The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side (NOT FINISHED)

Chapter 3

          How could someone be so selfish? So self-centered? He didn't even ask if it was okay with me. I couldn't stop the flow of negative thoughts.

          I look up at Chris and begin to cry. I fall down to my knees and he falls with me, trying to support me. He wraps his arms around me and whispers in my ear, "Amis Pour Toujours. Je le promets." I slowly stand up, my legs shaking from exhaustion and wiping my tears from the corners of my eyes, his arms still supporting me. I help him up, since I'm the first one up, and bring him into a tight hug. We stay like that for a while and it helps me calm down. All I can think of is how he smells. He smells like he just got back from climbing a cherry blossom tree. So floral. So refreshing. About time he got turned in to the Japanese. I smile at that thought.

            I break the hug. "I'm sorry." I say, wiping my tears. He grabs my shoulders, and looks at me deep in the eyes as he wipes my tears with his thumbs. "No need to be sorry." I look up at him and smile. He continues. "Alright! Let's get back in there, shall we?" I nod in agreement.

          He opens the front door for me and Tobias runs up to me and gives me a tight hug. It catches me by surprise, so it takes me a little bit to react, but soon I hug him back and relax. This time, he's the one to break the hug, and he looks at me with big eyes, like he's mortified with what he did. He begins to stutter. "I... I-I'm sorry for what I did. I will undo everything if it means we can still be Amis Pour Toujours." He speaks softly, in a brittle voice. "No.. no it's okay. It might be uncomfortable for a bit, but I'll get used to it. Please don't sacrifice anything for me." I use a sympathetic voice that seems to have allowed him to release any tension he had. "Okay. If you say so." He seems to be a lot more calm.

          "Okay guys! What are we doing today?" I say, once again, enthusiastically. "Well," Sam starts. "I heard there is a hunt going on in town. Whoever finds the 'Sacred Bracelet' first, wins $1,000,000." He gestures at the quote signs with his hands. "Well if it's for $1,000,000, it must be difficult. We can't do it. I mean, what are we? Supernatural investigators? Super spies? This isn't a tv show. Nothing could possibly go well for us." Tobias exclaims. I step in. "Well, we could always give it a try?" I ask, unsure if they will agree. They all turn to look at me, then they look at each other, then back at me. Chris smiles, giving me the "Good job, let's do it!" look. "Alright!" Sam yells. "We better get going then, shall we? We definitely don't want Jonathan and Eli to get there before us." We chuckle, nod our heads in agreement, then we're on our way.

          We arrive in town and we pull up to the community board. "Scavenger Hunt for $1,000,000." is what it reads. Wow. Sam wasn't kidding. I let out a sigh. Not relieved nor frustrated. More of a "How are we going to do this?" Sigh.

          Right underneath the poster is a piece of paper attached in an envelope that is taped to the board. I pull it out. It reads:

          Dear Reader,

    If you are thinking of attempting this, you are in for something. That's for sure. Not that you can't do it. Keep your head up.

          You have found the first clue.

   A true leader is someone that is as strong as an archer, as fierce as a bear, and as stealth as a ninja.

                 Good luck!

          What is that supposed to do for us?

          Everyone looks shocked. Almost as shocked as when I found out that Tobias was dating Sarah.

          "This must mean something. Think guys. Think." Tobias says. "I think it could be talking about the archery course? Because it talks about an archer." Sam helps. "Yeah, good thinking, Sam." Chris says.

          We hop into my Volkswagen. It's a used Beetle from when my parents were first learning to drive. In many countries, people would agree that I'm not allowed to drive yet. I disagree. My parents let me, so I do.

           We arrive at the archery course and hop out. "Okay guys, look for clues." I demand. They all look at me and nod.

          Tobias stops everyone. "Guys I think I found something!" He exclaims as he holds up a piece of paper. "Okay then, read it out, dingus." Sam says back. Tobias looks confused. "I- I can't." "What could you possibly mean by that now?" I say.

          I look at the paper and it's an image. An image of Concore Beach.

          "I wonder what that means." He looks up at me hoping I might have the right answer to that statement. I look back up at him with a sort of Does-It-Look-Like-I-Would-Know? kind of face.

          My phone pings twice.

     Hey. So Tobias broke the news, huh?

     I'm sorry that's how you found out.

     It's Sarah.

     Yeah. Don't really want to talk with you right now.

     I know. I understand. We can talk when you get home.

     I'm not going to be home tonight.

     What? Why not?

     I'm trying that scavenger hunt with the boys.

     Ah! That's fun! I'll see you whenever, then. Goodbye for now.

     Bye.

          I can't believe she stood me up like that. How could she? She's acting like it's all my fault that this is happening. She has no self-regulation. It's like when someone asks you if you want something, then they take it back.

          "Hey guys, I think I found something!" Sam exclaims. "What is it?" I ask calmly. Not that I could be anymore enthusiastic.

          Sam leads us down a slightly hidden and covered dirt path. We duck under a couple branches and it leads to a shed. It's black and looks very old. The windows are all dusty and covered with cobwebs. "Well this looks interesting." Chris says. Tobias looks at Chris and grins. "Thanks Captain Obvious." Chris looks at Tobias and rolls his eyes.

          "Okay guys, we are literally going to get nothing done if you guys keep acting like third graders." I remark. Everyone looks at me and makes a Yeah-She's-Right face.

          We look around for a while, and we find nothing. "Guys... There's nothing. Let's just go. We knew we weren't going to find anything else anyways. At least it was expected." I say, disappointed. "I'm sorry for making everyone do this." Tobias says. "At least we were productive today." Sam tries to cheer Tobias up.

          We're about to leave when Chris stops us. "Guys! Guys! Look at this!" We all turn to look at what he found. It's another letter. Nothing too impressive, but at least we found something. By "we" I mean Christian. It doesn't really matter though, because we're all in it together.

          "So does this mean that the first letter had nothing else to do with this? Only the archer? Nothing to do with the bear or the ninja?" Sam asks. "I guess not." Chris replies. "Let's just read it before we jump to conclusions." I imply.

          Chris opens the letter.

          Congratulations Reader! You have made it to the second clue.

          But wait. Is this a clue? Or is this just a note telling you to continue the first clue? Just kidding.

          You probably observed that the first clue had nothing to do with the bear or the ninja. Well that was purely just to confuse you. Haha. Your second clue is:

          I am never wicked, but I have a wick. I come in all sizes. From skinny to thick. What am I?

          Good luck!

          "Any ideas?" Chris asks. "Well it has a wick, right?" Sam has a turn asking. We all nod. He gives us a "You know what that means?" look and we all shout in sync. "A candle!" "Exactly" He informed. I am enlightened. "The candle store! We need to go!" I exclaim. "Allez allez allez!"

          We are just exiting when we run into some familiar faces. "Bonjour Madame." Jonathan nattered.