Francis And The Saga Of Boys From Hazelville

Chapter Twenty Four

I go up to my room and feel the tape in my hand. I can't believe this is happening. I forget Carter ever existed. I'm glad that things seem normal again. I'm back in whatever universe I was originally stuck in! Yay, at least a small win. I'm happy to be here after all. I put the new tape into my Walkman and press play. Because that's where it all begins.

'Hey, Francis. I hope you're doing okay. Carter isn't the one that's been sending you the tapes. I have. Well, I'm not Carter, is what I mean. This can't keep going on. Things get messy. So we should meet soon. If you'd like to. I'd love to meet up with you. I'll send you another clue soon.'

And that's it. Things are becoming real once again. I still feel nervous about meeting him. Even though I sorta already did. I should feel less scared. But I keep getting closer to the real deal. And I hope the full real deal is what I get.

I rush over with excitement to Dubby's basement. I try to calm myself and my facial expressions. This is serious with Dubby, you have to fix things, I think to myself. I go on down, but when I do, it's just silence. And the scent of mothballs and candles. Which I can appreciate, albeit it's still giving me a bit of a headache. I see him on the couch, elbows on his knees, looking down. Until he sees me appearing though and watches me.

I go and sit down on the chair next to the sofa. "How are you?" I ask quietly, like hearing a pin drop.

He nods. "I'm okay."

"Your Mom said you were sick." I should stop talking and let him talk.

"I was, I'm fine now. I just needed to chat with you."

"I missed you." I can't help myself. He's my best friend.

"Yeah," he pauses, he wants to say it back, but something stops him. He's breathing heavily and nervous. "There's something I want to talk about."

"Yeah, sure. Anything."

"It's about the tapes." He starts shuffling in his chair. He can't get comfortable.

Then I hear the doorbell ring. "Did you order the Chinese?"

"Yeah." He gets up to go to the door. He's even more nervous when he comes back. I'm not sure what to do. What can he tell me about the tapes? He doesn't know that I know it wasn't Carter. How could he know that? I want to start eating too, but I get the vibe that he needs to say what he has to say first. I'm hungry. I'm thinking more about my tummy. Nom nom.

So instead, I just blurt out what I know to save him. "I know it wasn't Carter."

"You do?" he looks at me hopefully with wide-eyes.

"Yeah."

He becomes filled with new energy. I imagine so, he doesn't have to tell me himself. He didn't want to be the one to hurt me. But I'm not hurt. Carter meant nothing to me. He seems relieved that I know now.

"And you know who it is now?" he replies.

"Nope. But I'm closer to finding out, you know? The new clue is on the way! Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

He deflates. I don't know why. "Yeah," he continues. "That's all." He brushes it off and starts going in for the food. Then, so do I.

I tell him all about what happened. "And then I burst in to see him and gay Tom making out. In fact, I guess it's gay Carter. Or not really because he's the only Carter in school."

"I can't believe that happened." He eats an egg roll. It makes me want one too. "Hey, I'm really sorry I went MIA this week."

"It's okay, you were sick." I say that to make it okay. I'm not sure if he was really sick. I look at him and he could explain. But I'm not sure that I want him to. He doesn't need to. He's here now. We spend the rest of the evening eating and watching movies and our ye olde regular chubby bunny. Without Bunny, I might add. She always wins, apparently because she is a full bunny inside out. We don't like to pry into that one too much.

I go to bed that night feeling happier. And about how I feel kinda bad for Carter. He's working though his own stuff right now. I'm in no place to hate him for what he did. I'm going to find out who my real secret admirer is really soon, and I'm looking forward to it, even though I am scared.

The next morning I feel tired, and I come downstairs to Bunny and Mom making pancakes and sausage. So I stack 'em up and eat 'em up. They are very good, but I tell Bunny they are okay. I think I should keep her on her toes. Otherwise, she'd dominate everything. She even makes them into bunny shapes with a special cutter she ordered in from China. Because she is extra.

I find on the front door step, another clue. Not a tape this time, a small postcard with a cute kitten on the front with an address on the back. It's to a cute little bakery that serves cakes and cupcakes that look like animals. Not forgetting their amazing cookies. They go big and don't go home. Fully loaded treats indeed. Gosh, I'm more excited about the bakery and pastries than the next clue.