Riddle Middle

Chapter 5: Tensions

Smiley (1st person)

I wasn't expecting Phil to hug me yesterday. He's nice and all, but he doesn't normally do that kind of stuff. I'm confused as to how Phil saw me and Pico. I saw him going down his driveway, so what happened? He also knew about when Joy pushed me. Does he follow me home? I don't think he would do something like that. Anyway, at school, Phil seemed annoyed with Pico. At lunch, Phil still wouldn't talk to Pico. What did Pico do? Surely it's not because of what happened yesterday. That was my fault, so why would Phil be mad at Pico? On the way home, Pico said "Are you mad at me or something?", to which Phil responded with a sigh. After a minute or so of silence, Pico said "So is that a yes or a no?". Phil muttered something to himself that none of us could hear. Pico gave up trying to talk to him. Once we departed, I looked back to see if Phil was following me. I didn't see him, but I figured he might be hiding somewhere.

Phil (1st person)

I didn't watch Smiley walk home today. Pico asked me if I was mad at him, like it wasn't obvious. He's stealing Smiley, so of course I'm mad at him! I would tell him to lay off, but I'm afraid Smiley would somehow overhear. Phred asked me for a favor today, and I told him I'd do it. He wants me to help him with his algebra homework. With him, if he asks you to help him, he'll actually do it with you. Unlike some people. We agreed to meet at the library tomorrow, since it's quiet. Joy's started giving Smiley some of her class assignments to do. I don't know why Smiley's even doing them. I would A, purposely do them incorrectly, or B, just not do them at all. I wonder if Joy did something to Smiley in the past, and now Smiley does whatever she says. Smiley's definitely not doing them for a favor, that's for sure. I need to do something, but I don't know what yet. I want to help her, but I don't know how.

Joy (1st person)

I'm going on vacation to Hollywood soon, which I guess means I'll miss school. I just hope that my teachers don't give me worksheets to do while I'm there. Whatever, even if they do, I'll just hand them off to Smiley. I've been giving her some of my classwork that I'm allowed to take home. My grades are increasing too, which is why my parents agreed to take me to Hollywood. My parents just bought a house there anyway, which is convenient. The house is small though. It only has, like, 6 bedrooms. One for me, my parents, my dog, and 3 guest ones. We're flying there, and my parents say they hired a private jet. I expected they would. I mean, how else would we get there? Anyway, I want to test something with Smiley...

Phred (1st person)

Right now, I'm waiting at the library for Phil. He agreed to help me with homework. He said he'd meet me here at 4:00. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he forgets. He's been so worried about Smiley lately. Right now, it's 4:05. If he's not here by like, 4:30, I'll just use the computers to Google the answers. 4:07. Yeah, he's not coming. He's either early or doesn't come. At least these math problems are pretty straightforward. When I was at the computer, I saw the person I least expected. Smiley. She was typing frantically. "Uh...Hello. You haven't seen Phil, have you?" I asked. She didn't look away from the screen. "No, haven't seen him," she replied. "What are you doing here?" I asked. She turned to face me but avoided eye contact. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm looking up stuff for homework. That was surprising. Smiley was the person I'd least expect to cheat on classwork. "For yours, or Joy's?" I questioned. If it was Joy's, that kinda made sense, I guess. "Mine. I already finished Joy's. It's due tomorrow, and I don't think I'll finish if I don't Google the answers,". I sat next to her and 'did' my homework.

Zack (1st person)

The bell rang for Biology, and I grabbed my stuff and rushed to class. It was another lecture, so that was boring. I could tell Joy was hiding something, but I didn't know what. At first I assumed it was her phone or something, but then I saw that it was a container. In retrospect, I should've just told the teacher that Joy had something, but I was curious, so I stayed quiet. About halfway through the lecture, I tuned out everything that was happening. I guess I missed when Joy somehow got the container over to Smiley's desk. I think my friends would've said something if they had noticed. I saw that the container was moving, then something came out of it. Whatever it was, it was alive. I looked away for one second, and when I looked back, I couldn't find whatever came out of the container. I'm assuming that what was in the container crawled up onto Smiley's desk, because she screamed quite loudly. Everyone in the room stared at her, and she backed away from her desk. "Is something wrong miss Sundae?" Asked our teacher. Smiley backed against the wall and pointed at her desk. The teacher walked over and looked over the desk. A few of the students gathered around it as well. I stood and looked at it. A spider, slightly larger than a dime, was in the middle of it. Smiley was now huddled in the corner of the room. I don't really have a problem with spiders, but I guess Smiley does.

Pico (1st person)

Smiley was huddled in the corner of the room because a spider was on her desk. I'm not sure how it got there, but I think it had something to do with Joy. She was laughing hysterically, like most of the others in the classroom. I had to admit, the spider wasn't that big, but still, I felt bad for her. Zack was looking at the spider, Phil was making his way across the room to Smiley, and Phred looked like he just woke up. I went over to Smiley too, and me and Phil got there at the same time. Phil tried to put his hand on Smiley, but she jerked away from him. I tried as well and got the same reaction. I kept my hand on her this time, and she relaxed a bit. I moved my hand down and rubbed her back gently. She sighed and sat up rather than being curled up on the floor. She still looked startled, but not terrified. "Is the spider gone?" She asked. The way she was talking made her sound like a toddler. Phil looked over at the teacher. The teacher and a few kids were putting the spider outside of the window. "Yeah, it's gone now," Phil said. Smiley looked relieved. I'll question Joy on this later.