justice

Chapter Two

When Just had finally gotten back home, it was really late. Hope was already in bed, and Vicky was up watching Ye Bachelorette, so she was basically a bump on a log. Just dumped her bag on her bed, and took out the strange paper.

"All I want is my fair share, made with same amount of prayer. Taken out with same ol' wear, please, just give me my fair share." Just read aloud. She shook her head. What did it mean?

Taking a thumbtack out of her old bean can, she tacked the newest addition of paper to her board. As she sat down to unpack her bag, the thousands of tiny papers fluttered in a passing breeze.

Free thy soul and be strong-hearted, said one. Take me to a land of dreams, where hair is made of tiny moonbeams, said another. Just had given up trying to decipher them. As Just lay down to sleep, she realized that she had not changed out of her clothes. But at that moment, she was too tired to care.

When Just woke up, she realized with joy that Hope and Vicky were already out of the house. Which meant... it was Thursday! That meant that Vicky, her older sister, was helping Mr. Garland across the street, and Hope was boarding with the Johnsons, a few blocks away. She had the house to herself!

Just flew out of bed, and tied a raggedy old green sweatshirt around her faded jeans. 'All Day Dreams' flapped around her waist as Just tied her hair back, with a white ribbon to match her white tank top. Her green eyes turned to survey the board. She was going to figure it out because there would be no distractions. Taking all of the slips off the board, she placed them on her faded red carpet.

She arranged them in random patterns. Squares, triangles, Xs. Nothing appeared. Then, she took a look at each individual paper. Could they alone hold the key? Just tried for about half an hour before deciding she needed lunch. Or breakfast. Or something in her belly, so she could be focused. Grabbing her bag, she tossed in her sweatshirt, notebook, and multi-colored pen. After stuffing them all in a smaller bag, she toted the papers in there too, along with around $20. Grabbing her helmet from the tabletop, Just slung her backpack over her shoulder, and made her way down to the garage. Opening the door, Just reached in and pulled out her 32" longboard.

Just strapped her helmet and zoomed off down the sidewalk. As she whizzed past Mrs. Allan's house, Mrs. Allan watched Just turn the corner.

"That girl does it just as well as her father should have done. A shame he isn't here, and never was."

Just turned corners and boarded uphills until she reached the public library. Strapping her board to the railings of the stairwell, Just ran inside and straight to the librarian.

"I need a book on codes and ciphers, please," she said. The kind old woman pointed to a far corner. Just nodded thank you, and went to look. Several shelves later, Just stuffed a book titled Codes and Ciphers: Making Them and Breaking Them into her backpack and boarded to the nearby restaurant, the BEACHSIDE COMPTEUR, and ordered a small sandwich and soda. Tossing them in her pack, she boarded home and devoured the food. After throwing away her trash, she sat down with the book and the papers in her room.

"What does it mean?" she said, examining the book. After thumbing through lots of pages, one caught Just's eye. ORGANIZING DEAD DROPS. Just wrinkled her forehead. A dead drop? Like, the secret messages from spy movies? Was that what these were? Just read the rest of the page, and arranged the papers accordingly. Looking at the papers in this new formation, Just gasped. All of the first and last letters of all of the messages spelled out one thing: FACE THY FEARS AND JUMP IN DEEP. A PORTAL SHALL OPEN DURING TIME OF SLEEP. Just sat back and smiled. She had cracked it! A little, at least. Gathering the papers, Just took her notebook out and started doodling. What would the portal be like? She wondered all day.