Ali had been positive she didn’t know anyone at Princess Elizabeth School, but now she knew that wasn’t true. Alfie was here. But how? Her mind swirled with questions: did Gigi know? Where did he live? It occurred to her that he might be living with his grandfather, who lived only a few blocks from Gigi. Not that she’d ever met Gigi’s son, Andrew Sloane. Or any other Sloanes, for that matter. All because of the Sloane Family Feud.
“Alfie Sloane?” asked interstellar girl.
“You know, the kid I told you about, the one I met in science camp last week. He’s the best. We like all the same stuff.”
“Oh. Right” was the glum response.
Interstellar boy didn’t seem to notice how unenthusiastic his friend was. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“He said he’d join debate club. We need at least four kids to have a team. Ms. Ryder told me this morning that so far, I’m the only one who’s signed up.”
“I might join.”
“I thought you weren’t interested.”
“A person can change their mind. You always say how great it is, and my mom just joined Toastmasters International to become a better public speaker, so I thought I’d give it a try.” Ali could hear the defensiveness in the girl’s voice.
“Okay. You’ll like Alfie; he’s a riot. He’s in eighth grade and has lived in London for like his whole life. Cool, huh?”
“My mom and dad went to London once.”
Interstellar boy ignored the comment and stood up. “I think we should go look for him, make sure he’s not off by himself somewhere.” The thoughtfulness of the comment made Ali wistful; she wished someone cared enough to check on her, too.
The girl didn’t respond but must have agreed, because paper crinkled, lunch bags zipped closed, and chair legs scraped. Then they were gone. And even though she didn’t know them, their absence tugged at her.
Alfie Sloane was somewhere in this school right now. Thrilled, Ali let that fact sink in. She’d wanted to meet Alfie her whole life. What was he like? She’d only seen one picture of him, taken in front of the London Eye when he was five years old. He’d looked like her, but she knew a lot could change between the time a person was five and twelve. Interstellar boy had described him as funny. Like Digger on the front porch this morning, wagging his tail to make her and her mom laugh. She was surprised Alfie was a grade ahead of her; they were born in the autumn of the same year. Maybe he was super smart and had skipped a grade.
The biggest question was this: was Alfie a Copycat? Ali wasn’t sure if she wanted him to be one or not. In some ways, it would be nice if he was a boring old Constant like her. But if he was a Copycat, he’d be able to change into anything, just like Digger, which would be kind of cool. No, that wasn’t the biggest question. The biggest question was: would Alfie want to meet her? Did the Sloane Family Feud extend down to their generation? And if it did, why?
She pulled out her notebook and drafted a new category: Ali’s Rules for the Sloane Family Feud. She jotted down three points. A quick review told her they were a to-do list, not rules, so she drew a line through the heading and gave it a new title: Ali’s Plan to End the Sloane Family Feud. Satisfied, she closed the notebook, packed up her things, and headed for the exit. She’d follow interstellar boy and girl and find Alfie.
When she reached the cafeteria door, she paused. Was she ready to meet Alfie? Nope, at least not out of the blue like this. But how could she meet him in a natural way? Then she smiled. She’d use new school rule number eight: Join a club to meet people. She was about to learn how to debate.
ALI’S PLAN TO END THE SLOANE FAMILY FEUD