Tuesdays and Apples

Chapter Six

The sounds of heavy machinery boomed throughout the workshop, multiple workers turning their heads to look at Leo and I. I walked forward, my destination on the other side of the complex, which was conveniently tucked behind the entire factory.

"Hey little lady! What's a princess like you doing out here?!" One of them yelled, waving me over. I ignored them, turning to look at Leo who was scowling at everything and anything. He was mad I didn't let him wear his sunglasses to cover up his black eye.

"How's the eye-patch bud?" I asked, smiling to myself. He mumbled something under his breath, turning away from me to watch people cut wood. "Hmm? What was that?"

Leo glared at me, his eyes shooting imaginary lasers at my head. "This just makes it a hundred percent more obvious I got punched in the face," He grumbled, looking away when a woman walked past us.

I scoffed. "Leo, she's in her twenties. You're still a minor."

"I hate you," He said, ripping the eye-patch off his face and putting up his large hoodie. It was intentionally big to hide the eye-patch, but now it was to hide the big bruise covering his face.

Finally, we reached the end of the workshop, and I pushed open the large metal doors, walking towards the small office building hiding in the corner.

"What are we doing here anyway?" Leo inquired, catching up to me.

"Well, since our first plan didn't work out so well, I took the time to deviate a much better plan," I said, opening the office doors. Leo groaned, shaking his head in protest.

"If your plan is anything like your last one, it's not going to work."

I scoffed, feigning hurt before turning down a familiar hallway, the door at the end already slightly open. "It's not, and it's actually going to be pretty fun to build."

Leo's ears perked up at the work build, and I laughed, opening the office door to see Michelle Wilkins, one of my closest friends in college smiling at the both of us, no doubt expecting my appearance. She let out a little chuckle.

"I just knew that text you sent was more than a friendly checkup," She laughed, getting up to hug me. Michelle was one of the first people I met in college besides my roommate. She was an engineering major, and I was fascinated by all the little things she used to build.

"Ha. Well Michelle, this is Leo, Leo, this is Michelle," I greeted, letting Leo shake her hand.

Michelle gave Leo a bright smile, the boy offering a toothy grin, looking around her small office at all the neat things put together in a mess around her office. "Your office is so cool."

Michelle laughed, letting the teenager tinker with a few contraptions in the corner as I turned to her, raising my eyebrows. She did the same.

"I'm guessing you're here for something?" She asked, her question coming out more as a statement than a wonder. I nodded sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck. Michelle sat down, opening up the laptop on her desk and typing something in.

"Yeah, I wanted to build a haunted house, something really elaborate, terrifying too," I said, sitting down in the chair in front of her. She nodded, a hint of a smile gracing her lips before she rapidly typed on her keyboard, the sound of a printer turning on catching my attention.

"Sounds exciting, what's it for?" She asked, getting up to grab the piece of paper. I caught a glance of the front, furrowing my brows at the plain paper, little squares printed in light blue ink in a rectangle grid.

"A prank per se, I just need the supplies and help to build it. Mister engineer over there isn't going to be able to do much," I laughed, leaning forward as she splayed the grid in front of me, quickly writing down 'Haunted House' at the top.

"Nice. I can get you the supplies... and the help. Is it a house transformation? Or are we using a different plot of land?"

I shook my head. "My house, do you need measurements?"

This time she shook her head, writing down small details about the haunted house in a little box.

"Definitely not right now. I can have a main builder come over and you guys can map out the route and area the haunted house will be in. A material manager and planning manager will come later, is that all you need?"

Soon Leo was by my side, staring at the grid in wonder before his eyes caught the letters at the top, a giddy look chasing away his confusion. "A haunted house? That's so cool!"

I nodded, urging him to sit down as Michelle and I fussed over a few more main points of the build. After giving her my address and exchanging extra contact info, Leo and I were on our way back to the house, Canyon Moon by Harry Styles playing quietly on the radio. I grinned, singing along to the lyrics quietly.

"So is this your big plan? A haunted house?" Leo asked, turning to me. I nodded excitedly, driving past similar looking houses to the farther side of the neighborhood where we lived.

"Yeah. Might as well scare the boys into staying away from you," I quipped, slightly nodding my head to the beat of the music. Leo nodded, creasing his brows in thought. After a while of him not saying anything, I spoke up.

"You good?"

Leo looked up. "Yeah, I just have a really good idea for the plan."

I beamed, raising my fist to his level as the boy repaid my offer with a fist-bump, Leo rolling his eyes when I let go, twinkling my fingers and pulling away.

"Ba-da-la-la-la," I spoke, mimicking Baymax from Big Hero 6. I loved that movie.

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This chapter sucks just as much as I do for not updating sooner. 😢 I'm sorry I waited so long to update, I was going through a mini crisis, but I'm okay now. :)

I love you all my friends, and there will be another chapter posted REALLY SOON. Like, SOON. You'll get to meet the next character in our book too! (This new character is really important by the way)

So what do you think of Michelle?

On a scale of 1-10, what were your thoughts on today's chapter?

Anything you'd like to see in a future chapter?

Please tell me what you guys think! I always want to know.

Sorry for being a dickhead,

-T. King