"What are you doing here?"
This was immediately said at the same time by both Gavin and the individual already in the center of the hedge maze--Maximilian Shell. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain scribbling something in a notebook that he quickly slammed shut. In front of him was the painting of the sailing vessel caught in a storm.
"How did you find this place?" he asked, sounding more curious than alarmed.
"Me?" Gavin paused. Now that the shock was over, he realized that it made sense that Maximilian would make it in here eventually. He just wasn't thrilled to see him. "I just... it doesn't matter. What are you doing? If Mrs. Gruber finds you here she'll have your head!"
"Yours, too," reminded Maximilian.
Gavin nodded. The two stared at each other a moment more, before Maximilian sighed. "Are you the one who's been swiping stuff out of the pile?"
"What? No!" lied Gavin, his face turning bright red.
Maximilian didn't buy it. "Uh-huh. So it's got you in its grasp, does it? Figures."
He stood and walked through the pile of gold away from the fountain until he stood toe to toe with Gavin. Being a few inches taller, he peered down at him with a sneer. "Go away."
Gavin stood his ground. "You go away."
"I was here first."
"I'll tell Mrs. Gruber."
"So will I."
They had returned to the impasse. Gavin finally stepped away, attempting to defuse the situation. "What did you mean when you said it has me in its grasp? What does? Who's grasp?"
"The treasure," scoffed Maximilian. "It's cursed. And it's obviously snagged you."
Cursed? Gavin looked down at the pile of gold in front of him. It just looked like ordinary treasure. Not that he'd ever come across a pile of golden treasure before, but he assumed that if he had, this is what it would have looked like. "Don't be stupid," he finally said. "Curses aren't real."
Maximilian smirked a smirk that Gavin really wanted to wipe off his face. "What's in your pocket?"
The question caught Gavin off-guard. "Why?" he asked.
"I'm just curious," came the evasive answer.
Not sure why he was listening to Maximilian, Gavin nonetheless dug his hand into his pocket. He felt his coin and absently wrapped his fingers around it for a moment, feeling a sense of comfort and peace wash over him. Then his knuckles bumped into something else. Confused, he pulled the other object out. It was a small golden idol depicting a scarab beetle. Gavin stared at it, confused. "How'd that get in there?"
Maximilian laughed. "You grabbed it just now while we were talking. I knew right away you had no idea you were doing it."
Gavin stared at the golden scarab. He didn't recall picking it up. He would have sworn he hadn't picked anything up out of the pile of treasure before him. Yet he obviously had. He was holding the proof in his hands. Thinking back, he acknowledged to himself that he never recalled picking anything up, and yet his collection continued to grow. "Why don't I recall taking this?" he asked.
"I told you," answered Maximilian. "You're cursed. You can't be around the treasure without snagging a piece of it."
"And you can?"
"I took precautions."
"What precautions?"
"Like I'm going to tell you. Now go on. You have what you came here for. Go away."
Gavin looked back down at the scarab. He considered putting it back, but figured he'd probably grab something else without realizing it so he stuffed it back in his pocket. "You haven't said what you're doing here," he said.
"No, I haven't."
Gavin noted the tiniest bit of hostility in his voice. Whatever he was doing here, he wasn't going to tell Gavin. Turning around and leaving might, indeed, be the best move, yet Gavin remained. He felt like he'd stumbled upon something important and wasn't ready to let it go.
"Are you working with Lord Thumbledown's School of Heroics?" he asked, no longer interested in skirting around the issue.
Maximilian's response took Gavin by surprise. Rather than seem angry or ashamed or any other emotion that might suggest Gavin had hit the mark, the boy blinked and jerked his head back, as if stunned. "Is that what you think?" he asked.
"It would explain a lot," responded Gavin, although he couldn't offhand think of what it would explain.
Maximilian chuckled. "You're pathetic. Get out of my sight."
"That's not an answer," pressed Gavin.
Maximilian's tone darkened and he stepped back into Gavin's face. "I don't answer to you, Mallard. Go away before you hurt yourself."
"Answer me!" demanded Gavin. "Are you working with Thumbledown's?" He leaned into the taller boy, invading his personal space.
Maximilian responded by shoving Gavin away. "You're paranoid!"
"Don't shove me!" Gavin warned.
Maximilian shoved him back once again.
That was the last straw. Gavin let loose, throwing punches willy-nilly. But Maximilian was ready and he fought back. The two traded blows, each one knocking the other back a step. Gavin pressed forward, fists flying, and connected with Maximilian's shoulder. The older boy staggered back another step, then tripped on the pile of treasure around him and crashed to the ground.
Gavin leaped onto him and they rolled back and forth, not so much fighting as bartering one another repeatedly. Finally, Maximilian grabbed what looked like a very valuable vase and cracked it over Gavin's head. A jolt of pain arced through his body and he slumped into a fetal position.
Fortunately, Maximilian didn't continue the attack, but rather got to his feet, dropped the remains of the vase, and hurried out of the hedge maze.
Gavin let the world spin for a while, before finally rolling over onto his back and staring up at the sky. He reached up and felt his scalp. There didn't seem to be any blood, but he was going to have a nasty bump on his head soon enough.
As he lay there amongst the treasure, seeing stars, his head aching, his mind tried to wrap itself around what had just happened. Since when did he fight? Especially a bigger kid like Maximilian? What had he been thinking?
He finally sat up and leaned against the side of the fountain. There could be no denying it, he had just acted very unlike himself. Something had a hold on him. Something unhealthy.
It worried him. More than he cared to admit.
***
Once he was able to stand without feeling dizzy, Gavin left the hedge maze and went straight to Jupiter's dorm room. He pounded on the door until she opened it up.
"Jeeze! Lay off the pounding, you'll break the door down!"
He ducked past her and entered the room. It was the same size as the room Gavin shared with Stanford. That, however, was the only thing the two rooms had in common. Jupiter, who didn't have a roommate, kept her place spotless and decluttered. There was a bed, with the sheets and blankets nicely made up, a simple desk with a couple of perfect piles of papers stacked on top, and a chair tucked firmly into the desk. A plant sat on the windowsill (Gavin had no idea what it was, he wasn't into plants), and the whole room smelled like lilacs.
Gavin trudged over to the chair by the desk and plopped down.
"I just got into a fight with Maximilian Shell," he announced.
"What?" cried Jupiter. "Are you crazy? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't," he admitted. "That's the scary thing. I honestly have no idea why we were fighting. I just suddenly really wanted to hurt him."
She furrowed her brow. "That's strange."
"Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's like I wasn't myself. We were standing there not even arguing and I suddenly just attacked him. It was totally primal."
Jupiter shook her head. "You can't get into fights in the school," she said. "They'll throw you out."
"We weren't in the school," he explained. "This was in the hedge maze."
"The hedge maze! Did you get trapped? I didn't hear about anyone getting trapped in the maze."
No, we weren't trapped," he said, a bit annoyed. "We were in the center with the treasure. Max found his way there."
Jupiter was silent for a moment, chewing on her lip. Finally, she spoke.
"What treasure?"