"Maybe you could call in sick."
"Nah, Ray wouldn't let me do that. Besides, he'd figure out I was lying pretty fast, considering what happened when I really was sick."
Henry took his phone away from his face long enough to check the time. He had a hard time believing it was only 12:34, especially given how long he's been talking to Charlotte.
"He night let you fake it if you explain what's happening."
"Yeah, but then he'll blame me. Not to mention tease us about... you know, this whole dating thing."
"Yeah, that's true. Well, I don't know what else we could do," said Charlotte through a yawn. "We can't let Piper find out about you-know-what and you being you-know-who."
"I-know-that. I don't know if we can do anything else besides warn Ray and cut me out of missions for the day. Which I really, really don't wanna do." Despite the pain and panic that came with being Kid Danger, Henry loves his job. He never wants to give it up.
Henry waited a moment for Charlotte to respond when he realized all he was getting was steady breathing, meaning she had fallen asleep. Well, no wonder, given how late they stayed up the night before.
"Sweet dreams, Char," said Henry into the phone, even though she couldn't hear him. He hung up and set it down on his nightstand, and fatigue overtook him before he could worry about the next day anymore.
Morning came faster than it should've. Rather, the time to get up came, since Henry and Charlotte had been talking until past midnight.
Henry glanced at his phone as he shut his alarm off. There was a text from Charlotte:
Sorry I fell asleep on you last night. I called Ray and explained the situation, he wants you to call as soon as you wake up.
"Joyful," muttered Henry. He was glad he didn't have to tell Ray, and all, but he would still have to talk to him. He's going to be so mad.
Henry wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed when Ray answered his Wiz Watch roaring with laughter.
"You- Charlotte- Piper thinks-"
"Don't even say it." Henry could actually feel his face turning red.
"I have NEVER been so happy to address a problem!" Ray laughed even harder and wiped a tear from his face.
"Hey Henry!" Someone stepped into the hologram frame. "It's me, Schwoz, from work!"
"I know who you are, Schwoz," said Henry, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was getting really tired of- Wait. "Did you really have to tell him?"
"Well, yeah, he's involved in half the plan! More or less."
"More!"
"Okay, what plan? What are we doing?"
"You'll see when you get here. All you need to know is act surprised."
"What am I being surprised about?"
"That's why we're not telling you!" Ray dissolved into laughter again, and Schwoz joined him.
"Yeah, fine." Henry hung up his watch and called Charlotte.
"Yeah, they wouldn't tell me, either," she said when Henry asked. "I'm not sure this is going to work out."
"Fingers crossed," said Henry. "You almost here?"
"Yeah, I'm standing at the corner trying to savor these last moments before I have to deal with Piper." Charlotte lived at the end of the block.
"Lucky. At least you don't have to live with her."
"I thank my lucky stars."
"Ha ha. Text me when you're almost here."
"Will do."
Henry wasn't sure that Ray's… plan was going to work, mostly because he hadn't heard it. Heck, he might not even have a plan.
Henry heard the front door open and close, and Piper joyfully say hi to Charlotte. He glanced at his clock. He had a lot less time to get ready than he usually did. Sighing, he dug into his closet for some clean clothes, not looking forward to the day ahead.
Piper spent the ride to Junk N' Stuff jabbering on and on about how excited she was to help, reassuring Henry and Charlotte that they'd barely ("If at all!") know she was there, and a bunch of other stuff they barely heard. Henry and Charlotte spent the whole ride worrying, unable to come up with any way to become any less anxious.
Finally, after what seemed to them like forever, they pulled into Junk N' Stuff.
The first thing Henry and Charlotte noticed was the smell. Piper wasn't in Junk N' Stuff very often, but even she noticed it as soon as she walked in the door. It smelled like a skunk had sprayed all over a dead roadkill animal that had just thrown up its own waste.
In short, absolutely nasty with a hint of nauseating.
"Jesus rice," said Piper, grabbing her nose. "What is that?"
Without warning, a figure burst out from the back area, causing Piper to scream. Henry and Charlotte were sure someone had broken in, but it was just Ray... Wearing an old gas mask?
"Oh, hi guys!" Ray said through the mask. "Didn't you get my text?"
All that stuff about Henry and Charlotte being surprised was certainly working. "Uh… no," said Charlotte after a moment. "What is going on?"
"Oh, Jasper brought in this box that had been donated to us, dropped it, and a bunch of nasty stuff came out. That's what this smell is. We're pretty sure it might be toxic, so we sent him home." Actually, Ray has called Jasper and told him to stay home (and gave him the full explanation- including Henry and Charlotte. He was very sad they weren't actually together) so he wouldn't walk in and ruin everything. "And I'm pretty sure having you guys around here with it would violate some child labor laws or something, and I don't feel like dealing with that, so go ahead and take the day off. Hopefully we'll have all this stuff gone by tomorrow, but we'll see."
Henry and Charlotte looked at each other. "Oh, okay then," said Charlotte quickly. "Let's go." She grabbed Piper's arm and dragged her out the door before Piper could start throwing at fit.
"Now what?!" Piper demanded as they made their way towards the car. "I'm TRYING to help you guys out here, but of course JASPER has to ruin EVERYTHING!" She took a deep breath and thought for a minute. "Okay, where else do you guys hang out?"
Henry and Charlotte exchanged a look. Ever since they started at Junk N' Stuff (yeah), they hadn't really had much time to go other places. Piper figures this out pretty quickly and sighed. "Fine, let's just drive around and find someplace."
Henry and Charlotte looked at each other again, finally able to feel relieved. Crisis averted. They got their phones out.
Henry: That was AWESOME! How did you come up with that?
Ray: you know, my genius
Schwoz: It was my idea, AND I created the smell.
Ray: fine, schowz did all that, but I called jasper and told him not to come , if I hadn't that could have been DISATOURUS
Charlotte: You spelled "disastrous" wrong.
Ray stopped texting back after that.
Schwoz: She's right, you did.
Henry: Told you you can't spell.
Henry and Charlotte couldn't help smiling. Pier saw this in the rearview mirror and smiled herself.
For very different reasons, obviously.
Ciao, and Happy Reading!