The next day, we were supposed to meet at Ramp A at the same time as yesterday. Frank is going to try and get his sister, Emily, to join us, and Theo will talk with Sarah.

It was one of those hot days where you didn’t want to do anything. A good book and ice-cold lemonade were ideal for that day, but I had other plans.

I got out of the house, and the sun hung in the sky. It was so hot, I felt like I was in a furnace, melting on the hot concrete.

In the distance, the picture I saw was distorted; the heatwaves made everything appear as if it were dancing to the rhythm of the melting heat. I walked down the narrow streets, dragging myself; I had barely any strength left to walk in this heat. Drops of sweat formed on my forehead, going down my temples; my shirt was wet like I just took a bath. Sometimes, a cold breeze came to the rescue, but it was too short to celebrate; instantly, when it stopped, the heat felt even worse.

I was half way there when I saw Theo’s grandfather, Mr. Harrison. I decided to go say hi; I hadn’t seen him since my mom’s funeral.

"Hi, Mr. Harrison."

His small frame against the blazing sun turned around towards me; the sun was blinding him. Despite the heat, the old man couldn’t sit down and rest. He was cleaning the display in front of his candy shop.

"Do you need any help with that? It is awfully hot out here."

It took him a second, but then he recognized me.

"Ah, Adrian, my boy. Quiet a hot day, isn’t it?" His eyes were bright, and he smiled at me.

"I don’t want to trouble you; don’t worry, I can do this alone. I am in no rush."

"Neither am I, Mr. Harrison; let me help you." I took the bucket of water and the sponge from him.

"Well, if you insist, young man," His smile widened; he looked grateful for my help, and I felt happy because of that. "These old bones are feeling the heat more than usual today. Every year it is worse."

I slowly worked on washing the display; the sweat was getting in my eyes.

"I’ll leave you here for a moment if you don’t mind; I have something to do inside." Mr. Harrison went inside the shop, and I lost sight of him behind the shelves that were filled with candy.

It didn’t take me long, and the display looked cleaner than before. And as soon as I was done, Mr. Harrison got out of the shop with a tray filled with candies and lemonade. He put it down on a stool that was in front of the shop and handed me a handkerchief. I wiped my forehead and let out a sigh.

"Thank you, Adrian. Drink some cold lemonade; you deserve it. And of course, take some candy."

I grinned; I was genuinely pleased because I helped him. "It was my pleasure, Mr. Harrison."

I took a sip of the lemonade; the sun was still wrapping me in warmth, and in the distance, sounds of laughter and children were playing. My fingers were cold because of the glass I was holding, and the sweetness of the lemonade, just perfect, was going down my throat. The windows around me looked like they were melting from the heat, and at that moment I felt refreshed like never before.

"Take a cookie, Adrian."

"No, thank you, Mr. Harrison; I have to go now; Theo is probably waiting for me."

"Ah, you kids, always in a hurry. Don’t make any trouble. And thank you for your help."

"You’re welcome, Mr. Harrison; thank you for the lemonade."

People moved fast around me, looking for any shade they could, trying to hide from the sun. The streets, which would usually be bustling with activity, were now quieter, understandable because of the heat.

As I walked, I followed the river to Ramp A, wanting to jump in there and refresh myself. It looked inviting, calling for me and promising relief from the heat. I finally reached Ramp A. I was the first one there; somehow everyone was late, it seems. I looked at the river, the sun’s perfect reflection dancing on it.

I took a seat under a huge tree, hiding in its shade, feeling the warmth of the dirt beneath me. Then, in the distance, I saw Leigh, Theo, and Sarah coming. Somehow, Theo made her come, it seemed, and only Frank and Emily were left.

"Were you waiting for us for long?" Theo sat next to me, drenched in sweat.

"Nope, I just came. I helped your grandfather clean the display."

"Oh sh*t, I was supposed to do that, but I forgot because of this. Thank you for helping him."

"So what is going on? Theo didn’t want to say much to me; he only told me, It's about Isaac, and you guys need my help." Sarah joined our conversation.

"Wait for those two." Leigh pointed her finger behind us. When we turned, we saw Frank with a giant grimace on his face and Emily coming towards us.

The meeting point seemed different today; somehow, I can’t explain how.

Theo, the strategist, took charge of the conversation as soon as Frank and Emily joined us. "Alright, let’s get down to business. Emily and Sarah, thank you for joining us. We need your help. Isaac is planning something bad, and we want to stop him, but we can’t do it without you guys."

They exchanged looks. Sarah looked willing to help, but Emily was tough to read.

Emily was always at the top of her class, earning the title of the best student in her school. Her dedication to learning was always seen in her grades; she was insanely hungry for knowledge. She shined brightly in every subject. The only person that was close to her when it came to grades and intellect was Theo, and she hated that. She spends hours and hours every day learning to get the best grades, while Theo, with his amazing brain, just comes to class and sometimes scores more points than her. Two of the most brilliant minds in the school were always testing each other; they often challenged each other, mostly in chess.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

The only difference between them was that Theo had us and she didn’t have anyone. She was always a loner; she chose to put school first, and everything else wasn’t important at all. This was the first time I had talked to her in years. Which was kind of sad, being in the same class for years and not exchanging any words at all. Until yesterday, we didn’t even know she had a brother. She stood there, looking at us and analyzing us. "I’m listening; what kind of help do you need from us?"

We stood there facing each other, a group of individuals from different parts of life, standing here united by a common goal: to put an end to Isaac’s reign of terror. Each one of us had our own strengths, weaknesses, and fears, but together we were stronger.

"Isaac is planning something, something big, and we want to find out what." Theo didn’t take his eyes off Emily.

"And you want to sneak around and find out?"

"Yes."

"Why would you think that would be smart? Isn’t it easier to stand aside and avoid him?"

"Your brother stood aside; he didn’t even know him, and now he has a cast on his arm." Theo and Emily exchanged words so fast that no one could join them, even if we wanted to.

"We know he looks for more people to join him," Theo continued. "That doesn’t sound good, does it?"

"But what if someone else joins his friend group? What can they do? If they do something illegal, we just report them to the police."

"You know how it works here, Emily; you are not dumb. Nothing is going to happen to him while his father is a police officer."

Frank pulled her by her sleeve. "He’s right; they did nothing to him when he broke my arm."

"So what do you want us to do?"

Theo smiled; he won her over. "We need someone to join him and to find out what his plan is."

"He knows all of us here; we were never close with him; how can we do that?" Sarah spoke after a while.

Emily smiled. "Just like in chess, you have to sacrifice a pawn sometimes to make a better position for yourself, am I right, Theo?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, you’re right."

The rest of us waited for a translation.

Theo continued: "Sarah will go to Isaac, and she’ll tell him that Emily wants to join him to be a spy; that will win him over, and she might get invited to the group."

"But what if it doesn’t work?" I asked.

"Then we will have to figure out something else, but Sarah was a good actress in the school play, if my memory serves me right."

Sarah blushed; it was so evident that she had a crush on Theo. "I’m in."

Frank nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. And I can keep my ears open in the market; people talk a lot there."

Leigh chimed in. "We’ll divide tasks among us. Adrian and Frank can work together to gather information. Theo and I will try to follow Isaac or someone else who is close to him. And Emily and Sarah, good luck."

Sarah spoke up. "Emily and I can do this."

Emily nodded; her expression didn’t say anything. "We’ll need to be careful and make sure we don’t arouse suspicion. He won’t welcome us that easily; he might test us before that."

I took a deep breath; this seemed to be much bigger than I thought. "Let’s do our best. But we need to be cautious around Isaac; he isn’t someone to take lightly. We all know that he likes bullying people, but what you guys don’t know is that he likes to hurt animals as well."

Leigh placed a hand on my shoulder. "Yes, we followed him some time ago, and we found a bunch of dead animals inside an abandoned hut."

"So if you want to leave before we start, this would be a good moment to do so." Theo’s eyes were still locked with Emily’s.

"He hurt my little brother; he is going to pay." Emily looked cold.

"We’re all in this together; let’s hope he is planning something stupid. There's nothing to worry about. But if he plans something dangerous, we will stop him." Sarah stepped up with confidence in her voice.

The plan was set in motion. Sarah and Emily would start attending some of the same hangouts as Isaac’s gang, subtly trying to fit in, and then Sarah was going to turn on Emily. Doing that would open the door for her to join them.

Frank and I would gather information, and Theo and Leigh were going to spy on Isaac and the others.

"Once we have enough information, we’ll figure out our next move. We’ll let him know that we’re not backing down, but the three of you will keep it secret. We won’t reveal all our cards. We need to keep him guessing." Theo looked like he was having fun.

We ended the meeting for that day, and we will all communicate through Frank because at the market there was a slim chance anyone saw us together. It was no longer just the three of us taking punches from Isaac; now we were fighting back together. With a final nod, one by one we left, each of us ready to play our part in this high-stakes game. But only I knew how dangerous this could be.