Colors

Chapter 3

The day went on like any other except that Stacie was unusually quiet. She usually always raised her hand but for the rest of the day she didn't really raise her hand in class at all. All she could think about was meeting up with Victoria to talk about devising a plan to figure out who it was. She couldn't figure out if she wanted him to be someone she knew or someone she didn't know. She wasn't paying the best attention so when the teacher asked her something she had to ask her to repeat the question. After that she tried to listen but it didn't work out very well.

The bell rang at the end of the day and Stacie rushed to get out of the classroom. She went to her locker and got her stuff. As she was walking to the bus Victoria ran up beside her and grabbing her shoulders, scaring her and making her yelp. "Dont DO that!" she gasped. Victoria was laughing so hard that Stacie started laughing too. They climbed onto the bus and moved as quick as they could to the very back. They slung their backpacks onto the area behind the last seat and sat down.

"I gotta text my mom to tell her I'm going to your house" said Stacie when Victoria sat down. "Kay" replied Victoria as she watched everyone get on the bus. "Annd.. done" said Stacie and turned her head to look at Victoria. "Okay, so go over exactly what happened when you saw the colors" said Victoria turning to Stacie suddenly looking serious yet smiling. "I already told you everything" laughed Stacie "I was walking through a group of people that were always there and there was a bright flash but I don't know who it was." "Okay so you don't know who it was but the group of kids is always there" said Victoria, "They shouldn't be too hard to find." "I don't know who they are though and they seemed to be part of the "cool" kids so it will extra difficult to investigate" said Stacie. "Yes but when have we ever given up on a challenge" replied Victoria.

They usually never gave up. They had been friends for a long time (since they were about two or so) and had done many things together. One time someone called Victoria a skink (their school had some interesting insults. Skink is what you called someone who was ugly. It was very insulting in fifth grade) and they spent a month finding the person and devising a plan for revenge. It ended with the person getting an actual skink in their hair (they never got caught though). That is how Victoria got Steve the skink. Another time they spent an entire summer getting together everyone's' cans (soda and soup alike) and making a fort out of them to reduce pollution. That was how the can castle came to be in the local park.

"Never" laughed Stacie with a look of determination. "So lets figure out who it is" said Victoria with a note of finality in her voice. "Lets discuss plans at my house where no one can hear us" whispered Victoria in Stacie's ear. Stacie nodded and they started talking about the new episode of their favorite tv show from last week.

When they got inside Victoria's house they ran up to her room and threw their backpacks on the bed. "What snacks should we have?" asked Victoria as they got their homework out. "How about... jelly beans and cranberry juice" said Stacie after taking a moment to think about her answer. "Why are you so obsessed with cranberry juice?" laughed Victoria as she got up from her bed. "I dunno, I just really like it" said Stacie from her position upside-down on a bean bag. "Well okay then" said Victoria as she left the room. "Get the sour jelly beans not that weird pack of cinnamon ones you have" Stacie called out to Victoria. "What have you got against cinnamon" Victoria yelled back. They were the only ones in the house so they could yell without getting in trouble. "They're gross" called Stacie. "Whatever" yelled Victoria as Stacie got to work on her homework.

It took a few minutes for Victoria to come back with a bowl of sour jelly beans and a bottle of cranberry juice along with a couple cups, kicking a bean bag in front of her. "What took you so long" asked Stacie idly as Victoria entered the room. "I couldn't find the bag of jellybeans!" Victoria yelled as she put down the stuff in her hands and flopped down onto the bean bag. "Woah, what happened" laughed Stacie as Victoria poured some cranberry juice into each of the two cups. "Gen knows that the jelly beans are mine and that she's not supposed to touch them and yet, she still hides my sour jelly beans all the time!" huffed Victoria. Gen (short for Genevieve) is Victoria's younger sister by four years. Victoria has a stash of jelly beans which her parents let her keep in the kitchen as long as she doesn't eat them all at once. There are about ten bags of assorted types of jelly beans ranging from sour to tropical to cinnamon. Gen says she won't touch them without permission but she always does.

"Okay then. So what do you think I should do to find the mystery person" asked Stacie as she dug out a handful of jelly beans. "I think we should think of something to call him other than mystery person" replied Victoria. "What do you suggest" asked Stacie as she shifted in her bean bag to see Victoria more clearly. "How about 'The Culprit'" said Victoria. "Sure" replied Stacie as she checked off an item on her homework checklist.

"So how are we gonna find the culprit" asked Stacie. She was curious to know what Victoria was thinking. She had been forming a plan all day. "Well you said that the group of people that you walked through was always there, so why don't we have you investigate the group of people." said Victoria with a grin on her face. "I.. I'm lost" Stacie laughed, "Can you repeat that". "They're going to be there tomorrow," repeated Victoria, "so why don't you walk through them again and see who is there. Then you tell me at lunch." "Oh" replied Stacie, finally understanding what Victoria wanted her to do, "that's not too hard." "Okay so you'll have a sticky note and you'll write down the names" Victoria said after taking a sip of juice. "Okay" said Stacie.