A Musical Mayhem

33 - Bree (Part 2)

~ A Few Hours Later ~

After putting an inflatable sleeping bag, a small pillow, and a fully charged flashlight in my spacious gray backpack, I set out from my hotel room and crept down to the lobby, making sure that I didn't come across as suspicious to anyone who was still awake. Most of the other summer campers were in their hotel rooms, and all of the hallways were quiet.

I could feel the adrenaline slowly rushing into my veins. For all I knew, tonight could be the most important night of our entire time spent in the summer camp program so far. What if we actually found the Masked Guy's costume, hidden in Edgar Balenciaga's rehearsal room, like we had guessed? What if we actually got to the bottom of exactly who the MG was - all within the time span of only a few hours?

When I got there, I was surprised to see that Flynn was already waiting in the lobby, wearing a blue backpack with a restless look on his face.

"I thought that I was the most eager one out of the group, but I guess not," I said wryly, approaching Flynn.

"I don't know, Sherlock. Today, I just feel . . . something," he replied, an odd look flickering across his eyes.

"Something as in, like, we're-finally-going-to-find-out-who-the-Masked-Guy-is?" I questioned, chuckling.

"Yeah. Maybe," Flynn responded, smirking back.

The two of us stayed like that for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes. A bunch of unspoken words passed between us. Gratitude. Connection. Courage. A meaningful friendship.

We actually got this far, I thought, as if transferring the words in my mind to Flynn's eyes. We did it, Flynn. Together - you and me and all of our friends. Even if tonight ends with nothing, at least we got this far. At least we stuck together - even after all of the obstacles that we faced along the way.

It seemed like forever passed before we finally broke eye contact.

A few moments later, Arielle and Claude arrived, and so did Archer and Ivy.

"So, are we ready for this thing or not?" Arielle asked the group, her dark blue eyes shining with excitement and nervousness.

"Totally ready. I made sure to get some hours of sleep in before this, since I have this weird feeling that we're going to have to stay awake for quite a while," Claude said, giving us a thumbs-up.

"Let's take a taxi to the AAA," Archer suggested. "I imagine that it would look more than a little weird if people on the bus saw a group of teenagers going on a backpacking trip late in the night."

All of us walked out of the hotel and waited for a taxi to arrive. When it did, the six of us got on and rode to the Arabesque Arts Academy, holding our breaths and praying with all of our might that we were actually onto something this time. The whole atmosphere in the car was tense, and none of us seemed to be able to get comfortable.

I took a deep breath when the taxi finally pulled up in front of the AAA. Some of the lights inside the building were turned off, but I could see Ms. Rudos' figure still sitting behind her front desk.

"Ms. Rudos is still inside," I whispered to my friends as the six of us got in a line and crept behind a particularly large bush on the left side of the AAA. "We'll have to keep watch until the coast is clear. When she goes on patrol around the Academy before she leaves, we'll try to sneak in."

"What if she catches us?" Flynn asked skeptically. "We'll get expelled from the program, won't we?"

In the darkness of the night, I rolled my eyes. Of course Flynn Armani was still worried about being kicked out of the summer camp.