The day seemed to drag as the group waited eagerly for the party at Pixie's Pub and Pool. But when it finally arrived and their friends, old and new, from Cedar Ridge finally arrived, they crowded around them, wanting to catch every word about the mysterious bell ringing. They were introduced to Mary Louise, Eileen, and Josie first before the Cedar Ridge group launched into their tale.

"We all heard it. There was no doubt about it," stated Maurice, "that bell was definitely ringing. But even with Mary Louise and Eileen coming towards the bell one way and us the other way, we didn't catch who was ringing it."

"Well, there are other ways the culprit could get away without you noticing him," remarked Josie, "he just had to be fast and quiet."

"But I still wonder if it wasn't a human, but sprites!" exclaimed Mary Louise.

"Sprites?" chorused several voices.

Eileen nodded. "There are two legends concerning the bell, one is that of a ghost ringing the bell, the other is that sprites are doing it, both to protect the school from disaster." She smirked. "But we surmise that it is more likely to be sprites due to the fact that we are sure that the girl who rang the bell that started the ghost legend ran away, hence why she was never seen again. Everyone just thought she died." She shrugged.

"How interesting," remarked Martie, rubbing her chin.

Linda glanced over at Dot as the group started theorizing about sprites. Dot's fingers were fiddling with her extra hair band that she always had around her wrist, then they went up to her hair, near her ears. Linda grabbed her hands and lowered them. She took Dot's hair out of the hair band and ran her fingers through it before putting the hair band back on. Dot's ear tips were pretty well hidden still. Linda, Louise, and Tom were the only ones who knew Dot's secret, that she was an elf. Linda and Louise had fixed Dot's hair so many times like that just to let her know her pointed ears were quite covered. Dot relaxed and shot Linda a grateful smile before the two turned their attention back to the conversation.

"But was the college in danger at all the last two nights?" Tom asked.

Everyone from Sanford shook their heads.

"That's just the thing, not only was it not in danger, only those of us close by heard it!" exclaimed Mary Louise. "It was very odd, for sure!"

"It sure seems like it," remarked Mike. "Which begs the question, why was it rung?"

Eileen shared a smirk with the others. "Well, we searched the library, and we have a theory."

Linda's eyebrow went up. "Oh?"

A smirk spread on Arden Blake's face. "There's a rumor that a senator who went there buried some treasure."

There were gasps.

"You're kidding!"

"No way!"

"Buried treasure!"

Dot and Linda shared a look of surprise. Could it be a fairy treasure?

Eileen bobbed her head. "Oh yes, there's buried treasure at Cedar Ridge!"

"Which might explain the motive," interjected Josie thoughtfully, "but it doesn't explain the bell. Why does it need to be rung? And who is ringing it?"

"You didn't find out any more information on the bell tower?" asked Johnny.

The girls shook their heads. "Nothing else on the bell besides what caused the rope to fray, and definitely nothing else about sprites or the secret society." Josie rubbed her chin. "Which is rather odd, to be honest. You would think there would have been more." Her eyebrows furrowed. "I think I shall take another look through the library tomorrow."

"I'll go with you," said Mary Louise.

"Count me in as well!" exclaimed Eileen.

Josie smiled at them. "Thanks."

Linda noticed Sim glancing at Arden, and then Josie glancing between them, but especially Sim. Was Sim another non-human? If so, what? Her hair was pulled back tight and her ears were visible, no pointed ears. Mermaid, perhaps? She liked to swim. Or something else?

"I'll, I'll join you as well," Arden finally said.

"So will I," said Sim.

"Me too!" quickly said Ethel.

Josie glanced from one to the other before nodding slowly. "Sounds good." She turned to Terry. "Will you be joining us as well?"

Terry shot Arden a look before nodding her head at Josie. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great, let's meet at the library at eight o'clock tomorrow." She glanced at the rest of the group. "Anyone else want to join?"

"I don't even know if Sanford students are even allowed on Cedar Ridge grounds," said Mike with a soft chuckle. He waggled his eyebrows. "But I bet we could find out real quick."

"Even if you were, I would think everyone would think it suspicious that so many students are going to the library before classes start," said Louise. "I know I would think that."

"Of course you would," muttered Jim.

"But that's a good point," said Josie, "that would be a very odd sight to see just before classes start." Josie drummed her fingers on the table. "If you do want to help, maybe you could look for clues near the bell tower. We'll join you once we've finished at the library."

Louise nodded slowly. "That could work. Anything in particular we're looking for?"

Josie shrugged. "Can't tell you, anything and everything could be a clue."

"Unless it's trash," quipped Eileen. The others laughed.

"Well, I guess we can go to Cedar Ridge, at least for that," said Ralph.

"But do we really need to? It seems like there's going to be too many people if you come over and we could get in each other's way," said Maurice.

"Besides, we seem to be having our own little adventures," said Martie, shooting a look at Mike.

"Oh yes, tell us all about it!" exclaimed Louise.

"It wasn't exactly fun," mumbled Tom. They took turns telling the Cedar Ridge group about the near-hit-and-run they had the previous night.

"I still think Rod's behind it," muttered Martie as she crossed her arms and shot glares at Mike.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Between you and Johnny, I'm never going to hear the end of it. Frankly, I'm surprised we even made it as a team back at the base with the way you two talk about him!"

"That's because he had to be content with being on the top team with you. But now that he's not and the glory of being an astronaut is on the line, he'll do anything to keep you from getting to the top," said Martie.

Johnny scoffed. "Besides, can't help it if it's the truth."

Mike threw up his hands. "Guys, we still have no proof that Rod was behind it, and I won't believe it until we find absolute proof!"

Johnny and Martie shot each other a glance. "Fine."

"Thank you." Mike paused then wagged his finger at them. "And don't go fabricating any proof."

"Won't need to," quipped Johnny as he crossed his arms. "We just gotta find the proof."

Mike rolled his eyes and groaned. "Whatever, just drop it already, please!"

"What's this about somebody behind something?" Everyone jumped at the sound of the newcomer's voice. Four guys were standing behind Jim and Maurice. The two jumped up with a delighted shout and shook hands with each of them.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up!" said Jim with a hearty laugh. He and Maurice quickly introduced everyone to the newcomers as their roommate and his childhood friends, a group of boys who called themselves the Darewell Chums.

Ned Wilding had wild light brown hair and hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief. He was quickly pointed out as the head prankster of the group. Bart Keene had coiled dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was revealed to be the jock of the group. He wanted to be the captain of the Cedar Ridge team, it didn't matter which sport. Fen Masterson was chubby with blonde hair and grey eyes, but quickly became a fan favorite, partially due to the platter of cookies he brought and the generous helping of compliments he dished out. But no one could stop staring at the fourth member of the party, Frank Roscoe. He was definitely considered the most handsome of the four, but there was an air of mystery hanging around that brown head and a sense of secrecy that clouded his otherwise shining emerald eyes. His other oddity was how he dressed, like he stepped out of a 1940s magazine. It wasn't a full on suit and tie, but it was by no means the casual jeans and t-shirt that everyone else wore either.

To Linda, she could tell he wasn't fully human, and based on the soft hiss Dot let out, it was possible he was half vampire. Dot had explained to her, Louise, and Tom on a few occasions about the long-lasting feud between elves and vampires. Fairies, nymphs, and usually werewolves sided with the elves, but the two species couldn't stand being near each other after centuries of fighting. Even now, a flash of disgust came over Frank's face when he looked at Dot. But then it was followed by a look of surprise. Linda tilted her head. Maybe he was half vampire, but it seemed his human parent did the raising.

Another group of people came through the doors at Pixie's, a very well put together group.

"That's the acting troupe," Linda heard Maurice whisper in response to Tom's quizzical face.

"Hey mister! Can we get some dance music going?" shouted one of the guys. Linda raised her eyebrow at him. Without seeing the ears, she thought he looked elven. He glanced at Dot and shot her an impish grin. Oh yeah, had to be elven.

"But we haven't been introduced yet!" exclaimed Terry.

"We can introduce ourselves while we wait for the music!" announced the fellow. "I'll start, I'm Phillip Piper, but you can call me Pip!"

"Good, because I'm Phillip Morgan!" Phillip shouted. "And I don't like being called Pip!" Everyone laughed, that broke the ice and introductions were well under way when the music started up. People coupled up and the dancing commenced. Pip came by and asked Dot to dance, who readily agreed. Linda noticed Tom watching Arden walk to a table where Eileen and Mary Louise were sitting. Astro had gone off and was learning how to dance with Terry.

She nudged him. "Why don't you ask her to dance?"

Tom blinked. "Uh, what?"

"Go on, ask her! I promise she won't bite! But Eileen looks like she could."

Tom chuckled nervously. "I, I don't know …"

"If she says no, I'll dance with you. But you had better hurry before Ralph makes his way here."

But at that moment Mike approached them. "Hey Linda, want to dance?"

Linda glanced at Ralph, then Tom and Arden. "Yes, I want to. Let's go!" Tom's mouth dropped open. She merely gave him a cheeky grin before heading to the dance floor.

"What, was Tom going to ask you?"

Linda laughed. "He wasn't sure about asking Arden, and now he must."

"Well, looks like he succeeded." Mike nodded in Tom's direction. He was joining the dance with Arden. The two seemed awkward at first, but Tom said something, Arden laughed, and it vanished.

Linda smiled. "I think she's a good match for him."

Mike blinked. "How can you tell? We barely know anyone!"

She shrugged. "Call it intuition, but based on what we do know of her, the two will work quite well together."

He sighed and shook his head. "You're just as bad as Johnny and Martie."

"Why? Because we're so sure?"

"Because you jump to conclusions before having all the facts."

Linda stuck up her nose. "It's called reading between the lines. Ninety percent of communication is nonverbal, you have to know what to look for and interpret it correctly."

"You could be misinterpreting something. And don't use your rich sass on me, Linda Carlton."

She gasped, then laughed. "Rich sass?" She gave a defiant shake of her head. "I shall use it when and on whom I please."

"Does that include Ralph Clavering?"

Her mouth twitched with annoyance. "He gets a different kind of sass."

"And Tom?"

She glanced over at him, laughing at something with Arden. "Oh, I think he gets the worst of it, being practically my brother and all." She glanced back at Mike with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

Mike shrugged. "Just trying to read between the lines." The song ended and he took a bow, leaving her rather bewildered on the dance floor.

(Author's Note: is it possible, can it be? Could I be getting my groove back? Well, maybe getting promoted to Assistant Manager at the college bookstore to where I just have one full-time job instead of two part-time jobs has helped a lot. That's right, my rosy readers, I now only have one job to worry about! I have not been sleeping for a full eight hours each night, almost more like getting two naps in, but ten o'clock rolls around, and I'm out until either midnight or one, wake up, do a couple more things, and right back to bed. Thankfully, I really only have to work four Saturdays, at least, each year, and we close at one on Fridays, except the Fridays before those Saturdays, so yeah, I get a little bit more free time! Now, whether or not I can actually get myself into using that free time again is another thing, but it could be that I need to get myself out of this rut first. Well, it's certainly happening! That being said, keep an eye out this weekend for the next chapter in the Nancy Drew series! I've broken through writer's block on that one and this one, and I'm going to keep with the momentum. It might just very well get me motivated to manage my time better. Plus, I got myself into writer's block on the original stories I have been working on, it might help me get out of it on those too! Well, I shall end this here for now, a more personal update will be included on the Nancy Drew one. As great news as this is, there is also some sad news, but I want to get this posted. Thanks for reading, and have a great day! God bless!)