*Chapter 23*
    	*Open Doors*
    
    
    	"Finally!" Genesis sighed as she opened her locker at the end of the day. "And I'm still alive."
    	She heard laughing. She pushed her locker door shut a little so she could see next to her. 
    	"What's so funny?" she asked Adam.
    	"Nothing."
    	"Who's locker is this?" Genesis asked, pointing to the locker between them. "Do you know?"
    	"I'm not sure," he answered.
    	"Ok well see you Monday."
    	"Bye!"
    	Genesis closed her locker and slung her backpack over her shoulder.  She ran into Sarah near the front doors of the school.
    	"Want to walk home together?" Sarah asked.
    	"Sure," Genesis replied, putting on her baseball cap as they stepped into the sunlight.  She adjusted her backpack. "Let's go."
    	"Do you have homework?" Sarah asked about halfway to Genesis's house. 
    	"Nope! Thank God!"
    	"I do. Home ec."
    	"Haha."
    	"Shut up," Sarah grumbled, shoving Genesis playfully.
    	The reached Genesis's house. 
    	"See you Monday. Or maybe before," Sarah said waving.
    	"Bye!" Genesis called.
    	She opened the front door and locked it behind her.  On the refridgerator was a note from her mother, as usual.
    	
    	Genesis-
    I'm at work (391-7322) and your father went to New York.  He'll be back in a week.  I should be home by about 10. There are TV dinners in the freezer!
    
    -Mom
    
    	"New York!" Genesis yelled. "And he didn't take me!"
    	Genesis sat down and crossed her arms.  "Oh well."
    	She decided to go check out the door in her room.  She went to the closet, leaving the door open. She had seen enough horror movies to know if she closed the door, she could very well never get out again. She knew she was overreacting, but she didn't want to take ANY chances.
    	She pushed the boxes out of the way and examined the keyhole.  The key was an old fashioned one, she could tell by the shape of the hole.  "Maybe there's a key somewhere," she said aloud. She began to search her room.  After a resultless search, she sat back down by the locked door.
    	"Where could it be?" she wondered. She looked around the closet.  Suddenly she noticed a small wooden box in the corner on a high shelf.  "Yes!" she cried.
    	She piled a few boxes on top of each other, and stood on top. She couldn't quite reach it. It brushed the tips of her fingertips.  She jumped...and fell.  "Ouch!" she screamed.  She looked over her foot which she had fallen on.  Not too bad. Not being one to give up, she got back on the boxes and jumped again.
    	Luckily, she had more luck the second time. She knocked the box down from the shelf and caught it in the air.  She put the boxes back in their places and turned to pick up the box. It was gone! 
    	"No!" she shouted. "Where did it go?" She pushed some boxes out of the way. "It was just right here! Where the heck-" 
    	She noticed the box laying under a shirt she had knocked down. "Oh."
    	She picked it up and sat against the door, running her finger over the smooth bottom.  She admired the beautifully carved wood flowers on the top.  She opened it carefully. Inside was a small, silver, old key resting on a strip of soft, maroon velvet.  She lifted the key and fingered it carefully.  She lifted the velvet to reveal the initials 'G. M.' carved in careful script on the bottom.
    	She took the key and placed it in the lock.  She turned it, and the lock came apart. She took it off and placed it next to the box.  She cautiously opened the door and ducked under it.  She stepped inside, but stepped back in awe.  The room was covered in colorful wallpaper.  It wasn't very big, but definately not cramped.  She noticed a wooden column in the middle of the room. Unlike the walls, this was left unpainted. 
    	She traced the initials G.M. again on the column with her fingertips. The column was covered with initials and engravings.  She guessed they were from previous owners.  Near the window there was a small wooden rocking chair.  There was a nighttable in two of the four corners of the room. She walked to one of them and opened the drawer.  She lifted out a black and white picture.  
    	It was of a woman who looked to be about in her forties.  She had a serious and honorable, yet sad and weary look on her face.  Her dark hair was tied back in a tight bun and she was wearing a long, wide dress and she was standing up very straight.  She flipped it over. 	
    	"'Mother'," she read.
    	"Genesis?" she heard her mother call.  "Genesis are you here?" 
    	She dropped the picture into the drawer and slammed it shut.
    	"Genesis?" She heard her mother's footsteps coming up the stairs. She grabbed the wooden box and key and ducked out the door and slammed it behind her. She locked it quickly and threw the box on the shelf and threw two boxes in front of the door seconds before her mother looked in the closet.
    	"Genesis, what are you doing?" she asked.
    	"Nothing, just looking for a shirt," Genesis said, pretending to look through the clothes in her closet.
    	"I've been calling you for a while now."
    	"Sorry mom, I must not have heard you," Genesis said, crossing her fingers behind her back and hoping her mother wouldn't question her any further.
    	"Okay. Well I came home early."
    	Genesis nodded.
    	"Do you want to go to dinner so we can talk about your first day?" she asked
    	Genesis shrugged. "Sure."
    	"Get your shoes on and meet me downstairs," Helen directed.
    	Genesis nodded in agreement and closed her closet door.  The secret room would just have to wait.
    
    

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