Although my heart wanted to hop into the car and floor it upstate, it wasn’t quite that simple. For one thing, there was the small matter of my current apartment to deal with. Supposedly I had been working all week to leave it, and here it was Friday morning with no progress. But a quick bit of Googling and the foundation credit card could solve that problem.

Most of my effects I decided to sell. I called several estate sale agents until I found one that was willing to take me on, sight unseen. Meanwhile, Aubrey called moving companies until she found one with a cancellation that was grateful for an unexpected day’s work. Finally, I rented a U-Haul trailer, and a quick trip to rental place was enough to get my vehicle hooked up and ready.

When I pulled up with that rig, my landlord came out. I should have told him first, I supposed, but since I was renting month-to-month, his was the least complicated end of the arrangement. Removing my necklace for the conversation, I told him that I had received a new job offer upstate, and that I would be moving out effective immediately.

At first he was inclined to quibble. But when I mentioned that I would be paying a professional cleaning company to fix up the place, and that I didn’t need my deposit back, he became downright genial, and lent me a dolly for the larger stuff.

The movers arrived just after lunchtime, and I directed them in their packing and loading. Nearly everything when into their truck, except for the personal effects that I couldn’t part with. Those were placed in the U-Haul. By dinner time, the apartment was completely empty, and I handed the key off to my landlord.

We stayed at a nearby Hampton Inn that night, two double beds, and feasted on the free breakfast buffet the next morning. I was wearing the necklace again, and feeling pretty good about it.

I reflected on my earlier resentment about my body. I had been hours away from starting my period, which Aubrey said made her feel pretty resentful too. And at that time, it hadn’t really been my choice, either. The body was a disguise, not truly part of who I was. Even though I would be just as stuck when I returned to Belmont House, being female no longer felt like an imposition.

Aubrey had a brainstorm as we were packing up our overnight bags, preparatory to checking out. “I’m going to touch the necklace, but not take it off. Do you mind?”

“What are you planning?” I asked, craning my head around to try to see what she was doing.,

“Tell you in a minute. I don’t want to get your hopes up in case it doesn’t work.” I felt a lot of business at the back of my neck, and then suddenly a thin silver chain dropped down my chest. Aubrey threaded it through the medallion and pulled the loose end back up to my neck. A few moments later, the cord of my necklace fell loose, and Aubrey pulled it free of the medallion.

“There,” she said. “You didn’t change.”

“What did you... oh!” I caught sight of myself in the mirror. It was the same medallion, but now it hung down from a shorter, silver chain instead of the longer black cord it sported before.

“I thought you might want a bit of variety in jewelry,” she told me. “Here, try this too.” She took hold of the medallion and slid it up one side until it hung at the back of my neck. “Your hair keeps it hidden, so long as you don’t mess around with it too much.”

With a tentative finger, I reached up to trace the line of the silver chain. It was quite disconcerting for the necklace not to be immediately visible. Even though I still wore it, I felt free, in a way. If nothing else, I might get fewer questions about it. I hugged Aubrey in thanks.

The trip upstate was a lonely one. I towed the U-Haul with my car, and Aubrey drove her own. We stopped once for gas and a meal, and between bites of subpar Subway subs, made our game plan for my return.

“As far as they know, you never intended to leave,” Aubrey was saying, distractedly pulling shreds of wilted lettuce from the side of the sandwich. “You decided to stay a few extra days, that’s all.”

“You didn’t tell them anything before you left?”

Aubrey shook her head. “I asked Madge for your address. Just said I wanted to slip down and surprise you.”

I hurriedly choked down a bite of my own sub. “Now see, how did Madge get my address? I never gave it to her.”

“No clue,” Aubrey shrugged. “Could have been a website, white pages or something.”

“Maybe. But she would have searched under Cayley, and I was Ben at that point.”

“Unless she had already looked it up when you were Cayley. And she must have, because she went into her room and came out a few minutes later with your address. Probably had to find where she had written it down or something.”

“Yeah. Listen, are you sure you’re willing to do this? I feel terrible for lying already, and it’s only worse that I’m getting you involved too....”

She sighed theatrically. “How many times do I have to tell you? You belong there too, just as much as anyone. More than me. You’re a much better artist.”

“Not true but go on.”

“I’m serious, just wait until you have some finished pieces and make some sales. You’ll be pulling your weight in no time. And if they ever find out that your arrival was a bit irregular, well, you’ll have shown that you deserved it anyway. Plus, I’m not convinced that you’re not already legitimate.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, did you ever wonder how the rest of us got picked?”

“Of course. But I never asked, because I thought I was supposed to know.”

“It was my predecessor that found me. You know Helen Thomas?”

“The papier mâché artist?”

“The same.”

“Oh, I love her.”

“Me too. Anyway, she just showed up one day, between classes, said that I had impressed a lot of people and that I had been selected as a Belmont Fellow. I couldn’t believe it, of course, so I called the foundation and they confirmed it. Then I just had to convince my parents it was okay. I still don’t think they understood what a big deal it was.”

“But for me it was different. My predecessor was Caroline Elliott.”

“Oh, the one that does all that metalwork?”

“Exactly.”

“I love her so much.”

“Absolutely! But see, she wasn’t the one who found me. It was a younger woman, like my age, and she specifically told me that I was taking her place, and that I had to arrive in disguise.”

Aubrey wiped mayonnaise off her fingers. “So wait, did this mystery girl look like you?”

“No. She had short dark hair, glasses, lot of jewelry and stuff. Why?”

“Well, then she gave you a terrible disguise, didn't she?” Aubrey wadded up the napkin and set it on the table between us. “So this Caroline gives the invite to the mystery girl. The mystery girl,” and here she deposited an empty potato chip bag, “gives it to you, and you show up at Belmont House.” An empty cookie pouch took my place, and the carry-out bag stood in for the house. “So you go to the house, and I guess they had never seen the new girl, because no one knew it wasn’t you. But all it would take would be for Caroline to show up and blow the whole thing.” The napkin followed the cookie pouch into the bag for emphasis.

“Could be she just didn’t want to give me own her appearance. I know from experience how weird of a feeling that is.”

“I guess. But no, look, what I’m trying to say is that the predecessor gives the invitation to her successor. That's how it works. And this mystery girl gave it to you, so she’s your real predecessor. For real. Even if she never actually showed up at the house.”

“But then why the disguise? Why not just give me, or rather give Ben the invite? Why go to the trouble of enchanting a magical necklace?” I scooped up the potato chip bag, the stand-in for the mystery girl, and shoved it into the bag.

Aubrey stared at me. “Weren’t you done?” I asked.

“That’s it!” She retrieved the potato chip bag, shook it at me. “The mystery girl. What if she’s at the house?” And Aubrey shoved it back in.

“But why? If she wanted to be a fellow, she had the invitation? Why get me there at all? Why not just show up herself?”

“I have no idea. But look, she had to be there to leave the note, right? And if she can make a necklace like that for you, she could disguise herself as anybody.”

“If she was the one that left it. But even so, that only shows that she was there once, not that she still is. And who would she be? All of the other fellows except the two of us have been there for years, at least. And there’s no one else around.” A sudden though occurred to me. “Wait, it’s not you, is it?”

“No. Seriously, I promise, it’s not me. If it were, I’d hardly be telling you all of this to make you suspicious.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I frowned. “You don’t think it could be one of the others, do you? Like, she somehow replaced one of them? Has anyone been acting odd?”

“Hell if I know. I don’t know them much better than you do. But they know each other, and none of them are acting like anything strange is going on.”

I checked my phone. “It’s getting late. We should get back on the road.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said, scooping up the rest of her trash. “Just promise me that you won’t bug out again without talking to me first. I want to keep you around, okay?”

“All right. I promise.”

“Pinky swear?”

We hooked little fingers. “Pinky swear.”

“Good. And don’t think you’re off the hook about telling me all about your date with Darren. It’s not fresh on your mind anymore, so you’ll probably have to go out again to tell me anything worthwhile.”

We parted in the parking lot, and I once more got behind the wheel of my car. I had just pulled out onto the highway when I realized that someone had been acting oddly, the entire time I had been there. Anthony seemed to know whenever I took off the necklace, and he had asked about it when I first arrived. But surely that meant that he couldn’t be the mystery girl, didn’t it? She knew all about the necklace, and if she wanted me in disguise, wouldn’t have wanted to draw attention to it.

Motivations swirled and blended in my head. There just wasn’t enough information to go on, yet. But I knew one thing. Someone had wanted me at Belmont House, and they were willing to go to extra lengths to get me there.

And I was going to find out why.