Note from the author: Total Words: 10,671. Words to go: 19,329.
We start heading towards the auditorium. Matt puts his hand over my eyes and when I protest he says, “It’s a surprise Charlie!”
“Fine,” I say, pouting a bit. Wandering blindly through the school isn’t my idea of a good time, but I trust Matt. Before I know it, we’ve stopped. The room is a little bit…humid?
“Can I open my eyes now? Pleeeeeeease?” I whine. I’m curious as to where we are.
“Sure, welcome to the green house Miss Charlie,” he announces, removing his hand from my face and gesturing towards a glass room that has brilliant light shining down through it.
A sound of wonder escapes me. He softly chuckles at my response. “Do you like it? I discovered it the other day when I was exploring,” he explains.
I knew that we had a field where crops were grown, but I imagined something more industrial. That must be somewhere else, because the room that I’m in has all kinds of whimsical plants.
There’s roses, tulips, daisies, chrysanthemums, and some flowers I can’t even put a name to. There are also trees galore: palm trees, evergreen, oak. The floor is completely covered in grass. It smells amazing, like nature. There are butterflies, bees, and butterflies floating around.
“I love it! I can’t believe I’ve been at Moon Academy for five years and never noticed this room! Thank you for bringing me here,” I gush in amazement.
“It reminds me of home,” Matty says sadly. Aww. Poor guy.
“Just a couple weeks to go, buddy,” I say while patting him on the back. We sit on the grass; neither of us caring about stains. We talk and talk and talk until we’re starving. I stand up, popping my back in the process, then help Matty up. We both wipe the grass off our behinds and hobble off to the cafeteria.
Gus hands us our dinners (burgers and potato salad) and our desserts (tiramisu). We have just sat down at the usual table when I had a great idea.
“Hey, let’s have a picnic! We can swing by the linens closet, grab a blanket, then eat in the greenhouse room,” I suggest excitedly.
“Genius!” Matt exclaims, standing up. I jump up as well and we execute my plan. By the time we get settled in the grass, we’re practically drooling. We gobble down our food in no time at all. Then we start telling stories about our adventures down on Earth. I tell him about the time I had poison ivy, and he tells me about the time he was stung by a bee.
But all good things must come to an end. One minute we were talking, the next minute we are being soaked. Apparently they water the plants everyday at 10-am and pm.
We run out of the room screaming and laughing. I feel like a drowned rat, but it’s kind of awesome. Absolutely drenched, we walk through the school. People shoot us weird looks. It’s pretty funny.
Matt walks me all the way to my room. “Thanks for a great day. Goodnight Matty,” I say.
“Nighty-Night Chocolate! See you tomorrow. Want to meet for breakfast at 7?” he asks. Telling him that story might not have been the best move.
“Don’t call me that,” I whine. “Breakfast sounds good.”
“Cool. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite,” he chimes, walking away. After he leaves, I go to take a hot shower. Don’t want to catch a chill.
Ugh…school tomorrow. Sigh. It’s my last week. I’ve been counting down the days forever and now that I finally have a friend, my time is running out.
