CH 3: Liars, Fakers, and Thieves

"Is this Bailey Symons?" I ask into the phone. Tori was standing behind me, struggling to grab her phone from my hands.

"Jade, no!"

"That all depends on who's asking." Bailey responds.

Bailey is one of Tori's cousins. She runs an underground fake ID business that Tori and I took advantage of last summer, and I was hoping to get away with something similar this year.

"My name is Jade West, I'm a friend of your cousin Tori." I inform her.

My persistent friend finally backed off and began pouting in the corner of my granny's garage. "This isn't going to work..." She huffs to herself.

"In that case, yes. I'm Bailey." The female responds. "Bailey Philips, actually. Symons is my fake name."

"Right. I wanted to talk to you about that." I say. "I need you to do me a favor, Bailey."

"Whoa, there!" She stops me. "I'll tell you right now, I don't care who your friends with, I don't give out no free favors."

"Told you." Tori scoffs in the distance.

I roll my eyes, then continue my conversation with Bailey.

"The thing is, it wouldn't exactly be 'free'." I start again. "Here me out, Bailey. Then make your decision."

"You have sixty seconds." She warns, and I can note the impatiens in her tone.

"Tori and I have been researching a lost treasure at the bottom of Diamond lake. We've gone over a lot of the details and have a plan on how we're going to find it, but the only problem is we don't have any funds. At all. We can't afford the scuba lessons, and therefore can't get a license to purchase the materials we need to make this happen." I explain. "If, however, we had a little cooperation from you and a few other sources, Tori and I will be able to retrieve the treasure from the lake, which is worth approximately five hundred thousand dollars. We'd be more than happy to share a fraction of it with you, and you wouldn't even have to do any of the work! All you have to do is print out some scuba license, and we'd be willing to give you ten grand."

There was a silence for a moment, and at first I thought she hung up.

"Jade, was it? ...I hate to say this but you should just give up now."

Give up?

"My dad's brother went looking for that diamond long ago, and I assure you it doesn't exist. If I were you I wouldn't waste another second on that old legend."

"It's not a waste, we really need that ring!" Tori blurts, and I realize she's behind me once again. "Even if we don't find it, I'll pay you back somehow. It's really important, please!"

Her cousin sighs. "Some people just never learn. ...fine, I'll supply the licenses."

Yes!

"By the way, it's not as easy as you think, Jade." Bailey continues. "It's not like all I have to do is 'print it out'. There's an extensive process I have to go through to make a legit looking ID."

With that she hung up, rather annoyed.

But whatever! We're getting what we need, and that's one less thing we need to worry about.

"Thanks Tori."

"Yeah, no problem. You're the one who made it happen though you know."

I shrug. "We need money for the replacement masks now, and those air tanks."

"I was thinking maybe we grab some from the dollar store along with a pack of super glue, and makeshift our own masks." The girl suggests.

"Not a bad idea." I smirk. "Wanna grab lunch first?"

"From where?" Tori sulks in memory of the Marina.

"Uh, the kitchen." I laugh. "Just because your uncle doesn't have food doesn't mean my grandma doesn't!"

"It's not the same." She sighs hopelessly, and I decide to drag her to the kitchen.

We threw together some sandwiches and grabbed our purses before beginning our walk to the dollar store. It was hott sooo hot out. What I wouldn't do for an ice cream right now! ...well, besides pay for actual scuba lessons.

When we finally arrived, I tossed away the zip-lock into the parking lot and push my way through the doors. Tori was sure to pick the litter up before following me in and gently placing it in the garbage can inside.

"Really?" I question, throwing her a glare.

"The earth is a living thing too you know!" She argues.

"Whatever."

I pulled her to the back and spot the isle with the water toys. Cheap ninety-nine cent masks were hanging on the racks in easy accessibility.

"Stand here." I instruct placing Tori between me and the security cameras.

"What? Why?"

I carefully examine my surroundings, then once I'm sure no one's watching...

"JADE!"

"Shut up!" I growl, and proceed to tear the goggle packaging.

I slip two pairs in my purse, and drag her to the crafts section.

"Jade, what are you doing?" Tori freaks in a hush tone. "You have to pay for those!"

"You're the one who said we go in and grab the masks." I point out.

"Well I didn't mean literally!"

I knew we should have stopped by Greg's for some drinks before we came here. How could I possibly believe Tori actually came up with a devious idea on without the help of alcohol?

"That guy's coming by here." I warn. "Don't act suspicious.

Worst advice ever.

Tori looked in the direction I signaled towards and flinched when the man locked eyes with her. Luck for us he was just a patron, and didn't actually work here.

I quickly shoved the glue, package and all, in my purse and covered it with a scarf before pulling Tori by the wrist to the exit. I just love the feeling right before I walk out that door. Once I leave the store, I could get in trouble for this shit. The thrill is incredible; even if it is only a couple bucks worth of stuff.

We walked out the door and no one followed us. Tori was walking incredibly fast to the neighborhood, while I took my time.

"Jade, why did you do that? I had four bucks!"

"Save it for the air tanks, then." I shrug. "And it's not that I couldn't pay, it was just fun."

"Fun?" The girl cringes. "That was not fun! That was horrible! I'm never doing that ever again!"

"Good for you." I say, rolling my eyes. "We'll see about that after you've got a drink or two in ya."

We returned to the arcade/garage at my grandmothers, since it was closest. Tori's jet was still sitting at the Marina when we passed it, and we figured we'd scope the area sometime today to get an idea of how much time it'll take to search.

"Make sure it's air-tight." I remind her once again. "The pressure down there is going to be heavy, so glue it really good."

"Do you think we should test them?" Tori suggests.

"The glue isn't dry."

"I mean before we go down!" The girl blurts.

I squint and lower my shoulders, then drop my head back in stress. "No, Tori. We should just go right to the bottom of the lake without ever testing any of the equipment."

She looks at me confused. "That could be a little dangerous-"

"I was being sarcastic!" I grunt, slamming my hands on the glass table.

"What she do?" My grandma asks, instantly bursting through the door.

"Have you been standing here this whole time?" I ask, looking at her slightly concerned.

"That Philip's niece did something to you, didn't she Jadey-boo-bear?"

Oh god...

Gran hobbles down the couple steps, then grasps me in her arms behind the chair. "I won't let those me people hurt my Jadey-wadey..."

I saw Tori snickering to herself from the corner of my eye, and instantly push my grandma away from me.

"Enough! I'm not hurt, quit spying on us!" I angrily demand.

Just as I thought I'd hurt her feelings, she quickly gives Tori the evil eye and pushes herself back to the house.

"Aww, is your ganny trying to protect you from me 'Jadey-wadey'?" Tori mocks in a baby voice. "What's she gonna do, hit me with her cane?"

~~~Flashback~~~

"Why'd you hit Jade in the face with a cane?"

"I DIDN'T" Tori defends.

"I believe you." Andre nods. "I'm sure you didn't mean to hit Jade in the face with a cane."

~~~Flashforward~~~

"Jade? Jade?" Tori calls, waving her hand in front of my face. "Jade?"

"H-what?"

"I said is this enough glue? ...I didn't make you mad, did I?" She checks cautiously.

"No, no you didn't. Um, yeah. That's plenty of glue."

"Okay." she replies. "We'll test it, say, tomorrow?"

"Yeah." I respond. "That should be fine."

I used the rest of the bottle on my mask, and put a few more drops on hers. Even if they did break, we could always hit a different store tomorrow and grab a few more packs.

Even though we weren't taking the scuba lessons, I want to make sure Tori and I are completely prepared for whatever may happen to us down there. It was defiantly going to be dangerous as it was, and the last thing I need is faulty equipment.