It was the day when Evanthia came home for lunch. As she rang the doorbell, Mom welcomed her and took her inside without letting me speak to her. I called Grandma quickly as she was eagerly waiting to meet her. Grandma walked slowly into the dining room.

"Hey, Grandma! Look who's finally here!" I said, in an excited tone.

"Hello, Mrs. Flinn! Nice to meet you." Eva told Grandma.

She came over to Evanthia and smiled at her.

"Me too darling, our Cal has told me so much about you!"

Suddenly she noticed the pendant which hung by Evanthia's neck and got lost in some thought. It was an awkward moment. So, I thought I'll break the ice. I said "Grandma, that was the pendent I was telling you about the other day. Her grandmother gave it to her just like the way you gave the pendent to me."

"It's not.. It's not possible. It can't be...."

"Can't be what grandma?" I said, confused about what was going on.

"Stay away from her!" Grandma warned Evanthia and started breathing heavily. We gave her a glass of water and Mom lead her back to her room. All of us were profoundly confused.

"I don't understand... Is there anything wrong with me?" Eva asked, tensed.

"No way. You're perfect the way you are. I don't know what happened to her suddenly. She's never acted this way with a guest before. She was so excited to meet you, to talk to you." I assured her.

"Maybe I'm not as she expected me to be." Eva answered and sighed.

She walked towards the door in dismay.

"Where are you off to?" I stopped her.

"I'm going home. I'm really sorry Cal, because of me your grandma fell sick. Maybe I'm just bad luck to grandmothers. Maybe that's why my grandma left me!" Tears rolled down her cheek.

"What are you saying, Evanthia? Do you even hear yourself?" I raised my voice.

"I'm sorry Cal, guess I'll see you in school" she said and walked away.

"Eva wait!" I yelled as I ran after her. But suddenly I felt a tight grip on my shoulder that stopped me half way. I turned and saw Grandma glaring at me.

"You're not going after her." She said, sharply.

"Grandma why would you make her feel that way? She's my best friend. You never behaved this way when I told you about her before! What's wrong with you!" I exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down, young lady! And you are staying away from her, do you understand?" Grandma demanded.

"No. Why would I ever do that?" I asked, trying really hard to control my anger.

"Because she's a bad influence, that's why." Grandma said.

"Bad influence? Seriously, bad influence? Are you kidding me? You don't know Grandma, but she's been there for me every single time and helped me with so many things I can't even tell you. She was the only person who stood by my side on my first day of school. She didn't even know me then. And here, you call her bad influence?" I argued, determined to defend Eva with all my heart.

Mom came and scolded me, " This is no way to speak to your grandma, Callidora Flinn!"

"Oh, and what she said was justified?" I answered.

"One more time you raise your voice that way, I swear honey you'll be grounded for a week." Mom said.

" I don't care if you ground me. But I need answers as to why Grandma thinks that Eva is bad influence." I yelled back.

"That's it! You're grounded for a week." Mom said.

"It's okay, Hannah, I'll give her the answer she seeks." Grandma told Mom, gently.

"That girl is a bad influence to you because she'll ruin you. She'll ruin you're life if you don't stay away from her. She's dangerous. She isn't who she seems to be." Grandma told me, patiently.

I started laughing. "So, that's your reasoning? My best friend is probably a monster hiding under the body of a human!"

" Congratulations You are now grounded for two weeks, Calidora Flinn!" Mom says, coldly.

I ignored her.

"See, you don't even realize the way you are speaking. You have never spoken to me this way before. Now do you understand what I mean?" Grandma said.

"No. I don't understand. You were so excited when I told you about her. But today, everything changed when you saw her pen..that's it! It's all because of the pendent! Isn't it?" I asked furiously.

"Go to your room, Callidora. You have school tommorow. Do you want your mom to ground you again?" Grandma replied.

"You can't shun me away like that grandma." I said.

"Go to your room Cal!" Mom yelled.

"But why..." I started.

"Now!" Mom emphasized.

"Fine!" I yelled back and went to my room, shutting the door behind me.

I felt pain and anger rushing to every part of my body through my blood vessels. Why would Grandma say that Eva was dangerous. I closed my eyes and attempted to relax. By now, I knew for a fact, that the answer lay within our pendents. I touched mine gently, the ruby of the heart that I had always fancied. I had to find out the truth. I decided to find out the secret of the pendents and prove that I wasn't wrong in befriending Evanthia.