The Adventures of the Holmes Club

Chapter 2: Morning

***Max***

I couldn't sleep the night after we got the letter. I just tossed and turned all night, the weight of my teacher's life heavy on my shoulders.

I knew it was up to us to save him, and if we didn't, he would die.

A few times, I got up and reread the letter.

Louis asked me to keep it because I was the secretary, so I kept all the paperwork.

I put it in my new binder, which was supposed to be for my English class, but I decided to use it for the Holmes Club.

I labeled the dividers, Minutes, Expense Reports, Clues, Notes, and Member Activities.

I filled it with paper and put it in the back pocket of my backpack, where I kept all my important things like my phone and laptop.

My mom came in to wake me up the next morning to find that I wasn't in my bed. I was in the kitchen, making pancakes (So, I like to cook, sue me).

"Maxxy, you're up early? How did you sleep? You look tired. Do you want to stay home from school today and sleep? Did you do your homework? Why are you making pancakes? Is something wrong, honey? Do you feel alright? Are you sick?" my mom reached up to feel my forehead.

I batted her away, "I'm fine, Mom. I just had some trouble sleeping. I can't stay home from school, yes, I did my homework."

***Nadia***

My alarm clock went off at five that morning. I got out of bed and put on sneakers before I went for a run. When I got home I took a shower and dried my hair.

I put on my school uniform and went into the kitchen to get breakfast.

"Hi, Nadia." my brother said, looking up from his bowl of cereal.

"Chew with your mouth closed and don't talk to me before you brush your teeth." I snapped back.

"Who did your makeup? A gorilla?" he asked, sarcastically.

I didn't even bother telling him that I wasn't wearing makeup because he would make another joke.

"Who cut your hair? You?"

"Nadia, Jack, stop." my mom said walking into the kitchen. She grabbed three mugs off the shelf and poured coffee into them. She added milk and sugar to one and ice to another. She handed me the one with ice and picked up the other two.

"You should just build Dad a Starbucks in your bedroom, then he could get his own coffee." I said.

"He still wouldn't get out of bed for it." my mom sipped her coffee, "Oh, what did you do to the coffee? This is good."

I nodded, "I added cocoa powder to the beans."

"Ooh, yum."

***Alina***

My alarm clock woke me up with the sound of my own trumpet.

I got out of bed and walked into my bathroom to turn it off, then I leaned up against the wall. I looked at myself in the mirror.

I was tired, and you could see it in my face. I hadn't slept well.

I didn't even eat breakfast that morning, I just went to school.

***Sophie***

Sleep was the best choice for me, so I slept. Sadly, it was filled with nightmares about Mr. Browning. I woke up feeling refreshed though, and got ready for school as normal. I was brushing my teeth when my phone buzzed.

I went to go get it, but as usual, my older brother got to it first.

"Louis wants to know if you got anything in the mail yesterday. Who's Louis?" Nick asked.

I reached out to grab my phone, but he lifted it above his head, "Who's Louis?"

I knew I had no hope of reaching my phone, so I jumped up and grabbed Nick around his neck, I crawled onto his back and reached for my phone. He reached back and started tickling me, "Just answer the question, Soph."

"He's nobody."

"Seriously, Soph, who is he?"

I reached up and grabbed my phone, "None of your business, Mom."

I jumped down and went back to the bathroom. I typed a two letter reply to Louis and continued brushing my teeth.

***Louis***

I stayed up all night working on putting stuff together for my club. I got a text from Chloe early that morning.

Tell Sophie I said hi.

I deleted the text and sent a quick message to Sophie.

Did you get anything in the mail yesterday?

A few minutes later. One word, No.

I breathed a sigh of relief and texted Chloe back, You didn't do anything. And don't try anything with them, they're my friends.

Chloe responded, Don't be stupid, you don't have friends.

I ignored her and finished getting ready for school, this was going to be an amazing act.

***Penny***

I tried not to let it bother me. Having a teacher kidnapped, okay, whatever. Why aren't we telling the police about this? I can't remember. Oh, yeah, because they'll kill him.

I can't handle this, I'm not good with emotions, they're unpredictable, not mathematical. I deal with numbers, not psychology. Hard science, not soft science.

Okay, I need to stop freaking out. Because I'm calm, cool, and collected. Wait, no I'm not. I'm hyper, and happy, and completely insane. So I'm trying to act normal, more normal than I usually act, when I act normal. They'll know something is wrong, I don't really care, it's not hard to hide how I feel.

I just hope it doesn't interfere with anything else in my life.

I know that we can fix this. We're talented, we can put it all together. Saving Mr. Browning will be a walk in the park when compared to everything else I do.

I am way too optimistic sometimes.