Chapter 142
(Royal Woods bus)
Lincoln and Jordan are sitting next to each other, behind them is Stella and Simon and behind them is Rusty who is asleep, the bus then stops and Rusty wakes up.
Coming into the bus is Clyde, Penelope, Liam, Tabby and Zach.
"Hey guys, you all looking forward to today's Wednesday share?" asked Stella.
"Heck yeah, I brought my dream journal to read to read to all of you of the many things I have had in my years, but there are some things I won't reveal" said Clyde.
"I have brought with me my attendance record ever since pre-school" said Penelope.
"And I brought with me my prize piglet" said Liam.
"The rock star boots that I got from my first concert from London" said Tabby.
"Ugh, I flanked out of the assignment like two minutes ago and grabbed a random take out menu by the doors" said Zach in misery.
Rusty then brings out his portrait. "I brought with me this sweet picture of myself I commissioned on the board walk. It really captured my rugged essence."
They all had no clue what to think of this, and they were glad Polly wasn't there to see it either.
Stella then pulls out something from her bag. "Well, not gonna lie, but I'm pretty excited about my Wednesday share" she shows them a music box that is the shape of an egg, it then plays music and reveals a small elephant with a ball dancing.
They were in awe at this thing.
"My granny and I found it at the flea market. It was broken and rusted shut, but she's a total wizard and helped me fix it" said Stella.
Rusty then nudges Zach. "Bet your really regretting that take out menu huh?" Zach just has an upset look.
"What about you Simon?" asked Stella.
"Well I got this" Simon shows them an image of his first concert with his sister, it shows a six year old Simon with a ten year old Sam at a Linkin Park Concert and both of them were invited on stage.
"Whoa What?! You were at that concert at the age of ten?!" said Lincoln.
"Yeah, it was the first concert I was brought to. Sam did all she could to get us backstage because they ran out of tickets, this is where our sibling bond was forged" Simon then looks sad. "It sure is a shame that Chester Bennington is now gone, he signed this picture." He turns it over to reveal the autograph of the lead vocalist of the band.
Lincoln also knows about that news and feels bad for Simon.
But Simon soon reclaims his normal composure and looks to Lincoln and Jordan. "So, what about you two? What are you guys bringing?"
Lincoln and Jordan chuckle. "Let's just say that's a surprise" said Lincoln.
"So no spoiler's guys" said Jordan.
"Aww, come on" they all complained.
"Sorry guys. But that's still a no" said Lincoln.
"At first we didn't know what we were bringing, but then we both realized we both had the same intentions of what we were gonna share" said Jordan.
"Well, whatever it is. I know it has something to do with you two being together" said Tabby.
"She's not wrong about that one" said Penelope.
Jordan then looks to Lincoln. "So, what do you think of my Golden hoop earrings?"
Lincoln kisses her cheeks. "No matter what you wear you still look beautiful, also are those from your mom?"
"Yeah, she handed them down to me. They belonged to her mom and she was given them when she was twelve, like the age I am right now" replied Jordan.
"Dang, them things look fancy. Were they expensive?" said Liam.
"No clue, my mom never said anything. But I guess you can say these are a family heirloom" said Jordan.
"Well, try not to lose them" said Stella.
"Well we are having dodge ball later at gym, I have to keep them safe elsewhere so they won't get damaged" said Jordan.
"You should show them to your friends, they might like them" said Clyde.
"Why didn't you bring those for share today?" asked Zach.
"It was my first option, but then I got another idea instead" said Jordan.
"Same here, I was going to show a picture of my first concert with Luna, but I decided to bring something else" said Lincoln. "Luna understood and was okay with it."
(Royal Woods Elementary)
They all listened to Zach's very weird Share about Giovani-Chang's take out menu, in which he got a B from Mrs. Johnson.
They learned that Penelope had the same attendance record as Clyde does, but she also attended some extra classes on weekends before she met Clyde.
Tabby shared her story about the boots, and why they were so important to her. She rocked and rolled on stage with Santana, AC/DC and Metallica when they toured in London a long time ago. Complete shocked to Lincoln who almost fainted.
Simon shared his photo which pulled the hearts of many of the classmates.
Then Lincoln and Jordan shared to them, the air force medals they got from a visiting air force captain who came to their home a week ago, the man was tasked to hand the medals over to Lincoln and Jordan from the elderly men from Pearl Harbor.
These medals are for their great granddad's who fought in the battle of Midway.
Soon to share was Clyde, followed by Rusty and Liam. And Haiku showed them an image of what she photographed in her room, it looked like a shadowy figure of herself by the window, but she said she was holding the camera the whole time. Truly spooky, and also gives them a reason to not visit her house, ever.
Next Mrs. Johnson was going to call Stella to be next, Stella goes through her bag, but then she realizes something was wrong. "I can't find it!"
"What?" said Simon.
"Did anyone forget this assignment?" asked Mrs. Johnson.
Stella then spills out the contents of her bus. "No! I had it when I was on the bus, I swear!"
The rest of her friends also pitched in and told her about what it was.
Mrs. Johnson seemed a bit convinced, since she knows Lincoln, Jordan and Clyde are the ones who may have seen it. "Okay, okay. I believe you, we can do it tomorrow."
Stella looks down at her stuff in sadness. "But, where did it go?"
Simon sits next to her and places a hand on Stella's shoulder. "Wherever it is, we'll find it. Don't worry Stella."
(Gym class, well after gym)
They all finish their run in dodge ball, Jordan is headed to her locker and is ready to get to the cafeteria.
She told Lincoln that she would meet him and the others there soon. She was now the only one at the lockers, and she goes through her bag and then she sees that something was wrong. "What the? Where are they?!"
Then she hears some skittering sound. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Then she sees something coming out and she was shocked at what it was.
(Cafeteria)
Lincoln, Stella, Simon, Tabby, Liam, Penelope, Zach and Rusty are all eating lunch.
Simon could tell from his girlfriend's expression, she was not happy at all.
Then Rusty speaks up. "Hey Stella, trade you my delicious cold fish soup for that lame meatball sub."
Stella was about to make the trade, but then Simon intervenes. "Yeah, she's not doing that. And nice try Spokes, but not smart enough to fool me."
Rusty scooches away a bit and eats his lunch.
"Good call Simon" said Clyde.
Simon then looks to Stella. "Are you okay? Still upset about the music box?"
"Sorry, I just can't stop thinking about my music box. What could've happened to it?" said Stella.
"Well, it certainly couldn't have fallen off the bus or was left on the bus, then we would've seen it" said Tabby.
"She has a point, also your bag is in good shape and there would be no way it could've fallen out" said Penelope.
Then Zach clears his throat. "Umm, I don't wanna be that guy. But, maybe the rat beast took it."
Some of them gasp at the suggestion, though Simon and Lincoln didn't. Stella on the other hand was just confused.
"Don't even joke man!" said Rusty.
"That just sends jitters down my spine" said Liam.
"Dude, seriously. I don't think it could be possible" said Simon.
"It's just a tale they say around here since some weird accident at the science lab" said Lincoln.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Stella.
Zach then points to them to go under the table, Stella also follows. Though Lincoln and Simon sigh. "It's gonna be one of those days" said Simon.
"Yup" replied Lincoln, they both also follow underneath the table.
Zach then tells Stella about the Royal Woods Elementary legend about three rats mutated into one monster from a science accident and that it still wanders the school grounds taking things, starnge sounds in the halls and the smell of corn chips.
Stella is a bit scared from this, but Lincoln and Simon are not intimidated. Because of some recent events with a strange battle at Ketcham Park, both of them highly doubt that monster rat theory.
"Has anyone tried to track it down?" asked Stella.
"Nope, it swiped my harmonica. But it's welcome to keep it, I'm not looking to tussle with a mutant" said Liam.
"Same here mate, that little rascal took my favorite guitar pick when I first moved into this school" said Tabby.
"Same goes for my first calculator" said Penelope. Clyde rubs her back for comfort.
"Well, I'm not giving up on my music box. I'm finding the rat beast!" said Stella. But then Simon puts her hand down.
"Stella, as much as I think your brave intensity is very attractive. The whole rat beast thing is just a piece of folklore some kids spread" said Simon.
"Lisa said that a mouse escaped from the science lab and got into some chemicals. She said that the rat likes corn chips and stumbled onto them, there was only one rat, not three" said Lincoln.
"Wait a minute. How does Lisa know about the chemicals in the science lab?" asked Clyde.
"She asked principal Huggins that she should be in charge of keeping track of all the essentials to the place, he accepted it" said Lincoln.
"So, this might just be some random rat that got mutated?" asked Rusty.
"Could be. There's no way some chemicals could make a monster" said Simon.
"But what about them heroes ya'll saw in the park battle?" asked Liam.
"As what my hero version said, they got they're from an advanced lab and it was more of a gift. A mouse getting spilled by chemicals might have had some small mutations" said Lincoln.
"Chances the rat may have gotten an extra eye or extra tail, extra legs, extra ears. The chances are possible, but no way in heck is there a mutated monster rat, that's just some random comic from the 80's kind of stick" said Simon.
Stella was now feeling confident that they're right. "Huh, I guess you're right. Still I think it may have taken my music box for a reason, and I'm gonna find it!"
They then come out from under the table and proceed with their lunch, but then Jordan comes to them. "Lincoln!"
"Jordan? What's wrong?" Lincoln goes to her. "Lincoln, I went to my locker and found that my golden hoop earrings were missing!" replied Jordan.
"What?!" said Lincoln.
Jordan nods. "And I know who took them." Lincoln at this point looked a bit angry. "Who?!"
"Lincoln, calm down. All of you, follow me" said Jordan.
They all followed her out of the cafeteria, Rusty sees that Stella left her meatball sub and takes it.
They follow Jordan out of the cafeteria and into the gym, luckily Coach Pokawski is at his free time and isn't around.
They go to her bag which was left on the bleachers, and there was no one else there.
She then shows them her golden hoop earrings from the pocket.
"What the? I thought they were stolen?" asked Clyde.
"They were, but the culprit gave them back and I was able to convince him to give back some other missing stuff" said Jordan.
She then shows them a box of things that were missing.
"My harmonica!" said Liam.
"My calculator!" said Penelope. She then sees it isn't working. "Huh, the batteries are dead."
"My guitar pick! Yes!" said Tabby.
Stella was happier to see her missing item. "My music box!" she then smells it. "Why does it smell like corn chips?"
They then gasp. "The rat beast took them!" said Zach.
Jordan chuckles. "Not exactly" she then puts her hand into her bag. "Guys, say hello to Cinnamon."
"Wait what?!" said Rusty.
"That's the rat from the science lab Lisa said" said Lincoln.
"He doesn't seem that dangerous" said Simon.
"More like weird to me" said Tabby.
"As it turns out, I think Cinnamon took them because he was bored, someone in the school is keeping him safe and a secret. If anyone were to find this guy at school, this whole place would be in total lock down and this little guy would be experimented on" said Jordan. "Also, I knew him two years ago."
"I'm sorry what now?!" said Clyde.
"Yup, back then, I would sneak in the lab after classes to see him. He was really nice, but when Norm the janitor was coming I had to high tail it out of there. I never knew what happened to him after that, I thought he passed away or something" said Jordan.
"So, this little guy was like a school friend to you?" asked Simon.
"Yeah, and I can't believe he's still here!" Jordan then gives him the whole bag of corn chips. "And he still likes this stuff."
"Wow. But he did take all of our stuff and is that Mollie's Lucky Canadian coin?" asked Stella.
"Yeah, I should give this back to her later, and he's really sorry for taking all the stuff. He was just bored, also he really likes your music box" said Jordan.
Cinnamon goes to the music box and plays it and starts dancing. Stella thought it was cute. "Okay, I guess I can't stay mad at you. At least this didn't break or something."
"Huh, so I guess the rat beast was just a myth" said Zach.
"Told ya" said Simon.
They all agreed to keep Cinnamon Bartholomew a secret, they also returned all the stuff Cinnamon stole from many of the students.
Lincoln needed to bring back the baseball Lynn lost when she schooled there, Liam also saw the tooth he lost a year ago, Lincoln also recognized the toy horse which was once Lola's she is so going to be happy and angry as to who took it and finally Rusty sees Rocky's yoyo that was missing last year.
They all returned to finish they're lunch in the cafeteria.
Stella looks to Rusty annoyed. Rusty then realized she knows her sub is missing.
"You owe her a new meatball sub man" said Simon.
Rusty sighed. "Fine."
Jordan let Lincoln put her gold hoop earrings on, which was a bit romantic.
"So, you two ready to tell these guys about the big news?" asked Stella.
"What big news?" asked Liam.
Lincoln and Jordan decided to say it at the same time. "Principal Rivers of Royal Woods High School asked us to perform music for this Friday's Prom!"
Rusty, Zach, Liam, Clyde and Penelope stayed silent and were shocked. "What?!"
"It's true, right after our whole fund raiser. The High school principal came and asked these two to play some songs and/or DJ for the prom!" said Tabby.
"Wow guys!" said Liam.
"That sure is awesome!" said Zach.
"Your first prom together!" said Penelope.
"And you two aren't even High School students" said Clyde.
"Lucky" complained Rusty.
"But, we were thinking that we could use some backup with the music" Jordan looks to Tabby. "What?! Me?!"
"Well, you are an ace with music and you know how to hit the beat with drums" said Lincoln.
"Wow! I don't know what else to say fells!" Tabby looks to Liam.
"Go ahead and do it darlin' I got my hands full on Friday night. We can always have our prom thing when we get to high school" said Liam.
Tabby kisses Liam's cheek. "Thanks luv, you're the best!" Liam blushes from this.
"So, I guess we got our drums. Which leaves Jordan and myself on our own instruments" said Lincoln.
"We are so going to enjoy the prom, but we have to come up with a new song for the slow dance part" said Jordan.
"We'll come up with something, or we can come up with two kinds of songs" said Lincoln.
"Ooh, now that sounds like a plan" said Jordan. Then they spot Mollie coming into the cafeteria. "And I think it's about time to return all that has been lost."
They eventually give everyone back they're missing things, Lola was pleased and asked who took it, and Lincoln just replied it got caught in the vents.
Soon they returned every item missing, including Principal Huggins missing comic of Ace Savvy, though Clyde was the one to return it to him in private.
But now, Stella always packs some corn chips so she can give it to the little guy in the vents. But who is the person who is also friends with Cinnamon and keeping him a secret.
Cinnamon leaves the cafeteria vents and heads to the basement, there he meets up with his other pal, Norm the Janitor.
This is my take on Tails of Woe. Making Jordan one of the people who knew about Cinnamon and eventually finding him. Leave a review and tell me what you all think.