It must be so nice being right all the time, Tess.
Oh, don't turn this around on me!
[Ruben] Wow, I've never seen Grandma so mad.
[Chevon] I've never seen her mad at all.
Listen, Fee, you are the one that walked away from everything.
Is that really what you think?
You are so naive.
People change.
Clearly. Because I don't know the person standing in front of me anymore.
[scoffs]
This is my life, and these are my choices.
You don't have to like them, but you have to respect them.
Well, that was intense.
It's all starting to add up.
Grandma had a huge fight with one of her best friends and always regretted it.
-Unfinished business. -Which every ghost has.
What about the person in the hospital from the other sparkle?
Grandma lied to Grandpa about where she went that day.
It could be a red herring. A false clue.
Trust me, not every sparkle is meaningful.
It led us to Sofia, and that's what's important.
Looks like we found our number one suspect.
"Sofia Moore."
Good news. I went online and found a 75-year-old woman named Sofia Moore.
She's lived on Dane Street for 40 years.
Grandma would've been 75 this year.
Sounds like a match.
So, what's the plan?
Knock on her door, say her friend's ghost has been haunting us?
-You should go, Ruben. Alone. -Alone?
Say you didn't know your grandma very well and want to meet some of her friends.
That kinda makes sense...
-I guess. -I'll tag along.
My sparkle power could come in handy if we're looking for secrets.
Plus, I'm invisible.
I want you to write a backstory for any of the characters in Treasure Island.
Imagine the character before the book began.
And I want you to work in pairs.
So be sure to pick a partner that has strengths that you don't have.
All right? Buddy up.
[chattering]
[Krista] And I'm punctual, and I have neat handwriting.
So, for those reasons, I think I would make an excellent partner.
Well, Krista, Todd,
you've both made compelling arguments, but I must decline.
Good luck on your assignments.
Hey. Wanna partner up?
Oh, um, I was gonna work with Ben here.
Really? Ben?
No offense, but he's not gonna help you raise your grade.
Don't you want to get back on the basketball team?
I do, but I also don't want to feel like a charity case.
I do. Will you be my partner?
Sorry, Curtis, but if I'm with Chevon, it's a guaranteed B.
I don't get B's.
Okay. It's you and me, Chevon.
-I'm going to pull my weight, you know. -I'm not worried.
So, we'll meet mornings, around 7:30,
afternoons till 5:00, and most of Sunday.
Okay.
[sighs]
Alison, that outfit is fire.
I thought it was sold out. How did you even get it?
Heather at Threads told me she had one left in my size.
I saved my allowance for, like, six months.
-Well, it looks amazing. -I know, right?
Hey.
I love that.
-Did you get it at Threads too? -What?
No, I got it at a thrift store and then made some changes.
It looks brand-new.
Why spend $100 when I can make it myself for almost nothing?
I'm impressed.
Hey, Alie, you should've had Donna make your outfit.
You would've still had money.
[Becca and Leo chuckle]
This is the address.
Wow.
[Raine] Looks like we followed the money.
Look, I know you like to have a lot of fun with being invisible or whatever,
but this is serious.
Don't worry, Ruben. I'll just look for some sparkles that might help.
-Yes? -Are you Sofia Moore?
Yes?
And do you go by Fee?
I haven't been called that in years.
Where did you hear that?
My name is Ruben.
My grandmother was Teressa Reyna.
Unfortunately, she passed away a couple of months ago.
Oh, my. I'm so sorry to hear that.
I didn't know her very well and I was hoping to meet some of her friends.
Grandpa said you two were very close.
Oh, for heaven's sakes. You poor thing. Come on in.
Make yourself at home.
Oh, I'll take that for you.
This lady is seriously rich.
[Sofia] Why don't I get us some tea?
Okay. Thank you.
Whoa. I always wondered what a private jet looked like.
-Not what I was expecting. -Me neither.
I thought she'd be angry, from the sparkle,
but instead, she's, like--
The sweetest lady ever.
Who did this?
The glitter. Who did it?
I did.
What were you thinking?
Um, I heard you say the costume needed to sparkle more
and I thought the color worked, so I put it on.
I thought you'd like it.
It does look pretty cool.
That's not the point.
What if it didn't? We'd have to remake the whole costume.
From now on, nobody does anything without talking to me first.
I'm really sorry.
[sighs]
It's fine.
-Did you finish tagging the costumes? -Almost. I'm just helping Becca--
How about you finish what I asked you to do?
A queen gave this to her.
-Put it back. It's not a toy. -Come on. Just check it out.
Oh, oh! I'd better take that back.
It's extremely expensive.
And there's a certain Danish royal that would be very displeased if it broke.
I'm sorry, Ms. Moore.
Oh, please. Call me Fee. Tess always did.
So, Ruben, let's talk business.
-Do you want cookies, cheese, or scones? -Say cheese. Ask if she has any Gouda.
I've always been more of a cookie guy.
Coming right up.
Wow. She's so nice.
I have a bad feeling about her.
She reminds me of people I know back home.
When you've watched as many sparkles as I have,
you learn things about people.
Things that you wish weren't true...
but they are.
I wouldn't believe anything that she tells you.
These will be yummy. I know it.
Except for maybe that. They do look good.
[Sofia] There we were.
The biggest dance of the year and no way to get there.
So, Tess looks at me and she says,
"Fee, we have no choice. Get your roller skates."
-No. -It's true.
We skated all the way down Montgomery Avenue wearing our ball gowns.
Made it in time to the dance, too.
-That's incredible. -Oh, it was always that way with Tess.
One adventure after another.
Enough stories. Ask her about their big fight.
-Raine. -Oh, is it raining? I-- Oh, I better--
No, sorry, I thought it was raining. But it's not, it's sunny.
So you were saying, one adventure after the next?
Always.
Well, like this painting.
We were traveling around California and Tess had to have it.
So she spent every last dime she had on it.
Borrowed my last dime too.
We had to sleep on the beach the entire next week.
You could do that in those days.
You must've been mad.
Are you kidding? I was furious.
Yes, finally. Here we go.
Don't go easy on her, Ruben.
Did you two argue a lot?
Oh, not really.
She was hard to stay mad at.
Well, I was upset at the time,
but she ended up giving me this for my next birthday.
I bet you she's lying about all of this.
I remember it as if it was only yesterday.
She stopped by to drop it off just before she was on her way to a big date.
[gasps]
-The painting. -[laughs]
I love it. Thank you, Tess.
Um...
Here's the spot.
Well, I guess I forgive you for making us sleep on the beach.
So, tell me about this date.
-Well, he's very cute. -Mm-hmm.
And smart. Loves to read.
That's promising.
How'd you meet?
We actually grew up together. We were friends as kids.
I ran into him at the bookstore, which was an old haunt of ours.
He remembered me.
Are you sure that this dress is okay? I could go home and change.
Tess, relax. It's not like you're gonna marry the guy.
What's his name?
Ernesto. Ernesto Reyna.
[Ruben] Grandpa.
Ernesto Reyna.
I knew the way she said it he was something special.
And I remember thinking, "Tess is gonna marry that boy."
Isn't that unbelievable?
Well, that part is believable because I saw it with my own eyes.
-But I don't buy the other stuff. -Shh...
Choo! Sorry. I think I'm catching a cold.
-Oh, let me get you a tissue. -Really, it's not necessary.
No problem. I want to get an old photo album anyway.
-You need to chill! -I'm sorry. It's just--
When I see a sparkle, my fingers tingle and I get the urge to touch it.
Okay, well, don't!
Put your hands in your pockets or something.
Fine.
So, she's stuck with this really rich fancy family
and all the phrases she knows she hears from the butler.
Like, "Dinner is served, madam."
One day, she looks out the window, she sees a pirate ship.
Then she's like, "I hate this fancy home. I'm gonna go and live with the pirates."
Of all the characters in Treasure Island
you could've written a backstory for, you chose Captain Flint the parrot?
Yeah. Is it too weird?
Are you kidding? It's brilliant!
Everyone else is gonna write up some dumb story
about how Long John Silver lost his leg.
Only thing left to do is sit back and wait for that A.
Yeah, right. Now comes the actual work.
Write an outline, do a first draft,
second draft, have our parents read it over,
address their thoughts, read over it again, print it out, and staple.
Suddenly, I feel tired.
It'll be fun. You write the first half, I'll write the second half.
-I'm really glad we partnered up. -Me too.
Now, this photo is from our class trip, senior year.
-Where's the rest of your class? -We ditched them.
Like I said, it was always an adventure with Tess.
She was always so full of life.
It's hard to imagine she's not with us anymore.
I know.
[Raine] Ruben! You cannot believe how big her closet is.
Seriously. It's like the size of my whole house!
I wish I'd seen her again.
I always meant to drop by the bookstore, but it never happened.
[sighs] We just grew apart.
-Was there a big fight? -No, nothing like that.
Our lives just took different paths.
Did you ever try to reach out to her?
I wish I had, but no.
Not even a letter?
Like a, um, emotional letter written on an old typewriter
and signed only with an initial?
Time's a funny thing.
It always feels like you got plenty of it,
but, in fact, there's never nearly enough.
[sighs]
You know, you should stop by the bookstore sometime.
I'm sure Grandpa would love to see you.
I just might.
We need to leave! We need to leave!
-Uh... -Now!
Okay. Well, um, Sofia-- Fee.
I just remembered that I have a, um...
-A trampoline lesson. -Trampoline lesson.
And I have to go, like, right now. Sorry for the rush.
Um, stop by the bookstore sometime. Bye.
-Trampoline lessons? -It's all I could think of.
You need to see what I found.
Well, it better be good. I felt bad walking out on her like that.
Plus, those cookies were awesome.
What is it?
Just watch.
Please just keep this quiet.
[male police officer] Next.
Thank you.
Next.
Told you.
I don't believe it.
Grandma went to jail?
Hey, Alison.
I really like your outfit.
[Alison] And I like your jumpsuit.
You get most of your clothes from the dollar rack, right?
I guess so.
Did you get to the part about the piano?
Uh-huh.
I thought it was really good.
Uh-huh.
-I'm confused. -By which part?
The beginning. The middle. The end.
All of it. What happened?
Hey, I worked really hard on that. I thought it was great.
Well, we have very different standards.
And I'm not trying to sound mean, but your ideas were all over the place.
You sound mean, so work on that.
You had sentences that went on and on, and so many spelling mistakes.
It's a total mess, and now I have to rewrite all of it.
You're not gonna believe what we just found.
We shouldn't talk about it here. Let's go.
Yeah. So, Raine and I went to Fee's house.
It was massive. She answered the door.
I thought she seemed nice, but Raine thought she was hiding something.
-Ruben's grandma went to jail. -What?
I was getting to that!
Anyways, we saw a sparkle where they got their mug shots taken.
And get this. Sofia told Grandma to keep it quiet.
Then that's the secret your grandma was keeping for "S."
Yeah.
That's a pretty big clue. Aren't you gonna write it down?
Huh? Oh, right. Yeah.
[Chevon] What could they have been arrested for?
[Ruben] I have no idea.
Maybe for something really small, like jaywalking.
[Curtis] No way. I totally disagree with you.
Sofia wouldn't tell your grandma to keep that a secret.
[Ruben] I don't know. If I got arrested for jaywalking,
I wouldn't want my mom to find out, even if I was grown up.
Dude, they weren't jaywalking.
Look, Ruben, I get it.
I don't wanna think of Grandma as a crook, either, but we have to face facts.
Huh?
Your ghost is back.
[Chevon] Grandma's trying to explain herself.
The same clue, twice?
"Follow the money." Maybe they robbed a bank or something?
-Grandma was not a bank robber. -That would explain Sofia's big house.
Then why didn't Grandma get any of the money?
Maybe she did. She just kept it a secret.
She could've hidden it under a floorboard or something.
Maybe Sofia had some dirt on Grandma
and kept it all in exchange for not revealing it.
Wow. This is deep.
[bell jingles]
Uh-oh.
-What? -Don't look now, but Sofia just walked in.
Or should I say inmate number 146658?
[Curtis] That lady's a criminal?
It's a brilliant disguise. No one would ever suspect her.
Grandma was really nice, too. Was that all an act?
-What do we do? -We confront her.
We know her secret.
Yeah, Ruben, go for it.
-What's the worst that could happen? -That's not helping!
Oh, Ruben.
I forgot how wonderful this place is.
Ruben?
-I know you lied. -Excuse me?
You lied about always getting along with Grandma. I know you had a big fight.
What? No, we didn't.
I mean, sure, friends have their disagreements, but we--
You and Grandma were arrested.
You went to jail.
This isn't funny.
Oh, I'm sorry.
You know, it's not as serious as you think.
I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know how much you knew
and I didn't want to upset you.
But it's true.
Tess and I were pretty wild back then.
Were you bank robbers?
What?
No, of course not.
We were peace activists.
Nonviolently standing up for what we believed in.
There was a pretty big war going on back then.
We marched in protest.
-Fee! What a wonderful surprise. -Ernesto!
[both chuckling]
I see you met Ruben.
-Funny. We were just talking about you. -What?
Yeah. Odd. Then she just randomly walked in.
You should have seen Fee and your grandma back in those days.
Everyone loved to talk about peace and love,
-but these two actually fought for it. -We did. That's why we were arrested.
We organized a sit-in at the state capitol to protest the war.
But don't worry, charges were dropped.
[Grandpa] You two were utterly fearless.
It was really inspiring.
Still a smooth talker after all these years, I see.
Nope. Just honest.
Wait. So, you and Grandma were... cool?
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
They were the coolest.
I was...
I was so sorry to hear about Tess.
Thank you.
And, you know, I always felt badly about the way things ended.
So did she.
-She missed you all those years. -Oh.
What happened? Why did you stop talking?
As silly as it sounds, it was all over a job.
I was supposed to run the bookstore with Tess,
but at the last moment, I took a job.
So? You decided to take another job.
It's not that she got another job, it's who she went to work for.
You see, I went to work with a real estate developer
and your grandmother thought
that we were running small stores like this out of business.
-Maybe she was right. -[scoffs]
-We were young. What did we know? -Yeah.
You needed the money. We did too.
-Yeah. -We were so broke back then.
Wait. If you were so poor, then how could you afford this bookstore?
It's one of life's enduring mysteries.
What do you mean?
Out of nowhere, and I mean nowhere, your grandma got a huge inheritance
from a great aunt she never met on her mother's side.
-That's right. I forgot all about it. -Follow the money.
It was, oh, what was it? Um...
-Daisy! -[chuckles]
-Sadie. -Ah.
Wait!
Is that Sadie with an S?
Not sure how else you would spell it.
Got it. Well, I know you two have a lot of catching up to do.
It was nice seeing you.
You know, peace.
Did you hear that?
-And a big inheritance from Aunt Sadie. -Follow the money.
The first "follow the money" took us to Sofia
and the second "follow the money" brings us to Sadie.
Your grandma really needs to give simpler clues.
So, what do you know about your grandma's side of the family?
Almost nothing.
Don't worry. I just found this free genealogy website.
We need to look at your family tree.
Great idea. Then maybe we can find this Aunt Sadie.
And finally solve this mystery.