September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Cafeteria
11:39 A.M.
"…it was just me and the beast, alone in the heart of the Sumatran Rainforest," Wanda recounted, voice low and dramatic. "Suddenly, the beast leaped forward, and-"
"Pheebs!" Keesha perked up as said friend approached the table. Wanda glared at Keesha, upset about the interruption, but no one seemed to notice. "About time you got here—Wanda was making up stories again." The glare intensified.
Phoebe gave Keesha a small smile as she took her seat. "Sorry I'm late. I just left something in my locker."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "This again? Come on, Phoebe, we all know there's no "locker". Just admit it—not for us, but for yourself."
Phoebe turned to Wanda, a look of confusion on her face. "I left my lunch in my locker. I had to go get it." Seeing Wanda remain doubtful, Phoebe tilted her head to the side. "Wanda, I told you this already."
"Sure you did," Wanda remarked condescendingly. "And when exactly would you have told me this totally-real, 100%-factual information?"
"About 10 minutes ago."
Wanda snorted. "Right," she replied sarcastically. "I think I'd remember something like that."
September 26, 2013
English
About 10 minutes ago
The moment the bell rang, Wanda was out of her chair and standing at Phoebe's desk, all content of the previous 45 minutes gone in an instant. "Come on, it's lunchtime! Hurry up!"
Laughing at Wanda's impatience, Phoebe quickly began to collect her things. She reached to the ground and, upon finding nothing, frowned. "Shoot. I left my lunch in my locker." Wanda sighed loudly, making her annoyance clear. "You don't have to wait for me; I'll meet you in the cafeteria, okay?"
"Fine." As Wanda turned to leave, she caught sight of a pamphlet sticking out of Phoebe's folder. "What's that?"
"Oh, that flower store down the road is doing a fundraiser," Phoebe explained, still packing away her things. "They're raising money to help protect the Sumatran Rainforest."
"Huh." Wanda gazed at the pamphlet for a few seconds, transfixed. "What's that?'
"It's a collection of national parks in Indonesia," Phoebe explained. When Wanda remained silent, she raised a brow. "Do you want to donate?"
Wanda snapped back in focus. "What? Oh, God no. I'm saving up for a new phone. See ya!" Wanda turned on a heel and rushed out of the room.
September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Cafeteria
11:40 A.M.
Realizing Wanda wasn't going to budge, Phoebe returned her focus to the rest of her friends. "Anyway, how are you guys?" Upon looking around the group, she frowned. "Where's Tim?"
Arnold shrugged. "He wasn't in biology this morning. I figured he was just sick."
"I hope he's okay," Phoebe mused, voice full of concern.
"He's fine," Keesha reassured. "His parents are probably just making him rebuild that crib Ralphie tried to put together."
Ralphie shook his head. "It can't be done," he answered confidently. "That crib was designed by the devil. That's Satan's crib."
"Of course it is."
Before Ralphie could counter Keesha's cynical response, the awful noise of microphone feedback filled the cafeteria. At the front end of the cafeteria, Principal Adams fiddled with the device in his hand for a few seconds before managing to quell the noise. Wanda rested her head on her hand. "This should be good."
"Students," Principal Adams began, the feedback less this time. "Recently, our school custodian, Leroy, has found evidence of someone entering the custodial closet, an area strictly off-limits to students."
"What evidence?" Carlos shouted, making sure to duck behind Arnold to avoid being caught.
Principal Adams sighed. "A concussion."
Carlos winced. "Oops."
"In light of this development, the school will now be maintaining a strict policy of student accountability, and to lessen the…" he paused, trying to formulate the right word. "The temptation to visit these off-limits areas, serious punishment will be dealt to anyone not where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there. Any student caught in a forbidden area, or caught in the halls, bathrooms, nurses office, or et cetera without a pass will be facing some lethal ramifications." A teacher standing beside Principal Adams leaned over to the man and whispered something in his ear. The principal rolled his eyes obviously. "My bad—legal ramifications. Thank you." Principal Adams put the mike down and strolled out of the room, managing to get out before anyone could start a conversation with him.
"That's bullshit!" Wanda cried, fist slamming on the table. "Now how am I supposed to skip Algebra?"
Dorothy Ann took a calming breath. "Language, Wanda," she reminded, trying to be patient.
"Fine. That's crap," Wanda corrected, looking to DA for approval.
"Better… Kind of."
September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Cafeteria
12:14 P.M.
The gang was just packing up their lunches and preparing to go to their next classes when Keesha felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. After quickly checking for any teachers, she pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Huh… I just got a text from Tim."
All attention turned to her. "You can't have your phone out!" DA warned in a hushed voice. "What is an administrator sees you? You could get into so much trouble!"
"Relax, will you?" Keesha read the text quickly before looking up in worry. "Guys, his mom is having a baby!"
Wanda furrowed her brow. "Well, duh. We helped paint the nursery, like, 2 weeks ago."
Keesha clenched her fist but held her tongue. "No, Wanda. She's having a baby right now!"
"Oh, shi- er, crap." Wanda corrected, receiving a glare from DA. "I said crap."
"We have to go see him!" Carlos declared, standing up immediately. "We promised we'd be there!"
DA frowned. "There's just one problem with that."
"What?"
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and teachers began corralling students out of the cafeteria, making sure to keep a close eye on the troublesome ones (which naturally included most of the group).
"Oh."
"So we're going to let a few teacher's stop us from being there for our friend?" Wanda questioned in disbelief. "We're just going to sit back because Tim isn't worth fighting for? That's so… Un-American!"
Ralphie squinted. "I'm not sure why, but suddenly I really think we should go."
Wanda beamed. "See? There's a true friend—nay, a true patriot!"
Keesha leaned back in her seat. "You really don't want to go to Algebra, do you?"
"It's so boring!" Wanda collapsed in her chair.
Phoebe pat Wanda on the shoulder. "I agree with Wanda—well, not the reasoning so much, but the conclusion. We should be there for Tim."
"Well, we can't." Arnold crossed his arms insistently. "There's no way we can get out of this cafeteria without the teacher's seeing us."
"So let's just go to classes," Wanda responded. Arnold was about to congratulate Wanda for taking the side of responsibility, but the girl continued. "We'll wait until the halls are clear and then stage a jailbreak!"
Arnold's jaw dropped. "But—We can't! If we get caught in the halls without passes, then we'll be in serious trouble!"
"Right…What were the odds that we'd need to ditch class on the same day Principal Adams got all pissy about it?" Wanda contemplated for a minute. "Just don't get caught, I guess. Once we're out, we'll all meet up and go to the hospital."
"Don't get caught? That's your advice?"
"Where should we meet?" Ralphie joined, ignoring Arnold's resistance.
Carlos shrugged. "We could go to my house. My mom would probably give us a ride to the hospital."
"She won't yell at us for skipping?" Wanda probed further.
"Nah," Carlos shook his head. "My mom will understand. She loves babies."
Wanda stood up from her seat, grinning widely. "Awesome! Operation Jailbreak is on!"
The rest of the table stood up and the gang walked out, leaving Arnold alone at the table, stammering. "But—guys! Principal Adams said… What if this goes on my record?" Arnold put his head down on the table. "I wish I'd stayed home today."
September 26, 2013
Economics
12:19 P.M.
Casually, Keesha and Wanda strolled into Ms. Banks's classroom, a good minute remaining before the late bell rung. As Wanda took her seat, mind racing as she tried to think of an escape plan, she couldn't help but notice that Keesha seemed tense. "Please don't tell me you're nervous. I figured Arnold or DA would cause problems, but not you."
Keesha took a deep breath. "I just don't see how we're supposed to get out of here without getting in trouble." As she finished voicing her concerns, the late bell went off. Wanda rolled her eyes at her friend's alarm.
"I'll come up with something, okay? Will my plan be convoluted and devious? Probably. Will it make you doubt everything you think you know about life? Almost definitely. Just do your best to play along, okay?"
Keesha narrowed her eyes at Wanda, somehow not feeling any better, but nodded and went to take her seat on the other end of the room.
Mrs. Banks walked to the front of the room and, on the large whiteboard, wrote the dates 1700-1800 A.D. "Today, class," the teacher explained, "We will be reenacting the actions of some of the world's global powers during the 18th century. To start off, we'll need to assign roles. I need 2 of you to act as the isolationist empire, Japan. Any volunteers?"
With a shrug, Wanda raised her hand. "Me and Keesha will do it!"
"Great! Wanda, Keesha, during this period, Japan was avoiding interaction with the rest of the world. Therefore, you will go sit in the hall for the rest of the period, avoiding any communication with your peers. Is that okay?"
Wanda thought for a moment. "Will you be supervising us?"
"No, I trust you girls to sit in the hall and not go anywhere," Ms. Banks replied sweetly.
"Ya, that sounds okay."
Wanda and Keesha grabbed their possessions and rushed out of the classroom, not waiting to hear the rest of the class's country assignments.
September 26, 2013
Computer Literacy
12:31 P.M.
Anxiously, Carlos looked up at the clock. 10 minutes had passed since class began, and no opportunity had presented itself for he, Ralphie, and Phoebe to escape from Mr. Parker's lecture on touch-typing. He turned to Ralphie, who sat beside him, hoping for an idea, but Ralphie only shrugged. In desperation, Carlos raised his hand.
"What is it, Mr. Ramon?" Mr. Parker called on the boy.
"Um…" Carlos glanced back at Ralphie, who gestured for him to go on. "Ralphie, Phoebe and I all have to go to the bathroom."
"All of you?"
Carlos nudged Ralphie. "Oh, uh… Yes?" Ralphie attempted to sound convincing, despite being caught off guard. "We, uh… Had a water-drinking contest at lunch."
Mr. Parker rubbed his eyes. "Yes, well… I don't let students out of class. Remember that next time you decide to compete." Without another thought, Mr. Parker resumed his lecture.
Carlos groaned quietly. "Well, I tried. Your turn, dude."
Ralphie nodded and raised his hand. Mr. Parker gave Ralphie an unamused scowl. "What is it, Mr. Tenelli?"
"I need to go to my locker, sir. I left my binder in there." As he spoke, Carlos quickly pushed Ralphie's binder on the floor, hoping Mr. Parker hadn't noticed it.
The teacher rolled his eyes. "Just be quick."
Ralphie smiled and stood. Carlos pinched him on the arm. "Oh, right… Um, sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Tenelli?"
Ralphie thought for a second. "I need Carlos and Phoebe to come with me. See, I'm always forgetting my locker combination, so I asked Carlos to remember the first digit and Phoebe to remember the second. That way, I only had one number to remember."
"Sit down, Mr. Tenelli."
"Darn." Ralphie took a seat. "Now what?"
Carlos looked around the room, hoping to find some sort of inspiration. His eyes landed on Phoebe, seated at the desk behind the two boys. "I've got an idea…" When Mr. Parker turned his back, Carlos leaned back towards Phoebe. "We need your help."
Phoebe grew concerned. "Really? You know I can't lie."
"We don't need you to lie. We need you to cry."
"What?"
Ralphie's eyes lit up. "That's perfect! No one's going to say no to a girl that's crying!"
"Oh, I don't know…" Phoebe twisted her hands in her lap. "I can't cry on cue."
Carlos mulled over the problem and exchanged an evil glance with Ralphie. The two boys faced her in unison. "Hey, Pheebs," Carlos began, voice dark. "Tell us the story about that dog you adopted in 5th grade."
Her heart stopped. "You mean Dante?"
Ralphie nodded. "Great name for a dog, by the way."
"And fitting," Carlos added. "Especially considering the fire."
Within a minute, the two had gotten Phoebe to begin sobbing loudly. Mr. Parker turned in alarm. "What's going on?" he asked, approaching the trio.
"Touch-typing reminds her of her dead dog," Carlos responded casually. "We might be able to calm her down, but it'll take a while."
Mr. Parker looked to the distressed girl, not sure how to handle his normally-quiet pupil. "You guys can go," he stated weakly. "And don't come back until this is over."
With a subtle fist-bump, Carlos and Ralphie grabbed theirs and Phoebe's belongings and dragged her out of the classroom.
September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Hallway
12:27 P.M.
Cautiously, Dorothy Ann peeked down an empty hallway. Satisfied that it was clear, she relaxed and turned the corner, gradually growing closer to the school's exit. She'd had no trouble getting out of her Speech class; Ms. Webster had let her go to the bathroom, and was ditzy enough that she'd probably forgotten that DA had ever been present. Now, she was walking through the halls alone, hoping the others hadn't backed out of the plan. Skipping class was bad enough; if she found out it was for nothing, she'd go ballistic. She was just approaching the end of the hall when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She jumped and spun around, barely suppressing the urge to scream. Behind her, Arnold stood apologetically. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She rested her hand over her heart. "Its fine," she replied unconvincingly, choosing not to mention the near-heart attack. "You got out of class?"
Arnold nodded. "We were watching some movie in English, so I just walked out. I can't believe Wanda is making us do this!"
Dorothy Ann shushed Arnold. "I know, I hate it too. But we're here now, so the least we can do is avoid getting caught.
"I guess," Arnold muttered, kicking the floor softly.
Sure he'd stay quiet, DA peeked out into the main hall. To her concern, she saw Principal Adams patrolling the hall, clearly making sure no students would attempt to leave the school midday. To her chagrin, as soon as he passed by one of the smaller adjacent halls, she saw Keesha and Wanda dart out behind him and make a dash for the front door.
DA turned back to Arnold frantically. "Principal Adams is coming right towards us!" she relayed.
Arnold grew tense and, frantic, grabbed DA's hand and dragged her into a nearby room—the boy's bathroom. There, the two stayed quiet for a minute until they were sure the principal had passed. Once safe, they breathed a sigh of relief. "This is insane," Arnold breathed, leaning against the wall. "With Adams right there, we'll never make it to the door."
As Dorothy Ann glanced around bathroom (having never been here before, she wanted to take it all in; as it turned out, the boys room wasn't as unpleasant as she'd expected) until something caught her eye. "I think I know how we can get out," she commented, eyes fixated on the wall. "But you're not going to like it."
"What?" Arnold followed her gaze to a large vent on the bathroom's back wall. "You're joking, right?"
"You still carry that pocketknife, right Arn?"
Arnold's hand grazed his pocket. "That's only for emergencies!"
DA turned to Arnold and held out her hand. Reluctantly, Arnold pulled out the pocketknife and handed it to DA.
September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Front Entrance
12:28 P.M.
After having made it through the front entrance, Keesha and Wanda made a beeline for a nearby dumpster. They ducked behind it and, once sure that they wouldn't be seen by any teachers or passing cars, discussed their next step.
"That was the hard part, right?" Keesha confirmed, catching her breath. "Now we just walk to Carlos's house?"
Wanda shook her head. "It's not that simple. You know the cops in this town are way too involved. If one sees us walking around during the school day, he'll bust us!"
Keesha raised a brow. "You really think the police care about 2 teenagers skipping class?"
"I know they do!" Wanda shivered. "It was a long, cold night in the SHU for poor, ole' Wanda, I'll tell you."
"You never got arrested," Keesha argued. "And you'd never even heard of the SHU before watching Orange is the New Black."
Wanda couldn't argue with that. She loved Orange is the New Black. "Well, still… I think we should try to avoid walking along the main roads. There's got to be some backway to Carlos's house…"
"Do you know where that might be?"
"No…"
"Then stop being a baby and let's go." Keesha stood up and began walking down the road. Wanda glanced back at the school nervously before chasing after her friend. She wasn't going to be called a baby. Not on her terms.
September 26, 2013
Walkerville High Courtyard
12:36 P.M.
After calming Phoebe down, the group had hurried to the nearest exit they could remember. It wasn't until the door shut behind them that Phoebe grew concerned. "You guys know that door locks, right?"
Ralphie cocked his head to the side. "Since when?"
"I don't know exactly," Phoebe answered thoughtfully. "At least since that time my baby got stuck in the tree."
"That's okay," Carlos answered, sounding assured. "We don't need to go back in. Let's just hurry and get to my house."
Ralphie and Phoebe nodded, and the three rushed to the end of the courtyard. Once there, they realized a problem with their plan. In front of them, a tall chain-link fence divided the courtyard from the rest of the world. Ralphie crossed his arms. "Now what?"
"Um…" Carlos looked down the fence. "Well, there's a hole in the corner." Sure enough, on the far end of the fence, a narrow hole had formed. Carlos wondered if Wanda had anything to do with that.
Ralphie took a closer look at the hole. "No way, Carlos. It's too small for us."
"What about Phoebe?"
Ralphie looked at the hole once more. "Ya, that looks like a Phoebe-sized hole. But what about us?"
Carlos looked up, trying to get a feel for how tall the fence really was. "We could climb," he suggested, albeit less sure than he was a minute ago. How he wished that hole were just a little bit bigger.
"Are you crazy? A teacher could look out the window and see us!" Ralphie protested, rejoining Phoebe and Carlos. "We're bound to get caught!"
"Do you have a better plan?" Carlos took the silence as a sign of agreement. "Alright then. Phoebe, go through the hole. We'll meet you on the other side."
Phoebe seemed unsure about the plan, but given that a teacher could walk out any second, refrained from protesting and crawled through the gap. As Ralphie had predicted, the hole was, indeed, Phoebe-sized.
Meanwhile, Ralphie and Carlos began the daunting task of scaling the chain-link fence. The climb wasn't as difficult as either had anticipated, both being athletes, but the pair froze in terror when they heard the sound of the courtyard door shutting. Already on the other side of the fence, Phoebe easily ducked behind the school. Carlos and Ralphie, however, were sitting ducks. Their only hope was to stay quiet and pray that whoever was outside didn't look up.
As they dangled on the fence, Carlos heard the sound of footsteps from below. Whoever was outside was directly beneath them, but Carlos didn't dare look down to see who it was. Any motion at all was liable to make the fence shake. After a few seconds, the footsteps began to grow faint. The sound of a key was heard rattling in the door's lock, and the person was gone. With a sigh of relief, Carlos and Ralphie quickly finished the climb and descended on the opposite side. Once their feet hit the ground, Phoebe gave the boys a quick hug and Carlos led the group to a backroad that he was pretty sure would take them right past his house.
September 26, 2013
Walkervill High Parking Lot
12:52 P.M.
After 20 minutes of crawling through the school's ventilation system blindly, Arnold and Dorothy Ann were grateful for a light at the end of the tunnel. Sure enough, the two, with the help of Arnold's trusty pocketknife, managed to force the vent open and found themselves released into the school parking lot.
As DA tried to calculate the most efficient way to Carlos's house, Arnold attempted to fix his wrinkled shirt and sloppy hair. "This was completely not worth it," he moaned, knowing his mother would be furious when she caught a glimpse of the sorry state he was in.
"Consider it payback for that time you had us running around town looking for Phoebe," DA retorted. Arnold sighed, but he seemed to accept the answer as he said nothing more.
After a brief moment of thought, DA figured that it didn't much matter how they got to their destination and the two began crossing the parking lot. They were nearly out when they ran into Charlie, a senior on the soccer team, sitting in his car, loudly listening to music. The senior, upon noticing the duo, turned down the radio and rolled down his window. "Yo, aren't you Carlos's friends?"
Arnold seemed unsure of the teenager and remained silent. DA rolled her eyes at the reaction. "Yes, we are," she answered for him. "I'm Dorothy Ann, and that's Arnold."
Charlie grinned slyly. "Ya, Carlos mentioned you, blondie. Your mime friend… Not so much."
DA blushed at the comment. "Oh? What'd he say?"
"Can't tell you, bro-code and all that," he answered with a wink. "I gotta say, though, I didn't have you pegged as the kind to skip class."
"Well, normally I wouldn't—neither of us would, really," DA explained. Arnold shook his head, wondering why Dorothy Ann was sharing so much with this guy. After all, the longer they stood here in the parking lot, the more likely they were to get caught out of class. "Our friend's mom is having a baby, so our friends decided to skip class and go see him."
Charlie nodded in understanding. "I can dig that. Tell you what—I like your vibe, and you're a friend of Carlos's," he commented, raising his brows suggestively on the word 'friend'. DA chose to ignore the action. "Why don't I give you a ride to the hospital?"
"That'd be great!" DA beamed. "But we're supposed to meet the others at Carlos's house; think you can take us there?"
"No problemo! Although…" Charlie frowned at Arnold. "I'm not really feeling your pal's energy. I can still drive you, but I'm gonna need… Compensation for driving him, if you catch my drift."
Arnold glared. "What kind of compensation?"
"50 dollars?"
"What! I'm not paying you!" Arnold turned to DA for support. "We can just walk, right?" DA's mouth open, but no words came. "Don't tell me you're siding with him!"
She rubbed the back of her neck. "This is a really nice offer," she defended, a meager smile on her face. "We're not going to get caught if we're in a car, and I'm still kinda tired from crawling through the vents." Charlie seemed intrigued by this comment, but chose not to ask.
"But he's making me pay!"
"Well, you've been acting a little rude," DA replied bluntly. "I can't blame him."
Charlie cleared his throat. "So, you kiddos getting in or not?"
DA looked at Arnold. "I won't go if you don't want to, but-"
"No, it's fine. We'll ride with him." Annoyed, Arnold pulled out his wallet and handed Charlie the money. Gratefully, DA patted him on the shoulder and the two got into the back seat.
September 26, 2013
Backroad
1:03 P.M.
"Carlos, are you sure this road leads to your house?"
Carlos narrowed his eyes at Ralphie's comment. "I'm sure, why?"
"Well, it kinda looks like we're heading for a dead end."
Sure enough, in another minute, Ralphie, Carlos and Phoebe found themselves in a dead end, surrounded on three sides by what seemed to be an old, rundown warehouse. Ralphie gave Carlos his usual "I-told-you-so look", and Carlos rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, there's a small chance I'm thinking of a different road."
Phoebe glanced in worry at their surroundings. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
"You're on our turf," came a gruff voice from behind the group. All three swiveled around to where a six or seven large 20-somethings now stood impatiently. "And we don't take too kindly to trespassers."
"We didn't mean to trespass," Ralphie laughed nervously. "Our friend was leading us to his house and must have taken a wrong turn."
"Your friend must be pretty dumb."
Ralphie glared at Carlos. "Ya, he is."
Carlos gulped. "Wh-What are you going to do to us?"
The group's speaker crossed his arms. "That ain't up to me. Depends on what the boss says."
"What, you don't make your own decisions?" Carlos scoffed, causing both Phoebe and Ralphie to glance at him in alarm. "That's so lame."
"Dude!" Ralphie whispered harshly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to earn some respect!"
The thug cracked his knuckles. "It ain't working."
As if on cue, the other thugs stepped forward and grabbed a hold of the trio. The group was led into the warehouse and through a maze of hallways and rooms, Carlos now remaining silent. Eventually, they arrived at a large, oak door. One of the thugs rapped out a complicated pattern on the wood and the door swung open, revealing a large office. The three were shoved through the opening, and a man shut the door behind them. Before them stood an elegant desk with a comfortable swivel chair, it's back currently facing towards them. One of the thugs guarding the door cleared his throat. "Sir, we have trespassers—three kids, apparently lost on their way home."
"Is that so?" A voice rang out from behind the chair. Slowly, the seat spun around, revealing a pale young man with several piercings upon his face. Poking out of his shirt, a tattoo of a snake was barely visible on his neck.
At the man's dramatic appearance, Ralphie and Carlos grew pale. To their surprise, however, Phoebe seemed to perk up. "Stevie Snake-Eyes?"
The man looked down at the girl, seeming taken aback. "Phoebe? How'd you end up here?"
"My friends and I got lost," she explained, not noticing Ralphie's dropped jaw or Carlos's wide eyes.
The man, Stevie Snake-Eyes, let out a loud laugh. "Of course you did! Honey, you're sweet, but you ain't got no sense o' direction!"
Phoebe blushed. "I've been trying to get better…"
Stevie shook his head, grinning. "Of course you are," he chuckled.
Finally, Carlos collected himself enough to speak. "Phoebe?"
"Yes, Carlos?"
"What the hell is going on?!"
For the first time, Phoebe acknowledged the confusion etched upon her friends' faces. "Oh, I'm sorry! Stevie, these are my friends, Carlos and Ralphie," she introduced, gesturing to said friends. She turned to the boys. "Guys, this is Stevie Snake-Eyes."
Ralphie nodded slowly. "Ya… I gathered that much… Mind telling us how you two know each other?"
"We're neighbors."
Stevie smirked at the comment. "She's too modest; Phoebe here is always coming over and taking care of my granny when I have to go out on business," Stevie gushed. "See, my granny's getting on in years now, and she can't do what she used to. Phoebe helps her with the cookin' and cleanin', and is sure to keep her company when I'm gone on longer jobs. Without her, I would never be able to keep working."
"Wouldn't that be a shame…" Ralphie murmured, careful that none of the thugs could hear.
"Now, shouldn't you be in school?" Stevie's smile faded. "You are taking your classes seriously, aren't you? You know I've always said education is the most important thing."
"Of course!" Phoebe reassured. "But our friend's mother is in labor, and we decided supporting our friend was more important than anything else."
Stevie nodded in approval. "Atta' girl. You remember, you're friends are your family. You got that?"
Phoebe smiled softly at the sentiment. "I do."
"Good. Boys—" Several of the thugs around the room turned to Stevie. "Give these kids an escort to wherever they need to go. And if you cause problems for this young lady again, there will be consequences."
"Oh, you don't have to—"
"Don't even try to talk me out of it!" Stevie laughed again. "It's the least I can do! Have a good day, you hear?"
"Wow… Thank you, really." Phoebe turned to Ralphie and Carlos and was met with blank stares. "What?"
Speechless, the boys simply shook their heads and walked out of the office. With a shrug, Phoebe said goodbye to Stevie Snake-Eyes and followed, accompanied by an entourage of thugs.
September 26, 2013
Street
12:56 P.M.
"What was that, Keesha? I was just being a baby?"
"Wanda…"
"Clearly, I was just being paranoid, right Keesha? The cops won't care, will they Keesha?"
"Shut up, Wanda!"
"I recommend you both shut up and start telling me what you ladies are doing out of school," cut in the tall traffic cop that had recently stopped the girls. As Wanda had foretold, the police force of Walkerville had become over attentive following the havoc of the snowball war last winter. Sergeant O'Donnell, the officer in charge of patrolling Walkerville's central road, had just gotten off of his lunch break when he caught sight of two juveniles wandering the streets in the middle of the day.
Confidently, Wanda tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "We're graduates," she responded wistfully. "We just wanted to relive our old high school days and decided to see the school once more."
Sergeant O'Donnell placed a hand on his hip. "You ladies look like you're about 15."
"No!" Wanda answered frantically, her calm demeanor instantly dissolving. "We're college students!" Sergeant O'Donnell continued to stare Wanda down. "We're grown-ups! We're lawyers living in the downtown area! We have families! We're actually 40!"
Keesha rubbed the bridge of her nose, now realizing what Wanda had meant when she had said she was bad with authority. Sergeant O'Donnell turned to Keesha. "Would you like to say anything? Or did you're friend cover everything?"
Keesha opened her mouth, but no words came out. The policeman was just reaching into his car to dispatch a call when a loud honking made all three look up. An old red car pulled up to the curb and the window rolled down, revealing an attractive senior that Wanda immediately recognized. "Charlie!" Charlie waved. The back window of his car then rolled down, reveling a confused Arnold and DA. "Guys?"
Charlie beamed at the cop. "Yo, daddio!"
The cop glimpsed the driver and a disappointed look crossed his face. "Son, why aren't you in school?"
"I had to take care of my pals, you dig?"
Sergeant O'Donnell shook his head at the response. "No, Charles, I don't! What have your mother and I told you about skipping class?"
Charlie, or Charles as his father put it, gestured for the man to slow down. "You need to relax, pops. Now, you're not troubling these kiddos, are you?"
"Oh, they're not the ones in trouble anymore, believe you me."
"Great!" Charlie leaned out of the window to get a better look at Wanda and Keesha. "Sorry about my pop. But since you're not in trouble anymore, you chicks want a ride?"
Sergeant O'Donnell's face grew red. "No! That's not-"
"Yes please!" Wanda quickly accepted, and the two girls rushed into the car.
"You get back here-"
"Hate to interrupt, sir, but we're in a bit of a rush," Charlie cut off. "See you at home!" And in a flash, the car pulled off.
September 26, 2013
Ramon House
1:10 P.M.
A few minutes later, Charlie's distinctive red car pulled into the driveway and the four kids clambered out. Charlie gave the kids a short salute, an action which Wanda reciprocated dramatically. The others gave Charlie a simple wave as he pulled away from the house, off to some mysterious location. DA smirked at Arnold. "Told you riding with Charlie was a good idea."
"No kidding," Keesha commented, hands on her hips. "We were in serious trouble if you guys didn't show up when you did."
"It could have been avoided," Wanda mused tauntingly, "if only someone had listened to me."
"Get over it, Wan." Keesha rolled her eyes.
Nervously, Arnold peered down the road. "The others better get here soon," he murmured. "The sooner we get to the hospital, the better."
As it turned out, the friends didn't have to wait very long for Dorothy Ann to notice a crowd moving down the street. She squinted at the group. "Is that them?"
Keesha held up her hand, blocking the sun. "I… Think so. Who are they with?"
As Ralphie, Carlos, and Phoebe arrived, the remaining four found themselves unsure of what to make of the trio's new entourage. DA opened her mouth to say something, but Ralphie raised his hand to cut her off. "Don't ask; it's a long story."
Wanda shrugged. "Whatever. We're all here now; let's go get Carlos's mom." With a murmur of agreement, the group paraded into the house.
September 26, 2013
Walkerville Hospital
1:38 P.M.
Tim was sitting alone in the waiting room fiddling with his phone when someone stopped in front of him and cleared their throat. He peered up and, to his surprise, his friends all stood before him, looking tired but pleased. Tim froze in shock for a second before breaking out in a huge smile. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, we figured this was more important than our classes," Keesha explained, "So we just left and came to see you!"
Tim rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the image of his friend's didn't fade. "Guys, that was really cool of you," he enthused. "You didn't have to come all the way down here!"
"Of course we did," Phoebe responded gently. The others nodded in agreement.
Wanda turned her attention to the phone in Tim's hand and couldn't help but notice the mindless game he'd been playing. "Geez, how long have you been stuck here?"
Tim glanced at his watch. "A couple hours… Turns out childbirth isn't as interesting as I expected."
"Dude, you need to get out of this room," Ralphie exclaimed. "Look, we're all pretty tired; I say we go to the cafeteria and get some snacks."
Tim seemed grateful for the suggestion. "Sounds like a plan."
September 26, 2013
Walkerville Hospital Cafeteria
1:59 P.M.
"Who knew hospital food was this good?" Wanda cried as she wolfed down her ice cream cone. "I'm coming here more often!"
DA shook her head in amusement. "There's a plan…"
Leaning back with an order of fries, Carlos seemed content. "You know what, Wanda? How about you tell us a story?"
Wanda seemed genuinely surprised at the comment. "You… really want to hear a story?"
Keesha made a show of rolling her eyes, but nodded at the idea. "Why not?"
"Okay!" Wanda stood up at the end of the table. "Well, I was in the middle of the Gobi desert, sweat dripping down my face. It was just me and the beast, alone, when suddenly, he leaped forward and-" Tim's phone began to beep loudly. "Oh, come on!"
"Sorry, give me a minute." Wanda fell back onto her chair, arms crossed, as Tim answered the phone. He listened for a few minutes, and at the end of the call, he looked up at his friends, eyes wet but a smile on his face. "Guys, I have a sister."
The group stood and congratulated him, even Wanda, and the friends hurried out of the cafeteria, snacks and the story forgotten.