Scales

Chapter Eight

Waking up bright and early, I tiptoed over to my laptop, switched it on, and logged into Discord. Displayed for me was a group DM titled MISSION #1287.

You and your titles, Jack, I thought to myself, clicking the "Join" button. Sure enough, Cody was in – and the first one online.

I typed a quick message.

"Hi Cody, so whatcha think about waiting outside my place?"

"Good morning bro. Let's just say that Jack is in charge of this mission, all right? We'll wait for his orders." came a reply in less than half a second.

I sighed. We were all in this together and had our own ideas and plans, but he was right – Jack was the oldest and the most responsible (and mature) among us.

To pass the time, Cody and I played a round of World of Warcraft. I wasn't a serious fan of the game, but I enjoyed it because it had such an open concept. Mom didn't mind, as Saturday was normally gaming day for me from sunup until about noon.

At around lunch time my Discord started buzzing with a few notifications. I opened up the window, and displayed on the screen was a message from Cody and Jack.

"jack's here"

"Hi everyone, I'm gonna call your mom Maverick. Grab a sandwich and juice or something and chill out because this is gonna be long."

So I did just that. Once I heard my mom pick up her phone and reply to Jack, I darted into the kitchen, grabbed some raisin bread and slapped a slice of cheese and pastrami between them, cut it in two, and returned to my room. On the other side, I could hear my mom, Abigail, discussing with Jack. At first it sounded like a casual conversation between old friends, but soon delved into the verbiage of a desperate, intense negotiation.

"How can I allow my son to be in the woods full of dangerous creatures which none of you know?" Abigail countered.

Jack's voice stiffened. "What did you do in a critical moment in life where it was either failure or risk to achieve something you wanted?"

"Well... I tried to find the easiest route," Abigail said slowly, and I shook my head on the other side of the wall, realizing she wasn't answering the question fairly.

Jack sighed. "Look, we as good friends want to do something fun together. This may be our second to last year together in school, and we want to make it a memorable one."

Maria grunted. "Fine. But you're covering all costs and if anything – anything – happens you're gonna pay for it."

"Thank you," Jack replied respectfully, calming his voice. "I'll keep you posted. Bye."

Abigail still wasn't happy – all she gave me was a brief thumbs-up as she passed by my bedroom door. I flashed her a thankful smile, then logged back into Discord and re-joined the private group chat. A profile with a cute kitten popped up on the screen.

"Hi!"

I typed with an emoji of joy, knowing Melanie had now joined the group. "Oh hey there! Glad to see you've joined."

"Hi cutie!" she replied, and I blushed slightly - again. Finally, Jack stepped in.

"So, give me about forty minutes to finish up here and drive into town, then I'll pick you all up, ok? We'll then set out to find the meaning and symbolism of this map we've uncovered. More discussion can take place on the road. I would recommend packing a change of clothes and your toothbrush."

"Should I bring my longboard?" I asked, wanting to add to the list.

"Not really needed," Cody responded.