Chapter 4

Oh man. I couldn't risk getting into trouble again. That would be the third time this week, and I would be grounded for sure, plus lose all my mom's trust for me. I didn't want to get banned from Crisler Arena either… what was I going to do?? I grabbed my pillow and hit myself in the head with it. This was hopeless. I might as well just give up on book. There were all the cons about searching for it, and even if we don't get caught, who guarantees that we'll even find the book? It was just too risky. I'd have to tell the gang that I wouldn't be helping them tomorrow.

"So honey, are you ready to go?" My mom yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah, be out in a second." I shouted back, sitting up and pulling my shoes on. I rushed for the door, grabbing my sweatshirt and pulling the door open. My mom and I jumped into the car, buckled our seatbelts, and took off. Once we got there, I saw Renee, Derek and Sam waiting at the front door for me.

" Thanks mom!" I exclaimed, jumping out the door.

I'll be back here at seven-thirty to pick you up!" She shouted right before I closed the door. I headed for the double doors of the mall, and Renee rushed out into the cold to meet me.

" Come on!" She exclaimed, running back inside. I rushed in after her.

" Let's go to Arby's!" Derek exclaimed. That what he always wanted to do first. We walked into Arby's ready to order, when we saw the extremely long line.

" Why don't we go to café in the center of the mall?" I suggested.

" Sure, I guess." Derek said sadly. As we made our way to the food court, I tried to tell Sam, Renee and Derek that I wasn't going to help find the book, but Renee kept interrupting me. After a while, I got so caught up in all the fun, I totally forgot about finding the book.

" See you guys tomorrow, right?" Renee asked as we all waited out front for our parents. Renee's mom and pulled up, and Renee was stepping into the car.

" Yeah! Of course!" We all exclaimed.

" Can't wait for the game!" She shouted as she drove off. Suddenly, it all came back to me. I felt like someone had dropped a rock down my throat and into my stomach. I didn't want to get in trouble, but wouldn't I also be letting them down??

"Hey, you guys, everyone can still make it to the game tonight, right?" Mike asked as we all filed into the lunchroom.

" Yeah, right." We all said as Craig, Renee and I went to get in line for hot lunch. I poked my head above everyone else to see what was for lunch. Ugh.

" Ugh, lint sticks." I told the other two. They were really waffle sticks, but we called them lint sticks because a lot of the time we found little pieces of what seemed to be lint.

" Oh great." Renee said, sulking her shoulders. Once we got our stuff and sat down, everyone else started chatting up a storm about finding the book.

" Tori, aren't you excited?" Renee asked, looking over at me to see my disappointed face.

" You guys, you guys!" I exclaimed, trying to get everyone's attention. They all stopped talking and looked over at me.

" You guys, I was reading up on the security, and it says that anyone caught in area's they shouldn't be will be banned from the Arena for a year!" Everyone started to look a little nervous about our big plans except Mike.

" Well, then we won't get caught! You guys, we have to do this!" He said. Everyone else agreed except for me.

" Come on Tori, this was your idea in the first place!" Craig pressed.

" Yeah, you're the one who always says to live life without rules!" Josh exclaimed.

" Come on!" They all pressured.

" No! You guys, I'm NOT coming!!" I blurted out, picking up my tray and leaving the table. They all looked at me with surprised looks. They had never seen me this angry before, but I didn't care. If they wanted to go and get themselves banned from the stadium.

" Tori, look," Renee pleaded during Tech-ed.

" No, Renee, I heard what you and the others had to say. I'm still coming to the game, but I'm NOT going to help you guys get into trouble!" I exclaimed, not even looking at her so she wouldn't see the anger in my eyes.

" Tori, you HAVE to come! We need you! We can't do this without you!"
" Well than I guess you won't do it then!" All of a sudden, Renee gasped.

" Well, then I CHALLENGE you to come with us and help!" She exclaimed, as though she had just solved the key to the universe.

" Still, it's a no!" I said.

" What? What?? But… but you're Tori Ricardo! You NEVER turn down a challenge! Tori, what's wrong with you? You've… you've changed!" That was what made the angriest out of everything she had said. The bell rang, and I picked up my books, getting ready to leave.

" You know, right now my problem is YOU, so just get out of my face and leave me alone!" I barked. She backed away from me with a look of horror on her face.

" You're not the Tori that's been my best friend since third grade. You're not the Tori that gave us the idea to search for the book. You're a totally different Tori. You've changed. Seventh grade has made you crazy, filling your head up with false ideas, making you back down from a challenge, which is something the sixth grade Tori would do. And you're definitely not Tori, my best friend." She muttered.

" Whatever." I sighed and walked out of the classroom. Ugh. I had just lost my best friend, and I was probably about to lose the other five friends I had.

" Ugh, mom, I'm not sure I want to go to the game tonight." I said as I walked in the front door after the bus dropped me off. I was remembering the horrible things that Renee had said. How could she be so rude? I just don't want to get in trouble!

" Why not, sweety?" My mom asked. That was just typical mom behavior. She always was asking me " Why?" or "How come?" It gets so annoying.

" Well, I'm not feeling very good." I lied. I just couldn't tell her what happened that day.

" Well, I better take your temperature. I hope that you don't have that new bug that's going around." She said, rushing into the bathroom to grab the thermometer. " I mean, we want to make sure you can make it to the game with all of your friends, right?"

" Uhh, right." I said. She came out of the bathroom and stuck the thermometer into my mouth. After a minute, mom pulled it out of my mouth and declared:

" Honey, your temperature's fine. That's good. Why don't you go rest, and I'll tell you when supper's ready. Then we'll go to the game!" She exclaimed in her oh-so-cheery mom voice. I walked up the stairs and into my room. I plopped down onto my bed and stared at the ceiling for about an hour.

" Honey! Dinner's ready!" My mom shouted from downstairs. See, we usually have dinner at, like, 4:30 or 5:00 on game nights, so that I can pig out on snacks. I rushed downstairs to see that my mom had prepared, which is extremely rare, Kraft macaroni and cheese. I sat down at the table and started to gulp down the food in huge clumps. By the time I was finished with two huge servings of Mac & cheese, it was 5:45.

" Oh, time to go Tori!" She exclaimed, clearing the table. I grabbed my dish, put it in the kitchen sink, and went into our mudroom so I could get my shoes and coat on.

" Well, we're here!" My mom exclaimed as we pulled into a parking spot. We got out of the car and walked up to the front gate. When we got to the ticket stand, I noticed somebody on the big screen, somebody familiar. Then, it struck me like a thump on the head.

" That's Renee! She actually came!" I exclaimed a little louder than I intended.

" What do you mean by 'She actually came?'" My mom turned around and asked.

"Uhh… She thought she wouldn't be able to come." I lied. I was worried that none of them were going to come because of me. My mom bought the tickets, and we went and gave them to the security… person. They came!

" Hey, Renee, here comes Tori! Little miss won't back down from a challenge actually showed up!" Sam exclaimed. I looked up to see Tori approach the section we were sitting in. I turned my head so she wouldn't see the frustration in my eyes. She had changed. I heard that seventh grade was supposed to make people do crazy things, but I didn't think she would change this much. I was still angry from the argument we had had in Tech-ed today, and I bet she was too. Tori came and sat down over next to Mike and Josh, the only two who didn't think she ha d lost it. They said they understand why Tori would be scared to be banned from the Arena. They said that they were also scared of being caught, but they also had better records when it comes to getting trouble. If Tori wasn't in trouble one minute, she was the next. I truthfully can't see how they can just let her off the hook like that.

" Hey, we're getting ready to leave for operation AA. Pass it on." Derek whispered. This is how we decided we'd tell each other to leave for the mission. I whispered the same thing into Craig's ear, and since he was the last one in the row, now all we had to do was wait for Mike's signal.

" Uhh, I'm going to go sit on the other side of the Arena to get a better view, okay dad?" Mike asked his dad. Everyone except Tori said

" Yeah same here."

" I think I'll stay here to watch." Tori commented, but nobody heard her. We were all getting our stuff, leaving for the most important thing in our 12 year old lives. I stood up, grabbed my coat, and headed toward the big MICHIGAN sign that lead out of the Arena part, and into the concession part.

" Okay, you guys, I talked to my uncle, and he said he could " Give us a tour" of the off-limits parts of the building." Mike told us as we walked away. "We have to meet him in maintenance closet number 17." As we walked toward the closet, Mike told us that we had to get in without being seen, otherwise, he would lose his job. We found the Maintenance closet and snuck in. Mike's uncle wasn't there yet, so we sat down. Suddenly, the door flung open, but it wasn't Mike's Uncle.

" Well, I'm here, and I'm ready to go."