"I can't believe we're doing this instead of building up Oscar's surprise. By the time it's 8th period we'll still be stuck up here," Dora said looking over a rarely visited stairwell. The vent pumped air a little harder there making for a nosy hiding spot.
Josie entered the stairwell quietly looking at her phone. Dora had texted her here there. They didn't naturally share numbers, so Josie was unaware of who the one texting really was.
"Where are you!? You said you had information?" Josie looked up from her phone shouting.
"No!...You do!" from all doors of the stairwell creeped some of Dora's comrades. They moved very precisely, taking a step all at the same time, and then taking another step. They all had out drawn a weapon of Ball's choice: metal spoons.
That way they won't be suspended, she had thought.
"Spoons? And a pentagon? Give me a break," Josie said. Despite, she was still nervous. Especially over the one kid threatening her with a laminated pentagon.
(I'll be better at this one day)
Who attacks with a flat shape? That's gotta be some type of bad omen.
"Tell us what you know about Craeggs Noname!" said a immature sophomore deepening his voice.
"Oh, so that's what this is about? Of course it is heh, you were organized here by someone right?"
"CEASE YOUR TEMPTING NONSENSE AND JUST TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT CRAEGGS!" a serious senior screamed. The others looked at her funny, but then continued to try and appear well thought out and intimidating to Josie.
"Woah woah hey!" Josie put her arms up in fright, "Ok! Most of you could've just asked me by yourselves! I'm always talking about this stuff anyway! Should I start at the beginning?"
"What do ya say Gabbs? Should we let her?"
"Like, maybe she'll tell us the bird story again,"
The two sleepy teen girls from algebra were not so sleepy anymore. They were Tiffany Eisenhower, and Gabby Stück, and they were known for being inseparable.
"Of course you're gonna let me, that's what you're here for! I'll start bluntly.
When I first met Craeggs he was not human. He was a bird,"
Gabbs and Tiff started to chuckle,
"HE WAS! He was a bird! I was looking out of my apartment and there was a bird who was acting really strange. I looked a little closer and it was talking! He was a little blackbird with flashy yellow feathers under his wings! I went over to investigate cause he was talking and he was weird. The thing was, is that he couldn't fly! So I captured him. He didn't want to be captured, but I did anyway. He begged me to let him go, but I told him I wouldn't. I went into another room to get my phone and take a picture, but when I got back the cage was destroyed! It was melted!"
"And, how does this go with Craeggs? Like how did you know it was him?" Gabby asked.
"Well first of all, the bird sounded like Craeggs,"
"But like, birds talk sometimes. I've seen videos," Gabby continued.
"Yeah. It might've just been Craeggs bird, as the bird imitates how the owner sounds," Tiffany said. The other comrades nodded and looked at each other.
"You misunderstand! That isn't my only evidence for Craeggs being the bird. When he first started coming to this school everyone was well aware that he was strange, yes?"
"... I never met him," mumbled a freshman. 2 others also shared that they hadn't met the guy.
"Look, there is plenty of evidence for aliens already, but when I bumped into Craeggs in between classes I had a vision,"
"A vision?" The group was intrigued.
"Yes, he was having some sort of emotional episode when I bumped him. He doesn't belong here, and he knows that. I..! know that! Because I felt it. I lived snips a pieces of Craeggs life! He is something beyond our world. I saw it. Deep space, foreign grasslands, scary rectangles, and the numbers! So many numbers! But one flashback was not like the others. It was of an escape from my cage! He touched the bars with his little bird feet and it just melted! I still don't understand. I want to find out more…. Somebody organized you here. Who are they, and why do they want what I know? That is, all I know by the way. I want to know what Craeggs is planning. I want to know what that crazy sound compulsion thing was today. You can help me. Knowing is half the battle," Josie said.
"Nah... You're kind of a jerk," The group began to disperse. Josie sighed.
"Everything Ok?" Beta texted.
"Don't worry, it's over now" Josie texted back to her twin.
"Well, did you get what you wanted?" Dora lazily looked over to Ball.
"Not exactly. I was hoping to find out where Craeggs is located," Ball sighed.
"Didn't the screaming guy say that he was 'up there?" Dora said.
"But up where?" Ball asked herself.
"Well we're supposedly dealing with space aliens here, and space is the ultimate up," Dora said.
"But how will we get there?"
"I donno, this is your deal, not mine. You think I have some sort of spaceship that can fly me up to some mothership that Craeggs is being held in?"
"We can try,"
"!? But there's no way!" Dora said.
"My… Johnson knows the aliens. I might be able to hitch a ride with one of them if I can trick them,"
"Well you have tricked before," Dora thought back to when Ball had tricked them into letting her outside.
"I will just have to wait until they return! They tend to come at night," Ball said.
"Well I guess I underestimated you Ball. You seem to have this planned out. Not exactly sure how safe it is, but you found a way,"
During the next couple periods Ball and Dora spent time downstairs in the basement for a break.
"Being in the vents too long can drive you insane. There's just not enough room to breath easy," Dora had said. In the dank of the basement hall she had seemingly fallen asleep. Before she had began to slumber, she had luckily lit up a candle another student had left there. With the light Ball could see Rocky sitting across from her. They didn't do anything but stare at each other for a while.
Who are you Rocky? Who are you to Oscar? Who am I, to you? Who am I in general?
Ball asked herself. She didn't say so out loud due to the grand possibility that nobody around her knew the answers. It made her confused, and sad that she couldn't just know it.
"Rocky, hop back in my bag! We have done all we can here. Maybe David will be able to help us further. Oh! And could you get one bag of gummies out first?" Rocky did what he was ordered, "Thank you! Ok, now you can jump back in," Rocky went back into Ball's bag, and Ball placed the gummies on top of Dora's face so she would eat them when she woke.
Ball looked up at the elevator buttons (It did not require a key).
"Oh peggle, Rocky could you come out again?" Rocky came out of the bag once more. He wasn't as annoyed as Ball assumed he was. The stone stood on top of Ball's head, "Can you jump up and hit the top most button?" Rocky did just that, and a little while later the elevator came. Ball walked in with Rocky still standing on her head, "We should try to aim for the next floor! Jump up and press the button that says one!" Ball commanded. Rocky jumped once and missed, but on his second try he succeeded, "Quickly now! Get into the bag! The students can not see you!" Ball said. Rocky took his time, but he still managed to get in before the elevator opened up to the first floor.