Ship Falling

Chapter 5

The next day was Saturday, which was designated hangout day. Today wasn't nearly as gloomy as when she skipped school a few days ago. All the undergrowth was dry so Mary didn't have to worry about getting her socks wet. She walked through the forest, on the path that led to their house. Not wanting their hangout to be vandalized, they built it a little ways off from the clearing which the path led to. They painted circles on the trees that led to the house because Ted practically got lost if there weren't any pointers to it. Mary didn't need them, though, she'd walked through the forest many times and had a solid mental map. Eventually the house came into view, but the door was open unusually. She slowed her walking a little bit and looked inside. Nothing was stolen, but the chandelier they'd made out of cheap aluminum was swinging violently in the air. No one was there yet, so she stopped the swaying chandelier and walked to the milk crate they held records in and started shifting through them. Most of the stuff she liked was new indie music and newer records tended to be more expensive, so she just stuck to the one lana del rey album they had. She put the arm on the record and turned the volume knob, and the music started playing. Before the second song ended, tapping echoed through the house. She got up to open the door, but sat back down when Ted opened it himself. "Top of the morning, Teddy." He chuckled. "You're not even irish, Mary, and don't call me Teddy." She crossed her arms dramatically. "Alright...Teddy." He rolled his eyes. "What are we listening to?" She lowered the volume. "Ted, we've had it for a year. You'd think we'd all know it by now." He shrugged. "I don't like it. Who would name an album Born to Die? That's just jinxing your death." A voice spoke up from outside the door. "Of course you'd think that." The door opened and they both looked up at Oliver's smirk. Ted took on a look of tiredness as Oli sat down. "You know, just because you don't believe in ghosts and things doesn't mean they aren't out there." Oliver put his hands behind his head. "Well, if they wanted to convince me that they're real as much as you do, i'd be on the news right now talking about how a ghost killed my whole family." Mary stifled a giggle before looking at Ted. He wasn't amused. She quickly lost her expression. "That's not funny, Oliver. Can we just respect each other's views please?" They rolled their eyes and stopped talking. She turned off the record because she couldn't focus on the music anymore. She unzipped her backpack and pulled out a half-cold soda can. Just as she opened it, Anya and Katherine walked in one after the other. "We should've tapped, but you guys knew it was us." Mary stopped half-drink and sat up straight. "Kath, it's integral to the secrecy of our hideout that you do the knock. Otherwise, just anyone could stroll on in here and we'd know none of us invited them. Don't you see how-" Anya interrupted Mary. "Yeah, yeah, Mrs. Robins. Keep going." the rest of the group snickered. Even Mary couldn't help but smile. Anya really was the funniest person in the group, even if she said she wasn't. "Can I tell you guys what happened on Tuesday? I keep forgetting to bring it up and I could use some advice." Mary scooted a little closer to the side of her chair Katherine was closest to. "Yeah, you can tell us anything." She opened her mouth to start, then looked at Mary. "You sound like my dad, Mary." She narrowed her eyes at Kath. "I do not. Go to your room, young lady." Oliver choked on his soda laughing. "Anyway," Kath sat up straight, "Kaitlyn's my partner in Science, right? Well, obviously we aren't friends, she has basically no personality, but I caught her staring at Nate all afternoon since we had a double block for science, even though Nate's dating-" Ted threw his soda can behind his shoulder. "No one cares about that, Kath. You just said Kaitlyn's boring, why'd you care about who she likes?" Kath let out a sigh of frustration. "Says you, Ted. Don't you read your mother's gossip magazines every week?" Oliver chuckled. "Yeah, Teddy. Seems like you should be more invested in Adamsville drama, what with you reading stuff like that." Ted looked flustered. "My mom doesn't even buy those magazines! What are you talking about, Kath? You're just trying to make me look bad. My point is, whatever business Nate and Kaitlyn have with each other is none of our business, alright?" Oliver smiled with the satisfaction of someone who's won bragging rights. Mary decided to change the subject before the two started argung. "Speaking of school drama, Sophie told me off in the girl's bathroom yesterday." Anya looked confused. "Not the Sophie I know, and there's only one Sophie at our school. She's the nicest. It must have been Allen's sister, I heard she's rude to everyone under 10th grade for the fun of it." Mary shook her head. "I have my head on straight, Anya, it was Sophie. I'm the only one she's rude to, it's like she hates my guts." Oliver scrunched up his face in an I-don't-believe-you sort of way. "She's Sophie Santiago, Mary. The girl who volunteers for the fun of it. The girl who helps with school events like they're for her confirmation classes. You're either lying or have the wrong girl." Mary was getting exasperated. "You guys tell me this every time I bring it up! It was Sophie, and it always has been Sophie. Why would I lie for 6 months straight!?" Kath held her arm. "Mary, I believe you." Oliver looked at her in an accusatory way. "Believe Sophie's bullying someone? Do you also believe the Earth's flat and the moon landing was a bunch of clever PR people?" Kath rolled her eyes. "Even if I did think like a crazy theorist, i'd still be right about Sophie. You guys put so much trust in her like she's your grandpa you've known for 20 years. People can be nice to some people and rude to others." Ted looked incredulously at Katherine. "Kath, you've met Sophie. You know how nice she is. Just because you've been friends with Mary longer than we have doesn't mean she can't make things up." Mary sighed exasperatedly. "If you guys don't believe me, it's no use getting her to stop." No one replied. The air in the room suddenly went stuffy and uncomfortable. No one got up to play a record; they sat in silence for about 5 minutes until Mary decided to break the tension. "I saw a lanky looking deer when I walked home yesterday. I think it was hurt," she said quietly. Ted looked at her lazily. "You think we could find it? I wouldn't want to leave a deer like that out in the woods, that's like leaving a cooked steak in a lion's den." Oliver shifted in his seat. "I don't know, wouldn't that take long? The woods at night aren't the best place to be." Anya smirked. "Are you a scaredy-cat, Oli? Oo, a little rabbit's gonna sneak up on you, better run for the hills." Mary stifled a giggle. He crossed his arms. "'Course not, all i'm saying is there could be... bears or something. Or wolves." "Even i know that's not true, Oli. Wolves in Adamsville Forest? I'd faster believe there are sabertooth tigers." Anya spoke up. "Yeah, what Kath said. You're just scared of the dark." "Am not." Mary stirred and sat up straight. This was something to do. "Alright, the deer shouldn't be hard to find since it'll be stuck in one place. We'll meet here first thing tomorrow morning, and we need to bring proper supplies." "Alright! This is more my style," Katherine said, rubbing her hands together. "Oliver, you bring the water and snacks. Remember Anya's allergic to peanuts so just bring trail mix or something." Oliver saluted her. "Aye-aye, cap'n." She turned to Ted. "You bring flashlights in case it gets dark." She then turned to Mary. "You can bring gauze and stuff in case the deer can't make it to the vet without getting taken care of first." Everyone made a mental note in their heads of what they had to bring. "Kath, you didn't give me anything to bring." Katherine turned to her. "Anya you can bring... napkins! Yeah, napkins for the snacks." Anya sighed. "Forget it, that's dumb."