Saturday arrived slowly. Charlie sighed a huge sigh of bliss when it finally came. He thought that the day took its time to race a snail and lose just to aggravate him. He watched his fellow classmates hurry to catch their buses from his window, grinning for the rest of the day to come.
However, after lunch he and the rest learned something that threw a curve at their plans. Matron was assigned to watch over them like a hawk. In fact, she had to stay in their dorm the whole day.
And what he heard from Gabriel, Mr. Weedon was watching Lysander and Tancred while Mrs. Weedon watched Emma. Olivia was watched by some other teacher Charlie never heard of but according to Billy, the teacher was a 5th year history teacher, whoever that was...
"What if we need to change?" asked Fidelio, trying to hide disappointment in his voice.
Matron glared at him. "Then you best do so in the bathroom."
"What if we forgot some homework in our coat rooms?" asked Gabriel.
"You should have thought of that before." she replied icily, sitting down in a chair, her back stiffly straight and her beady eyes glued on them.
Defeated, the four boys sat on their beds, exchanging 'What now?' glances while Matron smiled shrewdly in satisfaction.
A sudden rap on the door caused her to jump. Charlie and the others smirked at the sudden movement; the look on her face was priceless. She really doesn't like surprises now, did she? Charlie thought, trying to see if they could use that to their advantage.
Dr. Bloor was at the door. His terse gaze pierced the air and chilled the room. Matron said, "Yes, Dr. Bloor?"
Dr. Bloor glanced at her and scowled. "You are dismissed. I will watch the boys myself. You are free to go home now."
Matron blinked in surprise. "Sir?"
"An order is an order. You aren't going to go against my will, are you?" Dr. Bloor said curtly.
Matron gulped and nodded, throwing looks over her shoulder at Charlie. Charlie shrank back and she left.
Dr. Bloor turned his back on them to close the door. Charlie wondered if he should throw something at him and cross his fingers it knocked him out so they could escape but decided against it for Fidelio read his mind and shook his head sternly. How he managed to know what Charlie was thinking, it remained a mystery.
"Dr. Bloor..." Billy said slowly.
Then Dr. Bloor did something that neither of the four could believe.
He winked at them and smiled.
There was a silence. Then Gabriel broke the silence reluctantly. "Are you high?"
Charlie snorted. He couldn't help himself. Even Fidelio and Billy failed to hide their smiles.
Dr. Bloor laughed, which shocked them into silence. He shook his head, still smiling and vanished into thin air.
Charlie sat there with a dumbfounded look. It took a few seconds to realize that it was an illusion.
"Olivia, you've done it again." said Fidelio, shaking his head with a laugh.
"Bravo Livvy. I wonder if she can see what her illusions see..." said Charlie.
"We can ask her now." said Billy, leaping off his bed and running to the door. The three older boys followed him and they crept ever so quietly down the stairs into the corridor and dashed lightly to the art dorms, wondering if Olivia had dismissed the Weedons of their duty.
They froze when they heard a door open and Mr. Weedon's voice said, "If you say so sir."
"Quick, in here!" Charlie hissed, ushering them into a closet.
"What if it's locked from the inside?" asked Gabriel worriedly.
"Well then...oh well." Charlie muttered hastily, closing the door gently.
The four waited in dark silence until they couldn't hear any footsteps or voices and until they couldn't see shadows of feet from underneath the door crack.
Charlie peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear before they were on the move again. Billy checked his watch and whispered, "It's almost two. I heard they'll start the ball at four."
"That's plenty of time to prepare." said Gabriel as they bounded up the stairs to the art boys dorms.
When they got to Tancred and Lysander's dorm, their door opened to reveal their laughing faces. They grinned as they saw Charlie and the others. "Did Olivia set up an illusion too?" asked Tancred.
"She sure did. Dr. Bloor, right?" answered Charlie.
"No, Manfred. You should have seen Mr. Weedon. He wanted to give us a hard time because of this one day I was tossing something away and missed and he tried to give me detention for littering." said Tancred, rolling his eyes with a growl. "It was lame. I got away though but it was so...wow."
Lysander smiled. "The good thing is, we're free. I'm sure Olivia is too so now all we have to do is wait for Emma."
"Then let's go." said Tancred, leading the way.
When they got to Emma's dorm, they saw Emma and Olivia talking quietly outside Emma's door.
"Good thinking, using those illusions." said Fidelio.
Olivia brightened at the praise. "Why thank you. I made sure that they all went home. Now we're free to do whatever."
Emma looked around. "What if next week when the come back and the Bloors figured out that they weren't here, what would we do then?"
"We risk another detention or two most likely." said Lysander. "It won't be that bad, depending on how much damage we do."
"Alright, so keep your damage to it's minimum. If not, then not only are you risking you, you're risking all of us." said Gabriel.
They all nodded in agreement. "Keep our damage to the minimum, got it. But, how much damage can we do if it results in three detentions or so?" asked Tancred, his eyes glistened mischievously.
"Raise your hand if you don't want another detention." said Charlie, raising his hand.
Everyone but Tancred followed suit and the glint in his eyes disappeared. "You guys are no fun," he said sullenly.
They all hung out in the boys music dorm and waited until it was time. Billy had sat by the window when it neared 4, keeping track of how many people were attending.
"There's a lot of young ladies out there." he reported to Charlie when he asked. "They all have fancy dresses and a lot of make up."
Olivia had looked up from her nails when she heard that. "Ooh, that sounds like my type of party."
"You want to be married to Manfred?" Charlie said in disgust.
Olivia faltered. "Never mind..."
When Blessed, Cook's dog, whined at the door, Billy went out to converse with him. He didn't come back until a few minutes later with news. "The food carts are ready and they'll be pushed in twenty minutes into the grand ball room to load up the tables. There aren't very many carts. Only three. But they're big enough to support up to two people so we should be fine."
"Great. The only thing we have to worry about is if the person pushing notices the cart is heavier than usual and looks under the cloth." said Charlie. He had that experience before and even though he got off clean, it still gave him a heart attack when the cloth first went up. And the time where a headmaster found him and Billy under the table made him freeze too. Luckily Blessed was there but he didn't know if Blessed was going with them. He decided to ask Billy.
"He said no. He said that there were too many girls with perfume. It makes his nose itch like crazy." said Billy.
Tancred scrunched up his nose. "Perfume? My mom wears it sometimes but only for special occasions. Overall, I don't like it. It's too strong."
"So what smells do you like?" Emma asked quietly.
Tancred cocked his head to ponder. "Something light. I don't like strong scents. It's too...er..."
"Overwhelming? Overbearing? Over-smelly?" asked Lysander.
"Say another 'over' word and I'll show you who's overwhelming." Tancred huffed.
Lysander shrugged. "I know what NOT to get you for your birthday."
"Sander, my birthday passed a week ago."
"It...what?" Lysander looked confused. "I'm your best friend. I always know...But how...who? What?"
"Knock it off you two, Tanc, we have to get you, Billy, Gabe, Em, and I to the carts now." said Charlie, holding the door open.
He quickly gathered up his group and together they raced down the stairs while the others bid them good luck.
"They still need it more than us." murmured Charlie.
"Not really." said Emma. "All we can do while on the cart is sit there if we're discovered. For them, they aren't limited to what they can do. They can run, hide, do anything. All we can do is sit and say, 'Hi, so how's the weather?'"
"Em, I didn't know you had a good sens of humor." Tancred said admirably.
Emma smiled at him. "You don't think I'm just a boring little girl, did you?"
"Not boring or little...just interesting and cute." Tancred murmured softly so only he could hear, but Charlie heard it and he smiled. Emma, Billy, and Gabriel didn't hear it though.
They halted to a stop when they reached the doors to the kitchens. Charlie timidly pushed on one of the double doors and peeked inside. No one was in view and the carts were right there. They had about fifteen minutes to spare. They still had plenty of time.
Until they heard someone say, "Oh no, these carts were supposed to go in ten minutes ago? Quick, we must set up before they pour in!"
"That doesn't sound good." Gabriel muttered.
Charlie watched as the cooks and assistant cooks bustle around, loading more food onto the carts.
"We can't go in without being noticed." Tancred hissed.
"Unless if we create a diversion." said Emma.
"How?"
"Erm..." Everyone looked at her as she thought, her face reddening when she realized all eyes were on her. She sighed and shrugged, looking lost.
They all felt defeated once again but then Billy screamed from the top of his lungs.
Charlie grimaced and held his hands to his ears, trying to block the sound. Who would have known such a little body could emit such a loud deafening sound.
He stopped, clearly out of breath and relieved his job was done, and said, "Run!"
It made no sense to Charlie. They were supposed to go in, and yet here he was, running at top speed down the corridor away from the carts where they were supposed to be.
They stopped when they were hidden behind the corner. "What did you do that for?" Charlie asked, panting crazily. "You gave me a scare."
Billy shook his head. "Look."
Charlie did look, and so did Tancred and Gabriel. Emma stood back with Billy, piling her hands on top of her head to help her breathing.
There was a crowd of cooks in the hall, looking around with a stupid expression on their faces.
"That's great but there's a problem." aid Charlie. "They may be distracted but we still can't get in."
"Then maybe you should go through the side doors."
Tancred spun around. "Side doors?" he repeated blankly.
Billy nodded. "Hurry. They'll be back before you know it." Billy opened his mouth to scream again. He had to prevent the cooks from giving up and returning back to their duties.
"Let's go." Gabriel said while Billy cut off the scream and followed them hurriedly.
There were three carts, just like what Blessed had said. Charlie crouched down and climbed into the first one and motioned for any of them to join them.
Tancred pointed to himself and then to the cart behind Charlie's and proceeded to get into the second cart.
Charlie noticed Emma followed Tancred with her eyes and he knew she longed to sit with him. Gabriel went to the last cart and Billy followed. "I don't want to be the first one going in." Billy had whispered.
Charlie held the cloth on his cart up to see where Emma would sit. Emma looked torn. She wanted to sit with Tancred but she looked like she was too shy to do so. Charlie felt like he wanted to go out and push her into the second cart, brush off imaginary dirt off his hands and push a 'That was easy' button.
Footsteps were heard from outside the side doors and Charlie saw that they were about to open it.
Desperate, Charlie gave Emma a look and she darted into the cart with Charlie, having no time to dart into Tancred's.
Charlie threw down the cloth and they spread out on the cart. The food cart was more spacious than the one Charlie had ridden before. It was about four and a half feet long and three feet wide. That's a lot of food to carry. Charlie thought.
"Why didn't you go pick Tanc first?" he whispered to Emma, who looked regretful.
She shrugged and bit her lip. "I was scared he wouldn't welcome me."
"He's your friend. Of course he will." Charlie chided. Emma's shoulders drooped and Charlie sighed. If they weren't going to make a move soon, his head would explode and he'd have to push them together and hit the 'That was easy button' again.
They sat in silence and they could feel every shake when people sat down food on the cart. Charlie glanced up and thought how the food was a mere few inches away form his face. He could smell the pleasant aroma and he wished he could have a taste. For lunch he had bread and cheese. It was a dull lunch.
Charlie and Emma grabbed onto one of the supports as the cart was heaved forward. They held their breath and listened as one person pushing said, "This cart is a lot heavier than I thought."
Charlie bit his lips and Emma flashed him a worried look. He gave her a reassuring smile but truth be told, he wasn't sure if luck would shine down on him again.
A second person said something. So two people were pushing the cart. Charlie strained to hear what the second person said, for the voice was soft and wispy. "It feels that way but it's just your muscles playing with you. It happens a lot."
Charlie exhaled, grinning. Emma seemed to do the same.
They almost uttered a sharp cry when they rolled over a bump. The rolling became more strained. They were most likely on carpet now.
"The ballroom." Emma whispered.
"Did you say something?" the first person said from above.
Emma covered her mouth and Charlie held his breath again.
"No. Must be the wheels. They've been squeaky ever since Rhonda accidentally spilled soup. They must have rusted a bit."
Charlie sighed with relief again. Emma looked more calm but she still had her mouth covered. Charlie couldn't help but wonder if the others were okay.
After another moment of being quiet and staying hidden, the cart came to a squeaky stop. Charlie drew back the cloth a little bit and was ecstatic to find that the food cart stopped right in front of the food table, which was draped by a beautiful emerald green tablecloth. He glanced upwards and saw that the cart pushers had their backs on them and the other cart pushers behind them were standing in a similar manner, he motioned to Emma and crawled out form the car and underneath the table.
The table was long and when they were safely hidden, he crawled a little further down until he got to the place where he thought Tancred's cart was by and cautiously lifted the cloth.
Emma held her breath as she watched, her eyes widening. Luckily, Charlie wasn't seen and he proceeded to lift the cloth of Tancred's car.
Tancred gave a slight jump but he gave out a breath of relief when he saw Charlie. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Tancred hissed when he and Charlie were safely underneath the table. Emma crawled towards them and stayed back with Tancred as Charlie ventured on, praying that the pushers wouldn't look down when he would emerged from the table again.
Gabriel and Billy gave a jolt as well, but they relaxed just like Tancred did and followed Charlie.
"Now we wait for Liv and the others." Billy whispered.
So it was just the five of them sitting under a long table, listening to the clatters and clinks of silverware being set and the quiet footsteps on the carpet.
It will take a while for Olivia to get in if they're going to be here until the ball begins. Charlie thought. It dawned onto him that Olivia and the others may not make it. At least, they wouldn't be able to get in without being seen. That was going to be a problem.
Gabriel seemed to notice this problem as well. He had a troubled look and he and Charlie caught each others' eyes, sharing their anxiousness via look. "Will they make it?" Gabriel whispered finally. Tancred, Emma, and Billy turned their attention to them. Tancred glanced at Charlie with concern and Emma pursed her lips.
"Lysander's with them," Billy said. "He's smart enough to find a way in." But he sounded unsure. Emma nodded at him, giving him a smile.
"I'm sure he will. We can always rely on Lysander." she said softly.
They said nothing afterward. Minutes passed and soon the cart pushers' voices faded away and they heard a door close. There was a complete eerie silence in the ballroom and Tancred dared to poke his head out to survey the room.
"Coast is clear." he said.
Just as the last word left his mouth, the main doors opened slightly and Tancred tensed, freezing in place. Curious, Charlie looked over the storm boy's shoulder and he too froze. It wasn't until Fidelio's head appeared, looking around wildly when Tancred and Charlie waved furiously to him. Fidelio saw them and he waved back. He dashed towards the table, closely followed by Olivia and Lysander.
Tancred and Charlie lifted the cloth higher and made room for them to duck down and enter their little hideout. "That took forever," Charlie said when they were under the table.
"Sorry, but we can't do much with those people here." Olivia sighed. "We were almost discovered by Dr. Bloor but then Manfred came in and saved us-"
"Manfred saved you guys?" Billy said incredulously.
"Well, he doesn't know." said Olivia dully. "Dr. Bloor was coming our way and Manfred came around the corner to call him to the front lobby to greet the early birds."
"What time is it?" asked Emma.
Lysander looked down at his wrist. "Ten 'til four." he said. "Almost time."
Fidelio grinned at Charlie, who grinned back. "Manfred's going to get a girlfriend." he said somewhat smugly.
"I thought he said he had one." said Billy.
"That's what he claimed. But I won't believe it until I see it." Olivia declared, holding her head high with determination.
"Shhh, someone's coming." Fidelio whispered urgently, leaning his ear towards the cloth.
He was right. They heard the main doors open and chattering began. A number of giggling and excited laughs filled the once empty ballroom and made it seem lively and less miserable.
"How many people are there?" asked Lysander.
"I don't know, loads maybe." replied Charlie.
"We're not going to see much from under here." Olivia complained.
"We can hear what's going on though." said Charlie, shrugging. "Better than sitting in a room with Matron or Mr. Weedon or whoever for the rest of the day."
"True..."
They fell into another silence when a voice from outside said, "I heard that this Manfred was dreamy."
Olivia clasped her hand over her mouth and shook, grinning madly.
"That's what I heard too. And all of this would be his one day. Oh, I hope Dr. Bloor picks me!" another voice said excitedly.
They exchanged sly smiles. Charlie then understood why girls liked to gossip. Though he still thought it was still personal and, at time, rude. However, he couldn't help himself. He strained to catch the next few sentences:
"I also heard he's the silent type."
"Oh, I just love the silent types! They're so mysterious. Who could resist?"
"I know I can..." Olivia murmured.
"Shhhh,"
Olivia raised an eyebrow at Charlie who reddened. He turned away to avoid Olivia's smirk and continued to listen to the conversation.
"Oh, Manfred..." one of the girls sighed. "His name just says it all. Who on earth is more manlier than Manfred Bloor?"
By the end of their conversation and the two girls had wandered away from the table, Olivia and Emma were red with laughter.
"Do girls really talk like that?" asked Tancred.
Emma tried to stop her laughing. When she did, she said, "Sometimes, if we feel like talking a lot."
Tancred shook his head. "I'm so glad I'm not a girl. You guys are crazy. And who the heck would think Manfred's name is manly? What. The. Heck?"
"Watch. Every girl here will be disappointed when they see Manfred." said Olivia. "I'm sure of it."
"That's harsh," said Lysander. "Even for Manfred."
Olivia's eyes flashed. Everyone who saw groaned and those who didn't knew what the groans meant and they groaned.
"One time that man Manfred gave me detention because my scarf was dragging on the floor and I was tripping people. As if, It only dragged four feet, no more than that. And another time he gave me extra homework because I kindly told him that his hair looked weird..."
Charlie wondered how you could kindly tell people their hair looked messed up.
"And last month, during the play, he yelled at me for not having the right colored hair. Was it my fault I didn't have time to dye it brown? It was orange then but after he gave me so much work, I had no time to re-dye it! And he made no compliments on my acting in the play. I asked him how I did and he ignored me! He doesn't know acting if it kicked him in the fork of his legs!" Olivia said indignantly.
"Olivia, I think you're overdoing it." Lysander said slowly.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"For one, you procrastinated the first week when he gave you work and you crammed to give it back to him on the day before. And second, that scarf tripped me and I was late for art."
Olivia stared at Lysander. "Sorry about that. But still he's such a horrible person."
Emma shook her head and sighed. "Olivia..." she muttered.
"What? Is it illegal for me to express my thoughts?" she said defensively.
Charlie was about to say something but then a booming voice swept upon them. "Ladies, please put your hands together for Manfred Bloor."
There were claps and squeals. And even though they were supposed to quit clapping after the first five seconds, there were plenty of excessive clapping and shrieks.
"Any second now." Olivia said.
Charlie did expect to hear the claps fade and murmurs of dissatisfaction but the applause raised and the shrieks became deafening screams. His curiosity urged him to look out but he resisted. It was only when he head a stray, "I LOVE YOU MANDFRED BLOOR!" when he poked his head out despite the warnings of Emma, Lysander, and Gabriel.
All the people in the room, excluding some people in front of were introducing Manfred, were facing away from him. He tried to see past the fancy dresses and wild exotic hair-dos but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't see the front.
"Can't you move over?" Olivia whined, crawling towards Charlie. She settled herself on Charlie's right side and sighed. "Great, you can't see anything from here."
"Welcome to our humble home." Dr. Bloor was saying. "As you know, my son Manfred is reaching an age where he should start 'dating' as you call it. Hopefully within fifteen years I will have lovely grandchildren running around...my...office."
Charlie noted that Dr. Bloor didn't sound so cheerful about little kids running around. He could imagine a disgruntled Dr. Bloor scowling at a large mess in his office while three kids ran around with markers and crayons in hand, drawing lines and scribbles on the wall. He smiled at the thought.
"He will now dance with each and every one of you and you must be patient for there are many people around." Dr. Bloor continued.
"You know it..." Tancred muttered as he settled by Charlie's left side. He was about to turn away but then he stopped, startled. He pulled Charlie back in and Olivia, who noticed the urgency in his actions, hurried back.
"What is it?" Charlie asked, annoyed.
"He was coming our way. Didn't you see?" Tancred retorted.
Charlie shook his head and Olivia replied, "I didn't see anything."
"Well some people need to get glasses." Tancred said. "Anyway, the girls were making way for him and if I'm right-"
"Since when are you ever right?" Charlie demanded.
Tancred stared at him. "Touche Bone..." he mumbled. "Touche..."
Charlie smirked. It was about time he got back at Tancred, after the remark about him not knowing what was going on at all times.
"Manfred's right in front of us." Tancred continued, giving Charlie a disgruntled look. He must have known Charlie was celebrating his victory, no matter how small, in his head.
How can everybody know what I'm thinking? Charlie asked himself, restraining himself from smiling. Am I really that predictable?
"Tanc's right."
"Huh?" Charlie said dumbly. He turned his attention to Lysander, who was peeking through the bottom of the cloth.
"He's dancing with a girl with red hair and a green dress. I don't know about you but red and green don't mix that well unless it's Christmas." Lysander said casually.
"Since when do you-" Olivia was about to say but she stopped. "Oh wait, you're in art. Never mind."
They spent the next hour commenting on which girl might suit Manfred. Charlie grew tired of the girls saying, "Oh, I think she would look nice with him." or "No, no, see that girl in the pink dress? She would look good with him."
"I'm surprised that they can find people that looks good with a guy like Manfred." said Charlie.
"Speaking of Manfred..." said Gabriel, scanning the crowd. "Where is he?"
"Huh?" Charlie joined Gabriel in scanning, looking at faces that showed enjoyment. "I don't know."
It wasn't long before the crowd noticed that Manfred was gone as well. The looks of happiness were soon distinguished and cries of alarm aroused. Dr. Bloor worriedly pushed the ladies out of his way as he frantically searched. Charlie and the others ducked back under the table when he neared. He stood right outside that they could hear him curse. "Search the building." he barked. Apparently he was ordering random people to look all over the school. "Search the gardens as well. Lock the main doors, do not cease your efforts until we locate my son."
They heard him hurry off. "Where did Manfred go?" asked Emma.
"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention to him." Olivia said.
"We should go find him." Tancred said excitedly. "I'm getting cramps from sitting under here. Let's go get some action."
Charlie thought that was a good idea. He looked around for approval from the others. Lysander looked reluctant but he seem to gave in. Olivia was clapping her hands together excitedly. "That sounds like a plan!" Emma gazed at Tancred fondly. Gabriel and Fidelio exchanged looks and both shrugged. Billy was the only one who looked a little hesitant.
"Don't worry. We won't get caught," Tancred said comforting.
Billy was about to complain but Tancred silenced him by placing a hand over his mouth. "Right then," he said, grinning. "Billy and I will look in the west wing. Come Billy, let's go!" He then grabbed the little albino's hand and tugged. Billy followed Tancred out from under the table and Charlie watched as they slipped away unnoticed in the commotion.
"Emma and I will look in the gardens, won't we Em?" Olivia said, smiling at Emma.
Emma nodded. "I'll search from the skies and Olivia, well...she can look from the ground, right?"
Olivia nodded. "I can probably make illusions to help me look or create diversions."
Charlie nodded and then had an urge to ask her if she can see through her illusions. He missed the chance however when she and Emma too left the safety of the table.
Gabriel and Fidelio left soon and it was down to Lysander and Charlie. "Where do we go look now?" asked Charlie in a low voice. It was quieter in the ballroom, and he couldn't risk being discovered.
"In the halls I guess. I mean no one claimed the main halls." said Lysander quietly.
"Why?"
"Because more people are there."
Charlie groaned. "Why do we get the hard parts?" he asked irritably.
Lysander shrugged, somewhat amused. "We can contend. Let's go."
It was difficult for them to slip out, unnoticed, because of the decrease in numbers of people. It would be easier to notice two boys emerging from a table and leaving but after a few minutes of mustering courage, they managed to slip away without getting a single, "Hey!"
The halls were empty when they escaped to their relief. But something told them that the relief will not last long for they heard distant voices from the left. Having no choice, they ran to the right and disappeared into the shadows.