Catastrophic

Chapter Twenty Three

    I’m taken aback by his eagerness to help, but I don’t show it. I don’t want it to seem that I’m surprised he bought a complete lie when in fact it was a truth. That thought most likely does not have complete grammar or sanity in it to be honest.

    “Well, I don’t really have a plan to make them believe, but as long as you’re willing to be my right-hand man and as long as you are well trusted back at camp, I don’t see why not!” I reassure him. I can already see he’s trying to help me gain their trust by the way he’s scratching at his stubble, and I’m not entirely sure he even heard my requirements. Nonetheless, I don’t really need his confirmation to know that he is a well respected guy back at camp, because I can pretty much tell right away.

    Light bulbs are going off in his mind as he dreams up possibility after possibility, and I tense up at all of the solutions he’s making up. While I’m bold, he’s reserved, while I’m athletic and brave, he’s creative and intellectual. We make a good team, and I’m just glad he’s the one who came to my rescue. We could become great friends, if we make it through this.

    If we make it through this, I can see my family again. I can squeeze Pat tight and let my parents fuss over me as if I was five once more. If we make it through this, I could maybe work things out with Ryan, and maybe we could pick up the pieces. That is to say that he 1)believes me, 2)wants to be with me, and 3)apologizes to me like crazy, because I can be selfish like that. If we make it through this, I could reunite with Bryony, I could make amends with Jopal, and I could get to know Cooper a bit more. I could see Twiddles once more and amend our friendship, and we could twiddle with ribbons together. My life could be good, and there’s a lot at stake. These thoughts of reconciliation are what keep me motivated right now, they’re what make me even more excited to hear what Cooper has to say.

    “Well,” he slowly begins with proper grammar, “it all depends on how much you can do,” he points out, and I grin at his assessment. He’s thinking crazy, and thankfully, I love crazy. He sees my malign expression and gets his answer to his non-question question. Bring it my smile communicates.  

    “I have several thoughts, some better than others,” he tells me. I nod my head to go on. For once, I’m tired of being outspoken and loud, and all I want to do is get my answers from Cooper. “So, the Storm Society is going to party until 11 pm, and as soon as they’re done, everyone is heading to the Throne. In order to destroy the landscapes, Emilia has to strike down the Throne at exactly midnight. Yes, it’s a little risky, but they’re willing to take the risk.

    “There are several ways to stop this. We could sneak up behind them all at the party and make them sleep through the night. We would have time to sleep as well, because we’ll have an hour. This solution however will only delay the inevitable, so maybe we could just work this into a bigger plot.

“Another plan is to go to the party. Emilia is going to be making a speech or whatever at the thing for some reason, so we could go there and interrupt what she’s saying. You could cast a spell on her that makes her say the truth, and then hopefully she won’t break herself out of it.

He spits out a few more plans that involve flying and transportation, and while they’re all good, they’re just bits and pieces of a plan that we really need. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s better than I would have cooked up. My plan originally was to just walk up to them and spew word vomit without getting blown to pieces by Emilia. Wait a second….

“Cooper,” I excitedly interrupt. I stopped him in the middle of a plan that involved flying monkeys, one that I could tell he was really getting into. I feel a burst of guilt and regret for a second before I get back on track. “Cooper,” I repeat, “the only way to show Emilia’s true self is to make her be her true self. We don’t need all of these elaborate details that involve magic and will hurt me in the long run. We need cold, hard facts, or else they’ll never believe me. You believed me for my earnesty, not some trick that I played on your mind.