“Oh, nice. Did you notice that our grandmothers were giving us a look?”
“I did notice how they were staring at us. Everyone was paying attention to us, almost more than they were Rex and Andi.”
“Do you think everyone bought we are together?”
“I don’t know, but what I do know is that our grandmas love puzzles and trying to figure stuff out. By the way, what’s the note that you got for the treasure hunt?”
“Oh, I forgot to show you. Let me grab it.”
I dig into my pink-and-purple cotton bag and dig through the numerous contents. My fingers brush past Tic Tacs, lipstick, my wallet, goggles, dried tissues, a small notebook, some random shells, until I feel the stiff envelope that contains the note card with the treasure hunt information. I slide the card out of the envelope and stare at the colorful, illustrated map.
“So, it has this map, and there’s a typewritten clue on the back.” I hand it to him. “I’m not really sure what it means or how to figure it out.”
“Who sent it to you?” He looks at the front of the card and then turns it over, scanning it quickly.
Luke has always been the smart one. The analytical one. When we played board games, he always won, but I didn’t really care. I wasn’t competitive like that.
“I have no clue. It was anonymous.”
“Let me see if I can figure it out.”
He scrunches up his face, and I know he’s in deep thought. He runs his fingers along the top of the card, like he’s feeling for some extra clue. I can’t help but notice how neat and manicured his fingernails are.
“Let me read the clue.”
A treasure awaits on an island.
The island is big; the island is small.
A treasure awaits somewhere rocky.
Don’t trip, or you’ll fall.
Gold, silver, bounty aplenty.
Do your very best to come and find me.
“I have absolutely no clue what that is meant to tell me,” I admit with a hearty laugh. I’m not embarrassed to admit that none of those words are resonating with me in any way.
“No clue whatsoever?” He heads to the dark gray linen couch and takes a seat, adjusting the fluffy cream throw pillows behind him. He stretches his legs out and leans back. “Wanna have a seat?”
I head over to the couch and take a seat next to him, careful not to sit too close. I don’t need his legs pressed up against mine. I don’t need my body reaching one hundred twenty degrees because it gets too excited. I also don’t need to find myself in the middle of a therapy session, questioning why I’m all of a sudden thinking of my best friend naked.
“I’m kind of wondering if this is like some hidden bounty somewhere or something.” He taps his fingers against his thigh. “Or something that relates to riches.”
“What? Like missing gold?” My voice sounds far too excited. “Like hundreds of millions of gold bullion bars that were hidden by pirates and now it’s our opportunity to find the missing treasure?”
“Mia, you watch too many movies.” There’s warmth in his gaze as he shakes his head. “You’re not Mikey, and I’m not Chunk.”
“I’m not talking aboutThe Goonies, though that would be cool. Man, we watched that movie so many times in sixth grade.”
“Only, like, two hundred times.” He shifts on the couch and faces me. “What do the Goonies never say?”
“Die.” We both whisper at the same time, sharing a smile that takes us back to our childhood.
He holds his finger up, and I press my finger against his, like we did when we were younger. Suddenly, I’m eleven years old again, sitting with Luke on his grandparents’ couch, eating popcorn, watching a movie, while our grandmas sit at the dining room table, playing cards and gossiping with the other busy Bees. A memory of him pausing the movie, turning to me, and asking me if I would ever want to go on an adventure with him hits me.
I can clearly remember my answer.“Anytime of day.”
