22 days left…
Mai opened her eyes to almost complete darkness. It looked like it was the middle of the night.
There was a creak on the floorboards.
Someone was in her room!
There was another creak, this time closer to her bed. Mai's mind raced.
If I lie completely still, she thought, maybe the murdering psychopath in my room won't kill me.
She lay like a statue, barely daring to breathe.
Another creak, right by her bed.
The floorboards creaked again as the murdering psychopath raised their arm, ready to plunge a dagger into her heart-
And something warm and furry landed on her chest and crawled under the covers, mewing faintly.
Mai breathed a sigh of relief.
It was only Socks, thankfully.
"What are you doing here this time of night?" Mai whispered to the bundle of fur. There was a faint mewl in reply. Mai soon fell asleep again.
And got woken up again, but this time it was light and it was because something was licking her face.
"Go away Socks." She mumbled, batting her away and turning over, trying to get to sleep again.
"Meow." Socks meowed, and curled up again.
Mai was being shaken. She frowned. What was with people waking her up?
"Rise and shine Mai!" A voice whispered in her ear. "The Earth says hello."
Mai opened her eyes. Gene's face was nearby, and she could make out Noll's face behind him. She was about to sit up, but there was a weight on her chest stopping her. Socks was sprawled out on her, still sleeping.
"Up you come girl." Gene said, picking up Socks. Socks mewed in response, and curled up in Gene's lap, falling asleep quickly again.
"Gene, Noll, what are you doing here?" Mai asked confusedly.
"To wake you up, of course! It's nearly midday. You're not ill, are you?"
"No."
"And we have a lot to do today." Seeing her look, he added "Don't worry, it's all land based."
"Um, could you go?"
"Sure. Socks, wake up. Or you're going to fall, I'm afraid."
Socks mewed sleepily in response.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." He said, standing up and depositing Socks on the floor, who woke up with a yelp. The twins left, leaving Mai to get dressed and Socks to do whatever she wanted to do.
"Mai." A voice stopped her in her tracks, and she turned around. One of the twins stood there, watching her, one hand stuffed into his pocket.
"Noll?" She asked. He came closer and she realised her heart was pounding unusually. "What is it?"
He squirmed almost imperceptibly.
"Uh, I'm sorry about your parents." He said, and pressed something warm into her hand, then walked away. She stared after him for a few moments, until he was gone, then she opened her hand.
Inside it was a simple chain necklace, with a silver bow. She stared at it thoughtfully for a few moments, before smiling and putting it on.
See, that wasn't so hard, was it?
I can't believe you forced me.
But you wanted to do it, didn't you?
Shut up.
"It's a… maze."
"Win an award for your eyesight. Yes, it is a maze."
"And… we're going to go in it?"
"Win another award for your logic. Yes, we are going to go in it."
"But…" Mai had a rubbish sense of direction, but she didn't like to admit it. "Isn't it a bit unfair? I mean, haven't you guys already done it?"
"No, actually. This maze is new. I've been waiting to have a crack at it ever since head gardener planted the bushes." Gene butted in.
"Oh."
"Mai!" Ayako and Takigawa called.
"Hi." She smiled.
"Ooooo, I like your necklace." Ayako said. "It's really pretty. Is it one of Luella's?"
"Um, no. A friend gave it to me."
"Who?"
Mai's face turned pink. "Um…"
"Who was it? Come on, tell us." Both Ayako and Takigawa were grinning like cats now.
Gene came to Mai's rescue. "We're going to start in a minute, you know."
"Start?" Mai asked, baffled.
"Yeah. It's a race. Whoever gets to the middle first wins!"
"Oh. Are there teams…?" Mai asked, hoping the answer would be yes.
"Everyone goes alone."
"Ah." I'm probably going to be the one who takes forever. Mai though glumly.
"I'm so going to beat you this year." Ayako sniffed to Takigawa.
"I wouldn't count on it." He grinned.
"Everyone ready?" Luella asked excitedly. "Okay, let's go!"
Ayako and Takigawa ran ahead of everyone else, elbowing and pushing each other.
The maze was huge, and it didn't take long for Mai to lose everyone else. They became just mere faint sounds as she wove her way in between the hedges, cursing her luck every time she met a dead end. Occasionally a bird would fly out, or saw glimpses of someone else on the other side on the hedge, but other than that she was alone. Her fingers fiddled with the necklace around her neck. She couldn't help but smile as she recalled Noll giving it to her. Too bad it was only because her parents died…
Feeling more melancholy with that thought, she stopped to look around her. She was at a junction. Which way?
She randomly picked a path and walked down it.
Noll crossed his legs and opened his book. He didn't look up when Lin strode into the middle a minute later.
"How long should we give them?" Lin asked.
"Hmm… Gene five minutes, Mother fifteen and Madoka same, they always work together…"
"I think ten. And Gene a couple of minutes."
"I think Ayako will beat Takigawa this year."
"No, Takigawa will beat Ayako. He has more stamina."
"But Ayako has more skill. And she's prepared to cheat."
They paused as Gene entered the centre. Lin almost smiled.
"When will you stop betting?" He asked as he sat on the bench next to his brother and glanced over the page over his shoulder. Neither answered.
"Okay, what about John?" Gene asked.
"20." Lin said calmly.
"15, and Masako 20." Noll countered.
"Masako twenty five."
"What about Mai?" Gene asked casually. They both paused.
"Half an hour." Lin said uncertainly.
"Forty five minutes. If not more."
"That's harsh. I have more faith in her. Twenty minutes."
"You always have too much faith in people's skills." Noll commented dryly.
"It can't be much, fun, being first to the middle." Gene mused. "I mean, part of the fun is getting lost."
"Gene, you are not meant to get lost. A maze is a test of how much you get lost."
"But it's fun…"
A silence prevailed. Some minutes later, Madoka and Luella entered the middle.
"We found it! How long have you been here?" Luella exclaimed.
"About 10 minutes." Noll said.
"You won again, didn't you?" Madoka said glumly.
Noll smirked faintly. "Of course."
They waited until a wave of noise signalled to coming of Ayako and Takigawa. They entered almost simultaneously, still pushing and shoving each other.
"I got here before you!" Ayako crowed.
"No way! I got here before you!"
"No, I did!"
"You so did not!"
They descended into squabbling.
"Both of you, be quiet!" Madoka commanded. "You both got here at the same time. It was a draw."
They both stopped to stare at her, then sighed in defeat.
"Fine then."
"If I have to."
John's head peeked nervously around the bushes. When he saw everyone else in the middle, he smiled, relieved, and the rest of his body followed his head. Shortly afterwards, Masako entered the middle. Leaving only Mai to come.
Lin looked at his watch. "It's been forty minutes. Looks like you were right."
"You were off by miles, Gene. I told you you have too much faith." Noll said to his brother, who was reading Noll's book over his shoulder.
"Okay, you were right this time."
"I'm always right."
"Not always…"
Noll snorted. "Most of the time."
Gene raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say."
"Should we look for Mai? She could be so lost she'll never get out…"
"We'll give her an hour."
Mai wandered idly down between the hedges.
Without warning, there was a yowl.
Socks jumped out from one hedge, glided through the air in front of Mai, and landed in the other hedge and disappeared from view. Mai blinked in surprise, then shrugged and carried on. Socks was Socks. Who knew what she got up to?
She walked randomly down another path. She turned round a corner and-
The middle. She'd made it. She'd actually made it!
Noll looked up from his book. "Well done Mai. It's taken you approximately an hour and a half to get here."
She sat down next to him. "Where's everyone else? Don't tell me I'm the second one here."
"You are the tenth person here. Everyone else has decided to go and look for you."
"Oh." There was a pause, he turned a page. "Um, why didn't you go and look?" She asked, upset inside that he seemingly didn't care whether she got lost or not.
"Did I need to? You came here on your own."
"Yeah, but you didn't know I was going to."
"I figured that you would make your way here sooner or later." He turned another page.
"Thanks for the necklace." She said after a lengthy pause. "It was really nice for you to get it for me."
"Gene bought it too." He said simply.
"You're meant to say something like 'you're welcome'. Besides, Gene didn't give it to me, you did."
He was looking at her with a look she couldn't decipher. Then Gene popped his head around the bushes.
"Mai!"
I really should be revising for my Spanish speaking exam tommorow, but... Well, compared to the people in my year, I should be okay:
This is true: in PD (most pointless lesson ever) we were doing a quiz, and in my team there was my friend, me, and girls A,B and C. Girls A, B and C are cool, popular girls (meaning, they're horrible, basically).
Question: What is the capital of Japan?
My friend writes down 'Tokyo' and covers it up. A guy from the gropu behind us whispers to girl A: "What's the answer?"
A: "Oh, I don't know!" She turns to my friend and says, "What's the answer?"
My friend: "I think it's Hiroshima."
A: (to guy behind) "We think it's Hiroshima."
B: "Don't tell them the answer!"
100% true story. What still puzzles me is how the group behind us then won.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
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