Where Are You Now, Sam? or Chaos, Space and Bananas (ESC 2022 FANFIC)

5

''I'm shameless, I'm spotless, I'm flawless'', chanted Michael to boost his confidence as he was running towards the entrance of the school. ''Can't believe I missed the message in the group chat about the party. How can I miss a party? Yes, maybe I said I'll quit this school, like a few times, every now and then, but hey, I'm still here, you know I am'', he was talking to himself as he was walking around looking for open windows. None of them were. ''Okay, this means I'll be breaking in. Yasss kweeens, I'm coming for you, I'm ready to snatch your wigs!'' He began to shake the handle just to find out that the main door was actually not even locked. ''Well, that was easy''. He walked into the dark corridor, shining like a diamond in his white outfit. ''Oh, such a good acoustic! Maybe I should sing something? What about Bocelli? Eh-em. Aaaaaah!''

He started singing in Italian (although Andrea warned him not to do that), immediately catching detectives' attention. The smaller one (then it has to be Keith, right? It was dark so you couldn't read the name card on his suit) came in and started chasing the student, but what detective didn't expect was that Michael would actually start running towards him.

''Oh, what a cute little yellow wolf! Wanna give me a hug? Let's give me a hug!''

When Keith realized they're now running towards each other, he suddenly changed his mind and turned around, starting to run away from Michael.

''Come on, little furry! Just a little kiss! Or a few!''

''Leave me alone!'' Keith was asking mercy as Michael chased him down the cellar and embraced the detective, singing loudly in his ear.

Thank God his colleague came to his rescue. It was easier for two to fight this affectionate student, but harder than they would expect. They managed to lock him inside the cellar and get rid of him for at least a short time.

''Yes! Lock me in! Lock me out! Lock me sideways!'' chanted Michael feeling very enthusiastic about being locked at the cellar, finally feeling like he's the star of this adventure, not Sam.

Meanwhile in the hall the pressure was starting to get on everyone's nerves.

''I need air!'', gasped Vladana, as she was claiming to feel dizzy and out of breath.

''I need my phone!'' insisted Andrei that was being supervised by Ronela, who herself felt like smashing the who hall but tried her best to hold her composure.

''And I really need to go to the bathroom, this time for real'', sighed Brooke. ''Does anybody have any more tequila? Thank you, Ronela, my love, my queen, my cultural reset. What do you say if we put on some John Meyer songs to lighten up the mood? Come on, people, lets have a party one last time of our lives! It seems that, indeed, Amanda, we're all gonna die today, so why not doing it the fun way?''

Everybody was coping with their nerves in their own way. Alvan and his friends were doing some kind of satanic rituals in the corner, Rosa was just sitting there alone on the edge of the stage, snapping her fingers, Malik was reminiscing innocent old days while Andromache was just standing there being pretty.

''I lost the signal with Michael'', stated Andrea.

''Well, we couldn't have hoped for much help from his side, could we'', sighed Domi.

''Wait! Lumix has texted me.''

Domi, Casper, Benjamin and Andrea all leaned to read the text message that Andrea got.

''He's saying he tracked Sam's phone's location. And it shows that Sam is still here, in the school territory! Maybe it's just his phone, but maybe he's actually here! We need to get out of here ASAP, we might still manage to save him!''

Janis came up to Andrea and asked her to use her phone for a moment.

''I need to check something on the internet'', explained so that Andrea doesn't hesitate, and felt the need to add, ''not porn, don't worry.''

With her consent he took the only phone in the hall that they had and googled ''what can you buy for 62 million dollars''. He quickly looked through all the information that appeared on the screen and handed the phone back to Andrea. Janis looked thoughtful and more serious than usual, and his best buddy Monika for sure noticed his concern.

''Tell me'', she insisted when she took him aside to have a more private conversation. Even if Janis was known for his antics and class clown label, his closest friends, such as Monika, knew that Janis was actually a very insightful and smart guy.

''Well, let's say, somebody kidnaps a student and hopes to get a ransom. Very specific amount of money. Sixty-two million dollars. It could not be chosen randomly. This means the kidnappers need the exact amount of money, and probably need it fast. So I googled what you can buy for sixty-two million dollars. And guess what it is.''

Monika pretended to be deep in thought, and then joyfully asked: ''Sixty-two million falafels?''

''A spaceship'', he declared in triumph.

''A spaceship? Really? Shouldn't it cost like at least a few billions?''

''No, there's one on sale on AliExpress, and free shipping as well'', Janis was so exited that he grabbed Monika by her shoulders, as his eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm. ''Sam was crazy about space. He's been working with NASA, he knows some deadly secrets. I'm sure his kidnap had to do something with that. Didn't Cornelia say he was telling something very exiting today, right before his disappearance, something exiting about space? I think he found out something huge, some secret, and he inevitably had to be punished for it.''

''Okay, okay, I believe you, Janis. But what can we do? How do we rescue Sam, if it's not too late yet?"

''You know, I have some bad feeling about these detectives. Keith and Jim, is that how they're called? I feel like there's just something off about them, but I can't really put my finger on it.''

''I have the same feeling'', nodded Monika in agreement. ''I wouldn't be surprised if they are somehow related to Sam's disappearance.''

''OMG no that would be wild.''

''I'm telling you.''

As Janis and Monika were standing there trying to figure out what to do, Stefan came up to them, smiling innocently.

''Hello, what are you guys up to?'' he asked joyfully.

''Should we tell him our plan?'' Monika asked Janis.

''Yeah, let's do it. He's my neighbor and a cool dude in general. Stefan, do you wanna be a part of this huge Sam saving adventure?''

''Yee-haw!'', cheered Stefan. And so the three of them started to make a very sly plan...