Chapter 4 – Passion
Carli's POV
Pate and I sit across from each other on the train ride back from Oceana City.
"I spent way too much!" Pate whines miserably, peering inside the GracieGrace shopping bag next to her on the leather seat. "I walked in, saw all the amazing things, and I wasn't in control of my body after that!"
"I know what you mean," I say. I had bought a groovy tee and a butterfly dress, plus lunch at Café Monique and a new haircut at Shampoodle's (my brown roots were beginning to show amongst my otherwise hot pink locks). I haven't added up the money, and I don't ever plan to. "At least we got free balloons from Phineas."
Pate glances up at the red bunny balloon she's holding. "That's probably worth all of, like, a hundred Bells," she says, shrugging. "And anyway, you stole one of them."
"Well, the limit was one each, and I wanted to get Kelsea something," I say defensively. "She didn't come with us just so she could work. I felt bad for her."
"Oh, she'll be thrilled," Pate says dryly. "Knowing her friend stole a balloon for her will make her very happy. Especially if you tell her the part about tricking Phineas into leaving his cart unattended because you got a person to tell him someone had cracked their head open on the cement and he had to help them."
"Well, you were the one who told him that story, so we're outlaws together," I say, grinning and kicking my partner in crime while I clutch my two balloons, one green and one yellow. "Don't act so righteous."
The sky, while still deep blue outside, has tinges of orange in it, and it's nearly evening by the time we pull into Serenity station. Pate and I are the only ones to get off here.
No less than ten seconds after we exit the train station does Kelsea run up to us, out of breath.
"Hey, Kelsea!" I say cheerfully. "How'd it go today? I got you a balloon from Phineas." I hand Kelsea the green balloon and then shoot Pate a look that says, "One word from you and you'll hit the ground".
"Carli, we're in trouble," Kelsea says, her eyes steely as she sweeps her lavender hair out of her face. She doesn't acknowledge the balloon in her hand.
"What happened?" I ask, frowning at her seriousness and lack of a greeting or acknowledgement at her present.
"You know our town tree in the plaza?" she asks. I nod. And then she tells me everything. The sickness. The town meeting. Our town's destruction. Leif's tests. Calerite. By the time she's finished, Pate and I are wearing identical expressions, both gaping at her in horror. I wish I could believe she was joking, but Kelsea doesn't joke about things like this.
"What…what can we do?" Pate asks worriedly.
"We're going to try to do the best we can to save us," Kelsea says. "I'm leading a group out to the caves where Leif says calerite forms tomorrow, and we're going to try to find it. Frobert, Keaton, Jacob, and Cherry all volunteered to go with me."
"I'm coming, too," I say. Anything that can help save this town, I'll do.
"Me too!" adds Pate. "I want to help and stuff!"
Kelsea smiles. "Thanks, guys," she says. "We're leaving very early tomorrow. Six in the morning, so we have plenty of time to search."
I almost protest against having to wake up at such an ungodly hour, but sleep can hardly be considered important next to our lives. "Fine by me," I end up saying.
"Same here!" says Pate. "We are so going to bring this town back to life!"
"You guys are the best," Kelsea says. "I've got to go home now, but I'll meet you tomorrow right here at the train station. First train of the day. The 6:03 one." Pate and I nod in acknowledgement.
I make my way home, crossing the cobblestone bridge to the other side of the river and trekking to an area on the cliff overlooking the beach, which is where I had Tom Nook build my house so many years ago. I can still remember that day when I moved to town. Pate hadn't even moved in at that time. Back then, Kelsea and I hung out with two girls named Marina and Flo. Both moved out long ago, but Marina and I still send letters to each other from time to time.
Inside my house, I let my yellow balloon float up and bob around on the ceiling. I sit down on my alpine bed and look at the matching alpine dresser, where I have a bunch of photos sitting on top of it in frames of different colours. One is of me and Kelsea together at Club LOL when we were twelve years old. The second one is of me and Pate pretending to be attacked by one of the dinosaurs in the museum—the velociraptor, I believe—when we were fourteen. The third one features all three of us on Bunny Day, just a few months ago, gathering bunny eggs and trying to get more than anyone else. These are just some of the memories I treasure of Serenity and my best friends.
Even on my paulownia closet, I keep two pictures facing my bed. One of Kelsea and one of Pate.
I can't lose any of this. I have to do everything in my power to save myself, my friends, and my town.