The Crooked Tree

Chapter Three

Even though it was the middle of the math test, I still couldn't resist talking to Elliot about our mission to the tree today. Which was my worst mistake.

For some stupid reason, I chose to talk to Elliot in the only class we have together, math. And during a test, at that. When the teacher, Mr. Grover, had turned away from us to hand papers out to the people in front of us, I turned to Elliot and whispered, "Elliot, what are we going to do when we get to the tree?"

"What do you mean?" he replied as he wrote his name on a piece of scratch paper.

"Well, what if we end up staying there longer than we planned? Or something happens and we get hurt?"

"I don't think it's likely either of those things will happen. I mean, we're not in some stupid horror novel. We know when to investigate and when to run away."

"Well, do we actually have a plan for going in there?" I was genuinely nervous about all this.

His eyes darted to the teacher and I saw that he was watching us like a hawk. I turned back to my paper and as if he had been waiting only on us, he announced, "You may begin."

I looked through the first question, by my mind went blank. I couldn't get the idea of that tree it of my mind. I wished that I could talk to Elliot more about what the plan was. Then I got an idea.

I reached into my backpack and took out an old sheet of paper. I tore off a small piece and started writing. So what's the plan? Write back. Finally, I pretended to move my arm and accidentally push it off my desk, and it glided down to Elliot's feet. He saw it and looked up at me. I nodded, and he reached down to grab it. He gave me a weird look and then did the same. But as his paper floated down, it stopped far away from my desk. As quickly as I could, I reached down and grabbed it. The teacher, who had had his eye on us for a while, stood up and walked towards our desks.

He towered over me and snatched the piece of paper on it. I was worried that he would see the note, and I began to make up excuses as to what the note could mean.

Then he began to scold me, "You're cheating, aren't you? You thought it would be funny to get the answers to the test from your friend, huh?"

I was confused. I hid a quick glance to the note in the teacher's hand. There was a note on there, but, as far as the teacher could see, there were math equations on it. I had used an old sheet of paper from a math lesson. I sighed as the teacher said, "Detention. After school."

I played it cool, but on the inside, I was freaking out. I could see Elliot trying to keep it calm too. We had to go to the tree, and we couldn't do that if we were in detention.

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The silence was killing me. All I could do was sit there and tap my foot. I looked over my shoulder and saw Elliot on the opposite end of the classroom, fiddling with a pencil. I wanted to talk to him, but Mr. Grover made it impossible by staring at us the entire time. It was absolutely miserable.

I spent most of my time looking around the classroom. The white walls were almost completely covered with "motivational" posters and math "puns". While I did homework, I pretended to write on the paper, even though I was writing some very considerable messages on the desk instead.

Finally, after about an hour, Mr.Grover left the room to go to the bathroom, and as soon as he left the room, I turned to face Elliot.

"Elliot, we have to get to that tree," I told him, "or we may not get another chance!"

He looked up at me. "What else can we do? It's not like we can just turn invisible and walk out."

"Well, we've got to think of something..."

Elliot thinks for a second while he scratches his cheek, a habit that he has developed for the last year. "We could go at midnight..."

"Midnight?" I was actually shocked. "You mean sneaking out? I didn't know you could be so rebellious. Jeez!"

"Well, we can do it, right? We'll just meet at the tree and go in. Honestly, this might even be better then our original plan. If we go at night, there will probably be a lesser chance that those people will be there."

I think for a minute. "Okay."

We sit back in our seats and Mr. Grover comes back. We wait out the rest of detention, and then we are dismissed. As soon as we get out, Thalia is out there waiting for us.

"Dudes, what the flip? We were supposed to go to the tree!!"

Elliot replies, "I'm sorry, Thalia, we got into detention and..."

"What do you mean you got into detention?! You were supposed to meet me at the tree!!" She began to lecture us on how we need to be good if we want good things and blah blah blah. I gave Elliot a bored look, and I saw him pleading to me for help. Eventually, Thalia calms down.

"Anyway, We gotta go tonight, right? Right. See you at midnight."

...Well, she read our minds.