Chapter Four: Lunch! ...and a plan?
On the day that the friends had decided to meet, Cameron was running late...again. While he walked down the street, messages appeared on his screen about once every minute or so. Marissa had gotten used to sending messages by writing on the screen, and she often used it to bug him about being late to things. Now it she was timing how long it took for him to get to the meeting.
"CAMERON! You are officially... 31 minutes and 2 seconds late, counting by when I got here, and Nathan was here before I was! You are slow, slow, slow! How you make it to school on time I'll never understand. But Nate tells me not to worry - we should just eat all the food without you."
Here Cameron had to stop walking in order to write. "What food?"
A new message appeared that read, "Hey, this is Nathan. My mom heard that I was supposed to be meeting some friends today, and since I told her we were going to be studying, she made us a huge lunch in a basket and all. Since she didn't ask what we were studying, I tried to tell her, but she didn't listen and gave it to me anyway. I'm not complaining, though."
"Yeah, please don't complain, Nate, and ask your mom to do this again sometimes!" Marissa's handwriting appeared again. "As for you, slow Cam, I'm going to open this basket and chow down unless you're here in three minutes!"
When Cameron arrived, it had been more than three minutes, of course, mostly because he had been trying to find Nathan and Marissa in the expanse of the city park. He rounded a corner, still searching, only to see two people that waved at him. He made his way over to them, and once in hearing distance, he said, "Hey, you guys. I know I'm late, but my mom needed me to watch Angelina..." His eyes flickered over to the basket as he remembered Marissa's threat.
She noticed his look and laughed. "I know I said I was going to eat without you, but since you were helping your mom, I decided that I didn't mind you being late so much that I would deprive you of your share in lunch." Cameron raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled. He glanced over at Nathan, who shrugged. "Come on, now that you're here, we can start eating!" she added.
About fifteen minutes later, the trio was still in the process of having lunch. They chatted about what their classes were like, what teachers were great and which ones were terrible, and just enjoyed having hours of free time for hanging out. At one point, Nathan picked the three objects up and started comparing them. "I wonder what makes them work...could they be cell phones and Palm Pilots combined, back from when the technologies were less portable?"
"There's no telling," Marissa said as she snagged her item by the antenna. "However they work, I like them. I hope whoever lost them isn't looking for them, because I don't think I'd want to give mine back. I mean, I would if they meant a lot to the person and they asked me..."
"I might think twice about doing that even if someone asked. I mean, they appeared out of nowhere in the computer lab. We were the only ones there, and they weren't on the floor before then, so it must be all right for us to have them until someone claims them," Cameron said.
"As for me, I just want to know what it does without having to take it apart!" Nathan said emphatically. All three of them laughed at that statement. "Speaking of which, have you guys tried pressing any other buttons yet?"
"I have," Cameron replied, "but it doesn't do anything."
"Same here," Marissa added.
"Well, I had an idea. Now that we know how these things work, why don't we try using them with the computers at school? That's how we got them to turn on before, after all."
Cameron nodded. "That's a good idea, Nate, but for one thing: how are we supposed to get in school on a Saturday?"
"There's some kind of event there today," Nathan pointed out. "We can get in, because the doors will all be unlocked."
Marissa gave Nathan a look. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"Well, yes," Nathan admitted. "But you have to admit, it's a good plan!" The other two mumbled something. "Oh, come on guys! We don't have to go if you don't want to, but I think it would make for good research."
After a moment, Marissa stood up. "Okay with me! This way I can play Tatiri without having to worry about teachers telling me to delete it from the computer!"
Cameron said, "All right, I'm coming too." Then he looked over at Marissa, blinked, and asked her, "What exactly is Tatiri, anyway?"
Marissa gasped as if she had never heard such a thing. "Cam, you don't about Tatiri? Well, I'll just have to show you when we get to school! It's a really fun game, you'll love it, I promise. And no matter what anyone tells you, it's not addictive!" The three gathered up their belongings and set off towards the school, still carrying the basket, Marissa talking about the wonders of online games as they walked.
On the day that the friends had decided to meet, Cameron was running late...again. While he walked down the street, messages appeared on his screen about once every minute or so. Marissa had gotten used to sending messages by writing on the screen, and she often used it to bug him about being late to things. Now it she was timing how long it took for him to get to the meeting.
"CAMERON! You are officially... 31 minutes and 2 seconds late, counting by when I got here, and Nathan was here before I was! You are slow, slow, slow! How you make it to school on time I'll never understand. But Nate tells me not to worry - we should just eat all the food without you."
Here Cameron had to stop walking in order to write. "What food?"
A new message appeared that read, "Hey, this is Nathan. My mom heard that I was supposed to be meeting some friends today, and since I told her we were going to be studying, she made us a huge lunch in a basket and all. Since she didn't ask what we were studying, I tried to tell her, but she didn't listen and gave it to me anyway. I'm not complaining, though."
"Yeah, please don't complain, Nate, and ask your mom to do this again sometimes!" Marissa's handwriting appeared again. "As for you, slow Cam, I'm going to open this basket and chow down unless you're here in three minutes!"
When Cameron arrived, it had been more than three minutes, of course, mostly because he had been trying to find Nathan and Marissa in the expanse of the city park. He rounded a corner, still searching, only to see two people that waved at him. He made his way over to them, and once in hearing distance, he said, "Hey, you guys. I know I'm late, but my mom needed me to watch Angelina..." His eyes flickered over to the basket as he remembered Marissa's threat.
She noticed his look and laughed. "I know I said I was going to eat without you, but since you were helping your mom, I decided that I didn't mind you being late so much that I would deprive you of your share in lunch." Cameron raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled. He glanced over at Nathan, who shrugged. "Come on, now that you're here, we can start eating!" she added.
About fifteen minutes later, the trio was still in the process of having lunch. They chatted about what their classes were like, what teachers were great and which ones were terrible, and just enjoyed having hours of free time for hanging out. At one point, Nathan picked the three objects up and started comparing them. "I wonder what makes them work...could they be cell phones and Palm Pilots combined, back from when the technologies were less portable?"
"There's no telling," Marissa said as she snagged her item by the antenna. "However they work, I like them. I hope whoever lost them isn't looking for them, because I don't think I'd want to give mine back. I mean, I would if they meant a lot to the person and they asked me..."
"I might think twice about doing that even if someone asked. I mean, they appeared out of nowhere in the computer lab. We were the only ones there, and they weren't on the floor before then, so it must be all right for us to have them until someone claims them," Cameron said.
"As for me, I just want to know what it does without having to take it apart!" Nathan said emphatically. All three of them laughed at that statement. "Speaking of which, have you guys tried pressing any other buttons yet?"
"I have," Cameron replied, "but it doesn't do anything."
"Same here," Marissa added.
"Well, I had an idea. Now that we know how these things work, why don't we try using them with the computers at school? That's how we got them to turn on before, after all."
Cameron nodded. "That's a good idea, Nate, but for one thing: how are we supposed to get in school on a Saturday?"
"There's some kind of event there today," Nathan pointed out. "We can get in, because the doors will all be unlocked."
Marissa gave Nathan a look. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"Well, yes," Nathan admitted. "But you have to admit, it's a good plan!" The other two mumbled something. "Oh, come on guys! We don't have to go if you don't want to, but I think it would make for good research."
After a moment, Marissa stood up. "Okay with me! This way I can play Tatiri without having to worry about teachers telling me to delete it from the computer!"
Cameron said, "All right, I'm coming too." Then he looked over at Marissa, blinked, and asked her, "What exactly is Tatiri, anyway?"
Marissa gasped as if she had never heard such a thing. "Cam, you don't about Tatiri? Well, I'll just have to show you when we get to school! It's a really fun game, you'll love it, I promise. And no matter what anyone tells you, it's not addictive!" The three gathered up their belongings and set off towards the school, still carrying the basket, Marissa talking about the wonders of online games as they walked.