Someday We'll Be Together

Chapter 9- Detectives Out of Luck

On their second day at school, they were aware they needed to be more careful. Mrs. Lincoln had given Max, Lena, and Tyler a set of walkie-talkies for easier communication.
"I've always wanted to use one of these," Tyler said excitedly as he examined the walkie-talkie in his hand.
"Why use these things when we have our phones?" Max asked.
"It's the nostalgia. Besides, it wouldn't be wise to carry our phones around," Lena replied.
"What would happen if 80s kids saw a bit of technology?" Max asked.
"I don't think they'd be ready for it," Tyler said.
"Alright, let's stop talking. Let's spread out. Whoever finds a trace of my parents should report it," Lena said.
Max and Tyler nodded and the three of them dispersed to different parts of the hallway. A few minutes later, Max's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"Hey guys, come here. I found my dad."
Kyle had cornered Michelangelo again; who knows what he wanted this time. Tyler's voice came through the walkie-talkie:
"I did too."
"Found my dad or your dad?"
"Both."
Max turned off his walkie-talkie and looked at Tyler beside him:
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"When I saw our dads from the other side of the hallway, I came here," Tyler said.
At that moment, Lena's voice came through the walkie-talkie:
"Guys, come here. I found my mom."
"Great. Now we need to get my mom and dad to meet at a common spot," Max said.
"Where are you guys?" Lena asked.
"We're in the hallway where the history classroom is."
"Okay. We're in the hallway with the detention room. I'll direct my mom to your hallway."
"Let's meet in front of the lab, right after you turn the corner."
"You mean the English classroom."
"No, that's where the math classroom is," Tyler interjected.
"Alright, whatever. Let's meet right after we turn the corner."
"Wait, which hallway—"
Max didn't hear Lena's last words. He put the walkie-talkie in his pocket and went over to Kyle and Michelangelo. When Kyle saw Max, he stopped bothering Michelangelo.
Max whispered to Michelangelo:
"I'll distract Kyle, you go down that hallway."
As Kyle approached Max, Michelangelo did as Max said and escaped. Meanwhile, Lena was guiding her mom to the history classroom hallway when someone running and looking back bumped into them, causing Fiona to spill her drink.
It was none other than Michelangelo. While Fiona looked at him angrily, Michelangelo couldn't care less as he met up with Lena.
In the history classroom hallway, everyone was watching Kyle and Max's confrontation with anticipation. Kyle made a fist and prepared to punch Max, but Max ducked, causing Kyle's fist to hit the locker. As Kyle fell to the ground, clutching his hand in pain, Max started running and knocked over two boys from Kyle's gang, causing them all to fall.
Fiona, having forgotten about the drink spilled on her, watched Max with admiration from the other end of the hallway. Lena, however, was too busy talking to Michelangelo to notice what was happening or to prevent her mom from watching Max.
At that moment, Max ran over to Lena and Michelangelo, and turned around when he heard Fiona calling him.
"You were amazing, Max!"
Max began to move away from Fiona as she approached him: "Oh, really? There's someone more awesomsauce*. than me."
He turned Michelangelo, who was talking to Lena, towards Fiona and tried to smile. Lena took this opportunity to leave and ran to Tyler.
"He needs to stop knocking my dad down," said Tyler. "Especially in front of my mom," added Lena, breathless.
The cafeteria was very crowded during lunch.
"You owe me a meal," said Tyler to Lena. "Alright, we can sit and eat together. Let's sit somewhere my dad can't see me."
Just then, a few boys gathered around Tyler.
"Hey, are you Justin Bieber?"
"Is it true that you were chased by a bear and defeated it?"
"Did you steal your tents from the Indians?"
Tyler started talking to the boys who followed him like paparazzi. He missed being popular.
Lena, on the other hand, had fallen behind. She looked for her brother in the crowd but decided against approaching him when she saw him sitting with Michelangelo. Instead, she spotted her mom eating alone. She went over and sat next to her. Her mom turned to her: "You must be lost. The table for popular girls is on the other side."
"No, no, I'm not a popular girl. I just want to sit with you."
"Why?"
"I'm Max's sister."
Fiona's eyes lit up:
"Ah, your brother is a wonderful person, his parents must be wonderful people too."
Hearing this, Lena smiled:
"Yes, they are. Do you always eat alone like this?"
"On days when my best friend doesn't come to school, yes," said Fiona shyly.
"Why don't you be friends with the girls over there?"
"Because they're mean and stupid. I don't like them at all," said Fiona sincerely.
Lena, finding her mom's words funny, smiled. "I understand exactly what you mean."
"Really?"
Lena nodded.
"They make fun of me because I don't have a cool boyfriend like they do. But I'm not a girl who chases boys like they do," said Fiona.
"Yes, I know."
Fiona looked at Lena strangely:
"What do you know?"
"That you don't chase boys. Girls like you and me don't chase boys."
Fiona nodded, indicating she understood.
"But that doesn't mean we'll be alone forever. One day, somewhere – for example, at a basketball game – you might meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. You never know."
"Basketball game..." Fiona repeated.
"You should be careful when choosing someone you like, Fiona. Choose someone who truly values you and is willing to dedicate their life to you. They might not be popular and strong, but I'm talking about someone who can love you unconditionally. You might find guys who defeat Kyle cool, but they won't mean anything to you, Fiona. They defeat Kyle because of disputes with him, but if you think they're doing it to save you, you're mistaken. Most people defeat Kyle because of their disagreements with him, but only one of them does it for you. What I'm trying to say is, choose him wisely, Fiona."
After this meaningful speech, Fiona looked at Lena silently.
"I have to go now."

Max had fallen asleep early after being very tired from the post-school practice. Lena, however, dreamt that her parents never met and she and her siblings ceased to exist. After this nightmare, she went outside to get some fresh air. On a clear night with stars visible and no clouds in the sky, she sat on the grass and looked at the forest in front of her. But she couldn't get the nightmare out of her mind. If they failed, it wouldn't just remain a nightmare but become a reality. As Lena thought about this, she started crying quietly. The chirping of crickets broke the silence.
"Lena?"
Lena heard someone calling her and turned around. It was Tyler. She quickly wiped her tears, but Tyler had noticed she was crying.
"You don't look well, Lena."
As Tyler sat next to her, Lena remained silent.
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked, looking at Lena with concern.
"I'm going to cause all of us to disappear," said Lena, unable to hold back her tears.
"Oh, Lena."
Tyler hugged Lena and let her cry on his shoulder. As she lifted her head, Tyler wiped her tears. "You must never blame yourself for this, Lena. Nothing you did was on purpose."
"I know, but when I think that I'm going to make all three of us disappear, I feel like all the burden is on me."
After saying this, Lena started crying again.
"No, no, no, no. I never want you to think that way," said Tyler with a trembling voice.
"Listen, Lena, none of what you said is true and we're not going to disappear."
Lena stopped crying and looked at Tyler incredulously: "How do you know?"
"Because I can never allow that. I can't lose you, Lena." Hearing this, Lena kissed Tyler on the lips. Tyler kissed her back. After a while, Lena pulled back and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For what just happened. I wasn't expecting it."
"Lena, you can't be serious, you know I've liked you since we got here, right?"
"Y-you liked me? Me?" Lena pointed to herself, looking disbelieving.
"You're much more naive than I thought," said Tyler with a smile.
Lena rolled her eyes, smiling:
"No, I'm not."
"Then kiss me again."
Lena looked at Tyler and, without hesitation, kissed him again on the lips.
After the kiss, Tyler hugged Lena:
"Do you feel better now?"
"Yes, much better," said Lena, nodding. Then she became serious:
"Listen, I don't want Max to know about this."
"Of course. I'm not stupid. Max won't know about this."
"Good." Lena nodded, smiling.
"... and I really didn't know you liked me. I mean, considering how you treated me at school, I thought it was impossible for you to like me suddenly."
"Forget what I did to you at school, Lena. You never deserved such things."
"I mean, you're popular, a lot of girls talk about you all day. I try to avoid attention to avoid hearing someone mock me about being in the math olympiad again."
"Lena, being in the math olympiad is a great thing, not everyone can do it, you know."
"They say I'm socially torturing myself, some even say my mom forces me into math olympiads and makes me study math at home."
"I know that's not true, Lena. If you didn't do it willingly, you wouldn't have come this far. Just like how I never took an interest in basketball because my dad forced me to play it when I was a kid."
Lena looked at Tyler in surprise.
"Your dad... forced you?"
"Absolutely. Since he was the captain of the basketball team in high school, he tried to get me on the team without asking if I was interested. On the day of the tournament, I deliberately played poorly to convince my dad that I was untalented. After that, our relationship soured, and I decided I was interested in music."
"And how does he feel about that?"
"Bad. He thinks my music is just loud noise and all."
"Wow, I thought your family life was perfect. You're popular, an only child... you know."
"No, actually, my relationship with my dad is quite problematic," said Tyler with a laugh.
Lena smiled:
"I guess this project brought us closer together."
"Yes, the more I got to know you, the more I liked you."
"And I realized you're not at all like I thought."

*Awesomesauce: 2000s slang for amazing