A few weeks previously when Kimberly lost her father, Caroline and Jan both told Kimberly and Tommy during difficult times you stick close to your best friend. Meaning that you support your best friend, give them a listening ear, hug them when they need it, and to be strong for each other. Olivia's friends kept them backed in the corner, while Olivia opened her orange backpack and got out a roll of duct tape,green bow, a red bow, pieces of yellow cord and a few rolls of red Christmas ribbon, and several rolls of green Christmas ribbons. Olivia and her friends had pulled a lot of pranks on Kimberly in the past. Some of those pranks were tying her to a tree, hand cuffing her to the fence, and locking her in the closet. Tommy knew all about those pranks.
"You won't get away with this," informed Kimberly. She pulled Tommy closer to her and held him as tight as she could. "Someone will notice we're missing."
"You don't have any friends," laughed Olivia.
"Yes, she does!" corrected Tommy. His arms were tightly wrapped around Kimberly. He noticed that some of the kids had ganged up on them and were holding them still. Neither one of them could move. "She has me, I'm her best friend."
"And I'm Tommy's best friend," announced Kimberly. She noticed that Jessica was wrapping a piece of rope around hers and Tommy's waists. When she was done, it was in tight very tight knot. Kimberly noticed Megan was holding her wrists together, while Olivia tied her wrists together. When she got done tying Kimberly's wrists together, she walked over to were Misty was standing. Misty was holding Tommy's wrists together, Olivia tied his wrists together.
"What are you doing?" Tommy asked. He felt rope cut into his skin. Steven was wrapping coil around Tommy and Kimberly's ankles. Harry had just finished wrapping rope around Tommy and Kimberly's legs.
"I don't plan on it," replied Olivia. She got several pieces of yellow coil. "I've always wanted to decorate a friendship tree. But, I never could find a tree I liked. I like the tree I found. However, we can't decorate a moving tree." She walked over to where Tommy and Kimberly were standing. Olivia handed Stephen a piece of yellow cord and he tied Kimberly's and Tommy's ankles. Harry tied their legs together.
"We're going to decorate a tree," answered Olivia. She was wrapping rope around Tommy and Kimberly's shoulders. Olivia wrapped it them really tight. "I found one I like."
"If you've found a tree you like, why are you tying me and Tommy together for?" questioned Kimberly. She noticed that Olivia got out a green ribbon and tied Tommy's hair back with it. Then Olivia tied Kimberly's hair back with a red ribbon. "Why did you use fancy Christmas ribbon to tie mine and Tommy's hair back for?"
"You and Tommy are the tree we're going to decorate," smiled Olivia as she got out a roll of duct tape. "I went to Hobby Lobby and bought Christmas Ribbon. They have it out, even though it's October."
"I demand that all of you let me and Kimberly go or else!" Tommy said angrily.
"What will you do?" asked Olivia, as she ripped two pieces of duct tape off.
"HELP! SOMEBODY COME-MMMMMMMPH!" cried Tommy and Kimberly. Olivia used the two strips of tape to gag both of them. "MMMMMPH!"
"They always say true friends stick together," joked Olivia. Her and her friends all began to laugh. "Both of you are sticking together like glue."
"Mmmmph, hmmmph, mmmmm," Tommy and Kimberly moaned through their gags, as they were struggling trying to get free. "Mmmmph, mmmmmph, mmmmph, hmmmph, mmmm."They felt the cord cut into their bare skin because it was wrapped so tight around their shoulders, wrists, ankles, and legs.
Olivia gave all of her friends a roll of Christmas ribbon. Amy picked up the green bow and stuck it on top of Tommy's head. Patti stuck the red bow on top of Kimberly's head. Then they started wrapping ribbon around Kimberly and Tommy. When they finished wrapping the green Christmas ribbon around Tommy and Kimberly, they looked like a Christmas tree. From the neck down they were wrapped tightly in green Christmas ribbon. Nicki grabbed a roll of red Christmas ribbon and wrapped it around their waists a few times and tied the two ends together in the shape of a bow. The others thought it was funny and they did the same things to their wrists, legs, and ankles.
Meanwhile,A little boy dressed in red was sitting next to the pool. A little girl dressed yellow with long black hair swam over to him. "Jason, is everything okay?" asked the little girl. "You look worried."
"Something isn't right," answered Jason. "Trini, I saw a little boy with shoulder length brown hair in walk into the class at the beginning of class. He walked in with a little girl in pink." An African American little boy dressed in black shorts and a purple tee shirt swam over to Jason and Trini. A little boy with blond hair and glasses swam over to them. He was dressed in a blue tank top and blue swimming trunks.
"The little girl in pink told everyone that she was already paired up with Tommy Oliver," said the little boy in blue. "Tommy must be the little boy in green."
"Well, it isn't like we can't sneak out of class," added Trini.
"I think we can," smirked Billy. "Zack told me that he saw the girls on the gymnastics team sneak out of the room. They were gone for awhile. That was when our teacher got called out of the room. When they came back, they all of them were laughing."
"Harry and Stephen were with them," interrupted Zack. "When Harry and Zack are together that means trouble. Billy and I will go tell the teacher what we saw. Jason, you and Trini go look for the little boy and little girl."
Billy and Zack went to go talk to the teacher, while Trini and Jason went to go look for Tommy and Kimberly. Trini and Jason walked into the hallway where the lockerooms where. "I'll check the girls' locker," informed Trini. "You go check the boys' locker room." A few minutes later, Trini came out of the girls locker room, she had pair of blacking jogging pants, pink socks, pink underwear, a white tee shirt with a pink Angel Grove Elementary logo, a pink sweatshirt, and a pair of pink tennis shoes. All them looked like they were the right size for a Barbie doll to wear. Jason was waiting for her out side the locker room. "This was all I could find," announced Trini, while she was showing Jason Kimberly's clothes. "Did you have any luck?"
"I found the same thing in the boys locker room," answered Jason. He showed Trini a pair black jogging pants, a green socks, white briefs, a white tee shirt with a green Angel Grove Elementary logo, a green sweatshirt, and a pair of green tennis shoes. Those clothes were also looked like they were right size for a Ken Barbie doll to wear. "Tommy was wearing this outfit. I think they may be in trouble."
"Jason it does make sense," stated Trini. "First they don't show up for class, some Olivia's friends sneak out of class and come back laughing, and now we find Tommy and the little girl's clothes shrunk to the size of a Barbie doll." She exchanged looks with Jason.
"I think that Olivia's group of friends hide them somewhere and wanted to hide all of the evidence," guessed Jason. "But, the question is...where are they?" They decided to look around some more to see what they could find. Jason saw that the laundry room door was left wide open. So, they walked into the laundry room. When they walked in, they saw empty ribbon spools, and an empty roll of duct tape laying on the floor.
Trini picked up the ribbon spools and the duct tape. "I wonder what they used all of these ribbon spools for?" asked Trini. "Christmas ribbon isn't even out yet. Right now they have Halloween stuff out."
Jason walked over to the empty roll of duct tape and picked it up. "I'm 100% certain that they used the duct tape to prevent them from calling for help," stated Jason. He looked up and saw Billy run into the room. He looked like he was out of breath. "Billy, what are you doing here?"
"The teacher is talking to Zack. And I was sent to look for you all to see what you could find," answered Billy. He was trying to catch his breath. "They said if we found any clues to bring them back." They showed Billy the clothes, ribbon spools, and roll of duct tape.
"What do you think?" asked Trini.
"I think that they are hidden somewhere in this area," answered Billy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key and locker combination. "I found these laying next to the water fountain. I would have to say that they are still in this building. However, they are in a place that would require a locker combination and a key."
"But, what would the key be used for?" questioned Jason. "The adults wouldn't leave their keys laying around."
Both of them looked at Billy. "I don't think it was a teacher's key," declared Billy. He remained quiet for a few seconds. "This must be a key to a pad lock! What do you think?"
"I think you're right," answered Jason.
"That makes perfect sense," added Trini. "All we have to do is look for a place that would have a place with a combination lock and a pad lock. I am guessing they must be in a locker some where."
"The lockers in the locker room are half the size of a regular locker," gasped Jason. The bell rang and the rest of the class changed their clothes and went back to class. Zack and the teacher came into the room.
"There are some lockers in the school basement and in the chorus locker room," answered Ms. Parker. "I heard the whole conversation that you all were having. I've got someone to take care of my class, so I can help you look for Kimberly and Tommy." They all decided to go look in the chorus locker room since there weren't many lockers in there. If Tommy and Kimberly weren't in the chorus locker room, they'd go look down in the school basement.
In the meantime, Kimberly and Tommy were standing a narrow spot in the dark. They were in an empty locker down in the school basement in the supply room. All of Olivia's friends cleaned the locker out, just so they could put Tommy and Kimberly in it. There was combination lock on the locker that they were hidden inside. Harry noticed that there was a place to put a pad lock on the door of the supply room. So, he ended up putting a pad lock on the door to prevent people from getting inside the room.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!"
Tommy and Kimberly were struggling against their bonds, ever since they were place in the locker. They had been trying to call for help, but their gags muffled their voices. All they were able to do was make a loud incomprehensible sounds. Both of them had been noise non stop and struggling to get free from the past few hours. And both of them were cold. The bottom of locker was really cold and it was like they were standing on ice without any shoes or socks on. Their bare shoulders and their legs were touching cold metal. Tommy was colder because he didn't have a shirt on. It was like someone had placed an ice cube down his back. He was trying to be strong for Kimberly, but he was just as scared as she was. No one knew the combination to the lock that was placed on the locker and no one had a key to open the pad lock that was on the outside part of the door. He couldn't reassure his best friend that everything was going to be okay, because the tape prevent him from speaking. All he was able to do was hug her. But, he was only able to do that because he pulled her in to a hug, when Olivia's group of friends started tying them to each other. And that was all Kimberly could do for Tommy. In away it brought them comfort. They knew they weren't alone and they always felt safe when they together. Kimberly laid her head on Tommy shoulder. Her soft brown hair brushed up against his bare skin. It felt like a soft piece of material was rubbing against his skin.
At the present time, Trini, Zack, Jason, Billy and Ms. Parker were finished looking through the chorus locker room. The four children quickly got dressed before they went down stairs. Ms. Parker went to family resource center and some clothes for Tommy and Kimberly to put on. She got out two pairs of black wind pants and two white long sleeve shirts with the school logo, and two pairs of white tennis shoes. Then Ms. Parker and the four children went to the basement to look around.
"Remember, we're looking for a pad lock and a combination lock," reminded Ms. Parker. She had a pair of siccors that could cut through metal just incase they couldn't get the locks open. Jason, Trini, and Zack were looking around. Billy went over to the supply room door. He heard two people trying to call for help.
"MMMMMMMMMPH! MMMMMMMMMPH!"
"Ms. Parker, is there suppose to be a pad lock on the door?" questioned Billy. He pointed to a pad lock that was on the door. "I hear some people trying to call for help. But, I can't understand them. I assume both of them are gagged."
"No, we never have put a pad lock on the door," answered Ms. Parker. She pulled the key that Billy found out of her pocket. "Ms. Meyers told us that she didn't want the door locked in case a teacher needed to come down here to store something or get something."
Ms. Parker used the key and was able to unlock the pad lock. She removed the lock, opened the door, and turned the light on. Tommy and Kimberly heard foot steps and they started making as much as they possiably could.
" MMMMMMMMMPH! cried Tommy. "MMMMMMMMMPH!"
" MMMMMMMMMPH! cried Kimberly. ""MMMMMMMMMPH!"
When they walked in all of the lockers had a combination lock on them. There were about six lockers in four other children and Ms. Parker all decided to open one of the combination locks. "The combination is 601, 602, and 550," reminded Billy. All of them began to try to open the lock.
Trini heard a click on the lock she was opening an she removed the lock. She opened the locker door and Tommy and Kimberly feel out and landed on the floor. Trini kneeled down and slowly removed the tape off of Tommy and Kimberly's mouth's.
"What happened?" asked Ms. Parker, as the other four children helped her untie them.
"Stephen took my clothes and put them in laundry room. Kim needed to wash hers because spilt something on them," explained Tommy. He lied about Kimberly spilling something on her clothes because he didn't want anyone to know she wet her pants. "Kim went with me to get my clothes. My clothes were stained all over. We started to wash our clothes. Then Olivia, Stephen, Harry, Jessica, Patti, Megan, Misty, and Nicki ganged up on us. They tied us together, gagged us, and decorated us like a tree."
"They shrank our clothes," added Kimberly. "Our clothes are the size of a Barbie's outfit. We both have walk around in our swimsuits and go barefooted the rest of the day."
"I went to the family resource center and got you some clothes," said Ms. Parker. She handed them their clothes. "All four of these kids noticed you were missing. They told me and they helped me find you."
Trini, Jason, Zack, and Billy introduced themselves to Tommy and Kimberly. Ever since that day, all six of became really close friends. Things at school got better for Tommy and Kimberly since they had a group of friends with them.
