The Miracle Clinic

xChapter 28 - Cracking Down On The Pencil Black Market (1)

"What? Someone seriously tried to get you to pay 5 bucks for a pencil?!" Alex laughs.

He's laughing at Elizabeth who is standing there upset in Amnestor's classroom. The two are in a club meeting for The Miracle Clinic with Ronnie & Marcus off to the side glancing at Alex laughing to himself. Amnestor is at his desk sipping coffee while X is in the corner of the room still working on a test.

"I didn't buy it!" Elizabeth yells.

"I know, I know, I just found it funny that someone would try and get people to buy really cheap pencils for that much," Alex explains.

"Yeah well, good thing that's just a one-time thing," Ronnie sighs.

As silence starts to fall on the group the doors to the classroom slide open, and the club looks to see Carli Kim, a fellow freshman, standing there. Carli Kim has medium-length black hair, a denim jacket over a striped shirt, pink pants, and red shoes.

"Is this The Miracle Clinic?" Carli asks.

Ronnie stands up with a grin on his face, "Yep that's us, how can we help?"

"Well I've been trying to do well in class but I've been having trouble keeping my pencils, and I have to keep paying for new ones," Carli explains, "I was wondering if you could maybe help."

Alex holds back his laughter at the fact someone was actually buying the pencils with Elizabeth & Marcus covering his mouth.

"Dude she's a foreign exchange student, she probably thought it was normal!" Elizabeth whispers to Alex.

"Please don't laugh man," Marcus whispers.

As Carli looks confused at what Alex, Marcus, & Elizabeth are doing, Ronnie places a hand on her shoulder before giving a thumbs up and saying, "Don't worry Carli, we'll create a miracle and track down the cause of all of this!"

Carli looks at Ronnie, smiles, and replies, "Thanks, I know I could count on you!"

Carli leaves the classroom and as soon as she leaves, Alex groans, "Does anyone know how to figure out this whole thing?"

"Yeah guys I have no idea what the fuck I am doing," Ronnie admits.

"Y'know, we could all tell by like chapter 5 that that was the case," X Locke replies.

Everyone else in the room just glances at X confused, however, X clears his throat and adds, "Look, if you want to get knowledge on how to help Carli with the pencil thing, maybe see if others have a similar issue."

"That's actually good advice," Marcus admits.

"I know, probably the first time that's ever happened," Alex agrees.

"Hey!" X yells.

Ronnie ignores him and says, "Since we know both Elizabeth & Carli were dealing with this, it's mostly more than just one person involved in this pencil thing, which means the more we know, the more we'll be able to stop it!"

"So how do you suggest we get information? Our club room isn't too popular," Elizabeth adds.

"Well, how about we just go around and ask some folk?" Ronnie suggests.

The others agree and they quickly leave the classroom.

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The Miracle Clinic begins to go around the school collecting responses about the shady dealings going on with the pencils at Starlight High.

Ronnie goes to the culinary classroom and asks Hamster & Bennet the hamster about the situation, Hamster explains to Ronnie that he's been having to rely on using a bottle of ink and some of Bennet's fur to write down notes because all the stories in the area have sold out on pencils. As Hamster is describing the whole event to Ronnie, Bennet nods a tear rolls down his face.

Alex goes to the gymnasium and is discussing the current situation regarding pencils with his best friend & gym bro, Christopher Wrinkle. The fellow freshman describes how since he's so muscular he often breaks the pencils that he uses, and he always has to buy new ones, so the recent upcharge on pencils is really affecting his wallet. As Christopher talks to Alex, Alex just wonders why he doesn't just use a pen.

Elizabeth goes down the hall and spots X on his phone, when she walks over, X puts his phone away and explains to her how he just got his pencils stolen and was trying to buy new ones online. He also mentions that they managed to steal his pencils faster than he can steal Ray's car keys. Little does X know though that Ray Ramirez is charging straight toward the not-so-innocent junior.

Marcus goes to the cafeteria where the popular girl, Rebecca Jenksin, is sitting with several other people, he tries to get some information out of them but finds no entry point into their conversation so after waiting a while, he just gives up and walks away.

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Ronnie, Elizabeth, Alex, & Marcus gather together in the front hallway of Starlight High.

"So what did you guys learn about all of this?" Ronnie asks.

As everyone thinks of all the information they got, they realize that they really don't know much else besides pencils are now expensive.

"Uh....we kinda just wasted our time," Marcus responds honestly.

Alex sighs as he says, "We're getting nowhere with this! We need to find someone who actually knows how to figure out stuff like this."

Elizabeth nods in agreement. As the group laments their lack of progress, they begin to hear a janitor's cart roll down. Alex looks to see that there are three janitors cleaning up the hallway, but not just any three janitors but the three members of The Three Ts.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asks them.

"Uh, getting paid," Tim-Tom The Third Thug states while wearing a janitor outfit, "we gotta take any job that we can get in this economy, even temp ones."

"It's true, stuff is pretty expensive nowadays in 2013," Tim The First Thug nods.

"What are you doing here?" Tom The Second Thug asks.

"Uh, I go to school here," Alex responds.

"Oh right."

An awkward silence falls under the group until Ronnie gets an idea and asks, "Hey Alex, these are the guys who tried to beat you up for money right?"

"Yep, they also ruined that cake for the carnival," Alex responds.

"Well, that means they probably are experts in crime! If we ask them, they'd probably be able to help find who's responsible for the pencils!" Ronnie explains.

Elizabeth, Marcus, & Alex listen to Ronnie's words and agree, if anyone will help them gain info on what's going on with the pencils, it'll be the three people here who know the most about crime.

"So uh, you guys want our help?" Tim-Tom asks.

"Yes please, we need an expert like you guys to help us," Marcus responds desperately.

"Well since you guys asked so nicely," Tim-Tom The Third Thug begins to respond snarkily while rubbing his nose, "I guess it is only fair for Starlight's Brightest Boxer to come help you out."

"Nobody calls you that," Tom The Second Thug says nonchalantly.

"Yeah and it sounds cringy as hell," Tim The First Thug adds.

"Oh come on guys, I just wanted to sound cool!" Tim-Tom The Third Thug roars in defense.

See You Next Chapter!~