Iron Lightning; Valuable [ II ] P. PARKER

XLV. PIANO KEYS

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
"piano keys"

"Good news... we're going to the Opera!"

"What??"

"The Opera?!"

Jade was sitting very stiff in a chair beside Michelle. EDITH worked everything out, sending the tickets to Mr. Harrington as soon as she bought them and having the "tour company" call him to explain the plan. Jade knew her classmates were going to react like this but she hoped Mr. Harrington wouldn't give in and still let them go to the Carnival.

"What happened to the carnival?" Michelle asked confused.

Jade elbowed her in the side, making Michelle turn to give her a look. Jade widened her eyes to let Michelle know it was part of the plan (she didn't have time to explain what was going on beforehand). Michelle closed her eyes, rolling them in an aggravated way, but nodded once she looked back at Jade.

"This is upgrade living guys," Mr. Harrington said. "Come on! The tour company just gave us these tickets... for free! Do you have any idea how much Opera tickets cost?"

"No. Because none of us have ever wanted to go to the opera— ever!" Flash said.

"Uh, well, I think this is going to be culturally enriching for us," Ned spoke up.

"So do I!" Michelle cut in too, accidentally making eye contact with Ned.

"Thank you!" Mr. Harrington pointed to the two. "Everyone, this is gonna be, maybe, the best four hours of our whole trip."

"Four hours?!"

"Guys, I think this is gonna be really fun! Seriously!" Ned chuckled.

Some students groaned at his remark.

"Now—! Go upstairs and get ready! Wear your nice outfit I told you all to bring!" Mr. Harrington said and ushered everyone upstairs.

"Thanks," Jade whispered to Michelle as they were walking up the staircase.

"You couldn't have picked a better place?" Michelle groaned.

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Jade was one of the first to be ready, not caring too much about what she looked like since she was about to be in a fight. She wore a long, yellow dress that stopped at mid-calf with yellow-brown colored heels, they weren't tall heels, but she felt a little taller in them. She put on light makeup and lightly curled her hair knowing they'd just fall out by the end of the night.

She was actually ready a little too early— twenty minutes early. She was already downstairs so she just stayed and stood by a window in the lobby. She was staring out of it to make sure the monster or something else didn't just appear out of nowhere, she was really nervous. After a few minutes of standing by the window, she had to walk around for a minute to try and calm down.