The Duet

Chapter 21 - Pali (Part 3)

Chase jogged over to Jay as they walked to the cafeteria for dinner.

"Hey, thanks for helping-slash-carrying our team today." Chase said.

"Oh! No problem." Jay responded.

Chase walked out of earshot of Michael.

"I think Michael likes you." Chase whispered to Jay.

"He likes anything in a dress." Jay snorted.

Ouch...That's so true though...

"Well, maybe you should talk to him." Chase suggested.

"He's seems like a good guy and all, but when I met him, he wasn't like he seemed to be. But of course, in your case it worked."

"What?"

"Are you really dumb?"

"What!"

Jay sighed as she shook her head.

"Alicia told me that you and her used to hate each other. She used to think you were just a band-loving nerd." Jay explained.

"Ouch." Chase winced.

"She said that you guys are really good friends now. Like really really good" Jay quieted down to a whisper. "I think she likes you too."

"For real?"

"For realsies." Jay assured.

Jay walked away, leaving Chase confused and thoughtful of her words.

She can't be telling the truth...But she seemed sure...No way it's true. Probably just gossip, but I...

Chase continued to think as he blew by dinner and as he lay in bed that night. The next day, he lazily got up for the day. The boys lined up in the yard when Schmoe blew his whistle.

"Well, today is our last full day with you guys." Schmoe announced. "So let's make the most of it, yeah?"

The boys cheered and went back to their cabin to check their schedule.

"There's no plan for today." Chase said.

"Today's schedule is flexible, so we can do what you guys want." Schmoe said.

"Wait, isn't the baseball game today?" Brandon queried.

"It starts an hour after breakfast. Speaking of which," Schmoe answered, looking at the clock, "we need to get to breakfast, like, right now."

The boys hastily dressed and barely got to breakfast on time. They were finishing their food when Schmoe stood up and started walking to the center of the cafeteria.

"I think I had too much OJ." Michael said. "Schmoe, Can I use the restroom?" He yelled to Schmoe.

"Can you wait for 5 minutes?" Schmoe asked. "There's a slideshow starting soon."

Michael sat back down, at the seat farthest from Ren, who was now wielding three knives.

Schmoe took out a remote from his pocket and walked to the front of the cafeteria.

"Attention, Wickham Junior High and Birch Middle School. This is the last day of your Pali science camp. Did you guys have a good time?"

The cafeteria exploded with applause.

"Well, our photographers from McConnell Photography captured some memories over the past few days. I've put them together in a slideshow, and here it is!" Schmoe said, clicking the remote as the projector screen came to life.