Indigo Finch: A Continuation of the Beloved Arlo Finch Series

Chapter Two

Wednesday, Indigo ran up the driveway to the front door. The doorbell rang like a gong inside the house. A young boy Indigo's age opened the front door.

"Charlie! So good to see you!" Indigo said.

"Indigo, we just saw each other earlier at school," Charlie commented.

"I know! It just feels like forever ago!"

"What do you want?"

"Can we go somewhere private?" Indigo looked around.

Charlie shrugged. "Sure. My room's a good place. Why?"

"Great!" Indigo hastily took off her shoes. She took Charlie by the wrist and dragged him up the stairs to his bedroom. In Charlie's room, there were four shelves lining the walls that were full of Charlie's STEM awards and inventions. Charlie was a STEM genius, as Indigo thought of him. He also had a keyboard and an oboe in his room. He played them expertly with the lessons from his mom.

"What is the matter, Indigo? This is not like you to be so freaked out and in such a rush." Charlie said.

"Well, my dad asked me to be part of the Rangers. The group he, my mom, and your dad were in."

"Really? No way! What I wouldn't give to be one of them!" Charlie said with a dreamy look on his face.

"One of what?" A girl walked into the room. She looked identical to Charlie. This was Samantha. Samantha and Charlie Wu were twins. Their father, Henry Wu-- more commonly known as Wu-- was Arlo and Indra Finch's best friend. Wu was now married to Merilee Myers, a tall, slender woman with a head full of curls. Samantha and Charlie had the tall, slender structure from their mother and dark curls on their head from both of their parents, as their father was a Chinese- American STEM engineer. Both kids were Indigo's best friends.

"Oh, um." Charlie glanced at Indigo, silently asking if he could tell her. Charlie and Samantha tell each other everything. Indigo nodded.

"Well?" Samantha pressed.

"Mr. Finch asked Indigo if she would like to be a Ranger," Charlie replied.

Samantha gasped. "Oh my gosh! Indigo, what did you say? This is awesome!"

"I know, right?" Charlie said. He turned to Indigo. "What did you say?"

"Well, I haven't said anything yet. I didn't know what to say." She shrugged. "I wanted to see what you thought."

The twins stared at her, wide-eyed. The silence seemed like it was pressing on Indigo's chest. Indigo had a hard time breathing. She was holding her breath, letting out a little, and holding it again. Charlie broke the intense silence.

"Well, of course, we want you to be a Ranger! Even if we can't, you can be for us."

Indigo let her breath out. "Okay, that makes me feel better. I didn't know how you guys would react."

"Let's go call your dad!" This time it was the twins' turn to drag Indigo. They led her into Samantha's room, which also had the same shelves. They were full of mostly awards for musical things, rather than mostly STEM things. Though she had a shelf dedicated to STEM, she had more awards for her talent as a singer, pianist, violinist, harpist, and a clarinetist. The reason the trio went to her room was that she had a house phone. She handed Indigo the phone and Indigo dialed her dad's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Arlo said.

"Hi, Dad. It's Indigo. I'm at Charlie and Samantha's house, remember?"

"Yes, Bunty."