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The Percival Detectives
It all began last May, in the middle of nowhere. Or more accurately, in the middle of a forest. The forest was thick and lush. Trees spouted out of the ground as frequently as grass and rose to the heights of tall buildings. In the middle of this forest was a faded old building, which twisted around, with towers and turrets. It almost seemed to be embracing the forest. A sign on the door said, “Percival Boarding School.“
On the first floor a boy with long brown hair stared out a window, his dark green eyes, bright. His name was William Anderson and he stared at the bright moon in the sky. It annoyed him, so white and perfect, not a scratch, not a pockmark, not a scar or a pimple. Perfect. People sometimes said Will was perfect. He was popular, and a jock. He could make people laugh. It wasn't true. Will had a long scar down his knee. He had a scratch on his neck. He had a pimple on his cheek. He headed up to his dorm.
On the second floor, Riley Anderson, brushed her teeth, watching the yellow marks wipe clean. She wished everything could be wiped clean like that, be erased that easily. She braided her long red hair and looked in the mirror at her dark green eyes, which matched her brothers. She was a year younger than him, and very different. People sometimes said she didn't make mistakes. She was smart; she'd skipped a grade, and always got As. She ran several clubs, and people looked up to her. It wasn't true. Riley was terrible at sports. She said things she regretted. She sometimes got as much pleasure in pranks as Will. She looked at herself and wished that her mistakes could be erased as easily as the plaque on her teeth. She lay down to sleep.
On the third floor, Conner Landon folded his clothes, arms first. Why couldn't life be as neat as a pile of folded clothes? He brushed his light brown hair back out of his bright blue eyes, looking for Will. They were best friends, had been since they first came here, at age seven. People sometimes said Conner was organized. He didn't get in trouble. He generally got good grades. He was a writer. It wasn't true. His clothes lay tousled in his dresser. His papers tousled in his binder. He was the mastermind behind Will's pranks. He was in love. He wished life were as neat as the pile of folded clothes, and then none of those problems would insist- there'd be no wrinkles. He looked out in the hallway for Will.
On the fourth floor, Josh Nirvana, took a shower, tossing shampoo through his curly black hair. Life, he thought should be as predictable as the water streaming down from above. People sometimes said Josh was predictable. He and Will were enemies. They were always fighting. Always playing pranks on each other. Always hiking on each other. It wasn't true. Josh played soccer. He did homework. He helped small children, who were new to the school. He wished life were predictable like the water, then he wouldn't have to worry about twists and turns. Changes were always occurring and changes frightened him. He had an enemy and he had friends, and it suited him this way. Little did he know, it would soon change.
On the fifth floor Brittany Portman, made out. Making out, she thought, was fun. Life should be as fun as making out. She didn't quite remember the boy's name or face, but who cared. She tossed her blonde hair back, with a grin. People said she was fun. Brittany was a flirt. She always had the best parties. She was up for anything. It wasn't true. She was bored by herself. She couldn't tell jokes. She was clumsy. If only all of life were fun, like making out. Then she would never be bored. It wouldn't matter that she couldn't tell jokes, or didn't know that x+2 equaled 4 squared.
Five floors, five teenagers. All very different, yet the same. None of them knew that as they pondered why life couldn't be perfect, mistake-free, more neat, predictable, or fun, a crime was taking place. It was the crime of the century, and they would solve it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, the five teenagers are still sleeping on a dark May night, until the alarm clock rings; oh there it goes, six am on the dot.
Will stretched up and out of bed, arms reaching like the branches of the tree until, he hit something.
“Will!“
“Sorry Conner!“
They got up brushing their teeth in front of the mirror.
Brush, brush, brush, spit.
“What are we doing today?“ asked Will.
“What do you mean?“ asked Conner.
Brush, brush, brush, spit.
“Josh got us yesterday. Stupid thing in the bush, so old. We can definitely do him better.“
“Totally, steal his underwear at gym? Haven't done that in awhile.“
“And it never stops being hilarious.“
Brush, brush, brush spit.
They dressed quickly bounding down the stairs to breakfast and taking seats across from Riley. They looked up at the Principal of the school. Old Mr. Morgan. He was terrible strict and had a large bald spot in the middle of his head. He talked in an odd old accent, the students never tired of making fun of. He always made a speech before they could eat, which annoyed the boys to no end.
“I'm afraid.“ He said, “I have some grave news children.“
“What could that be?“ muttered Will, “He's getting a wig?“
Conner snickered.
“A student of Percival Boarding school has been kidnapped.“
“Kidnapped?“ said Riley disbelievingly, “Does he have the right school? How could anyone get all the way out here, without being noticed?
“Little Taylor Thomas was kidnapped yesterday. She has not been seen since lunchtime. A ransom note was left. If anyone has any information as to her whereabouts please contact me. A small reward will be offered.“
“Reward?“ asked Will, “Let's say we saw her in the woods with Josh.“
“Shut up Will.“ said Riley, “This is serious, a girl was kidnapped, and besides the reward's probably a piece of gum or something, nothing good.“
“S'pouse you're right.“ Will shrugged, “Still would be cool, if we could figure out who took her wouldn't it. Like the Ghostbusters only better.“
“Dude that's so “90s.“ muttered Conner, exasperatedly.
“You have a better show?“
“Cold Case, CSI, Law and Order.“
“Oh. Right. Well my point just was we should solve the mystery.“
“And a good point it was, mate, we should solve it!“
“Like you two can do that.“ Sighed Riley.
“Well we'll need you, and maybe Britt.“ He turned to the girl who'd be chatting animatedly with several students to her right.
Brittany had heard and shrugged, “Why not? After all none of you could get any good clues.“
“What's that supposed to mean?“ asked Will.
“You have to be beautiful to get clues. You have to flirt and seduce. It's in all the shows.“
Riley looked disgusted, “Why do we have to include her?“ she hissed.
“Because“¦“ said Conner, “she's my girlfriend. Besides she's the only who's been here as long as us, only right that we solve the mystery.“
“Josh has been here as long as us.“
“Bugger off Riley.“ said Will, “Like we're going to include Josh, he's a prat.“
“True.“
“So, how are we going to solve this mystery?“ Conner asked.
“Well first of all we don't even know who Taylor Thomas is.“ Put in Riley.
“Yes we do.“ said Will proudly.
“We do?“ asked Riley.
“Yeah she's a small first year. Light brown pigtails. Me and Conner once gave Josh water with something in it to make his skin green. It was our most genius plan ever.“
“Yeah it was.“
“What's this have to do with Taylor Thomas?“ asked Riley.
“The prat found out we put something in the drink. Gave it to the little girl. Told her he didn't know anything was in it.“ said Will.
“You should have seen her, Riley. That was one strong little girl. Josh told her it was Will's fault right? So she walks up to him, “Will Anderson I am ashamed of you. That was rude and terrible and I hate you.'“ said Conner.
Riley shook her head, “Poor little girl, I can't believe you guys sometimes.“
“Hey, don't blame us.“ said Will, “Josh is the one that gave it to her.“
Riley ignored him, “We still don't know Taylor Thomas“¦“
“But Will just said“¦“ put in Conner.
“I know what Will just said. My point is we don't know anything about her. We know what she looked like, but we don't know who her friends were. We don't know who her enemies were. We don't know who'd want to kidnap her.“
“A physco.“ said Will matter-of-factly.
“A kidnapper.“ Added Conner.
“A weirdo.“ said Brittany, hardly looking up from her other conversation.
“Honestly, like that's going to help us. This is what we've got to do. Will, Conner, you find Taylor's friends. Ask them who hated Taylor, who might have kidnapped her, all that stuff. Britt, Mr. Morgan loves you, you go press him for details of how they found out she was missing all that. Ask her teachers too.“
“What about you, don't you get a detective job?“ asked Will.
“I'm going to find her family. I'll look for any clues there. Plus I'll Google her, see what comes up. Sometimes you can find mad facts on the web.“
“You've been watching way too much detective TV.“ muttered Conner.
“I probably have.“ said Riley, pleasantly, “And we're going to be late for History, so I'm going, and if you don't hurry Mrs. Small will give you detention, the git.“
Riley stood up, walking pleasantly out of the cafeteria. She was always happier, when she had something to work on, such was her personality. Projects kept her motivated. Challenges kept her brain working. She doubted they'd actually find who'd kidnapped Taylor Thomas. They were just a bunch of teenagers after all. It'd be fun. She stopped to tie her trainers and suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see a head of black curly hair.
“Josh get away from me or I'll-“ she started. She knew from experience that Josh likely had a prank in mind. Being Will's sister she was an easy target, and she hated when he got her.
“Relax Riles.“ Josh said smirking. He'd called her Riles ever since they'd started the school because she was so easy to rile up. Riley hated it. She was not easy to rile up. She was just a bit emotional sometimes, “I'm not pranking, just want to talk.“
“Right“¦“
“Seriously, heard your little clichΓ© is planning on solving the kidnapping mystery.“
“Yeah. So?“
“So, you really think your pathetic bunch can solve it?“
“Maybe.“
“Maybe not.“
“What's your point?“
“I wanna help.“
“What? That wasn't predictable.“
“Well I'm anything but predictable.“
“Like I'm falling for that. This is all part of some elaborate prank where you pretend to help us and end up killing us all.“
“Drama queen much? Can't you just believe me for once Riles?“
“If you stop calling me Riles.“
“But it's such a cute name.“
“Is not.“
“This isn't getting us anywhere Riley. Point is, my sister's first year. I'm worried. So I wanna find out what happened to that girl. Happy?“
“Fine. Get any information you can, especially about anything besides her family, friends, teachers or Google. Report back at dinner.“
“Thanks Riles.“
“I hate that name.“
“I know.“ With that Josh smirked and fell into a seat at the back of the History class. Riley shrugged and took a seat up front. Will and Conner filled in behind her a few minutes later.
“See?“ Will said busily scratching his name into the desk, “Old Mrs. Small's not even here yet.“
“Josh's joined our detective group.“ Riley said, offhand, pulling out her homework.
“What?“ said Josh and Conner together.
“Apparently he's worried about his sister, how could I say no?“
“Like this“¦NO!“ said Will, “Josh? He's going to ruin everything.“
“Calm down, he seemed real serious about it, he'll be ok. What's the worst he can do?“
“Kill us all!“
Riley giggled.
“What?“ demanded Will.
“That's what I said!“
So the day passed.
Will and Conner scouted out Taylor's friends. It wasn't hard. All of them had red eyes and redder cheeks as the older boys questioned them. None of them seemed capable of forming a coherent sentence, but Conner managed to translate. They'd last seen Taylor at lunch. She was heading to Math. They didn't see her again. Oh and she hated Johnny Realnin. They cornered Johnny Realin, but he began to cry, so they let him go. Then they text messaged Brittany to check out the math teacher.
“Well that was useless.“ said Will.
“Futile.“ added Conner.
“Like homework.“
Brittany scouted out Taylor's teachers. She also talked to Mr. Morgan. It wasn't hard. She'd had the same teachers when she was Taylor's ages. None of them seemed capable of saying anything but, “What a shame!“ but Brittany managed to get some things out of them. Taylor'd come to Math Class the day she disappeared. Then she'd asked to go to the bathroom. She hadn't come back. She checked out the bathroom but there didn't seem to be a wormhole or a trapdoor.
“Well that was useless.“ she muttered as she made out with yet a different boy.
“Futile?“ he asked.
“What's that mean again?“
Riley was somewhat more successful. She scouted out Taylor's family. Taylor, she found out, lived with only her mother, who'd had several abusive boyfriends. They'd have to look them up. Josh on the other hand was having a bit of trouble figuring out what exactly he was supposed to do. So he asked the janitor who informed him (quite coldly) that he had no idea who Taylor Thomas was.
“Well that was useless.“ he muttered as he went to meet up with the other four.
“Not quite.“ said Riley, “Suspects can be lying after all.“ She ripped a yellow piece of paper from her notebook and began writing;
“Suspects: -Mr. Green (Math Teacher) “Johnny Realin (Enemy) “Dan Brownstone (Mother's Boyfriend #1) “Tom Rocklin (Mother's Boyfriend #2) and “Padre Fernandez (Mothers Current Boyfriend) “Tim Young (Janitor)“
“Excellent.“ Will grinned proudly.
“So what's next in this demented detective show, Riles?“ asked Josh scornfully.
“It's not demented, I really think we're getting somewhere.“ began Riley, “We'll each take one or two suspects and investigate them. And stop calling me Riles.“
“I've got the math teacher.“ said Brittany, busily applying lip-gloss, “Can I go now?“
“Honestly Brittany, why are you even helping us?“
“Cause of Conner of course, gosh, do you think I'm a bad girlfriend?“ she smirked, flipped her hair and was gone, leaving Riley rolling her eyes behind her.
“I've got the Janitor“ said Conner, “We're friends I've talked him into unlocking doors, more than once.“
“Alright.“ said Riley, making a note, “I really think I should take Realin, you two terrorized the poor boy, which leaves you two with the boyfriends.“ She realized the two who were left amusedly. Putting on a voice of fake innocence she remarked “You really should work together you know. It would be much easier. I'm off to class.“ And with that Riley skipped off.
Josh and Will glared at each other.
“I guess she's right.“ muttered Will, “But if you try anything“¦“
“No need to go all crazy on me, just be at the gate tomorrow at 11, we can call the mother on my cell.“
“And what if she doesn't know anything? What if we need to talk to the guys themselves?“
“They'll have phones won't they? And besides, some people in this school have class and those people have cars.“
“And those people are?“
“Don't even make me“¦“
“Alright, no need to go all crazy on me.“
Josh glared at him, looking for a second as if he was about to punch the slightly larger boy. He appeared to realize it wasn't worth it and stalked away.
The next morning dawned clear and fair, shining bright rays through the windows of the old school.
Will groaned, “What time is it?“
Conner checked the clock which was loudly blaring rock music, “Ten thirty. Wake me up in an hour.“
“I won't be here. I've got to go, investigate with Josh.“ Will got up and began dressing, “Why are we even doing this investigating thing anyway?“
“Do we hafta do this now? It was your idea!“
“Was it?“ said Will, sleepily, “It's not like we're going to solve anything.“
“Who knows mate, we might.“
“And what would it get us.“ Will asked, sounding depressed and brushing his teeth.
“Oh loads. We'd be on the news.“
“Like TV?“
“Like TV.“
“Brilliant.“
“I know. And hey maybe Josh won't be that bad.“
“Impossible.“
“Worth a try.“ Said Conner with a shrug, before promptly rolling over and falling back asleep.
Will sighed. He hated the thought of spending the day with Josh. They'd been enemies for years. Thinking back he didn't even remember how they'd become enemies. He guessed Josh had been arrogant, he always was. Probably he'd gone on about how rich he was, and how poor Will was. He supposed he'd insulted Riley, and Conner. Doubtful Brittany, no small boy could resist Brittany. He smirked, reaching the gate. He checked his watch. It was eleven ten, where was Josh? There he was, sauntering up, with a stupid smirk. Will wanted to slap it right off his face, but resisted the urge.
“You're late.“
“I know, I like being fashionably late.“
“What, think it improves you're appearance? Well it doesn't, you're still butt ugly.“
“Let's just get this over with. “
After a bit of searching (and a talk with Riley, who'd been up since dawn, which made them both wonder what it was with girls), they found the addresses of the three men.
“Road trip!“ grinned Josh.
“Like we're gonna get out of here unnoticed.“ grumbled Will, “Besides that would mean hours with you. Can't we just call them?“
“Like they're going to tell us anything useful over the phone.“
Will frowned.
“Fine I'll go by myself. The newspaper will say, “Josh Nirvana heroically discovers kidnapper'.“
“You knew that would make me come.“
“So what if I did?“
It was a difficult road trip. Will and Josh traded insults, about everything from family to friends to music. Will loved loud blaring rock, while Josh preferred indie. It was a battle. But for one moment, when they were nearing the small country home of Taylor Thomas, everything was quiet.
“ Hey Josh, why are you even doing this?“
“Helping you guys you mean?“
“Yeah.“
“Told Riley, I'm worried about my sister. “Sides, I've got nothing better to do.“
“You really care about your sister, don't you?“
“Yeah, don't you?“
“I don't know your sister.“
Both the boys laughed and for a moment, just a moment, they were no longer enemies. In fact that had connected over such a deep feeling for the girls in their lives and their families. Until Will nodded and expressed how much he loved his sister. Then Josh muttered, “I like your sister too.“ Will looked horrified. They hardly said a word to each other throughout the rest of the trip.
Despite Josh's detective show methods and Will's investigative questions, they found no hint that any of the three men had captured Taylor Thomas. In fact they all seemed very friendly. Josh even tried searching their closets but found no girl's clothing or jewelry. He seemed quite depressed that his methods hadn't worked. The ride home was silent. They pulled in, carefully in the back so no one would see them. To their surprise there were several people already waiting for them.
Standing there were none other then Conner and Riley. Riley looked panicked. That scared Will and Josh. Riley hardly ever looked panicked. She was always the calm, cool, and collected one. She knew when things were too dangerous, when they didn't. She knew facts they didn't. Most importantly she knew how to find the kidnapper, even when they half thought this was a joke.
Seeing her panicked look, they rushed quickly to the smaller girl.
“What happened?“ asked Will.
Wordlessly, Riley held up a newspaper. “Three Girls Kidnapped at Local Boarding School, Parents Panic“.
“Three?“ said Josh, “But, they've made a mistake“¦“
“No.“ muttered Riley, “No they haven't.“
“But my sister“¦“
“She's fine. We checked first thing. They won't let the girls go outside now, but she's waiting inside, she can't wait to see you.“ said Riley trying and failing to smile.
Josh wanted nothing more then to hug the two of them on the spot. He couldn't though. That would completely ruin his reputation. So he rushed inside and hugged his sister instead. And as Will watched he managed to grin. Yes, the newspaper was worrisome. They might have gotten themselves into something they shouldn't have. However if Josh loved his sister that much he couldn't be all bad. Especially since Will couldn't remember why they'd ever hated eachother in the first place.
Teachers came to call all the girls back to the dorms, rather quickly. There were, it seemed to be a lot of measures to prevent future kidnappings.
“They will be alright.“ Whispered Josh's sister, grasping his hand, “Won't they?“
“Yeah.“ whispered Josh, although he wasn't sure at all. “They will.“
“They will.“ said his sister, whose name was Lily, with a smile, “You know how I know?“
“How?“
“'Cause there was a fairy in our dorm last night.“
To everyone else watching it sounded like a charming fantasy, but a look of alarm crossed Josh's face, “A fairy, Lils, are you sure?“
“Yeah.“ said Lily grinning, “and it's been there all week, every night, ever since the night before they took Taylor. It's probably looking for her for us.“
There was a peculiar look on Josh's face. Finally he managed to smile and shooed his sister playfully back to her dorm, but not before making sure a teacher was going to be in the dorm with the children that day.
As the girls finally went off, Josh cursed angrily.
“What?“ asked Riley, worriedly.
“In my house“ started Josh, “Well we have a lot of visitors. Mom and dad they high up you know and“¦“
“Yes we know you're rich.“ said Will, “Do you have a point?“
“Of course, don't even“¦just shut up. Anyway they have a lot of visitors. There's a bathroom next to Lil's room and everyone would always walk passed her door, she left it open, she's scared of the dark. Anyway their shadows would just end up scaring her more and she'd be quite annoying about it, so my parents“¦“ he seemed to have difficultly even saying it, “My parents told her the shadows were fairies.“
Silence abounded as the teens realized the depth of this new fact. Fairies meant shadows. That meant that for the last week someone had been creeping around the girl's dorm. It was an unsettling thought to be sure but,
“It's probably just the police.“ said Riley, matter-of-factly.
“It's probably just a teacher, stupid.“ said Will, arrogantly.
“It couldn't be anyone dangerous.“ said Conner, condescendingly.
“Well maybe you're all right.“ said Josh, as they walked up to they're own dorms, “it could be police or a teacher, but it could also be a criminal. He could be talking to the girls at night, then luring them away during the day. Or, or“¦the police or teacher could be the criminal for all we know.“
“Don't you think you're getting a little carried“¦“ started Conner but he stopped midsentence staring at something or really someone in the middle of the hallway.
It was Brittany. She was making out. And it wasn't with Conner.
Josh, whose dislike for Will and Conner had still not completely disappeared, smirked arrogantly, “I was wondering where she was.“
Conner looked disgusted. By the time Josh had stopped smirking and gone back to listening Conner was yelling quite loudly, “How could you?“ he stormed, “You said you loved me!“
Harsh, Josh thought. But it wasn't like Britt to love anybody. She flirted and flitted from boy to boy like a butterfly to flowers. He was like that too, he suppoused. He did spend a lot of his time with girls, and not the same one either. However, he was starting to believe that love could happen, if only it was with the right person. Maybe Brittany had thought that too. Josh imagined she had, but couldn't stop her habits. He wondered if a person could ever change, and if it was even worth trying to love and be faithful to a certain girl. He shrugged, it wasn't as if that girl would even ever dream of dating him. They were enemies after all, or they had been, hadn't they?
Conner was now striding towards his dorm, Will behind him. Riley looked concerned, and muttered a not so friendly word as she passed Brittany. And Brittany, well she looked depressed. Disgusted with herself. Josh sauntered over.
“You ok Britt?“
“Obviously not, Conner was a nice guy, I messed up big.“
“Like you didn't know what you were doing.“
“That's the stupid thing. I knew. I've been doing it for awhile. I should've just told him.“
“So you didn't really like him?“
“Nah. I go for bad boys mostly. Nice guys scare me.“ she let out a bitter laugh.
They sat silently for a moment.
“Britt?“
“Yeah?“
“You think if you really like somebody, you can stay faithful to them, even if you're someone like, well like us, and they happen to hate you.“
“I was wondering when I'd hear about this.“
“About what?“
“You like Riley.“
“Do not.“
“Do too.“
“Alright, how'd you know?“
“You were staring at her all through lunch, Romeo. You're not exactly subtle.“
Josh hit a hand to his head in mock pain, and true embarrassment.
“So what do I do?“
“Go off and do the perfect hero thing with them. Find the kidnapper. You'll do fine. I don't think she hates you half as much you think.“
“Really?“ asked Josh, skeptically.
“Really.“ said Brittany, in a voice that was distinctly bitter.
Ten minutes later Josh was sitting on a couch with a dejected Conner and concerned Riley and Will.
“This is like the worst day ever.“ Muttered Conner.
“I hear you man.“ said Will, conversationally.
“Well we could do something about it you know.“ said Josh, “I say we go spy up there, see who's creeping around the dorm.“
“Come off it! That's a stupid idea.“ Will sighed, “We've told you, it's got to be a teacher.“
“Might as well try.“ said Riley, “I'll come with you, I guess.“
“Thanks.“ grinned Josh, “Well night for Lils is in about a half hour I say we get some food, get ready for a nighttime stakeout. C'mon.“
Riley got up, Will and Conner standing up with her. As Riley and Conner walked forward, Josh fell back with Will.
“Not such a stupid idea after all, huh?“
“Like I was gonna leave you alone all night with Riley.“
Josh simply smirked at him.
An hour later the teens were camped conspicuously behind several small beds. They had yet to see anyone. This could be because no one had come in yet. This could also be because Josh and Will had decided they needed to arm wrestle, and been quite loud about it.
“Someone's coming.“ whispered Riley quite suddenly. The room became silent. Entering was someone tall, wearing shiny black shoes, with a large bald spot in the middle of his head.
“It's Mr. Morgan!“ said Conner, tiredly, “A teacher, can we go now?“
“Hold on“¦“ said Josh, softly.
So they watched. And they watched. And they watched. And then something happened. Mr. Morgan was slowly but surely shaking Lily Nirvana. Will who was squished next to Josh, could feel him tense.
Lily woke up with a start.
“Hey Lily.“ Whispered Mr. Morgan, “Sorry to wake you, but I plum forgot to tell you before, and I'm here to make sure no one gets kidnapped tonight. Could you meet me one o' clock tomorrow. I need to talk to you about your work.“
“Alright.“ said Lily sleepily, “In your office?“
“No, it's suppoused to be a really nice day out, meet me down by the forest, ok? And don't tell your math teacher. He hates having meetings in offices and would get angry at me if he knew I was having meetings outside.“
Lily giggled, nodded, and promptly fell back asleep. Mr. Morgan left.
“See?“ said Josh, “How right was I?“
“He's probably just telling the truth.“ groaned Conner, “Maybe Lils is behind on work.“
“Wanna bet?“ asked Will, “I hate to say it, but it looks like Josh was right.“
“Well there's only one way to find out.“ said Riley, “Follow them to the “meeting'. See what goes on.“
“We can't do that?“ said Josh.
“Why not?“
“What about Lils? We've gotta tell her not to go, what if something goes wrong?“
Three faces groaned at Josh's extreme sibling devotion. One however knew exactly how he felt.
By the next day Josh had been convinced to go along with the plan. Riley and Will were experts after all, having convinced their mother more than once that they really did need ice cream for a healthy diet. It had taken a bit of convincing though and a bet made by Will that Mr. Morgan was in fact telling the truth and not the perpetrator. Now the four teens followed Lily, silently to the woods, hoping they didn't scare her.
The small girl, strode up to Mr. Morgan, smiling, “Hello Morg.“ She said, using the nickname Josh and his friends often used for the principal. Josh bit back a laugh.
“Hello Lily.“ said Mr. Morgan faux pleasantly. He then grabbed her and threw her in a bag, which also wasn't pleasant. In fact it was downright criminal.
The teens rushed out of their hiding spot. Will and Josh immediately grabbed Mr. Morgan. Riley tipped over the bag, letting Lily free, and quickly instructing her to run back to school. Obviously that was the safe place to be at the moment even though three girls had been kidnapped from there in the past few days.
“Why would you do something like this?“ asked Riley, disgusted.
Mr. Morgan spat on the ground, “C'mon miss, you four have been here practically since you were born. The school is a mess. Vines are growing all over it. We needed money. In fact the board threatened to close us down without money. So I figured I'd get it by doing this.“
“Kidnapping girls?“ asked Will, “How's that gonna get you money, doofus?“
“Ransom notes.“ said Conner, sounding bored, “Honestly don't you watch CSI?“
“Weirdo.“
“Jerk.“
They both laughed.
“Uh“¦“ began Josh, “don't want to interrupt the cute little best friend moment, but what do we do with him?“
“Well call the police obviously“¦“ said Riley.
“It's gonna be years before they get out here.“ sighed Josh, who was still somewhat miffed from the close call with Lily (He'd whispered to Riley that she'd be traumatized for life, but Riley didn't think she'd looked at all scared.) “If you ask me that's the reason all this happened. Stupid school, in the middle of nowhere.“
“Well we should call them I guess“¦“ shrugged Will, “but Mr. Morgan was doing it for the school, right Morg?“
The principal nodded, looking miserable.
“That doesn't matter.“ said Riley, “He's done something terrible. Now Mr. Morgan, where are the girls?“
The man pointed miserably to the forest, “By the big oak.“
“You two, go find the poor girls, will you?“ she gestured to Will and Josh, who were nearest, “Since neither of you have the guts to call the police on him, me and Conner will.“
Josh and Will sauntered off into forest. They knew where the big oak was. It was a popular spot amongst students for romance and fun.
“So I guess you win the bet“¦“ said Will frowning, “How much do I owe you?“
“Well“ smirked Josh, “I was hoping we could make a deal.“
“Like what?“
“Like I can date Riley, if she wants to that is.“
Will stared at him for a moment. It wasn't a complete surprise Josh wanted to date Riley. He'd stared at her all through lunch the other day. Still, Will couldn't help but wonder whether Josh was really as normal a guy as he seemed. They had pranked eachother for years. What if Josh was just going to hurt Riley, to annoy Will? However looking at the plaintive look in the other boy's eyes Will knew he would never do that. He'd seen Josh with his sister after all. Josh wasn't such a bad guy once you got to know him.
“Only if I get to date Lils.“
He was joking. Josh knew it, and laughed along.
Five minutes later they found the girls. Ten minutes later they had them back safely to school. Fifteen minutes later Josh kissed Riley soundly on the lips. And, twenty minutes later, all was back to normal at Percival Boarding School. Well almost.
People still said Will was perfect, and Riley didn't make mistakes. They said Conner was organized, Josh was predictable, and Brittany was fun. What the five of them had learned however, was that life didn't have to be just that way. Life could be a lot of different ways (Mr. Morgan for example, was going to be spending much of life in jail) and that was ok. The important thing was that you respected the people in life, and tried to understand them. Plus, it was always cool to solve a few mysteries along the way. You might get a small reward, which might turn out to be cash. Then again your brother and his friends might spend it all on video games.
The End
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