There’s nothing to do There is plenty to do in Somerville his mom replied firmly But everything there is to do in Somerville we’ve already done many times Astrid argued She’s right Rowan said a statement he rarely uttered about his younger sister Somerville is too small We know every person who lives here There are never any new people and we know all there is to know about the people who already live here I sincerely doubt that Miss Coco said as she took a sip of her coffee Mr Vega placed his hands on the counter and leaned toward Rowan and Astrid In a hushed voice he asked You kids want excitement and adventure Yes they said Then make it he exclaimed Shake things up every once in a while Adventure is all around you
every single day Astrid and Rowan rolled their eyes and groaned yet again Astrid playfully threw a balled-up napkin at her dad What’s that supposed to mean Rowan asked It doesn’t even make sense Astrid said Who knows Mr Vega said He pointed toward the diner’s front door Maybe excitement and adventure are right on the other side of that door at this very moment Astrid threw another napkin at her dad Then the bell on the diner’s door chimed In walked a very pretty young woman with dark hair and a tall boy about Rowan’s age Both were carrying suitcases and looked startled when everyone in Mick’s Diner stopped what they were doing The clock on the wall ticked three times before anyone spoke Mrs Vega finally broke the silence and said Welcome to Somerville
CHAPTER TWO So what happened next asked Astrid’s best friend Quinn She sat on the edge of the bed listening raptly as Astrid told her about the two strangers who had walked into Mick’s Diner I was totally freaked out at first Astrid said She paced and gestured wildly as she told the story She loved an audience especially when she had a good tale to tell I thought maybe they were aliens or something I mean the way they just appeared like that after my dad said that thing about adventure on the other side of the door It was all so crazy Astrid also tended to be a bit dramatic Luckily Quinn was used to it
She went on What are the chances It was like they were just waiting outside for us to say something like that so they could barge in and I don’t know attack us or something Perhaps Astrid was more than a bit dramatic Quinn knew this and waited impatiently for her friend to finish the story But obviously they weren’t aliens and didn’t attack anyone she said prompting Astrid along So who were they The boy’s name is Jace and he’s twelve like Rowan He looks older though because he’s really tall Or maybe he’s normal height it’s hard to tell because Rowan is such a shrimp Even though Rowan was fourteen months older than Astrid a fact he never let her forget the two were the same height Their mom reassured Rowan that he would eventually have a growth spurt and be tall like his dad but Astrid still loved to tease him
