Congratulations to LRW, ereader12, LabRatsFan07, Lady Cougar-Trombone, Airforce1990, LabGirl2001, raenbc, and Doomforzombies for answering correctly! Bob did try to give Bree a seaweed necklace. Great job!

AlienGhostWizard14, thanks for the review!

Just a short note about two details in the entries, one was overlooked and the other one needs clarification. As far as what was overlooked, it's a very small error about Era's ranking. In the 49th chronicle, Leo said that Era was Advanced, but then in the 53rd chronicle, their earlier conversation made it seem like she hasn't gotten to that level yet.

That has been corrected, in case you did notice that mistake.

As far as what needs a bit of an explanation, a number of you were a bit surprised about Leo and Amaranth being together. It may seem too sudden, but please note that there was a month and some days gap between the last chronicle and the one before that.

I know. It's still somewhat too soon, but I hope that explanation makes up for it a bit. *grins*

Anyways, here's the next one!

Episode Tag to: Spider Island

Chronicle #055

"Venomous"

07/10/15

9:35 PM

I still can't believe it. I decided not to go to the first Academy field trip because lately, I haven't been hanging out as much with my family as I've been with my friends. I wanted to be a good brother, a good friend, a good nephew for once. Then, I came to find out that none of them even want to hang out with me. I spent fifteen dollars just to cover up my absence, but nada. It took one giant spider for them to even have time to play cards with me, and even then, Bree didn't look so pleased.

Lesson learned. Next time, just hang out with friends and girlfriend – and don't feel guilty about it.

Hearing from the other students how the trip went, I couldn't decide whether or not my staying back hadn't been so bad. On the one hand, we had to go against a giant spider. It was as terrifying as could be, but after getting over it I realize how exciting it was, too. On the other hand, there didn't seem to be anything very exciting happening on the field trip, but everybody looked like they had a great time. I was able to catch up with the twins, Storm, Rock man, Era and Amaranth when they came back, and they all sounded so happy and amazed with what they saw. They were telling me what they did (Rocket's probably the most excited about it) and how, by the end of the day, Big D allowed them to buy one thing from a souvenir shop to take back home.

At this point, I'm still torn 60-40.

The scales were tilted a bit more on the 'I should've gone with the rest of the students' side when Big D found out what really happened while they were gone. He was able to recover the recordings of the feed around the island, and he saw our unwelcomed visitor. There was a lot of finger pointing when he confronted us about it. Chase and Douglas blamed me for it, telling him that I was the one who let the spider escape. I blamed them for everything even happening in the first place, reasoning that if they hadn't brought an extinct creature back to life, we wouldn't have had a problem.

"So it was really because of the three of you, combined, that this happened," Big D said unhappily as he looked at Douglas then Chase then me.

Probably in an attempt to help, Adam slung an arm on Big D's shoulders and said, "Oh, come on, Mr. Davenport. Don't be upset. All of us just got too excited because of our day off. Don't be too harsh on them. The spider's gone, and these guys really made sure that I wouldn't die after getting bitten by it."

"What?!"

"Oh, yeah. Especially Bree. She really stepped up to the plate to get the venom so I can get cured. It really made up for her pushing me into the pool where that spider attacked me."

Yep. Bree got dragged in it, too.

I would've felt really upset if not for the fact that Big D realized that he didn't know how to punish me and Chase. He'd figured out something for Douglas and Bree: Douglas was to do mandatory patrols with Perry for a whole week (and he'd told her, too, to make sure Douglas won't attempt to escape it), and Bree's not allowed to leave the island for two weeks, which isn't too bad now but would be very torturous in, oh, I'll say about two days when Big D takes the students to Venice Beach.

Chase's punishment is still pending, I think. Chase likes what he does here in the Academy, so Big D can't punish him with more work. It drives Chase crazy to be stuck inside for long periods of time, but unlike Bree, he could adapt, so grounding him won't be as good. Big D probably thought of having Chase stick with Adam, but he also probably realized that the two of them being together would end up in a fight or someone getting hurt or both.

Big D did tell him that he would be sitting out his classes for a few days. He's only allowed to supervise from a distance while Big D takes over. Chase didn't look very happy about that, but I really think that verdict is just on a trial basis. If it works, Big D will prolong it for maybe about a week or so. If it doesn't, he'll find something else for him.

As far as what I would get for what I've done, I don't think he's sure either. Well, that or he didn't know that he gave me a pretty mild sentence in comparison to Douglas', Bree's and Chase's – even if it is twofold. In addition to my being grounded, he told me that he'd be assigning me as his 'student assistant' to help manage the students during trips from here on out so he could keep an eye on me at all times.

Like I said, it's not so bad. Most of the friends I want to be in contact with lives here in the Academy, and none of them have social media accounts that I'd want to check or follow or respond to (yet, because I think I'll teach them about those and help them make one for themselves one of these days). Plus, as I've learned, going to trips that they go to is probably the best route for me.

I guess Big D just didn't notice that I don't feel as much of an outcast with the students now than I was in the beginning. That's…cool. Maybe.

Earlier, since I couldn't do anything back at the quarters and since Douglas, Bree and Chase have decided to unanimously blame me for everything, I decided to just catch up with Era after the classes at the cafeteria. She showed me the pictures she took from the trip while telling me more about it. She even showed me the little keychain she got as a souvenir.

"Why did you buy a keychain?" I asked her after examining it.

"It's like a promise to myself. One day, I'll have my own house and my own car. I need a keychain for those!" she told me.

"Ah."

"Miles bought one, too. Miller bought a t-shirt, but then he also had a keychain, which I don't get." Era frowned. "Mr. Davenport only told us to get one item, but Miller had two. Rocket had more. None of us had any money. I don't know how they got those."

I laughed. "Oh, they had money," I said.

"What? How?"

"I asked them to do a favor for me."

Era thought about it. She laughed when she figured it out. "Oh my gosh, it was you! Now it makes sense," she said. "When Mr. Davenport called your name, Miller answered for you, and then Rocket told him to shut it! Oh, that was so funny! Well, it wasn't at first, because all of us just stared at him. We thought he was just helping Miller to cover for you, but it surprised us to hear him say something like that."

"Yep."

"Oh, man. You better hope Miles doesn't find out about this. She'll start thinking that you're a bad influence to him," Era joked.

"Well, in my defense, the Rock man was very excited about this trip, and I knew he'd want to take back something from there. And I did ask him if he was okay with it, and he said he was," I said. "But don't worry. I'll make it clear to him that he shouldn't say it again to anyone."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it. Rocket's a good guy. Plus, if you really did ask him and he agreed to it, he probably already knows that it was just to help out," Era said.

"Oh. Okay." After looking through three more pictures, I asked her, "So what did Rocket get?"

"A book of some kind. He also got some postcards and a keychain." She nodded. "Keychain was a crowd favorite."

"It's an international favorite, to be honest," I said, browsing through more pictures. "People in general just like keychains."

"Oh. Well, good. I feel like a normal person now," Era said. "Anyways, what about you? What did you do while we were gone? Were you able to do something fun with your family?"

I sighed. "No."

"What? Why? Did something happen?"

"Oh, a lot of things happened. For one, we have to bring down a big spider that was attacking the Academy."

Era stared at me with wide, frightened eyes. "So, no sea snakes, but there are man-eating spiders?"

"No, no. No man-eating spiders. Anymore, at least. It's dead."

"Dead? You killed it?"

"Well, not per se. It fell back into the ocean after we got some of its venom to save Adam after it bit him."

"What?"

Yeah, telling my older brother's kinda-sorta girlfriend that he kinda-sorta almost died wasn't the best thing to do.

"Leo!" Era shrieked.

"What?"

"How did that happen?"

Of course, I didn't want to tell her that I had something to do with it, because then she wouldn't want to hang out with me for a while. Then that would make my punishment a real punishment. So, diplomatically, I just said, "It's classified."

"Classified? I'm your best friend! You don't hide things from your best friend!"

I looked at her drily. "Really," I said. "If that's the case, then answer me this: did you and Adam sneak out to the mainland to go on a date last Saturday night?"

Era calmed down. She cleared her throat softly then said, "That's classified."

I just shook my head and went back to looking at the pictures.

Era sighed. "Why can't you just tell me?" she insisted.

"Because I don't want to."

"Did it happen because of you?" she asked. "You can tell me. I won't be mad. I'm just worried about Adam."

I raised my brows at what she had said. "You won't be mad? Weren't you the one who stopped talking to me for three days after I played a prank on you on Mine Craft?"

"That was different! You filled my house with chickens, Leo! That was, like, a full-on trolling."

I grinned. "'Trolling?'" I repeated. "Where did you get that expression from?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. We may not get to leave the Academy as much, but we still have access to the internet," she said. "We don't live in the dark ages anymore, you know."

I laughed.

I was going to give her some kind of an answer to her question when someone spoke from behind us. "You know, if I keep seeing you guys like this, I might just get jealous."

Both of us turned around. Era grinned. "Adam!" she said, leaping out of her chair. She looked like she was about to hug him when she stopped, probably because she remembered I was there. She then looked at me.

I waved at her to continue. "Go on. I already know. I'm not gonna tell if you guys don't want me to," I said.

The grin came back on her face. Then, she hugged Adam.

Adam hugged her back, smiling widely.

"Leo told me you got hurt. Are you okay now?" Era asked him after they broke apart.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better," he said.

"You sure?"

"Mm-hm."

"Okay," Era said.

Adam looked at the table and saw the tablet, the key chain, and a folded map on it. "What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Just talking about the trip. I was just showing Leo the pictures we took," Era said. "Wanna join us?"

Adam shrugged. "Yeah, sure," he said, taking the empty seat on the other side of where Era sat.

Before Era could sit down, another person rushed into the cafeteria. "Era? Oh, good! There you are."

"Yeah. Here I am," Era said, her brows slowly wrinkling as she watched him try to catch his breath. "What's happening, Donovan? You look like you're being chased by a bear."

He pointed towards the general direction of the dormitories. "There's a situation you have to handle," he said, panting.

"I have to handle?"

He nodded. "The girls…"

Era rolled her eyes, sighing in dismay. "Oh, I know exactly who you're talking about," she said. "Where's Miles?"

"I can't find her. Amaranth told me to look for you while she tries to get them to settle down."

"Well, if they're handling it already—"

"No, you don't understand," Donovan said. "Storm is getting ready to get involved in it."

Era's eyes widened. "Uh, okay. Hold her off. I'm coming," she said.

Donovan nodded then ran back to the dormitories.

Era looked at us apologetically. "I'll be back in a few minutes, guys. I just need to straighten out two immature teenage girls," she said, and then muttered unhappily, "who had been fighting over a stupid necklace since yesterday."

Adam made a move to get up. "Should I come and help?"

"No," Era and I both said at the same time.

"These are my sisters, Adam. I need to handle this," Era said. "But thanks for the offer."

"Um, okay," he said while sitting back down.

"You better go before they get into Storm's last nerve," I told her.

"Yeah. Before she burns the whole Academy down," Era agreed before jogging off.

When she was gone, Adam asked, "Shouldn't we go and help?"

I looked at him. "Do you really want to be in a brawl that involves teenaged girls?"

Adam thought about it. "So you and Era were looking at these pictures?" he asked as he picked up the tablet from the table then looked through them.

"Yep," I answered.

Adam nodded. "You seem to know a lot about Era and her sisters," he commented later.

"Yes," I answered slowly, a bit suspicious of his reason for bringing it up. "I know a lot about her brothers, too."

"You're familiar with her whole family. Good. That's good," he said casually. Even if his focus was still on the tablet, I could tell that he cared more about that detail than he was letting on. Before I could say anything, he asked, "So you hang out with them a lot?"

"Yes…?" I rolled my eyes. "Adam. You're seriously not jealous, are you?"

"What? Jealous? Pfft! Of course not," Adam said, brushing it off, thought it was obvious on how he overreacted that he wasn't being honest. "Why would I be jealous? You and Era are just, you know, like classmates."

"And we're also best friends."

"What? I thought you, Bree, Chase and I were the ones who are best friends?"

I raised my brows. "Yeah. We were. Until a few months ago."

He frowned. "'Until a few months ago?' What happened a few months ago?"

I sighed. "I don't know, man. I seriously don't know," I answered.

Adam's brows wrinkled as he thought.

"Look, I know that you like Era and Era likes you. I'm not going to get in the way of that. She's my friend, and you're my brother. I know my place," I assured Adam. I smirked. "Besides, L Doo's already got a girl."

"A girl? I thought you and Janelle already broke up?"

"Yeah…"

"So how could you have a girl if you've already split with the person that you're supposed—Oh."

I nodded slowly, grinning.

He pointed to me, also grinning. "There's a new one!"

"Uh-huh."

"Is she bionic?"

"Yes."

"Is she cute?"

"Beyond cute."

"Is it Era?"

I frowned at him. "No. It's not Era," I said.

"But she is bionic?"

"Yes."

Adam's eyes narrowed. "Is it that girl named Storm?"

"No. As much fun as I think Storm is, we'd be the worst match ever. I have nothing but respect for that girl, but she's pretty much a pyrokinetic maniac with temper issues. And she's not ashamed about it. That, plus a guy who gets into trouble as a hobby?" I shook my head.

Adam pondered over it. "Pyrokinetic maniac, you said?"

I nodded.

He grinned. "Maybe we should get her together with Chase," he said.

I know Adam was trying to be funny, but what he didn't know is that Storm has a little bit of a crush on Chase. Storm never openly admitted it, but I could tell. I'd like to think that I've hung out with her long enough to notice the little signs of that.

Still, I knew she wouldn't want me sticking my nose into her business, especially since it seemed like I'm the only one who knew about it, so I decided to keep it to myself. Instead, I just said, "You know, as much as you like messing with Chase, I know that deep down, you care about him. If anything, you'd probably want him to have the best of everything."

Adam scoffed. "Me? Wanting the best for him? Why would I do that?"

"Because you're his brother."

"Come on. Be real."

"I am being real. You care about him."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm your brother?"

Adam seemed to have understood what I meant, but instead of saying anything about it, he just shook his head and smirked as he returned to browsing through the pictures.

"What are you doing here anyways?" I asked when it was obvious that he wasn't going to revisit that topic. "I thought you were going to kick back at the quarters?"

"Nah, it was too tense in there," Adam said. "After you left, Douglas, Bree and Chase kind of turned against each other again. They were arguing."

"I thought noise relaxes you?"

"Yeah, but not that kind of noise," Adam said. He placed down the tablet when he was done. "And I kinda did want to see Era. I haven't talked to her since they came back."

That made me a bit nervous. "Are you going to tell her about what happened?" I asked.

"Yep."

"What are you going to tell her?"

"That there was a huge spider, I got bitten, you were a corndog, and now I'm okay."

I nodded, breathing out in relief.

Adam frowned. "Why'd you ask?"

"Um…" I looked at him with a grin. "Just trying to make sure that you remembered everything right."

Adam shrugged. "Okay," he said, picking up the keychain to examine it.

"Just a head's up, she'll probably fuss over you some more when she comes back. Era's a worrier," I said.

"Alright," he said. "Though, I don't see what the big deal is."

"What, from you almost dying?"

He nodded.

"That seriously didn't scare you?"

He shook his head.

"Really," I said. "I don't believe it."

"No, it really didn't," Adam chuckled. "I'm serious. I felt terrible and all, but I was fine."

I just looked at him, because I still didn't buy it.

Then came the truth. "Is that bad? That's bad, isn't it. I was not scared to die. And, I guess…that's what's scary." He sighed. "Ah, that's why I hate this thinking thing. I do it, and then what comes out doesn't make sense."

"Well, actually, it does," I told him.

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Wow. Most of the time, I don't make sense. This time I do. This feels good!" he said excitedly. Then, he reconsidered it. "Well, not really. Not this one, at least. This one feels terrible." He frowned. "I just don't understand what it really means. Most people don't want to die because they have many things they still haven't done or they have many things and people they don't want to leave behind. That I wasn't scared, does it mean that I'm going nowhere?" He looked at me. "Am I living for nothing?"

Well, that stumped me. And surprised me. The questions he asked were pretty loaded. I wasn't expecting that to come out of him. I've always thought of Adam as a guy who was pretty content with everything. But, I guess he'd just come to that point where he wondered about his existence, which, really, all of us had, do, or would at some point.

So, I just answered as best as I could. "No. You're living for something," I said.

"Which is…?"

"I don't know. You have to figure it out," I said. I smiled. "That's the beauty of being alive, man. You get to figure out things on your own. It's like opening a present with many layers of gift wraps."

"So, you're saying that it's going to take time before I find out what's waiting for me?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"How long will it take?"

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said. "Like you, I'm still working on my present, too."

Adam thought about it. "What if it turns out to be an empty box?" he asked.

"Does everything around you feel like an empty box?"

"No."

"Then it's not gonna be empty," I said. "You'll be surprised. Even the lightest of boxes has something in them." To help him out, I added, "There must be something that you want in the future, Adam."

"I…want a penguin. Oh, I want a penguin. Ooh! I also want a pony! Maybe one that can fly!"

"Okay, maybe something that doesn't involve animals that would get you arrested. Or locked in an asylum."

"A dog?"

"Okay. Dog works. What else?"

"Well, I want to have a wife and kids, too. Like Mr. Davenport. Maybe two boys and a girl? Like Bree, Chase and I?" He grinned. "That sounds like it's going to be fun."

"Or crazy. Especially if your sons fight like you and Chase fight," I pointed out.

"You're right," Adam said as he brooded. "Maybe we should have another boy in addition. It'll be like you, me and Chase."

"Then that'd drive your daughter crazy."

Adam smirked. "Not if she's as tough as her aunt."

I thought about it. "True," I agreed.

"If that's what's going to happen in the future, then I need to marry a girl who can referee well," Adam said as he realized it. "I need someone to help me handle the kids."

"You do," I agreed. Then, I pointed out, "See? I told you. You're heading somewhere."

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am," he told me.

"I'm back!" Era said as she walked into the cafeteria. She blew an exhausted breath as she sat—well, slumped, actually—back to the seat she had earlier.

I winced out of sympathy. "Ooh. That bad, huh?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "You know how much I hate yelling, but I had to do it," she said. "They thought they could scare me by acting all tough. They don't know I can be as much as a psycho as they are."

"What'd you do?" Adam asked.

"They were still fighting over the same necklace, so I took it. I told them I was going to snap it in half if they don't quit it," Era said.

"So they stopped?" I asked.

"Like they had any choice. I told them that the only way they'd get it back is if they work together to find the other necklace," Era said.

Adam and I looked at each other. "What'd you do with the one they were fighting over?" I asked.

Era pulled out the diamond-like, flower-shaped pendant from under the collar of her shirt, showing us that she was wearing it. She smiled conspiratorially. "It's pretty on me, don't you think?" she said.

I chuckled.

"Even a necklace made out of palm tree leaves would look good on you, Era," Adam said.

Era blushed while she grinned too widely. "Aww…"

"O-kay, I think it's about time for me to go," I said, getting up from the table just as they were beginning to make googly eyes with each other. I didn't really bother looking back once I started walking away. It'll just be awkward and…yeah.

I didn't go back to the quarters just yet after that because I knew it won't be a good idea, so I just headed to the dormitories to be nosy. Storm and Rocket were giving Miles and Miller a full account of what happened during the diamond necklace drama when I got there. Apparently, Era wasn't kidding when she said she turned into a full-blown psycho on her sisters. Storm's usually pretty passive when it comes to many things, but I dare say that she looked somewhat amused by what she had seen. She mentioned something about Era having an evil streak in her, which she seemed to fully support.

Miles said she would talk to Era about it later, just to check if she was okay.

Miller just looked bored.

Things have settled down now, though. It seems like there's peace in the dormitories when I left, relatively, and it's quiet here in the quarters—mostly because the people who scowl and glare at me are asleep. That's fine. At least I have a few hours before it begins again.

For some reason, I keep thinking about what Adam and I talked about. It makes me wonder what else I'm going to get in the future. I have a great family, awesome friends, a sweet girlfriend…I have so many good things, if you think about it.

I would like to get bumped up in the rankings one day, though. Maybe scale up from being a yellow to an orange? Oh, that would be so cool if it happens this summer. That would be awesome.

But, with the pace I'm going, it may not even happen for a long time.

Hey, a guy can dream, right?

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

07/11/15

1:49 AM

The Adam Chronicles

By the end of Spider Island, Adam brought in something else that washed up ashore. What was it? Reviews and answers are both appreciated!

It's been a while since I recommended something, so here's one: AlienGhostWizard14's "Under the Radar". So far, it only has two chapters, but it's already good. If you're up for a good adventure/thriller/mystery, do give this one a try. I have a feeling that it's going to be good.

If you find that you like it, too, please show the writer and the story some support! They deserve it!

Two more after this! If you've seen the previews for the upcoming new episodes for the next three weeks, you know things are about to get crazy. Hopefully we can catch up before that happens.