Chapter 23: Ms. Jade Finally Figures It Out

It was Monday of the following week. Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, and Ryan were worried because Molly hadn't shown up yet, and they'd been in class for almost twenty minutes. Ms. Jade was reviewing numbers when they heard a click at the door. Molly quickly walked in and sat down in her seat.

"Why are you late?" barked Ms. Jade.

A boy popped his head in the door. He had a blue shirt and pants, and spiky brown hair. "Her train just came in. She's excused," he said.

"Hat!" Ms. Jade shouted.

The boy, knowing she had blue hair, said, "She, uh, has a cold, so she doesn't have to take it off. See you, Molly!" He left the classroom.

"Who was that?" Anakin asked Molly quietly.

"That's my sister's friend, Gary," Molly explained.

"Molly! Why are you late?" Ms. Jade asked.

"It takes two and a half hours to get here."

"Get up earlier."

"The earliest train comes at 4:40. That's the one I take. Today it was really late. I can't help it."

"Find another way to school. And remove your hat!"

Molly took her hat off. Ms. Jade had realized that Molly's hair was permanent, but she still liked embarrassing her.

Class continued as normal. At the end of the day, Tim drove up. The four piled into the car. "Need a ride, Molly?" asked Tim.

"Yeah, I guess. Gary hasn't shown up yet." Molly got into the car.

"Why is Gary picking you up and dropping you off?" asked Jaina.

"My sister's sick, so she asked him to."

Back in the forest, Molly waited for Gary to come. He did, but he was late.

The next day, Gary dropped Molly off at school, twenty minutes late again, but this time Ms. Jade was too busy to get mad. Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, and Ryan had arrived around the same time.

That day was a nightmare. The three Jedi-in-training were all complaining that Mara was picking on them too much that day.

Near the end of the day, Ms. Jade walked over to Anakin's desk. "Nick, I'll need your parents' phone number. I need to tell them to get you here on time tomorrow."

"I don't live with my parents," Anakin answered.

"Well then, who do you live with?

"Ben," he managed to squeak.

"And how old is Ben?"

"Twelve."

"That's not legal. Who else do you live with?"

"Damien."

"How old is he?"

"Twelve."

"Hmm. That's not legal. Why don't I call your parents? Tell me their phone number!"

"I don't know it."

"Why not?"

"Because." Anakin eyed the door worriedly.

There was a long pause, during which Ms. Jade muttered something unintelligible. Jaina heard her say, "Last time I saw Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was twelve…"

"Maybe because they don't live on this planet?" Ms. Jade suggested.

"Yes."

"Of course they don't, which is why you live with Obi-Wan Kenobi!"

Anakin looked as if he had just been frozen, except his mouth was open wide. "H-h-how did you…"

"Stand up, Anakin Solo!" Anakin stood up. "And Jaina and Jacen, too!" They stood up. The rest of the class looked at them, confused. What was going on? "Come here!" shouted Ms. Jade. They did.

"Tell me where Obi-Wan is!"

"Not until you put down the Ysalamari field," said Jaina.

"I never put it down!"

"Then we won't tell you where he is," said Jacen.

"Fine!" Ms. Jade put down the field. "Better? Now where is he?"

"He just left the planet," Jacen lied.

"Where is he then?" Ms. Jade shouted.

The bell for school to end rang. Anakin bolted out of the door before Ms. Jade could catch him. "Anakin! Come back here!" she shouted, but Anakin ran down the hall and out to the car. In a few minutes, Jaina and Jacen were able to get free, too.

Ryan, Anakin, and Tim were waiting in the car. "Step on it!" shouted Jaina.

"Molly?" Tim asked. Molly looked around quickly, then got in the car. Tim "stepped on it".

Gary stood by the edge of the forest, an hour after they had gotten back. He was even later than he had been the day before. He asked Turtle where Molly was. She was inside Sarah's cabin. Gary went in.

"Oh, hi, Gary," said Molly, "Late as usual!"

"Shut up," said Gary. He looked very pale.

"Are you okay, Gary? You don't look so good," said Molly, getting up out of her chair and picking up her backpack.

Gary plopped down into her chair. "I'm fine," he said.

"Let's go, Gary!" said Molly impatiently. Gary didn't answer. "Gary! Come on!" she yelled. "Uh, oh."

Sarah looked over from talking to Cathy. Gary was slumped over in the chair. "He doesn't look too good," commented Cathy.

"Wake up!" Molly shouted. Gary didn't move.

Sarah helped him into Tim's bed.

"Is he okay?" asked Molly.

"I don't know. Ask your brother to take you home, Molly. This guy's not leaving anytime soon," Sarah said.

"I'll go," said Cathy. Molly and Cathy left. Damien took Molly home.

"Dinnertime!" Snowy called, a little later. She usually made food for the five in the cave. They ran inside and sat down.

"Turtle! Time for dinner!" called Cathy.

"I guess I'll go eat dinner, too," said Lee.

"Yeah, our dinner should be done by now, too, " said Tim.

They went into their cabins or caves. "What's for dinner, Sarah?" asked Tim. "I'm starving!"

"Dinner? Oh, we're having…biscuits!" Sarah ran out to the food storage and got three biscuits.

We never had biscuits for dinner before, only breakfast, though Tim. He shrugged and sat down at the table.

They ate dinner then went back outside to play. Sarah sat down by the fire and stared at the wall dreamily.

Ryan and Tim came in for a drink. "My cup is diwty!" Ryan shouted.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to wash it after dinner," said Sarah. She picked the cup up, walked to the door with it, then put it back in the table.

"It's still diwty!" Ryan shouted.

"Oops," said Sarah.

"Sarah, are you feeling okay?" asked Tim.

"What?" Sarah said spaceily.

Tim sighed and went to the pond to wash Ryan's cup himself

Cathy came in. "What are you staring at, Sarah?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," Sarah said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"You're acting strange."

"How?"

"I don't know, you just are."

"Oh."

"It's Gary isn't it?"

Sarah perked up at the mention of Gary's name. "What about Gary? Oh, I mean, no way! This doesn't have anything to do with him!"

Cathy went out of the room. "I'll be back to check on you," she said.

"Okay."

Tim walked back in right as Cathy was leaving. "You noticed something strange about her, too?" he asked her.

"Yeah."

It was ten o'clock, and Ryan was still up. Sarah had forgotten to make him got to bed. Cathy walked over to him. "Ryan, go to bed, it's ten o'clock," she said.

"Only Sarah can tell me what to do!" Ryan shouted.

"Sarah, tell Ryan to go to bed," instructed Cathy.

"Ryan, go to bed," Sarah said dreamily.

"You should go to bed, too, Sarah," instructed Cathy. She led Sarah to her bed.

Meanwhile, Tim was talking to Ben and Damien in their cabin. "At dinner, Ryan told me that Anakin, Jaina, and Jacen got expelled from school because Mara Jade was their teacher," he said.

"Yeah, that's what they said. They're lying," said Damien.

"They're not lying," said Ben. "I can tell when they lie, and they weren't."

"Well if they really got expelled, they have to go to another school. Is there another school on this planet?" asked Damien.

"Not that I know of," Tim responded.

"Well, then they have to go to another planet."

"Is there a school on Pokémon?" asked Tim.

"Yeah, but it takes two and a half hours to get there from here."

"So be it," said Ben.

"No way! I'll have to get up at two o'clock in the morning!" cried Tim.

"Three," corrected Ben. Tim smacked himself in the head.

"You can always go back to sleep after you drop them off at the train station," said Damien.

"Okay," Tim finally agreed.

He went back to his cabin and decided to go to sleep. He went over to his bed and screamed, "What the…? There's a boy in my bed!"

"Oh, that's Gary," Sarah explained sleepily. "He's sick, so he's sleeping in your bed for now. Go sleep somewhere else, Tim." She rolled over and went back to sleep.

Tim, grumbling, went outside. "At least if I get sick, I'll get my bed back," he said as he settled down on the rocks and went to sleep.