The Forbidden Six

June 16th, 1933

It was finally the last day of school. Fluffy white clouds dotted the bright blue sky, like something you would see in a book. Trees, thick with green leaves, covered the street with sweet shade. The smell of summer floated through the air and butterflies flitted around, landing on flowers.

That morning, Pieter threw open the curtains in his room and surveyed all this with bright eyes. He smiled. Summer break was so close. In a few hours, he could spend the whole summer with his friends. Assuming they actually cared. His smile faltered and he shook his head. Of course they cared.

While his parents slept, he got ready for the day and slung his book bag over his shoulder. He walked for a few minutes and came to Leyna's house. He stood in front of her one story house. Thirty seconds passed before she emerged from her house and stepped off of the porch into the sunlight.

Leyna's hair looked perfect, like always. It was artfully styled into brushed out curls with the front section styled to the side. Her face, touched up with makeup and her eyelashes curled with a bit of mascara. She had placed rouge on her upper cheeks to achieve a heart shaped face, which was what was seen as beautiful. Light purple eyeshadow accentuated her brown eyes and Pieter could see red lipstick on her lips.

"Good morning," Pieter said. "Are you ready for the last day of school?"

Leyna scoffed. She touched hair and fixed a strand that had been misplaced. "There will always be more school."

"That's not what—"

"Let's go." She began to walk and he jogged after her.

***

The bell finally rang for the last time that school year. Pieter quickly grabbed his things and ran to their tree, where everyone had planned to meet up. While he was waiting, he pulled out a book by the Brothers Grimm. He read until his friends started showing up. First, Liese and Mena appeared, then Leyna, Otto, and finally Werner. Werner was always late. His excuse was always that he lost track of time.

"I'm so excited," Liese squealed. "This party is going to be amazing. Even though it's just us, it'll still be fun." She nodded to herself.

"It's going to be fun because it's just us," Mena said.

They all agreed to some extent. After talking to each other for a few minutes, they ran to their separate houses to gather the things they needed. Liese grabbed some sweets she had made, Leyna snatched a quilt she had been working on for a while which she had finished a few days prior to the party, and so on.

When the six had their necessities with them, they ran back to their hideout and set up. Leyna spread her quilt on the ground and Otto put some rocks on the corners so it wouldn't fly away. Liese placed the cake she had made on the blanket. It was a Black Forest cake, so it was all chocolate. Since Liese was an amateur baker, the three tier cake leaned to the side and threatened to fall over.

When everything was set up, they six best friends sat down to begin eating. Werner had brought some cups, sugar, and lemons. Otto had brought water. They made lemonade and talked about what they would do in the upcoming summer.

"We have to all go swimming together," Leyna exclaimed.

"And do no math whatsoever," Liese added. Her friends nodded in response.

When they had all eaten a slice of cake and they were all sitting around with nothing to do, an idea popped into Mena's head. Her eyes lit up and she glanced at Otto. His eyebrows knit together as he looked at her. Mena stood and walked towards the pond.

Despite the fact that it was under a tree, it was only a little bit dirty. The water from the stream— which they had to cross to get to the tree— came from the pond. The water in the pond came from underground so it was always cool. There was an outcropping that was perfect for diving into the water. During summer, it was one of their favorite activities.