Treasure Hunting 101

Chapter IV

Shanna

Music: A Way Out of the Difficulty from Gradius II Arcade

A few months ago, Sam came across this old hunting cabin located off the outskirts of downtown. All he's told us about how he found it is that it involved a mouse and a piece of yarn. What that's supposed to mean, none of us know. The owner of the cabin was kind enough to let us use it as our "clubhouse", where we'll all meet up a few times a week and hang out.

My twin brother, Sean, my friends Mia and Mackenzie, and I are at the cabin, and we're waiting on the rest of our friends to arrive. Mia, Sean, and I are sitting on the couch watching Disney Channel on our TV, and Mackenzie is in the kitchen fixing herself a snack.

Mia's been rambling on about how annoying her English class is since we got here. "So, then the teacher tells him for the THIRD goddamn time to put his phone away, and I kid you not, he literally says, 'Bitch, I don't think so!' Like, you don't say that to a teacher's face DURING class! And his entire fucking table laughed along with him! She literally just gave up on teaching for the period after that. We're gonna be so far behind thanks to those assholes, and she's not doing jack shit about it."

I'm intensely listening to Mia's ranting. Sean, on the other hand, is more focused on the TV than he is to Mia. Considering that he's Mia's boyfriend, you would think that this would upset Mia, but this happens all the time, so she's gotten used to it. It's still rude, but she tolerates it.

"Sounds rough," I mumble, trying to be sympathetic.

"God, I wish I could get my schedule changed or something so I don't have to put up with those asshats any longer," Mia sighs, burying her head into her arms. I start gently rubbing her shoulder.

Mackenzie walks into the room with a bowl full of ice cream and plops her butt onto the blue reclining chair. "Just do what I do with bullies, Mia: Smile, mentally flip them off, and know that you're not the problem and they are," she smirks.

"You make it sound so easy," Mia mutters.

"When are the others gonna show up?" Sean asks.

Literally on cue, there's a knocking on the door after he says that. I spring up to my feet, happily skip to the front door, and open it. Standing there are the remaining six members of our group, as well as a seventh face that I don't recognize. She's clutching a purse in her hands so tightly she might crush it, and her grin is equivalent to that of Mia's whenever we start getting into our fandom obsessions.

"Who's your friend there?" I ask.

Barely able to contain her excitement, the girl replies, "Hi, I'm Brea. I'm so excited that I finally get to meet you guys!"

"Oh, brother," I hear Mia mutter from afar.

"What brings you here, Brea?" Mackenzie asks.

"We've got something exciting to tell you," Avery tells us, unable to suppress the grin on her face.

"She's replacing Luke in our group?" Mia asks hopefully. Luke just rolls his eyes in response.

"Even better," Sam says. "Ladies and gentlemen, how would y'all like to go on a treasure hunt?"

Elle

Music: Puzzle Plank Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2

Sam's question takes the rest of our friends by storm. Mackenzie, Sean, and Shanna look shocked, and Mia's looking at us like she thinks we've all lost our minds.

"Okay, pause. Let me make sure I heard correctly," Mia says, pretending to clean out her ears. "Did you just ask about going on a treasure hunt?!"