Hayley was in a tree, across the street from Sarah's house, keeping a close eye on things through a set of binoculars. She thought she might have hit a snag in her plan when she realised that she and Sarah were indeed going to work on their project in Sarah's garage, but fortunately since it was a nice night, Sarah had opted to open the large roller door for some fresh air while they worked. It meant that from a distance, she could still see them.
She could see Sarah working on what was presumably her project. She couldn't see exactly what it was, but since it was a machine of some description and knowing Sarah's flair for engineering she was sure she probably wouldn't understand it without Sarah explaining it anyway…and even then, she was sure she'd be nodding and pretending she understood most of it anyway.
Sarah was working, but at the same time had her cell phone trapped between her shoulder and her ear. She had figured another flaw in her plan with this, being so far out they couldn't hear anything that was going on. She had no idea who Sarah was talking to or what she was talking about. She was doing her best to try and lip-read, but she was having a little difficulty focusing the binoculars enough to be able to see her lips clearly. One benefit of her newfound ability to interpret communication was if she could see Sarah she was sure she'd be able to tell what she was saying.
"So, what's happening?" Calvin asked as he arrived back. Hayley almost fell out of the tree and had to scramble to catch her binoculars. She glared at him for startling her. "Hey, don't look at me! Ninja rule number one, when running surveillance never get so focused on the target you don't notice anything else around you, especially when in enemy territory."
"We're in suburban Summer Cove, not Downtown Baghdad." She reminded him.
"Yes, a neighbourhood which is full of nosey soccer moms, nosey pensioners and a neighbourhood watch scheme." He reminded her in return. "Any one of those would just love to know what a couple of teenagers dressed in leather ninja suits are doing up a tree with a set of binoculars."
"Point taken I guess." Hayley grumbled. "I can't hear anything out here."
"Why not use the Ninja-Comm?" He asked her. "You know, just open up Sarah's end?"
"Do you know how to do that?" Hayley asked. He just shrugged. "That's more Sarah's department. In the meantime, I'm left trying to lip-read with the world's cheapest set of binoculars."
"So, what is she saying?" Calvin asked her.
"I was hoping she'd be making a reservation or something, give us an idea where we're going so we can get out of this tree." She told him. "All I can tell is it's something about her dad. She keeps saying the word 'dad'…unless it's mad…or sad or…yeah I think it's dad."
"Well that's not really that surprising." Calvin commented, unwrapping something wrapped in foil and taking a bite. "He is still in the hospital doing rehab."
"Did you…did you go for a burrito?" Hayley asked him.
"Hey, all this surveillance is hungry work!" He protested. "There's this great place…"
"Calvin will you concentrate on this? This is important!" Hayley chastised him as she thought about it for a moment. "We definitely need a closer look."
"We're right across the street." Calvin reminded her.
"You keep an eye on them out here." Hayley told him. "I'm going around back to see if I can get closer."
"Hayley…Hayley!" He rushed out, but she was already too far away to hear him unless he shouted. He had to remind himself about his own warning and the fact that it would be highly embarrassing, not to mention take a lot of explaining to Sarah if they ended up getting chased out of the neighbourhood by a bunch of her neighbours armed with brooms. He took up the binoculars and watched as Preston came back.
Over the street, Sarah was nodding and smiling.
"That's great to hear! I'm sorry I couldn't be there…I promise I'll come and visit at the weekend." She told him. "Yes dad, I know this year's important…yes, I'll be fine…um…I'm not actually cooking tonight, I'm going out. Yes, with Preston…dad, that's none of your…of course I'll be careful…dad, you have MET Preston, right? He's a perfect gentleman! He'd never try anything like that on the first…yes dad, I am admitting this is a date…dad, I promise I'll be fine. Yes, I love you too."
She hung up and turned to see Preston arriving back with a couple of juice boxes.
"Perfect gentleman?" Preston asked her. "He'd never try anything? I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."
"A compliment of course." She giggled in response. "It's one of the reasons I like you."
"I called my dad's guy, he made us a reservation at his favourite spot, 'Truffe d'or'." He told her. Sarah's eyebrows raised.
"Wow, that place is super fancy." She commented. "I heard it's booked up for like two years in advance. The Tien name really does have a lot of sway in this town doesn't it?"
"I…I wasn't trying to show off or…"
"Preston, it's fine, I've walked past that place a few times! It looks super fancy! I've always wanted to try it!" She told him. "Alright, that should just about do it, time to give it one quick test."
"The machine's ready?" Preston asked her.
"Well, I still need to close up the shell but not much point in doing that until I know it works." She told him. "Um…alright, hand me those Tupperware's."
"Alright, let's see what we have." Preston answered. "Um…tuna?"
"Yeah, that should be a challenge." She told him, tipping it into a funnel in the top. He just shook his head.
"OK, well next we have…sweetcorn?"
"Perfect!" Sarah answered, adding it. Preston just looked a little worried. "Hey, I said this thing should be able to make a delicious cookie out of anything, we have to be prepared for people trying to prove that wrong."
"Um…alright, then have some…lemon." Preston said, handing her the last Tupperware.
"Great, that's perfect! That should just about do it!" She told him as she started it up. "Alright, everything seems to be running smoothly…I don't see any sparks so that's a good sign."
"Should I be worried?" Preston asked her.
"Hey, there's a few risks in engineering." She reminded him. "But it looks like I'm keeping set of eyebrows number 3 today."
"There's a smell, that's kind of…kind of good actually!" Preston stated. Sarah smiled and nodded.
"It does indeed." She answered. "Now just…keep your fingers crossed."
Around the back of the house, Hayley was just coming over the hedge, and making her way across the back yard. She had been around Sarah's house a few times, so she knew the layout, but it was the first time she had ever been trying to break in. She could hear machinery running in the garage, but it was so loud she couldn't hear anything else, not without getting so close she risked being seen.
She looked up, seeing Sarah's window open ajar. She couldn't eavesdrop on what they were saying, but she figured may be if she could just take a little peek inside, maybe she might see a reservation or an outfit laid out, something that might give her some kind of clue as to what she and Preston were planning to do. Looking around for anyone watching, she quickly shimmied her way up the drainpipe to Sarah's window, taking a look inside.
"You don't lay out an outfit before a date?" Hayley commented as she glanced around the room, looking for any obvious outfit.
"Hayley, are you there?" Calvin asked her.
"Um…not quite." Hayley told him. "What are they doing?"
"Still working on that machine thing." Calvin told her.
"I know, I can hear it, I can't hear what they're saying." She told him. "I can't see an outfit laid out for the date in Sarah's room either."
"Whoa, wait…you're looking in her room?" Calvin asked her.
"Kind of?" Hayley offered.
"Um…Hayley, this goes a little above and beyond eavesdropping." Calvin warned her.
"I'm just having a peek in the window." Hayley assured him. "I can't see any notes out or anything…"
"So, we're back to following them when they leave." Calvin answered.
"Wait, Sarah's diary is on her desk." Hayley answered. "She writes everything in there, she's shown me quite a few things in it."
"Yeah, and it's inside the room." He reminded her. "So…"
"The window's open." Hayley stated. "I'm going in."
"Hayley, you can't break into your best friend's bedroom!" Calvin told her. "Hayley, you…you're already in the room, aren't you?"
"Kind of?" Hayley offered as she slipped inside, moving quietly. Up here, she could still hear the machine downstairs. "Alright, I've got the diary."
"Fine, then just read it and get out of there!" He told her.
"Damn it, she's not written anything for today yet!" Hayley told him. "I still can't see an outfit…she hasn't laid out her outfit for her first date? That is so…gah! I had my outfit laid out days before!"
"Hey, when we went on our first date I waited on you for three quarters of an hour while you got changed!" Calvin recalled. Hayley realised her accidental admission.
"Um…I was…trying to mentally prepare?" She offered weakly. Calvin just groaned.
"Why don't you just admit you kept me waiting on purpose?" He asked her.
"Oh, like it was such a chore, my dad loves you!" Hayley answered as she made sure to return the diary to the position it had been in before so Sarah wouldn't notice anything was amiss. "Half the time it seemed more like you were his kid than I was."
"Alright, whatever, just get out of there!" Calvin told her.
"Hang on, I've got an idea." Hayley said with a smile. "I can always interview a witness."
"What witness?" Calvin asked her.
"Someone who's been in her room all week." Hayley said, going over to Winny's cage and opening the door. "Hey there Winny, it's me, remember me?"
"Hayley?" Winny asked, looking up from her food bowl. "I…didn't know you were here. I thought…"
"Yeah, I'm just…here doing a favour for Sarah." Hayley told her. "I was just wondering if I could ask you a little bit about her plans for tonight?"
"You're grilling her rabbit for information?" Calvin sighed as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Cal, why don't you just eat your burrito and warn me if they leave the garage?" Hayley asked him, before taking Winny out of her cage and cuddling her softly. "Alright Winny, let's talk."
Down in the garage, Sarah and Preston were both watching the machine, keeping a careful eye on it as it produced its first ever cookie. Sarah had run numerous tests on each of the parts and processes, but this was the first time running the whole thing at once.
The machine shook a little bit, and it was a lot louder than it should be since they were running it without the shell so Sarah could keep an eye on the connections to make sure nothing was reacting in a way it shouldn't. She and Preston both had their fingers crossed in anticipation.
A few moments later, a large cookie rolled out of the conveyer belt on the side. She picked it up carefully with a napkin and presented it to Preston. "Alright, time for the moment of truth."
"So, I'm your guinea pig?" He asked her.
"I wouldn't want to ruin my appetite before my date gets me to the restaurant, would I?" She asked him, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Preston just sighed and took the cookie.
"Alright, I guess." He stated. He noticed Sarah putting a bucket down on the table. "Um…what's that for?"
"Best to be prepared." She answered, taking out a notebook. "Alright, tuna, sweetcorn and lemon, test one."
Preston looked a little worried as he closed his eyes, before taking a bite. He stood silently for a good while, before chewing it.
"What? What's it like?" She asked him. "Are you feeling…?"
"It's…it's great!" He complimented her. "Like…if I had half a dozen of these we wouldn't need to go to the restaurant!"
"Oh, we're still going alright." Sarah answered. "I just need to close this up and get washed up and changed."
"I can do that." Preston told her. Sarah just looked at her. "Close up the shell I mean. I mean, I guess I should do something on this machine right? It can't be much different than putting together my cabinets, right?"
"If…if you're sure." Sarah answered, handing him a screwdriver and a few screws. "I'll be as quick as I can."
"Alright now, let's get this done." Preston said as he looked to the device. Sarah left the garage, closing the door behind her.
Across the street, Calvin was sitting finishing off his burrito. He let out a long, satisfied moan as he finished up, sucking on his fingers for any stray sauce and cheese.
"Now that was a good burrito." He commented. "Hayley, we are really going to have to go back there one time. I met some girl named Chloe who recommended it and I have to say, that girl really knows her burritos!"
"Calvin, are you seriously using the comms to talk about burritos right now?" Hayley asked him. "I'm kind of in the middle of something!"
"Oh right, breaking into your best friend's house to interrogate her pet rabbit about her plans." Calvin commented. "You know Hayls, at some point this went a little beyond friendly eavesdropping and went into the territory of being more than a little creepy and invasive."
"Oh, come on Calvin, it doesn't count when it's friends!" Hayley assured him.
"Um…yeah, it kind of does." He answered. "I remember you didn't talk to me for two days when I looked in your purse for tic tacs."
"Just…just…keep an eye on them, will you?" She asked.
"Hayley, they're in the garage, I can see them right…" Calvin paused as he noticed something. He checked his binoculars. "Um…Hayley, Sarah isn't in the garage."
"WHAT?" Hayley asked him.
"She's….she's not in the garage, she must have left!" Calvin answered.
"No shit sherlock!" Hayley answered, putting Winny back in her cage and closing the door. "Dammit Calvin you had ONE job!"
She heard a creek and gulped.
"Dammit, she's on the stairs!" Hayley stated. "Calvin, you really screwed this one up!"
"I screwed this up?" Calvin asked her.
Hayley heard the door handle starting to trigger and looked to it. She gulped as she saw the handle beginning to turn.