Scales

Chapter Three

Just as I was about to write out the answer to the first English homework question, my computer let out that distinctive buzz notification sound again. I got up and hopped into the chair, looking at the Discord notification popup on the screen. I was half-hoping it would be Melanie coming out to make it up to me, or Jack replying after having dealt with his accounting. But to my surprise, it was Cody.

"wassup man? still busy with homework?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Mom would be home in the next hour. I quickly typed a message back.

"yup. for some reason Cody decided to rickroll me to pass the time. wtf? nvm..."

"HAHA!" Cody's message was full of caps lock, followed by several laughter emojis.

"Yea yea real funny. It's all good. We'll figure this out tomorrow at lunch like usual. Webcam later after homework" I typed in my final message and sat back on the bed.

After completing two subjects my mind started to wander and I felt a little sluggish. So, I turned back to the laptop and fired up Dota 2 - one of my favorite games. I pondered on doing a brief Twitch stream, but figured it'd take up too much time. So I just played a few brief multiplayer battles, then opened up the books again.

Mom entered the apartment as I finished up the last part of my homework. Naturally I dropped my pencil and flew into the front hall to help her with her work bag and heat up dinner for her and myself. But this time things were different.

"Hi, Mom!" I said upon entering the hallway. "How was your day?"

"Good evening sweetie," she replied, holding out two foam trays. I took them and placed them on the table quickly, as they were hot to the touch.

"Shall I warm up the last of that lasagna you made?" I suggested, opening the cupboard and pulling out two plates.

"Yes, please. On Friday you can go to Jack's, since you've wanted to know."

"Thanks very much!" I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice down. As I transferred the lasagna to the plates, I noticed that there were only two squares left! No wonder she'd bought the hot trays. While the squares heated in the microwave, I took a peek in the trays. Inside were hot fried chicken and fries – a meal that I'd been dying to have but Mom always said no to having.

As we ate, I decided to let out my confirming questions.

"When should I be back home by on Friday? And also, can I chat on Skype after we finish eating?"

"I expect you to be back before midnight," she said. "And don't stay up after ten."

I nodded seriously. "Got it."

After chowing down on the last of those seriously good saucy chicken wings, I washed up the dishes while Mom sat down to watch one of her favorite evening shows – The 100. Personally I wasn't interested in it much, in spite of the show's thick underlying themes of sci-fi and adventure. There simply weren't enough puzzles and mysteries to make the cut. So, I entered my room, shut the door, scooted into my chair, and logged back into Discord. Thankfully, Cody was still online, and Jack had only been off the hook for a few minutes.

Probably went to talk with his dad over the mansion intercom or something, I thought, typing a message to Cody:

"work is finally done! u still up? I've got just under an hour before bed"

Cody was on it before I could blink.

"yep. but where's jack? should be here soon. and where on earth is your girlfriend? we need to group man!"

I sighed sadly. The more time passed with Melanie's profile still in my "Offline" list the more I started to feel like she had dumped me after the incident at school.

"Agreed man. Say...I have a way to pass the time." I fired up Dota 2 and started a long-overdue infiltration mission, and a private stream. This was going to be fun.

"You in multiplayer?" Cody asked.

"Yep. The usual. Now let's head in. Toooooby! Johnson!" I crowed, rushing into the chamber and slaying enemy soldiers one after another, while the other players' characters lagged behind. I expected Cody to laugh, but he just facepalmed.

"Of all the gaming jokes you could've made..."

"Well now you know how I must've made Maverick feel," came another voice cutting into the call. By the background, Jack was in his bedroom, lying down on the bed and looking rather sleepy.

"Hi everyone, I'm feeling a bit tired now, but let's talk about that bowl. Just give me a second, I'll grab it."

Cody and I sat back and watched intently as Jack pulled out the bowl, set it down on his bed, and began holding it up with a curious eye.

"Hey man, bring it closer!" I quickly typed, eager to see them up close.

Jack slowly brought the bowl nearer to his phone's camera lens, and I could now make out the inside shapes. Excited, I typed in another message.

"What's that design? Can you turn it slowly, so I can try to make out its exact shape a bit better?"

Jack was glad to oblige, and soon he and I were working together to understand each individual piece. I soon figured out that they were all somehow connected, like a jigsaw puzzle, only more complex.

"Looks very Native American in design," Cody added.

Jack yawned and put the pieces back in the bowl, before switching to voice mode. "Sorry guys but it's getting really late. Maverick, I'll email you high-quality images of the bowl's inside at all angles before I go to work tomorrow. What did your mom say about Friday?"

"She's allowed me to go," I quickly typed.

"Great!" Jack's voice bubbled with joy. "Then on Friday we'll get to the bottom of this bowl and its mysterious content! Good luck with the identification photography and goodnight!"

Cody sent me a goodnight message and exited the group chat. I then exited, ended the chat session, logged out, and shut off my laptop, before curling under my blanket. Tomorrow would be full of examinations and research.