C:
It was already getting dark when we began the search for Cole. We borrowed a lantern from one of the hula girls and they walked us into Picnic Forest. They did not like the idea of us going into the forest at night, especially the idea of Mr. Pace going.
"Please, Mr. Pace, don't go in there right now. If the tribe members find you, they will cut off your—"
"No, please. I must go. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't rescue my student?"
"But--"
"I'll tell you what. I'm going to give you the key to my hotel room. I want you to wait there for me, to give me even more incentive to return."
The hula girl swooned at this suggestion, but Luna was less impressed.
"Are you literally dumb? How are you our teacher?"
Her protests were ignored and our group made our way into the forest.
Soon after entering the forest, we smelled smoke coming from up ahead. We walked a little further and started to hear some sort of commotion. It was the voices of people yelling and screaming. And they were running straight towards us.
I got ready to fight. The problem was that Marla and I had civilians with us. Devin, Luna, Cole and Mr. Pace did not know how to fight and they'd be shocked if they saw us use magic. I remember being chastised by Silver that time in Mrs. H's basement for using magic outside of a disguise, and I didn't want that to happen again.
We braced ourselves as the stampede of people closed in on us. It was probably about 20 tribal man with big threatening tattoos running screaming directly at us.
"Get out of the way, you idiots! Run! The fire-breathing dragon is coming for his vengeance!"
This was quite the sight to behold. Most people aren't aware that the natives are Picnic Island are also known for their physical prowess. None of the men running towards us weighed less than 300 pounds, but still they were nimble and fast. It's because of this that the NFL and other pro sports leagues often recruited the natives for their toughest roles.
But in this instance, they didn't look so tough.
We jumped out of the way as they ran past us, but it wasn't clear what they were running from. But Luna saw it before the rest of us.
"Cole, what the hell are you doing?! Put that away before someone sees!"
To my shock, chasing them from a few yards away was Cole. And I wasn't sure if my eyes were betraying me, but it looked like he was on fire.
"Come back here, guys. I thought you'd 'captured me' and were going to 'cook me over a fire and eat me'. What happened to that?"
Cole was running fast. But as he ran past Luna, she caught by the collar and yanked him to the ground. Trying to keep her voice down, she barked something at him through clenched teeth.
"Deactivate that spell before one of these normies sees it, you moron."
Cole extinguished and was covered by a cloud of steam.
A few minutes later, he was explaining what had happened. Apparently, the natives saw him wandering a bit too far south and kidnapped him. They had him all tied up and were about to cook him as a feast, when he completely turned the tables on them, burned down their entire village and sent them running for their lives. But Cole apologized when met with a disapproving look from his sister Veronica.
"I'm sorry, ok? I didn't hurt anyone."
Cole didn't hurt anyone, but according to the Picnic Island Authority, he did do seven figures worth of damage. Veronica was upset, but he was incredulous.
"Veronica chill out, there's no way anything in that village was worth that much."
Veronica looked at him with disapproval.
"What's the big deal? Dad will take care of it."
"Still."
At that point, the sun was setting and Mr. Pace called an end to the Picnic Island adventure. He ordered a ferry to come pick us up so we wouldn't have to row back.
I was glad Cole was ok. But I still had to ask him about what happened.
"I still don't get how you escaped. You said they had you tied up and were about to cook you?"
"Yeah, it was weird. I'll tell you about it sometime."
D:
It was dark by the time the bus brought us back to the hotel. We would have a formal dinner at the hotel in a couple of hours, so we didn't have too much time to relax.
For the entire ride back, Devin, emboldened by Cole being forced to sit at the front of the bus with Mr. Pace, was still trying to coax Veronica. When we got to the hotel, we were told to go right up stairs and get changed.
I got changed right away so I could have a few minutes to collect my thoughts. So far, the Ecchi Island trip had been a lot of fun. I'd gotten to see the island's authentic culture and beautiful scenery up close. In fact, very few foreigners had ever even laid eyes on the indigenous people of Picnic Island, and fewer yet had seen them screaming and running for their lives.
But as cool as all of that was, I'd say my favorite part was getting to hangout out and get to know everyone. I'd felt like an outcast before, but this trip was already changing that. Cole had a whole side I hadn't seen before. I even hoped we'd get to know each other better. Maybe, in being around the Rhodes sisters, we had a bit more in common than I'd thought. He might even be a good person to ask for advice. Just as I thought that, Devin came into the room to get changed.
"That was amazing, wasn't it, Andy? I can't believe I got to spend all-day hanging out with Veronica. She is going to be smitten with me after all that quality time."
"Quality time? Wasn't she talking to Cole?"
"Sheesh Andy, I already explained this to you. Cole is not my problem. He's Veronica's dorky older brother and means nothing to my situation."
"I don't know Devin. Veronica seems to take what he says pretty seriously."
"Maybe, but she's actually in love with me. Or she will be soon."
I was baffled by his confidence. I'd say I was further along with Marla than he was with Veronica. But he seemed unflappable.
"How are you so sure?"
"*sigh* don't worry about that, Andy. You have your own problems. Watching you with Marla today was so painful. She does not like you dude, just move on. It's getting pathetic."
"Marla and I are fine... I'm more worried about you—"
Just as I said that, I got a text message. I pulled out my phone and saw it was from Marla.
"Hey Andy, what are you wearing? You know this is supposed to be a fancy dinner, right? Don't wear sneakers and leave your hokage ninja headband in the room."
"I know that... give me a break. A better question is, what are you wearing?"
I surprised myself a bit with the last question. Usually, I wouldn't be so bold. But things had gotten to the point between us I didn't feel creepy asking something like that. She just sent back an incomprehensible series of emojis.
Devin had finished getting dressed, and we were ready to go down to the dinner.
"Put your phone away, Andy. I hope you weren't bothering poor Marla."
The dinner was fancy, as promised. The five-star cuisine was a few steps up from the native finger food of Picnic Island. I took my seat and Marla came and sat down next to me. She was wearing a stunning, long red gown.
"So, Andy, how do you like it?"
"It looks... you look... so mature!"
She really did. It looked like something a Hollywood starlet would wear to the Oscars or the premiere of the latest billion dollar comic book adaptation. But Marla didn't quite see it that way.
"Mature? Really? Oh well, I'll take it."
As the meal started, one thing shocked me. At this point, I'd eaten dozens of meals with Marla, maybe even hundreds. As many talents as Marla had, I'd never count table manners on that list. In my experience, Marla was more of the type to inhale food like a hover vacuum than to eat dainty and trouble herself with the nuance of a knife and fork. But never in an environment this fancy.
At this dinner Marla, and her sister Luna, both ate with perfect table manners. They looked like they'd fit in on Downtown Abbey, The King, or any other stuffy English melodrama.
By the time dinner was over, I was exhausted. I got back to the room before Devin and just passed out.
I fell into a deep and comfortable sleep. But, deep in the night, something startled me, and I woke up with a start.