“What’s not good?” I asked concerned. “What’s so special about the necklace?”
“Well, first of all, it’s made of sunburst crystal, which is an infinite source of power.” He said and muttered, “And ironically it’s also shaped like a sunburst…” He said with a sigh, and I smirked.
“It’s white and shiny, right?” I ask, remembering a necklace that the Nate I remember used to have.
“Yeah, you remember it?” He asked.
“I do, but I didn’t know it was a power source” I say.
“Well, that’s not the important part. It’s also a flash drive” He says tentatively. “It has the data for ‘The Plan,” on it.”
“What’s ‘The Plan?’” I ask.
“No offense, Noah, and it’s not that I don’t trust you… but I don’t think I should talk about it until we figure out why your memory is gone.” He replied. “It’s something you and I had been working on, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing when your memory is unstable.”
“Oh,” I say, a bit hurt, but I quickly try to cover that up. “That’s fine.” I say trying to sound genuine.
“No, it’s not, and I can hear it in your voice that you don’t like it either, but I have some trust issues after what happened last time I talked about this.” He said looking at the ground. “Anyway, you should probably get home. You don’t have to be home for another hour, but… if anyone asks, you don’t know anything about my necklace, okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” I say turning around to leave.
“Also,” Nate says before I leave. “If you still want to befriend that Mikey kid, today may be the day to do it. He’ll be coming home from ‘training’ at about the same time you’re getting home, and that’s probably when he’ll be either most or least willing to break the rules and talk to you. Don’t bother asking how I know.” He said and walked up to his computer. I took that as my dismissal and walked to the roped and climbed back out of Nate’s little lab and began the trek home.
As I near home, I see that Nate was right. I could see Mikey coming home, tears streaks faint on his face. I walk up beside him as he went. Mikey only lived a few houses down from my house, so I had time to think about what to say, but there was no need.
“What do you want,” he said, trying to be threatening, but his voice broke while he was saying it.
“Oh,” I say a bit surprised that he talked to me. “I just want to get to know you.” I say with a smile.
“You?” He snorted. “You only hang out with Nate. And I think they only look over it because your mom is the high chair of the government around here. Well, that, and you too continue to be the only two higher than me in the school rankings.” He said with a sour look.
“What?” I say confused.
“Well, it’s obvious,” He said, mistaking my confusion for being about the fact that we got away with it. “You get away with things that the rest of us can’t.”
I had to think this over for a minute before coming to a conclusion. My mom with high chair in the government? I didn’t even know what that meant. High chair of what? Before, we had a mayor, but no ‘high chair’. However, regardless of my mom’s position, I had a plan. “Well, why don’t you come meet with Nate and I after school tomorrow at Nate’s place? Maybe you can get away with things to, and we can fill you in on how we actually get away with it” I say knowing I’d just played my trump card. Most of it was bluffing, of course, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“I can’t tomorrow, my dad comes home early on Thursdays,” He said. “But if that invite applies to Friday, you’d better believe I’ll be there.” He said with a crooked smile. I smiled back and he looked at me for a moment. “Something’s different about you,” he said.
“Different how?” I asked suppressing the nervousness threatening to enter my voice.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “You seem, more hopeful, happier, I guess than before. It’s a nice change.” He said, smiling for real this time, finally looking once again like the friend I knew. “Oh, I got to go,” he said as we got to his house. “See you tomorrow, Noah!” He said before going inside.
“See you tomorrow,” I called after him before walking the rest of the way back home.
“Well, first of all, it’s made of sunburst crystal, which is an infinite source of power.” He said and muttered, “And ironically it’s also shaped like a sunburst…” He said with a sigh, and I smirked.
“It’s white and shiny, right?” I ask, remembering a necklace that the Nate I remember used to have.
“Yeah, you remember it?” He asked.
“I do, but I didn’t know it was a power source” I say.
“Well, that’s not the important part. It’s also a flash drive” He says tentatively. “It has the data for ‘The Plan,” on it.”
“What’s ‘The Plan?’” I ask.
“No offense, Noah, and it’s not that I don’t trust you… but I don’t think I should talk about it until we figure out why your memory is gone.” He replied. “It’s something you and I had been working on, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing when your memory is unstable.”
“Oh,” I say, a bit hurt, but I quickly try to cover that up. “That’s fine.” I say trying to sound genuine.
“No, it’s not, and I can hear it in your voice that you don’t like it either, but I have some trust issues after what happened last time I talked about this.” He said looking at the ground. “Anyway, you should probably get home. You don’t have to be home for another hour, but… if anyone asks, you don’t know anything about my necklace, okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” I say turning around to leave.
“Also,” Nate says before I leave. “If you still want to befriend that Mikey kid, today may be the day to do it. He’ll be coming home from ‘training’ at about the same time you’re getting home, and that’s probably when he’ll be either most or least willing to break the rules and talk to you. Don’t bother asking how I know.” He said and walked up to his computer. I took that as my dismissal and walked to the roped and climbed back out of Nate’s little lab and began the trek home.
As I near home, I see that Nate was right. I could see Mikey coming home, tears streaks faint on his face. I walk up beside him as he went. Mikey only lived a few houses down from my house, so I had time to think about what to say, but there was no need.
“What do you want,” he said, trying to be threatening, but his voice broke while he was saying it.
“Oh,” I say a bit surprised that he talked to me. “I just want to get to know you.” I say with a smile.
“You?” He snorted. “You only hang out with Nate. And I think they only look over it because your mom is the high chair of the government around here. Well, that, and you too continue to be the only two higher than me in the school rankings.” He said with a sour look.
“What?” I say confused.
“Well, it’s obvious,” He said, mistaking my confusion for being about the fact that we got away with it. “You get away with things that the rest of us can’t.”
I had to think this over for a minute before coming to a conclusion. My mom with high chair in the government? I didn’t even know what that meant. High chair of what? Before, we had a mayor, but no ‘high chair’. However, regardless of my mom’s position, I had a plan. “Well, why don’t you come meet with Nate and I after school tomorrow at Nate’s place? Maybe you can get away with things to, and we can fill you in on how we actually get away with it” I say knowing I’d just played my trump card. Most of it was bluffing, of course, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“I can’t tomorrow, my dad comes home early on Thursdays,” He said. “But if that invite applies to Friday, you’d better believe I’ll be there.” He said with a crooked smile. I smiled back and he looked at me for a moment. “Something’s different about you,” he said.
“Different how?” I asked suppressing the nervousness threatening to enter my voice.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “You seem, more hopeful, happier, I guess than before. It’s a nice change.” He said, smiling for real this time, finally looking once again like the friend I knew. “Oh, I got to go,” he said as we got to his house. “See you tomorrow, Noah!” He said before going inside.
“See you tomorrow,” I called after him before walking the rest of the way back home.