Post by SomethingAboutTheStars on Jan 2, 2012 1:32:19 GMT -5
Once again, comments are appreciated. (: Story's at 12K now.
Read prior chapters first, thanks. They can be found:
Prologue: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....read=789&page=1
Chapter 1: www.thegreysonchanceforum.com/ind....play&thread=793
Chapter 2: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....play&thread=796
Chapter 3: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....play&thread=798
Chapter 4: You're already here!
Chapter 5: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=fiction&thread=809&page=1
Chapter 6: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=fiction&thread=811
I change my mind. When I get home, I snatch the note and make two hand copies of it, as fast as I can, but using neat handwriting. I don’t bother looking at them. I just hope he can read them. I run back to the coffee shop. Stephen’s shift should be over by now.
I burst in through the doors of the café. Coffee and sweet scents attack my nose as usual, but I ignore it. Stephen’s just hanging up his hat and apron.
“Stephen!” I cry as he walks towards the kitchen’s back exit.
He freezes and turns around. “Oh, hey Laurence.”
He stays remarkably calm, considering I know I look psychotic right now.
Now that I have his attention, I waste no time running to where he’s standing. Right now the only thing dominating my mind is the code. I go on running right past him. Stephen has to chase me down. It’s funny—I was on a track team, so I did plenty of running, and I’m really fast. I race right through the kitchen and crash out the back door. Stephen played baseball, he still does. So he’s fast too. But he still plays, and I’m distracted. So he catches up to me and nearly trips me. I stumble and catch myself before falling into a snow bank.
“What on earth is going on?” Stephen asks.
“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” I shout. I’m not out of breath or even remotely tired. I’m buzzing, I feel like someone’s lit me on fire.
“That’s not helping. What did you get?”
“The code,” I say, calming myself to stop screaming.
“Your manager’s?” Stephen asks. I nod. Tears of joy are brimming in my eyes. I’m smiling so hard.
“Well?” Stephen says. “Let’s see it.” He’s smiling too. He knows how much this means to me.
I pull out my notebook and tear out one of the copies of the code. Stephen studies it for a moment. “I don’t get it. Show me.”
And I do. I take his arm and tug him to the bookstore. My cheeks and nose are red when we finally stumble through the doors. The boss smiles at me, and I smile back. I can smile forever. We check the list. I knew they were book titles, but I didn’t get what the rest was. I check the first one. It’s called Crossed by Ally Condie. In parenthesis next to it, it says hardcover. I walk to the teen books and take the hardcover copy of Crossed by Ally Condie. I turn to page 165, count to line 12, and then to word for.
The.
I make sure Stephen’s watching me. Then I tell him to check the odd numbers and I check the even. Slowly we go through all 73 numbers. I write down each letter. Finally, we finish. Like I figured, it’s a message. It reads,
The pages floating away; you, me. I’m sorry to have left you. Secrets must be kept. Beneath the keys of a note, ivory. Remember how you always loved the letter G. Think of how you were going to marry at your school. The band room scared you, the metal instruments, heavy. You always cried at the thought of broken things; locked in the closets. You always liked the left side better.
I’m so, so, so happy. I look up at Stephen, he’s smiling too. We’ve cracked it. It’s been two years, and we’ve cracked it. I silently thank the woman who bought the Dash and Lily book.
There are no numbers in the letter, but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s a message. From him. From my manager.
Stephen taps my shoulder. “Laurence, the note is also a code. A riddle, in a sense.”
I can feel my fire inside quell a little. Another code? I take my notebook from Stephen and scan the note. It is another riddle. But it’s okay. I know it. This code is easy. I look at it again. Somewhat. Beneath the keys of a note, ivory. Remember how you always loved the letter G. Think of how you were going to marry at your school.
The school. The school. I need to go to my school. I wanted to get married at my high school. I keep reading.
The band room scared you…locked in closets…left side.
“Stephen, it’s field trip time.”
Read prior chapters first, thanks. They can be found:
Prologue: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....read=789&page=1
Chapter 1: www.thegreysonchanceforum.com/ind....play&thread=793
Chapter 2: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....play&thread=796
Chapter 3: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.c....play&thread=798
Chapter 4: You're already here!
Chapter 5: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=fiction&thread=809&page=1
Chapter 6: thegreysonchanceforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=fiction&thread=811
Chapter 4
Laurence
I change my mind. When I get home, I snatch the note and make two hand copies of it, as fast as I can, but using neat handwriting. I don’t bother looking at them. I just hope he can read them. I run back to the coffee shop. Stephen’s shift should be over by now.
I burst in through the doors of the café. Coffee and sweet scents attack my nose as usual, but I ignore it. Stephen’s just hanging up his hat and apron.
“Stephen!” I cry as he walks towards the kitchen’s back exit.
He freezes and turns around. “Oh, hey Laurence.”
He stays remarkably calm, considering I know I look psychotic right now.
Now that I have his attention, I waste no time running to where he’s standing. Right now the only thing dominating my mind is the code. I go on running right past him. Stephen has to chase me down. It’s funny—I was on a track team, so I did plenty of running, and I’m really fast. I race right through the kitchen and crash out the back door. Stephen played baseball, he still does. So he’s fast too. But he still plays, and I’m distracted. So he catches up to me and nearly trips me. I stumble and catch myself before falling into a snow bank.
“What on earth is going on?” Stephen asks.
“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” I shout. I’m not out of breath or even remotely tired. I’m buzzing, I feel like someone’s lit me on fire.
“That’s not helping. What did you get?”
“The code,” I say, calming myself to stop screaming.
“Your manager’s?” Stephen asks. I nod. Tears of joy are brimming in my eyes. I’m smiling so hard.
“Well?” Stephen says. “Let’s see it.” He’s smiling too. He knows how much this means to me.
I pull out my notebook and tear out one of the copies of the code. Stephen studies it for a moment. “I don’t get it. Show me.”
And I do. I take his arm and tug him to the bookstore. My cheeks and nose are red when we finally stumble through the doors. The boss smiles at me, and I smile back. I can smile forever. We check the list. I knew they were book titles, but I didn’t get what the rest was. I check the first one. It’s called Crossed by Ally Condie. In parenthesis next to it, it says hardcover. I walk to the teen books and take the hardcover copy of Crossed by Ally Condie. I turn to page 165, count to line 12, and then to word for.
The.
I make sure Stephen’s watching me. Then I tell him to check the odd numbers and I check the even. Slowly we go through all 73 numbers. I write down each letter. Finally, we finish. Like I figured, it’s a message. It reads,
The pages floating away; you, me. I’m sorry to have left you. Secrets must be kept. Beneath the keys of a note, ivory. Remember how you always loved the letter G. Think of how you were going to marry at your school. The band room scared you, the metal instruments, heavy. You always cried at the thought of broken things; locked in the closets. You always liked the left side better.
I’m so, so, so happy. I look up at Stephen, he’s smiling too. We’ve cracked it. It’s been two years, and we’ve cracked it. I silently thank the woman who bought the Dash and Lily book.
There are no numbers in the letter, but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s a message. From him. From my manager.
Stephen taps my shoulder. “Laurence, the note is also a code. A riddle, in a sense.”
I can feel my fire inside quell a little. Another code? I take my notebook from Stephen and scan the note. It is another riddle. But it’s okay. I know it. This code is easy. I look at it again. Somewhat. Beneath the keys of a note, ivory. Remember how you always loved the letter G. Think of how you were going to marry at your school.
The school. The school. I need to go to my school. I wanted to get married at my high school. I keep reading.
The band room scared you…locked in closets…left side.
“Stephen, it’s field trip time.”