Countdown

Chapter Nine

As suspected, when Philip, Sam, and George told Mr. Ridgley about those two creeps, Mr. Ridgley did not believe them.

"Boys, boys, boys," he said, chuckling slightly.

"That is quite a story you three got there. But, seriously, there's a time for story telling and a time for, well, seriousness, which I suppose that Philip here has no idea about," Mr. Ridgley said, sternly.

"Dad!" Sam said, shocked that his dad would say something like that about his friend.

"I could see that Philip's jokes and dumb behavior has gotten to you both, so from now on, I forbid you to hang out with Philip," Sam's dad said, upset.

"B-b-b-but," Sam stuttered.

"Y-You CAN'T DO THAT! YOU'RE  NOT IN CHARGE OF ME! PHILIP'S MY FRIEND AND I WILL NEVER END OUR FRIENDSHIP!" George yelled, enraged.

"You're right. I'm not in charge. But your parents are, and I intend to call them right now and tell them to keep you away from Philip," Mr. Ridgley said.

"Mr. Ridgley, you...you can't do that! They're my friends, and you can't keep away friends!" Philip protested.

"Yea, dad! I don't care what you say! I'm gonna hang out with Philip," Sam said, angrily.

"Yea!" George said, fury in his eyes.

Mr. Ridgley was taken aback. He never saw such strong friendship.

"Fine. But Sam, we WILL discuss this later," He said, deciding to let this go.

Sam glared at his father, but did not say anything.

The trio got up and went up Sam's room.

"I can't believe it!" Sam said, as they all sat down on his bed.

"My own dad tried to stop our relationship!" Sam said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I know right? I don't understand why everyone is like, so mad at Phil!" George said.

"We should totally go down to the Bulldog's office and tell her to take Phil back!" Sam insisted.

"YEA! Or sign a petition saying to let Phil come back, because all he did was throw water from the roof that happened to fall over the inspector,"  George said, getting up and pacing back and forth.

Philip, who was quietly sitting on the bed, finally spoke.

"Guys, you don't have to defend me or do any of that stuff. I deserve this," Philip quietly said.

"Aw, Phil, dude-" George began.

"No. Guys, I did something stupid and I have to face the consequences," Philip said, looking down at the ground.

"Phil, it wasn't your fault-" Sam started.

"Look, it WAS my fault. I am the one who dumped the water on the Inspector and I'm the one who deserves all this," Philip said, getting up.

"Wait, Phil, where you going?" George asked.

"Home. Sorry, guys," Philip said, as he left Sam's room, leaving both of his friends enveloped in their own depressed state.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Barry, why the HECK did you take pictures of those two boys?" Justin demanded, as they both entered their hotel room.

"I have a brilliant idea," Barry began excitedly. Justin rolled his eyes.

"We're gonna kidnap one of the boys and hypnotize him to obliterate that kid," Barry said, with an evil gleam in his eyes.

"That's your plan?" Justin asked, in disbelief.

"Well, yea. You got a better one?" Barry asked, lying down on one of the beds in the room.

"Well, no," Justin admitted. Barry grinned.

"Okay, so Friday is two days from now. Shouldn't we, like, get the kid before the other kid-"

"Who?" Barry asked, confused.

"I don't know their names, OKAY?!" Justin shouted. Barry opened his Galaxy in response, and waved a hand for Justin to continue.

"So, shouldn't we get the kid and hypnotize him before someone believes his friend-"

"Philip Easton," Barry interrupted.

"Huh?" Justin asked, confused.

"The boy's name is Philip Easton," Barry explained.

"Which boy?" Justin asked, still confused.

"The boy we're after," Barry said, with a sigh.

"The one we're kidnapping?" Justin asked.

"Yea. I mean, NO! The boy who knows our plans," Barry said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, okay. So, who's Philip's friend?" Justin asked.

"Uh, Sam Ridgley," Barry said, after a few seconds at looking at his smartphone. "Well, he has two friends, but this kid, Sam, looks...cooler."

"Ok. So, my question for the millionth time, WHEN DO WE WE KIDNAP THIS KID??" Justin yelled, quite annoyed.

Barry got up, put on his jacket, and smiled his michievous smile.

"Now."