Max was in his room by his Jirachi Shrine, holding a candle and mourning the death of his dearest friend when he heard May come in the front door, yelling something about musical chairs. Max wondered whether or not May even knew what "musical chairs" was. He bowed to the homemade statue of Jirachi before blowing out the candle and walking down the stairs.
"But Mom, what could be more fun than selling expensive cookies? And you can sell them to old people, so then they get cookies instead of the medications they need to stay alive!" explained May to her parents. Her mother looked appalled, her father was nodding in agreement. Norman did have a very sick side to him. He used to play ding-dong-ditch himself when he was a young boy, causing many heart attacks back in the day.
"But sweetie, couldn't you join a more morally-correct club? Like the Art Society? Or the Knitting Club? Or Future World Dictators Social Order?" asked her mother. She had grown up in the ghetto, so she had never been a girl scout before. "And what about your contests?"
"Contests-Shomtests. I don't need those! They were corrupt from the beginning." said May, dismissing the idea with a casual wave of her hand.
Max was sitting on the stairs, watching the discussion. He would hate to never watch a contest again, but he also couldn't blame May for quitting. She was a really bad coordinator after all.
"Oh Caroline, let May sign up for Girl Scouts." Norman said, still reliving the time when he had jumped out from the bushes by a sidewalk and scared an old man enough to cause him to fall into a nearby river and drown. "I'm sure it's quite educational."
"Oh alright! Hold your Horseas!" said Caroline, picking up the phone and dialing the number.
"Strange number." said Caroline, waiting for whomever to pick up.
"Talk to me." said a voice from the other line, sounding very…gay.
"Um, hello. Is this where I call to sign up for girl scouts?" asked Caroline, feeling a little bit insecure.
"Oh, yes! It is!" squealed the voice in delight.
"Uh, I'd like to sign up my daughter, May."
"Last name, miss?"
"I…I forget."
"Oh. Well, me too."
"So…Where do I drop her off?"
"In my motel room! Located at the edge of the very busy and dangerous highway!"
"Ok, what time?"
"Um, at 13 o' clock I got an appointment…So, how 'bout four AM tomorrow?"
"B-But tomorrow's a s-school day!"
"Well lemme tell you somethin' hun. You gatta make sacrifices to be a girl scout. It's hard and serious work. You halfta drop outa school. I did, and look how I turned out!"
"I can't see you though."
There was a long pause.
"See ya tomorrow, then!"
The line went dead. Caroline hung up the phone, a little shaken and concerned.
"You're all set now May." said Caroline, pulling some pajamas out of the dryer and handing them to May.
"Great!" said May, examining the pajamas. "What do you want me to do with these? Are pajamas the uniform?" asked May.
"No," said Caroline. "You have to get up at four in the morning, now go to bed!" Her mother returned to staring out the window at nothing.
May ran up the stairs, trampling her brother on the way to her room. Max picked up his broken glasses and made his way back to his room, wondering if his parents would make him be a girl scout too. Hopefully not, Jirachi needed to be worshipped every hour on the hour. He wouldn't have the time.