THE EMERSON EMERALD
IV: The Secret Study

As we were talking, I had moved on and was standing with Sailor at a random book shelf. Sailor was holding something.

"Hey, guys! Come over here. We found something," I said from the other side of the secret library.

"What is it?" asked Yasmin as she spotted them over there on account of her shortness.

"It looks like a letter," Sailor said, opening an envelope.

Dear Whoever Finds This,
I have been trapped in between the pages of one of these books. Open the book on the podium and start reading. Your objective is to find a particular gemstone that is in the story somewhere.That's all I know. I am so sorry I cannot help you more.

P.S. I don't know who replaced me in the library, but it's best not to trust them. The reason they are here is because they might want to get the prize.
Also, if this is Sailor, go back and find your friends. You're creative and see things that many people don't notice or think are not important. You will need a full team to find me and get the prize before the new librarian does.
Sincerely,
Ms. Addams

"Lukas, keep this." Sailor hands the envelope to Lukas.

"Why me?" Lukas asks.

"Because you are the only one who has a pocket, duh." Sailor shakes her head. "Now, let's go get this book."

Sailor puts her hand over her eyes and searches for the book in the bookshelf where we're at.

I spotted the book, but instead of annotating it to the group I instead said, "Do we really want to go into that book?"

Sailor turned around and looked at me like I just blabbered out nonsense, which maybe I did to her.

"Yeah, how do you know this will even work?" Yasmin added. "I'm not completely sold that people can just enter a book literally. That's only something people do in books. Which, may I remind you, we are not."

"Guys, I think we should let Sailor talk," Lukas said, trying to ease the argument.

"Yasmin... Theo... Lukas..." Sailor said addressing us all individually for dramatic effect. "Do you remember how we all became friends? It was in this very library, freshman, or junior year." She monitores to me. "We all had questions for Miss Addams and came to her at once. She was sweet and motherly in a sense. That's what brought me to her. We became friends because of this woman, don't you think we should at least save her from this book and thank her for all that she has done for us? Who's it?"

Lukas was softly sniffling after her uplifting speech. "I am."

"I am," Yasmin said, raising her hand like Lukas did.

"I am and I'm pretty sure the book is right here," I said, pointing to it.

"Oh..." Sailor said, turning around with a hop.

The book was laid out on a podium and had a reading like hanging off it to read it in the darker lighting of the secret library.

We all walked to the pedestal. I started reading the book: "'It all started in Mathematics, Mr. Lowe-"

"Wait, Mr. Lowe? How is he here?" Yasmin exclaimed.

"I don't know. Maybe he got trapped into the books like Ms. Addams did. Continue reading, maybe it will mention her name," Sailor said.

I continued, "'Mr. Lowe's class. Shelby was a very smart girl. She had started out as a normal girl and made her way to the top building the stage underneath her. Now Shelby was in high school and the most popular girl. They had just completed a test and my teacher said that only one of them got the last question right. The last question being the one worth the most points. She wasn't expecting anything of it. Shelby knew that she would get it right. She had studied hard and tripled checked all of her answers. She knew that she got it all right. Then one of her friends raised her hand. 'I know who it is." Malorie looked right in my face. Shock and fear overtook me. "It's Shelby!"
My teacher nodded his head.
Let's just say that she ran out of that class crying—ruining her make-up. Mr. Lowe didn't know what he had done, but he had ruined her entire life by just that question alone. When Shelby got to her friend group at lunch, she found her seat taken by a girl she didn't know. It was useless to ask her to move. The damage has already been done. Malorie saw Shelby and pointed, "Oh my God! It's the nerd. She can't even put on her own make-up." All her ex-friends started laughing. Shelby ran to the bathroom to clean her face off...'"

The words from the first two pages of the book came off the paper and surrounded the group. It was like being inside a small tornado. When it passed they were there—inside the book. They were transported right outside the high school.

"Woah! Look, we are wearing uniforms." Sailor pointed out. Yasmin and Sailor were wearing white dress shirts with navy blue skirts. Yasmin had suspenders on hers and Sailor had a matching navy blue jacket on. I was wearing a white dress shirt paired with a navy suit and tie. I'm wearing pants that happen to be tan and dark brown shoes.

"It feels so weird wearing pants that go down to my ankles," I said. "Normally I just wear shorts." Most gentlemen wear pants, but it was hard to find pants that fit me. Besides, a gentleman is defined by his actions, not his dressings.

Lukas was wearing the same thing I was wearing, but he had black pants and black shoes.

Students entered through the iron gates talking and dodging the four of us.  "Move out of the way!" someone said to us.

"Let's go in," I suggested, walking through the tall gates that were taller than me. Orange leaves covered the concrete path leading to the private school.

"Let's find Mathematics so we can talk to Mr. Lowe. Maybe he knows something about Ms. Addams." Sailor suggested.

"What about the letter that Ms. Addams wrote?" Yasmin said, grabbing it from Lukas' pocket, "'...it's best not to trust them. The reason they are here is because they might want to get the prize...'" Yasmin quotes the letter, "If we talk to Mr. Lowe then maybe he wants this 'prize' and will try to stop us from getting it first."

"I agree with you, Yasmin," I said. Lukas remained silent. We all looked at Sailor.

"Fine..." she sighed, like she was going to give up. "You can go to Math while I go find Miss Addams." A bright mischievous smile played on her lips, her teeth bared her confidence. She ran through the front door of the school and turned a corner. Lukas quickly followed her saying, "Sorry."

Now it was Yasmin and me. We looked at one another. It was kind of hard for her since she was so short. "What are we going to do now?" I asked.

The gravity of the situation seemed to fall upon us both. "Did we just enter the book!?" Our eyes widened. This had to be a weird dream. One of my delusions. "I need to sit down," I said, bending my knees. "I'm nauseous."

Yasmin grabbed my arm and pulled me up from sitting on the muddy concrete. "Let's go to the bathroom." I let Yasmin drag me, our hands the only thing keeping us together. Waking through the busy halls bending forward because I dare not let go and lost her in this crowd with her short stature and unfamiliar setting. I am already feeling sick.

"Here it is," Yasmin let go of my hand and I stood straight. The blue, male restroom sign is clearly displaced. I entered.

~{*}~

Shalom, Seedlings!
Today's question is: What type of school have you been/are you in?

I've been to a few types of school. When I was young I went to a prep school. I was in kindergarten and provost only a year until we moved. I went to public school for two years then we moved again. I am an Air Force kid so we moved a lot when I was younger. In Kuwait, I was homeschooled for third grade year. We moved back to the United States to finish my third grade year where I went back to public school until now. I'm still in public school and I don't think/hope we don't move again.