Fog Island will go down as the worst musical in the history of Fog Island!” She turned on her heel and stormed out.

  Mr. Collins let out a long, slow exhale. “Everybody take five.”

  Fatima went backstage and found Jaclyn sitting with her head in her hands.

  “I can’t believe I messed up like that,” said Jaclyn. “I didn’t realize anyone could see me.”

  Fatima put her hand on Jaclyn’s shoulder. “Give yourself a break. Miss Carver is crazy. Besides, you’re already painting the set, designing the programs, and bringing snacks for the whole cast every day. You don’t have to be perfect at everything.”

  Yes I do, thought Jaclyn. But she didn’t say it out loud.

  Chapter Two

  Who’s Ready to Science?

  Jaclyn poured exactly one hundred sixty-four chocolate chips into the cookie batter. She was home from rehearsal, standing at the kitchen counter making a batch of Grandma Hyde’s Chocolate Delights. Her family’s cookie recipe had been passed down for generations. All the ingredients were perfectly proportioned to make the world’s best chocolate chip cookie. Jaclyn dug in the wooden spoon and stirred exactly twenty-three times, just as the recipe instructed.

  “Whose birthday is it tomorrow?” her dad asked, peering into the bowl of batter.

  “Darcy Lithgow,” Jaclyn replied.

  Jaclyn always baked treats for her classmates’ birthdays. She had a calendar in her room with every birthday written in red so she wouldn’t forget anyone.

  “That’s my perfect little girl,” said Dad. He took a sip from a mug that said World’s Luckiest Dad. Jaclyn’s father owned a screen-printing business. He designed Fog Island T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers that were sold in souvenir shops all over town. In his spare time, he designed items for himself that were often decorated with some embarrassing sentiment about how much he loved his daughters.

  Jaclyn’s mom came downstairs. “Oh! Grandma Hyde’s Chocolate Delights! Must be somebody’s birthday tomorrow.” She pulled a small spoon out of the silverware drawer and tasted the batter. “Jaclyn, did you remember the half teaspoon of cinnamon?”

  “
Yes, Mom,” Jaclyn said, spooning small scoops of batter onto the cookie sheet.

  Mom smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “Of course you did.” She wiped some flour off the counter with a damp towel. “Remember, clean as you go.”

  “I know, Mom, I’m just trying to get the cookies in before Paige and Fatima get here to work on our science fair project.”

  “Let me help,” said Mom. She spooned out the rest of the batter, and then put the cookie tray in the oven. She checked her watch. “When did it get so late? We have to get to the post office.”

  “Just putting the final touches on the package,” Dad said, slapping a big red bow onto a box wrapped in brown paper. “Melanie is going to love this.” Jaclyn’s sister, Melanie, was away at college. Her parents sent her a care package every time she got an A on a test—which meant that they were at the post office practically every week. Melanie had always gotten perfect grades, excelled at every after-school activity, and even once won the Fog Island Community Service Award for delivering meals to the elderly. It was all Jaclyn could do to try to keep up.

  Mom grabbed her coat. “Jaclyn, are you going to be okay with the oven on?”

  Dad winked at her. “She can handle the responsibility. She’s Jaclyn Hyde.”

  “Yeah, Mom. How many times have we made chocolate delights together? I know the drill.”

  “Okay, then. Just remember to clean Charles’s cage today.”

  “I will, Mom.” Jaclyn forced a smile. “I clean it every week—just like I promised.”

  “And you’ve got that history test tomorrow. You’re going to study?”

  “I’ll study after I finish working on the science fair project,” she said, ushering her parents toward the front door. “It’ll all get done! It always does.”

  “I’m only asking because I care,” said Mom.

  “We’ll be back soon,” said Dad. “We love you!”

  Jaclyn’s parents walked out and closed the door behind them.

  “And one last thing . . . ,” Jaclyn said to herself, knowing what was coming next.