Adventures of Ivy Fleur: The Election of Liquidation

Chapter Three: Mad Science

Ivy rubbed her scraped knee as she strolled along the sidewalk of Burlington's Broad Walk. It had been two days since the death of the town mayor and Ivy was cooped up in her room, unwillingly. Her mother ground Ivy to her room once she had gotten home from school yesterday. The woman even went to the lengths of blocking her door with a chair against the handle. Ivy tried to push it away but was met with her mother's hard glare.

Ivy's constant checking of her watch this morning finally dragged her to her window and climb down the rose vines that ran down the side of the tower. However before Ivy was two thirds down, a vine broke under her foot. A few thorns snatched against her knees before landing on her bottom. I am not having a good week, Ivy thought bitterly.

She brushed off the dirt from her brown skirt and dashed to the end of the block. Ivy did not realize she hadn't brought her phone until she could she see the small shops lining along the broad walk.

Hopefully, I'll meet my appointment on time.

Ivy's gray converse scrapped against the sidewalk as she stuffed her hands in her sweater pockets. Ivy specifically chose her outfit today to blend in with the younger crowd. It was a simple brown skirt, a white blouse, and a gray knitted sweater - unbuttoned.

The sophomore, after walking for twenty minutes finally saw a brightly colored ice cream parlor, swarming with teenagers. 'Mad Science Ice Cream' is the hot spot for preteens and teenagers during weekends and after school.

Ivy pushed opened the glass door and a loud chime came from inside. The outside of the parlor gave the shop a lot of attention with its bright neon pink and blue colors. However, the interior is a completely different world. Melted plaster ice cream was across the windows looking outside with floor to ceiling oddly shaped geometric shelves. The shelves were filled with bubbling flasks, books, and candle holders. On the opposite side of the shelves is where the ice cream is displayed. Painted on the wall above the ice cream displays were the names of each flavor in a blown up periodic table. Instead of buying an ice cream like most of the people in the parlor, Ivy went straight to the far corner of the store and sat down at a two-person table.

Ivy's large brown eyes scanned the other peers around her. Hearing bits and pieces of the conversations around her, until it jumbled up into a single noise. The girl heard the chime of the door and looked quickly at her watch before seeing her appointed person. It was a middle-aged woman, with long blonde hair and a white summer dress. She looked awkward standing in front of the door with a face of guilt and her constant fidgeting. The woman's blue eyes soon found the sophomore in the crowd of teenagers and quickly made her way towards Ivy. She plucked the chair across from Ivy and sat down, staring hard at the table.

"D-do you have it," she asked.

The woman's voice was soft, almost inaudible, with a melody like tone.

Ivy nodded and pulled out the folded paper from her pocket. The woman's nervousness quickly turned to greed as Ivy started to state her new found information.

"Archie Snit. Age 16. Birthdate January 17, 1999. Lives on Lincoln Street-"

The woman cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I know that stuff already. I'm his mother," she confessed. "Tell me about his suspension."

Ivy scanned to the bottom of her notes and read them off. "Total number of suspensions: 4. Two due to use of bang snaps and plugging the boy's toilets with toilet paper. Just recently he had pulled down his pants in front of the principal's office during lunch and showed off his bottom to Mr. Rivers and Miss. Carson. He is now being in question for an expulsion."

Ivy folded the note paper and placed it back in her pocket before looking towards the woman in front of her. Mrs. Snit sat with a bright red face with her lips trembling in anger, her hands clenched into tight fists.

"I knew it! I knew he was lying to me about his suspension!" She roared, abruptly standing up which brought the attention of those around them. "When I get home, he's going to wish he never lied to me!"

The woman turned on her heel but quickly turned back once she remembered their agreement. Mrs. Snit dug into her purse, mumbling curses under her breath before pulling out a wad of cash and slamming it on the table. She then left before Ivy could say anything else. The people around Ivy looked at her weirdly before turning back to their friends and ice cream. Ivy's pale fingers reached out to the pile of bucks and counted about two hundred dollars.

A fifty dollar tip, Ivy shrugged, feeling a bit lighter with the extra she was given. Ivy has always been interested in keeping track of all the adults in town. It is a way to keep herself organized of everything that is going on in her boring, almost little, town. Eventually, someone found out about her habit and used it for their own needs. At first, she only told other people's information to the people she trusted. Whom were but a few relatives.

However, Ivy started to collect money for the mysteries she solved. Most of the time it was finding a child's pet or searching for someone's lost keys. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she would get asked by someone to provide them with embarrassing information about someone they hated. They usually paid her about a hundred and fifty dollars for it. Once she was asked by the school's janitor to find a missing trophy, with six hundred pay. Ivy was so excited once she found where it was, she stormed into the boys' locker room while they were changing. Ivy had gotten detention for it but she had gotten a hundred dollar tip in exchange.

In that instant, Ivy's stomach started to growl. I wasn't able to eat when I left.

Ivy thought about leaving and going to a fast food restaurant down the street but thought against it for her mother would find out Ivy had left her room by then. So she took out a ten from the crumpled up money and walked over to the line for ice cream. The line had gotten shorter since Ivy had been here, by only five people.

Behind the counter was a sixty-year-old man, with his receding hair-line covered by a white cap. His white apron and pink shirt, splattered with colorful stains, covered his pot belly. He looked towards Ivy with a wide grin and walked over to her side.

"What can I get for you, Ivy," he asked. "The usual?"

"Yes, please."

The man nodded, grabbed a scoop from a water cup, and reached over to a tub of brown and white ice cream. "Chocolate Mt. Everest, double scoop, in a large cup," said Mr. Flint.

Mr. Flint was Mayor's Flint younger brother. Ivy was going to ask Mr. Flint some questions about his older brother's death before she found that the death was caused by a normal occurrence. So she decided against it and to leave the mourning man alone. However, the old man seemed to be handling it just fine with his bright, almost full smile.

Ivy reached out for the blue cup as Mr. Flint handed her a small spoon. Ivy started to dig in while the cashier finished cashing in the money of the person in front of her. Before it was Ivy's turn the doorbell chimed and for some odd reason she felt an urge to see who it is. The girl turned her head over to the glass door and saw a boy around her age with darkly tan skin, black hair, and shining gray eyes. The boy seemed to notice Ivy staring at him and stood in place. He probably knew who Ivy is since Ivy knew he is. The boy is one of the few she saw in the boy's locker room.

He is also the only teenager she kept a file on.

Ryan, after a few seconds, blushed with Ivy's hard stare. He quickly tucked his head in his neck and went straight to the back of the line.

"Um, excuse me, Miss? Are you going to pay," the female cashier asked rudely, before blowing a gum bubble and popping it.

Ivy slowly turned back towards the cashier, paid, and left the ice cream parlor. Ryan, however, kept his eyes on her the whole time until he could no longer see her.

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A/N
The photo to the side is an example of what the ice cream parlor would look like. That ice cream shop is called Doc Bernstein and it's in Santa Barbara, California and it's really good!!! If you guys live near there, try it!!

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