“Cassidy, its ‘national have fun day’” Amelia said as if it was obvious.
“Yeah, and its ‘national I have a math test day’”.
“Funny…You think I’m joking, but I’m getting off at the next stop and if you don’t come with me, I’m going to be all alone. That could be dangerous” Amelia said, confident that she was actually going to get her way.
Cassidy sighed with defeat. She saw that there was no changing her mind. Whatever Amelia was planning she was going to have to do. She couldn’t just let her roam off alone in the city after all. Still it was tempting…. She thought back to the math test she would miss, and the English quiz and that science project she still had to finish.
Had she really become so boring? Ever since she started school, she’s done nothing but school work. Maybe a day off was a good idea… I mean what’s the harm?
“Yeah, and its ‘national I have a math test day’”.
“Funny…You think I’m joking, but I’m getting off at the next stop and if you don’t come with me, I’m going to be all alone. That could be dangerous” Amelia said, confident that she was actually going to get her way.
Cassidy sighed with defeat. She saw that there was no changing her mind. Whatever Amelia was planning she was going to have to do. She couldn’t just let her roam off alone in the city after all. Still it was tempting…. She thought back to the math test she would miss, and the English quiz and that science project she still had to finish.
Had she really become so boring? Ever since she started school, she’s done nothing but school work. Maybe a day off was a good idea… I mean what’s the harm?
* * * * *
"I can't believe we just did that," Cassidy said realizing what she'd just done. "We're going to get in trouble as soon as we get back."
"It's not the end of the world," Amelia answered distracted by the happenings around them. It was pretty crowded. Cassidy wondered if Amelia had been planning this or if it was just some random idea she thought up out of boredom.
Cassidy sighed. She's already here. Why not at least make the most of it?
They decided to wonder around. They found a place to ditch their backpacks in a place no one would find them.
"Now what?" Cassidy wondered aloud. They were sitting on a park bench swinging their feet. A lot of people came here because it was the only calm place in the city. It was an hour until noon and they still had nothing to do. "This is a waste of time," Cassidy complained. "Give it up, Amelia. Let's go home."
"No. We can't. Then this would have all been for nothing and you know me mom will be furious when she finds out. Here we can do anything unlike our old small town where my mom hears and sees all."
It was true. Everyone knew Amelia's mom, Mrs. Blume. She was insane when it came to safety and protection of her daughter. She had to pre-approve everything. Amelia wasn't even allowed to wear clear nail polish. Which is why she started hiding it under her floorboards when she was 10. Five years later and those floor boards have accumulated quite a lot under there.
Mrs. Blume was probably in her car frantically looking for them since most of the time the school calls when your kids don't show up for school. Cassidy wondered how long it would be until she would be able to see her friend after today. Sure enough the minute Amelia steps into her home, she'll be grounded except for church and school of course. Then again, should she put it past Mrs. Blume to look into homeschooling? Probably not...
"Cassidy. Look," Amelia said as she pulled her across the street towards a bunch of kids their age. Wait...
"Don't we know some of these people?" Cassidy asked uneasily. From what she could tell , they were all people she avoided. They were all trouble makers. They were harmless but still trouble makers. Amelia would laugh if she knew how Cassidy felt.
After a minute or so, Cassidy realized she lost Amelia. She looked around for her friend's long red hair that stuck out in a crowd. But the crowd was getting bigger and it was hard to tell.
A hand emerged from the crowd and pulled her in.
"Come on, I said," Amelia trudged through the crowd with her hand locked around Cassidy's wrist like she was a three year old and Amelia was afraid she's wonder off.
They approached a bench where two kids sat. They were a little older than them, 16 or 17 maybe. Cassidy's seen them around school. Huh. School was probably pretty quiet right now. Anyone that causes problems is here.
"What's going on?" Amelia demanded. She hated to be oblivious even though most of the time she was.
"Amelia Blume?" the boy said surprises. What was his name again? Tim? Tyler? Terry?
"Todd. What is everyone doing here?" Trust Amelia to know who he was. Cassidy was a little surprised though. She thought that Amelia took her here for a reason but she was telling the truth when she said she just wanted to get away. Amelia was just as confused as Cassidy was.
"It's a scavenger hunt."
"For what? Easter Eggs?"
"There are a bunch of teams. Each team gets different riddles to certain places and all the riddles end up leading all the teams to one location. The team that gets there first, wins. It's not as easy as it sounds though. I don't know if you're up for it..."
Cassidy knew he only said that so she would do it. Most people only react when its a challenge. Cassidy hoped Amelia wasn't that stupid.
"I think we can swing it." Apparently she was that stupid. "What do we win?"
"A sense of adventure which your friend here clearly lacks," Todd motioned in Cassidy's direction. Amelia turned to her with hopefulness.
"Please don't drag me into this," Cassidy pleaded.
"Oh c'mon. It's one game. And Todd's right you need some adventure. Please!"
"We don't even win anything. It's just a stupid contest.
"Well if it's just a stupid contest you won't mind playing a few rounds."
That left Cassidy quiet for a second while she thought up a reason why this was unsafe.
"Great. Then it's settled." Amelia turned towards Todd. "We're playing," she said before Cassidy could interrupt. Great...
"It's not the end of the world," Amelia answered distracted by the happenings around them. It was pretty crowded. Cassidy wondered if Amelia had been planning this or if it was just some random idea she thought up out of boredom.
Cassidy sighed. She's already here. Why not at least make the most of it?
They decided to wonder around. They found a place to ditch their backpacks in a place no one would find them.
"Now what?" Cassidy wondered aloud. They were sitting on a park bench swinging their feet. A lot of people came here because it was the only calm place in the city. It was an hour until noon and they still had nothing to do. "This is a waste of time," Cassidy complained. "Give it up, Amelia. Let's go home."
"No. We can't. Then this would have all been for nothing and you know me mom will be furious when she finds out. Here we can do anything unlike our old small town where my mom hears and sees all."
It was true. Everyone knew Amelia's mom, Mrs. Blume. She was insane when it came to safety and protection of her daughter. She had to pre-approve everything. Amelia wasn't even allowed to wear clear nail polish. Which is why she started hiding it under her floorboards when she was 10. Five years later and those floor boards have accumulated quite a lot under there.
Mrs. Blume was probably in her car frantically looking for them since most of the time the school calls when your kids don't show up for school. Cassidy wondered how long it would be until she would be able to see her friend after today. Sure enough the minute Amelia steps into her home, she'll be grounded except for church and school of course. Then again, should she put it past Mrs. Blume to look into homeschooling? Probably not...
"Cassidy. Look," Amelia said as she pulled her across the street towards a bunch of kids their age. Wait...
"Don't we know some of these people?" Cassidy asked uneasily. From what she could tell , they were all people she avoided. They were all trouble makers. They were harmless but still trouble makers. Amelia would laugh if she knew how Cassidy felt.
After a minute or so, Cassidy realized she lost Amelia. She looked around for her friend's long red hair that stuck out in a crowd. But the crowd was getting bigger and it was hard to tell.
A hand emerged from the crowd and pulled her in.
"Come on, I said," Amelia trudged through the crowd with her hand locked around Cassidy's wrist like she was a three year old and Amelia was afraid she's wonder off.
They approached a bench where two kids sat. They were a little older than them, 16 or 17 maybe. Cassidy's seen them around school. Huh. School was probably pretty quiet right now. Anyone that causes problems is here.
"What's going on?" Amelia demanded. She hated to be oblivious even though most of the time she was.
"Amelia Blume?" the boy said surprises. What was his name again? Tim? Tyler? Terry?
"Todd. What is everyone doing here?" Trust Amelia to know who he was. Cassidy was a little surprised though. She thought that Amelia took her here for a reason but she was telling the truth when she said she just wanted to get away. Amelia was just as confused as Cassidy was.
"It's a scavenger hunt."
"For what? Easter Eggs?"
"There are a bunch of teams. Each team gets different riddles to certain places and all the riddles end up leading all the teams to one location. The team that gets there first, wins. It's not as easy as it sounds though. I don't know if you're up for it..."
Cassidy knew he only said that so she would do it. Most people only react when its a challenge. Cassidy hoped Amelia wasn't that stupid.
"I think we can swing it." Apparently she was that stupid. "What do we win?"
"A sense of adventure which your friend here clearly lacks," Todd motioned in Cassidy's direction. Amelia turned to her with hopefulness.
"Please don't drag me into this," Cassidy pleaded.
"Oh c'mon. It's one game. And Todd's right you need some adventure. Please!"
"We don't even win anything. It's just a stupid contest.
"Well if it's just a stupid contest you won't mind playing a few rounds."
That left Cassidy quiet for a second while she thought up a reason why this was unsafe.
"Great. Then it's settled." Amelia turned towards Todd. "We're playing," she said before Cassidy could interrupt. Great...
* * * * *
"Now!" One of the people who set up the game yelled.
The two girls unrolled their tiny scrap of paper that held their first clue Amelia read aloud:
Sweet and delicious, smoothies galore,
find the right red cup and of clues you'll find more.
"Wow. Bonus points to whoever used the word galore," Cassidy said with a fake impressed tone. Amelia grimaced in her direction.
"They probably put a lot of effort into this. Seriously," she continued. Amelia rolled her eyes.
"We need to focus," Amelia said seriously.
"How ironic. You are telling me to focus."
Amelia, who stopped listening, was off walking toward the yogurt place no doubt. Cassidy gave in and followed her. They walked in silence. Most of the time the two girls got along great. It was those times when Amelia got crazy ideas that Cassidy wanted no part in that they had problems.
They reached the yogurt store fifteen or so minutes later. They immediately walked towards the cups lids and straws station. After a few minutes of searching, Cassidy gave up.
"There's no red cup."
"Then what do we do?" Amelia looked disappointed.
Cassidy hated the few times she's seen Amelia make that expression. She thought for a minute about the game. At first when she read the clue, she thought that it was way too simple. They figured it out without even a conversation between them. It wasn't even close to a challenge. But really she hadn't expected there to be one. But maybe Todd was telling the truth about the game being too hard for them. Maybe the clues weren't what was hard but the places they needed to go.
Her thoughts were interrupted when an employee bumped into her. "Sorry," the boy said and headed through the doors to the back. Before she even knew what she was doing she realized she caught the door with her foot. The guy working hadn't noticed. She quietly slipped to the far back corner, careful not to be spotted, where there seemed to be storage. She frantically searched for a box with cups.
After a second she found it, Cassidy put her hand in and sure enough, it came out with a red cup. "Yes!" she half whispered.
"Hey, who's in here?" one of the employees yelled out.
Cassidy quickly slipped out of there, grabbed Amelia who looked vaguely annoyed, and stormed out of there as fast as she could.
"Got it."
"How did you...?" Amelia wondered in disbelief. "Wait. No time for explanation. Just give me the clue."
"A simple thank you would have sufficed," Cassidy grumbled.
Amelia unrolled the clue and read"
China boxes are so full of history.
The one with the dragon will unlock the mystery.
"Gee, that's helpful," Cassidy said sarcastically, "Let's just head to China."
"There's an street name though. That look familiar?" Cassidy glimpsed at the piece of paper.
"I think I have an idea of where it is. It should be this way," Cassidy said starting in the direction she just pointed to down the street.
"Now!" One of the people who set up the game yelled.
The two girls unrolled their tiny scrap of paper that held their first clue Amelia read aloud:
Sweet and delicious, smoothies galore,
find the right red cup and of clues you'll find more.
"Wow. Bonus points to whoever used the word galore," Cassidy said with a fake impressed tone. Amelia grimaced in her direction.
"They probably put a lot of effort into this. Seriously," she continued. Amelia rolled her eyes.
"We need to focus," Amelia said seriously.
"How ironic. You are telling me to focus."
Amelia, who stopped listening, was off walking toward the yogurt place no doubt. Cassidy gave in and followed her. They walked in silence. Most of the time the two girls got along great. It was those times when Amelia got crazy ideas that Cassidy wanted no part in that they had problems.
They reached the yogurt store fifteen or so minutes later. They immediately walked towards the cups lids and straws station. After a few minutes of searching, Cassidy gave up.
"There's no red cup."
"Then what do we do?" Amelia looked disappointed.
Cassidy hated the few times she's seen Amelia make that expression. She thought for a minute about the game. At first when she read the clue, she thought that it was way too simple. They figured it out without even a conversation between them. It wasn't even close to a challenge. But really she hadn't expected there to be one. But maybe Todd was telling the truth about the game being too hard for them. Maybe the clues weren't what was hard but the places they needed to go.
Her thoughts were interrupted when an employee bumped into her. "Sorry," the boy said and headed through the doors to the back. Before she even knew what she was doing she realized she caught the door with her foot. The guy working hadn't noticed. She quietly slipped to the far back corner, careful not to be spotted, where there seemed to be storage. She frantically searched for a box with cups.
After a second she found it, Cassidy put her hand in and sure enough, it came out with a red cup. "Yes!" she half whispered.
"Hey, who's in here?" one of the employees yelled out.
Cassidy quickly slipped out of there, grabbed Amelia who looked vaguely annoyed, and stormed out of there as fast as she could.
"Got it."
"How did you...?" Amelia wondered in disbelief. "Wait. No time for explanation. Just give me the clue."
"A simple thank you would have sufficed," Cassidy grumbled.
Amelia unrolled the clue and read"
China boxes are so full of history.
The one with the dragon will unlock the mystery.
"Gee, that's helpful," Cassidy said sarcastically, "Let's just head to China."
"There's an street name though. That look familiar?" Cassidy glimpsed at the piece of paper.
"I think I have an idea of where it is. It should be this way," Cassidy said starting in the direction she just pointed to down the street.
* * * * *
"Okay. There are a lot of boxes here," Amelia noted as she stepped into the boutique filled with Chinese trinkets. There was a whole selection of boxes. Each one different but similar. Most of them had dragons.
"This is gonna be like finding a needle in a hay stack."
Cassidy thought about the last clue. The cup wasn't in the place that it was expected to be, so why would this be any different?
"What are you doing? Where are you going? Cassidy!" Amelia shouted as Cassidy wondered away.
"Just looking."
"Well, you can do your Christmas shopping some other time," Amelia answered. "We have a lot of boxes to go through."
"Maybe not."
"Why's that?"
"'Cause I think I already found it." Amelia followed the sound of her voice until she found her sitting on the ground with a box on her lap. A box with a dragon on it.
"Not fair! I want to find the next one."
"Help me open it." They pried the top open after a while of tugging. Amelia read the third clue:
Five year olds and Nemo are somehow alike
Find the link and locate that place but it can be a hike
The silver tooth brush is what you're looking for
But you can't just walk straight through the door
"Okay. Nemo, 5 year olds and toothbrushes. My guess is the dentist," Amelia gathered.
"But which one? There's more than one dentist around here."
"I don't think it's around here. Or at least not close by. It says it's a hike."
"Wait. Look at the way it's written. It's different than all the rest of the clues. The beginning letters are capitalized and are bold. F.F.T.B. That mean anything to you?"
"F.F.T.B. stands for five foot tall brunette. How do you not know that? Jeez. Wait, when I was little I used to go to this dentist. I think she was an F.F.T.B. and I'm pretty sure it's far away. Dr. Raskin's office."
"That's a coincidence that you used to go there."
"Not really. My mom's obsessed with staying healthy, including teeth. I've been to more dentist offices then I can count. She didn't like this dentist because she believes she was too young to have any idea what she was doing."
"Well. Lead the way," Cassidy said.
"Umm... That might be a problem. My memory isn't the greatest, I'm sure you know considering you've seen my test grades, and I don't know exactly remember how to get there."
Amelia and Cassidy spent the next ten minutes arguing about which way to go from the map at the train station. Eventually after asking dozens of strangers passing by, one of them knew the street name of Dr. Raskin's office. Getting there, however, was going to be a little more challenging. They ended up going Cassidy's way because she always seemed to know where she was going. Also she could successfully read a map. Most of the time anyway.
After they got off the train, they realized it was getting late. It was past 3 and school was out. Their parents would expect them to be home soon and be mad if they weren't, unless the school called saying they didn't show up. Then they were in even more trouble. Well Amelia more so than Cassidy. It wouldn't be a bid deal to Cassidy's mom that she skipped out on school. If anything, she'll be mad that she didn't come with them. Cassidy and her mom didn't exactly have a normal mother-daughter relationship. She was the opposite of Mrs. Blume.
The two girls called their parents on a pay phone, thanking God that they had extra change in their pockets. Again they lucked out when no one answered either of their calls. They just left messages saying they were just going to go get some food and they'd be home soon.
Hopefully they would be home soon. The sky was turning darker and the wind was picking up. Not a good sign. Weird. It was a nice day out earlier, but the weather did tend to be a little unpredictable during the spring.
* * * * *
After a half hour of walking Amelia started to doubt her friend. "Do you even know where we are?" she asked.
"I think so," Cassidy said a little unsure.
"You think so? Nu-uh that doesn't cut it. Where are we?" Amelia was getting upset. This was bad. They were lost in an unfamiliar city. She was starving. They didn't have much cash with them. No cell phones. And the weather wasn't looking so great at the moment.
Cassidy was about to say something but she was interrupted by a loud boom of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning and to top it off, a down-poor.
"Great. Could this get anymore cliche?" Amelia yelled. "If you had only known where you were going-"
"Well it isn't my fault we're in this stupid game in the first place," Cassidy interrupted.
"Well I'm not the one who doesn't know how to read a map," Amelia argued but it was kind of true.
"That's it I give up. I'm going home." Amelia dramatically marched off down the street towards the train station. She stopped mid step right when she reached the end..
Cassidy stifled a laugh. She'd known Amelia for a real long time and she had a pretty good guess at why she'd stopped. She had no idea which way to go and as mad as Cassidy was, it was still kind of funny. Could the girl be any more clueless? Well I'm one to talk, she thought.
Cassidy ran after her. By now her brown hair looked black in the pouring rain. She was originally planning on just going right past her and going home. Then she thought about it, and was surprised when she realized that she found herself disappointed by the thought of giving up.
When Cassidy reached Amelia she yanked her arm so hard that Amelia let out a yelp. Normally she was against violence but it did seem to get her attention.
"Here's the deal. If I get us back to the station, you're going to lead us to this Dr. Raskin's office. Got it?"
Amelia opened her mouth, but thought better of what she was going to say when she saw the expression on Cassidy's face, and closed it. She took a breath to calm down and quietly said "Fine."
The thunder was pretty loud but Cassidy could tell what she said.
They ran in the rain, slipping and sliding all over the place.
* * * * *
By the time they got to the office, Amelia and Cassidy were drenched, freezing, exhausted and more motivated than ever to finish this game. And more importantly to win it. They figured they still had a shot. It was around 5:30.
"Okay," Cassidy said." You distract him and I'll sneak in the back where most dentists keep the toothbrushes. I'm looking for the silver one, I think. " Amelia nodded.
As they walked through the door, Amelia held her cheek and moaned as if in pain. "Dr. Raskin? Are you there? It's an emergency!"
Cassidy slid into the back room where Dr. Raskin cleaned teeth, as soon as the coast was clear. She searched through all the drawers until she found one full of toothbrushes, but there didn't seem to be any silver ones....
"Dear, I don't see anything wrong. How exactly did you say this happened?" she heard the dentist say in the other room to Amelia.
"I was doing the dance from 'Singing in the Rain'. You know, because it's raining. I got to the part where I jump on the lamp post and I banged my mouth. I'm pretty sure there's blood."
The sad part is that Amelia did actually do that once. Except she didn't actually hurt herself. The best lies have truth in them after all. Unfortunately, it did sound like a flat out lie. She couldn't come up with anything better than that?
Cassidy was watching Amelia lie to the dentist when she noticed something behind them... Was that what she thought it was? It was a picture of a silver toothbrush. Lots of kids draw pictures at the dentist while they're waiting and Dr. Raskin must hang them up.
When Cassidy looked under the picture taped to the wall, amazingly there was a slip of paper underneath. The next clue.
Amelia noticed Cassidy and the piece of paper in her hand. She stopped holding her cheek. "Thanks, Doc. You helped a lot," Amelia shouted as the girls ran back outside.
This time Cassidy read the next clue:
This place has more music than you thought could exist
But unfortunately CDs you must resist
Through the wooden door
You'll find what you need for sure
"I don't know any music stores around. Wait what about that place you dragged me to once?" Amelia asked. Cassidy was a little bit of a music freak.
"It's a little ways. We should get there a little after 6, I think."
Since it was still raining they ran through it like it was a marathon and made it there in half the estimated time. Their uniforms from school were soaked through and their hair was dripping wet.
Amelia and Cassidy burst through the doors of the music shop. They split up and ran through the aisles moving quickly, searching for a wooden door. They could vaguely hear some employee yelling at them but they didn't pay him any mind. Amelia spotted the door first.
"Here!" she called out to Cassidy. She ran over and neither of them bothered with the whole charade this time. They simply walked straight the door. Who cared?
"What are we looking for?" Cassidy asked.
"I don't know," Amelia said out of breath. She turned around looking. "This!" she said. The paper was tacked to the door. "Yes, I found it before you."
"Yes!" Cassidy started jumping up and down, adrenaline pumping.
"Hey. Get out of there," an employee somewhere said.
They skipped off outside feeling giddy.
"Read it."
"I'm reading it..." Amelia said.
What better place to eat then Italy?
Find the clue in the menus quickly
But be careful, this one's tricky
"Sorry but I don't think my mom will be cool with me jetting off to Italy," Amelia said.
"It's probably talking about an Italian restaurant. I think we passed one on the way here."
"Well MOVE," Amelia commanded. She was already off again. Cassidy would normally have been about to collapse by now from lack of oxygen, but for some reason she felt like she could run 500 miles.
* * * * *
"Excuse me. Table for two?" Amelia asked not bothering to wait for the hostess to greet them. She looked over them. From their current state and the way the girl eyed them, she had a pretty good idea of what was going to come out of her mouth next.
"Sorry. You need a reservation." Sure we do, thought Cassidy.
They started to walk away. When the hostess wasn't looking, they snuck into the kitchen since they were pretty much used to going places they shouldn't by now. When they came across aprons and note pads they exchanged a look. Wordlessly they took the needed tools for waitressing. They hadn't actually planned this out, but it could work. They just needed to get their hands on the menus.
"Hi, my name is Theresa, and I'll be your server for the rest of the evening," Amelia said once she approached table 5. "Have you decided what you want?"
Meanwhile over at table 4, Cassidy was piling all the menus she could find. She had eight of them. She scanned all the pages looking for anything that could resemble a clue. Obviously none of them had any scraps of paper tucked into them anywhere.
It seemed that on the corner of a few of the menus there was a tiny letter or number. She rearranged them, but it wasn't making any sense.
Amelia came over with the menus. She handed them over.
"You know I make a great waitress. Too bad they'll never get their food though..."
"Great."
"What?"
"There's a letter or number on eight of the menus here. I rearranged them and got an address."
"Where?" Cassidy let Amelia take a look.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Amelia said shaking her head.
* * * * *
"I can't believe we did everything to avoid this place today and somehow we ended up here anyway. Unbelievable..." Amelia continued to mutter.
"It is a little ironic." The menus ended up spelling 721 Elm St., of course. Triton High. Their school. Was this some kind of sick joke?
They waited for the janitor to leave and they silently caught the door undetected. They started to wonder through the halls.
"This is kind of creepy. It has more of an effect in the dark. At night. Alone," Cassidy squeaked.
"What was that?" Amelia whispered loudly.
"What was what?"
"Footsteps."
Amelia and Cassidy quickly scampered towards the nearest classroom but when they closed the door, it made a slight squeak that whoever was out there was sure to notice in this complete silence.
Oh no. What if it was a teacher? It was pretty late, but there was still a chance. There could be a meeting or something. They were going to get in trouble. What would the punishment be? The school was pretty strict. Could she loose her scholarship? Detention? Possible suspension? Get charged for B and E?
After all, they did skip school, broke into the back of a smoothie store, snuck into the dentist's office and faked an injury, got kicked out of a CD store, impersonated a waitress, and now they're breaking and entering into the school where they were supposed to be all along.
Although, Cassidy had to admit, it was kind of really fun. Looking back, she didn't regret it. Amelia was right. She needed fun in her life.
So when a knock came from the door, Cassidy left the shadow where she and her friend hid, braced herself for the worst, and opened the door.
"Todd?" Cassidy said in disbelief.
"Hey. Thought I heard someone."
"W-What are you doing here?" she stuttered. "Did you win?"
"Nah," he said. "I set up the game."
"What?" Okay Cassidy was a little taken aback.
"I set it up. You came in second by the way."
"Are you kidding me?" Amelia shouted as she marched through the door. "Second?"
"Sorry," Todd answered not seeming sorry at all.
"That's it. I'm going home." Amelia started for the door.
Cassidy started to laugh. Not the entertained laugh she got when Amelia was mad about something stupid, but more of a hysterical laugh. She looked like she's about cracked.
"What's so funny?"
"I have no idea," she said once she quit giggling. But then she just started back up again. And soon Amelia was laughing too. They ended up on the ground like they just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Todd looked at them like they were crazy. Of course, that only made them laugh more.
"We should do this again," Cassidy said between giggles.
"Hey," Amelia said.
"What?"
"We forgot our backpacks. We have to go all the way back."
They were on the ground again laughing even harder this time.
"Hey Todd? You should make another game," Cassidy said. "But more challenging this time, please."
Hopefully they would be home soon. The sky was turning darker and the wind was picking up. Not a good sign. Weird. It was a nice day out earlier, but the weather did tend to be a little unpredictable during the spring.
* * * * *
After a half hour of walking Amelia started to doubt her friend. "Do you even know where we are?" she asked.
"I think so," Cassidy said a little unsure.
"You think so? Nu-uh that doesn't cut it. Where are we?" Amelia was getting upset. This was bad. They were lost in an unfamiliar city. She was starving. They didn't have much cash with them. No cell phones. And the weather wasn't looking so great at the moment.
Cassidy was about to say something but she was interrupted by a loud boom of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning and to top it off, a down-poor.
"Great. Could this get anymore cliche?" Amelia yelled. "If you had only known where you were going-"
"Well it isn't my fault we're in this stupid game in the first place," Cassidy interrupted.
"Well I'm not the one who doesn't know how to read a map," Amelia argued but it was kind of true.
"That's it I give up. I'm going home." Amelia dramatically marched off down the street towards the train station. She stopped mid step right when she reached the end..
Cassidy stifled a laugh. She'd known Amelia for a real long time and she had a pretty good guess at why she'd stopped. She had no idea which way to go and as mad as Cassidy was, it was still kind of funny. Could the girl be any more clueless? Well I'm one to talk, she thought.
Cassidy ran after her. By now her brown hair looked black in the pouring rain. She was originally planning on just going right past her and going home. Then she thought about it, and was surprised when she realized that she found herself disappointed by the thought of giving up.
When Cassidy reached Amelia she yanked her arm so hard that Amelia let out a yelp. Normally she was against violence but it did seem to get her attention.
"Here's the deal. If I get us back to the station, you're going to lead us to this Dr. Raskin's office. Got it?"
Amelia opened her mouth, but thought better of what she was going to say when she saw the expression on Cassidy's face, and closed it. She took a breath to calm down and quietly said "Fine."
The thunder was pretty loud but Cassidy could tell what she said.
They ran in the rain, slipping and sliding all over the place.
* * * * *
By the time they got to the office, Amelia and Cassidy were drenched, freezing, exhausted and more motivated than ever to finish this game. And more importantly to win it. They figured they still had a shot. It was around 5:30.
"Okay," Cassidy said." You distract him and I'll sneak in the back where most dentists keep the toothbrushes. I'm looking for the silver one, I think. " Amelia nodded.
As they walked through the door, Amelia held her cheek and moaned as if in pain. "Dr. Raskin? Are you there? It's an emergency!"
Cassidy slid into the back room where Dr. Raskin cleaned teeth, as soon as the coast was clear. She searched through all the drawers until she found one full of toothbrushes, but there didn't seem to be any silver ones....
"Dear, I don't see anything wrong. How exactly did you say this happened?" she heard the dentist say in the other room to Amelia.
"I was doing the dance from 'Singing in the Rain'. You know, because it's raining. I got to the part where I jump on the lamp post and I banged my mouth. I'm pretty sure there's blood."
The sad part is that Amelia did actually do that once. Except she didn't actually hurt herself. The best lies have truth in them after all. Unfortunately, it did sound like a flat out lie. She couldn't come up with anything better than that?
Cassidy was watching Amelia lie to the dentist when she noticed something behind them... Was that what she thought it was? It was a picture of a silver toothbrush. Lots of kids draw pictures at the dentist while they're waiting and Dr. Raskin must hang them up.
When Cassidy looked under the picture taped to the wall, amazingly there was a slip of paper underneath. The next clue.
Amelia noticed Cassidy and the piece of paper in her hand. She stopped holding her cheek. "Thanks, Doc. You helped a lot," Amelia shouted as the girls ran back outside.
This time Cassidy read the next clue:
This place has more music than you thought could exist
But unfortunately CDs you must resist
Through the wooden door
You'll find what you need for sure
"I don't know any music stores around. Wait what about that place you dragged me to once?" Amelia asked. Cassidy was a little bit of a music freak.
"It's a little ways. We should get there a little after 6, I think."
Since it was still raining they ran through it like it was a marathon and made it there in half the estimated time. Their uniforms from school were soaked through and their hair was dripping wet.
Amelia and Cassidy burst through the doors of the music shop. They split up and ran through the aisles moving quickly, searching for a wooden door. They could vaguely hear some employee yelling at them but they didn't pay him any mind. Amelia spotted the door first.
"Here!" she called out to Cassidy. She ran over and neither of them bothered with the whole charade this time. They simply walked straight the door. Who cared?
"What are we looking for?" Cassidy asked.
"I don't know," Amelia said out of breath. She turned around looking. "This!" she said. The paper was tacked to the door. "Yes, I found it before you."
"Yes!" Cassidy started jumping up and down, adrenaline pumping.
"Hey. Get out of there," an employee somewhere said.
They skipped off outside feeling giddy.
"Read it."
"I'm reading it..." Amelia said.
What better place to eat then Italy?
Find the clue in the menus quickly
But be careful, this one's tricky
"Sorry but I don't think my mom will be cool with me jetting off to Italy," Amelia said.
"It's probably talking about an Italian restaurant. I think we passed one on the way here."
"Well MOVE," Amelia commanded. She was already off again. Cassidy would normally have been about to collapse by now from lack of oxygen, but for some reason she felt like she could run 500 miles.
* * * * *
"Excuse me. Table for two?" Amelia asked not bothering to wait for the hostess to greet them. She looked over them. From their current state and the way the girl eyed them, she had a pretty good idea of what was going to come out of her mouth next.
"Sorry. You need a reservation." Sure we do, thought Cassidy.
They started to walk away. When the hostess wasn't looking, they snuck into the kitchen since they were pretty much used to going places they shouldn't by now. When they came across aprons and note pads they exchanged a look. Wordlessly they took the needed tools for waitressing. They hadn't actually planned this out, but it could work. They just needed to get their hands on the menus.
"Hi, my name is Theresa, and I'll be your server for the rest of the evening," Amelia said once she approached table 5. "Have you decided what you want?"
Meanwhile over at table 4, Cassidy was piling all the menus she could find. She had eight of them. She scanned all the pages looking for anything that could resemble a clue. Obviously none of them had any scraps of paper tucked into them anywhere.
It seemed that on the corner of a few of the menus there was a tiny letter or number. She rearranged them, but it wasn't making any sense.
Amelia came over with the menus. She handed them over.
"You know I make a great waitress. Too bad they'll never get their food though..."
"Great."
"What?"
"There's a letter or number on eight of the menus here. I rearranged them and got an address."
"Where?" Cassidy let Amelia take a look.
"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Amelia said shaking her head.
* * * * *
"I can't believe we did everything to avoid this place today and somehow we ended up here anyway. Unbelievable..." Amelia continued to mutter.
"It is a little ironic." The menus ended up spelling 721 Elm St., of course. Triton High. Their school. Was this some kind of sick joke?
They waited for the janitor to leave and they silently caught the door undetected. They started to wonder through the halls.
"This is kind of creepy. It has more of an effect in the dark. At night. Alone," Cassidy squeaked.
"What was that?" Amelia whispered loudly.
"What was what?"
"Footsteps."
Amelia and Cassidy quickly scampered towards the nearest classroom but when they closed the door, it made a slight squeak that whoever was out there was sure to notice in this complete silence.
Oh no. What if it was a teacher? It was pretty late, but there was still a chance. There could be a meeting or something. They were going to get in trouble. What would the punishment be? The school was pretty strict. Could she loose her scholarship? Detention? Possible suspension? Get charged for B and E?
After all, they did skip school, broke into the back of a smoothie store, snuck into the dentist's office and faked an injury, got kicked out of a CD store, impersonated a waitress, and now they're breaking and entering into the school where they were supposed to be all along.
Although, Cassidy had to admit, it was kind of really fun. Looking back, she didn't regret it. Amelia was right. She needed fun in her life.
So when a knock came from the door, Cassidy left the shadow where she and her friend hid, braced herself for the worst, and opened the door.
"Todd?" Cassidy said in disbelief.
"Hey. Thought I heard someone."
"W-What are you doing here?" she stuttered. "Did you win?"
"Nah," he said. "I set up the game."
"What?" Okay Cassidy was a little taken aback.
"I set it up. You came in second by the way."
"Are you kidding me?" Amelia shouted as she marched through the door. "Second?"
"Sorry," Todd answered not seeming sorry at all.
"That's it. I'm going home." Amelia started for the door.
Cassidy started to laugh. Not the entertained laugh she got when Amelia was mad about something stupid, but more of a hysterical laugh. She looked like she's about cracked.
"What's so funny?"
"I have no idea," she said once she quit giggling. But then she just started back up again. And soon Amelia was laughing too. They ended up on the ground like they just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Todd looked at them like they were crazy. Of course, that only made them laugh more.
"We should do this again," Cassidy said between giggles.
"Hey," Amelia said.
"What?"
"We forgot our backpacks. We have to go all the way back."
They were on the ground again laughing even harder this time.
"Hey Todd? You should make another game," Cassidy said. "But more challenging this time, please."
