Heathcliff sighed. Starting a math camp seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he was starting to have second thoughts. Not only was he having trouble figuring out what he should do during the camp, such as an objective, but he'd already started the ball rolling, so he couldn't stop now. It would only make more problems if he did. However, it was the only thing he'd been able to come up with to get that girl close enough to him that he could try to use her to open the gates that wouldn't raise suspicions on what his motives were.
Part of the issue with the gates is that he was running out of places he could use his magic to create gold in the ground where he would dig. Never a large amount, as far as how much gold was estimated to still be undug in the world, but enough that it let him to run his business as well as employ those who he needed to make it a legitimate company. He was also eager to get the gate open so he could see if there was anything in the other worlds that he could capitalize on. The only problem with the gate by Berthoud Pass was that it wasn't on property he could try to purchase himself, but rather just barely in the National Park property line.
Technically he could still try to use his magic to get ownership of where the gate was, but it likely would raise too many questions about his interest in the land. Besides, using magic in that way would be much less subtle than his preferred methods. In the end, he knew he'd just have to work with circumstances that he had currently and see if things might change in the future without him doing anything else about it.
Regardless, the biggest problem right now was getting that girl, Charlie Rivers, to be cooperative with him. He didn't know enough about her and even his sources were limited on what information that they could give him on what information they could find. His biggest hope with dealing with the girl was to get her indebted to him. If he could do that, she would likely be easier to control and potentially be an asset to Heathcliff's endeavors.
The biggest problem he was having with planning on the 'math camp' is that he couldn't decide if there should be a project to work on that relies heavily on math, an engineering project, or just more of a study camp. Though, he also had to figure out how to get the girl over to Berthoud pass without raising suspicion from everyone else at the camp. While getting the girl there was the hardest part, Heathcliff needed it to be a simple reason for her to go to the gate, otherwise it could derail his goals.
Heathcliff sighed. Maybe he should just let the campers decide through a vote and have the needed materials for each so whatever was done, it would be favored by most, if not all.
That might be the best way to go about it.
_
Charlie was finishing up her cereal when there was a knock at the front door. Charlie didn't bother getting up to answer it. Her mother was closest and typically was the one who had visitors this early in the morning, especially on Saturdays.
"Hello, is Charlie here?" Charlie heard Amelia ask her mother after the door was opened.
"Yes, may I ask who wants to know?" Charlie's mother replied.
"I'm Amelia Adams," Amelia replied, apparently deciding that was all she needed to say.
There was quiet for a minute, during which Charlie became aware of the surprised expression Cherie was giving her. Then finally Charlie's mother apparently made a decision.
"Come in, I believe you're a friend of Tim's, right?"
"That's right, Mrs. Rivers," Amelia says as, Charlie can only assume, she enters.
"What's this about?" Charlie's mother asked, her tone stating clearly that not answering wasn't an option.
"Last Wednesday was my birthday, and I wanted to invite Charlie to my birthday party today," Amelia replied. The volume indicated to Charlie that they were making their way to her.
Charlie wasn't sure how to react. Even Cherie's expression was getting more and more shocked. Charlie tried not glancing at her sister, given how embarrassed she could feel herself getting merely knowing Cherie was shocked at this news and was sure it wasn't going to stop there.
Charlie got up from the table as her mother returned to the kitchen with Amelia. "Charlie, you have a visitor," Charlie's mother told her, not giving any signs that she was aware that Charlie and Cherie could hear what was said at the front door.
Charlie figured it would be better to play dumb as well. "Need something, Amelia?" Charlie asked, made her way over to the sink where she put her bowl in, rinsing it out quickly before setting it to the side of the sink.
"Um, I was wondering if you'd like to come to my birthday party today," Amelia said, her usual cheerful expression almost nervous and shy. Charlie couldn't understand why she was this way, all the time before Amelia was always outspoken and never showed any signs of being shy. One word that Charlie would have said never would describe Amelia was shy.
"How late will it go?" Charlie asked. She wasn't sure what Amelia had in mind. It might just be the afternoon, but Charlie knew that some were held at night. Charlie never really cared much for birthdays, aside from her parents' or her sister's, but largely she hadn't ever paid much attention to anyone else's. Charlie also preferred her birthday to be forgotten as well, but so far her family hadn't done that for her.
"The plan was to have to go until about nine or ten tonight," Amelia replied, her eyes focusing on Charlie's nightgown left sleeve.
Charlie sighed. She didn't want to turn Amelia down with how she was right now, but she still had the punishment from being out late without letting her parents know earlier in the week going on. "Sorry Amelia," Charlie said. "I'd like to go, but right now I have to do the dishes after dinner every night, so I have to be here in order to do that."
"Are you serious?" Cherie blurted, clearly watching them from the table. "You have a custom ordered excuse to get out of your punishment for the night and you're giving it up without a second thought."
"Cherie," her mother gently rebuked. "Your sister can make what decisions she wants. Even if you disagree, you need to respect what she decides for herself." Charlie's mother turned to face Charlie. "Now Charlie, if you'd like I can talk to your father about giving you a break from your punishment for tonight, given unexpected events."
Charlie wasn't sure how to respond right away. Whenever Cherie had tried using something like this as an excuse to get out of one her punishments, she rarely was allowed. Were their parents treating Charlie differently than Cherie? They might not be the same person, but Charlie wasn't sure what the reason would be. Nothing came to mind as she tried to think about it.
"So, would you come to my birthday party?" Amelia asked, jarring Charlie out of her thoughts. Apparently, Amelia took Charlie's continued silence as reluctance, based on the expression Charlie read on Amelia's face.
"I guess," Charlie replied. She wanted to sound more confident in her reply, but she couldn't help but let it come out in a hesitant tone.
Amelia squealed in delight, grabbed Charlie's hand and started pulling her towards the door. Her sudden change in demeanor more in line with what Charlie expected from Amelia. "Let's go then, I still need to get some of the others too."
"Can I first get dressed?" Charlie asked, offering what resistance she could, which meant she was slowly sliding across the kitchen linoleum floor as Amelia pulled Charlie.
Amelia looked at Charlie in the face, the first time since she arrived that morning. "Sure, I'll just accompany you to make sure you don't try to run."
Charlie rolled her eyes, tried to get her hand back and found that Amelia had a grip to rival Beth's. Charlie heard Cherie giggle as Charlie tried to extract her hand from Amelia's grip, with no success. Despite that, Charlie still walked her way to her room but didn't stop trying to get her hand out of Amelia's grip.
The only consolation about it was that Charlie could see Amelia making an effort to keep Charlie's hand from getting away. Not that it soothed Charlie's nerves any.
Once they were in Charlie's room, Charlie hoped that Amelia would let her hand go and wait in the hall, but Amelia kept it firmly in her grip while following Charlie into her room. Charlie stopped at her dresser, then turned to Amelia.
"You do realize that you'll need to let me go so I can get dressed, right?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, I figured you would," Amelia replied, not showing any signs of releasing Charlie.
Charlie sighed. "Then I guess I should make myself comfortable," she commented, sitting on the floor, making sure her nightgown didn't ride up on her.
Amelia stared at Charlie in surprise. "I thought you were going to get ready," Amelia protested.
Charlie looked directly in Amelia's eyes. "I would if I could. You're not letting me go lets me know that I can't get ready just yet," Charlie replied, wondering if she should have declined going to Amelia's birthday party, which brought to Charlie's mind what was discussed the day before. How they'd meet at Amelia's place to practice their magic. Charlie wasn't surprised that they didn't mention that Amelia's birthday was on the first of April, but the effort that Amelia was going to, to make sure that Charlie wasn't going to try to get away, made Charlie wonder if this was rather personal for Amelia. Which wasn't anything that Charlie could understand. It also explained what was being communicated by the others without speaking and only now did Charlie realize that she could have tried to use her magic to see what their thoughts were and learn about it from that. But somehow, it didn't feel like it would have been as good of an idea as Charlie would have liked.
Amelia seemed to think about what Charlie said for a minute before releasing Charlie's hand. Charlie stood up after it was clear Charlie's hand was Charlie's again, then Charlie turned to Amelia.
"Would you mind giving me some privacy?" Charlie asked.
"It's ok," Amelia replied. "I don't mind."
Charlie stared at Amelia for a minute before sighing and getting her clothing she'd planned on wearing for the day out before heading towards the bathroom. Amelia was a couple steps behind, her expression one of surprise, annoyance and outrage.
As Charlie entered the bathroom, secretly thanking Cherie for not being in there right then, she turned to stop Amelia from entering behind her. "I'm sorry, but I need privacy to change," Charlie said, not caring how her statement might affect Amelia.
While Charlie didn't like hurting others, she still knew that she had to take a stand for what she felt was important, no matter what effects it had on others.
Amelia sighed. "Fine, I'll wait outside, but as soon as you're done, we need to get moving. I still have a few stops to make before my party can start," she said as Charlie closed the door.
Charlie shook her head once the door was closed and locked. She didn't understand why Amelia wanted to be in the same room as Charlie when she changed but let the thought stop there. What was important to Charlie was that she had the privacy she wanted and she locked the door just in case.
It didn't take long before Charlie had changed her clothes. As Charlie opened the door to the bathroom, Amelia was right where she was when Charlie had closed it. "Let me put my nightgown in my room and then we can leave, okay?" Charlie asked, not sure if Amelia would let her do that much before insisting on heading out right away.
"No problem," Amelia replied, stepping aside so Charlie could leave the bathroom.
Charlie wondered if there was a reason behind the way Amelia was acting, but she couldn't think what it might be. She also felt that it wasn't her place to ask, so she tried to think of something else she could focus on, but at the moment, nothing was coming to mind.
Once Charlie dropped her nightgown on her bed, Amelia grabbed Charlie's hand again and started pulling Charlie to head out again, catching Charlie off-guard enough that she nearly fell over.
"Slow down, please," Charlie pleaded, but Amelia didn't seem to hear. She was intent on getting out and didn't seem interested in letting Charlie a moment to even get her balance.
Charlie was starting to wonder if Amelia was pull her all the way to her house when they left the front door and Charlie could see a car parked around forty feet away at the end of the driveway waiting for them. Then, as they drew near the vehicle, Charlie could see a woman in the driver's seat, whom she had to assume was Amelia's mother given their physical similarities.
Charlie was ushered into the back seat, where Charlie was a little surprised to find Tim and Beth already in, before Amelia took the front passenger seat. "Let's go mom!" Amelia cried, fastening her seat belt.
Amelia's mom laughed and pulled out. "You don't need to be so excited," Amelia's mother commented, but Charlie wasn't sure Amelia even heard her.
_
Charlie felt like a sardine by the time they'd picked up Wes and Ralph. Beth was squeezed on Charlie's left side and Wes on her right side. The only consolation she had was that they were now heading to Amelia's house.
Hannah lived near Amelia, so she was going to at least be spared joining them in the sardine seat. In fact, Hannah was already waiting for them, leaning against a tree halfway between Amelia's house and the road. Charlie was starting to wonder if she made a big mistake in agreeing to coming to Amelia's birthday party, especially since from the appearances of what was going on was that it was going to last all day.
"Is your zip line still set up?" Wes asked Amelia as they were finally able to get out the car.
"No, the tree that held one end up got hit by lightning, so we had to take it down, remember?" Amelia replied.
"Yeah, forgot," Wes said, sheepishly.
"So, what's the plan then?" Tim asked as he got out of the car.
"Well, we still have that smash brothers. tournament going on," Amelia replied. "Why don't we finish that?"
"Have fun, kids," Amelia's mother said, as she started walking around the house.
Charlie stretched her legs as she was finally able to get out of the sardine can. She allowed herself to fall behind the others as they began making their way into the house. She kept up enough so she wouldn't lose where they were going, so when she entered Amelia's room, she kept behind everyone as they started to continue their video game tournament.
Charlie looked around Amelia's room while the game console was powering up, then when the game loaded. The base color of the room was yellow, but it was difficult to tell given how much of the surface of the walls were covered in posters, pictures, and human biology diagrams.
She did what she could to blend into the background while they finished their tournament, content to just watch them, which only lasted until the first tournament ended.
–Okay, let's let Charlie take a turn.– Beth said using her magic.
"Not bad," Tim said. "I still haven't gotten the hang of it yet."
–Really?– Wes replied with his magic. –I didn't have any trouble.–
Charlie didn't say anything, but merely let them push her into taking a turn. Not that she survived long. She wasn't surprised, but declined when everyone offered to let her go again. Charlie wasn't sure what the big deal with the video games were. Video games never caught her interest and, if anything, her inability to properly work the controls made her less interested in them.
–Would you like to try another game? One that's a little slower paced?– Beth asked.
Charlie tried replying with her magic, but she couldn't make the connection, so she answered aloud. "I'll be fine."
–Not a chance.– Amelia replied. –At my parties, everyone needs to feel included and have fun.–
Charlie wasn't sure how to respond. On one hand she was annoyed that she wouldn't be allowed to keep to herself but on the other hand, she was touched that care was being taken so she would feel part of the group.
–How about Minecraft?– Ralph suggested. –That game should be noob friendly.–
"You've never played Minecraft," Tim commented. "Are you sure you know what you're talking about?"
–Ha, ha, ha.– Ralph replied dryly. –Very quick witted, Tim.–
Charlie let them debate what to play next and everything. At the moment, she'd like to just be left alone. She wasn't sure why, but she just felt adrift on a sea and distant from those around her. While she knew that they wanted to include her, it felt like she was a lily surrounded by lilacs. Not matter what she did, she just didn't fit.
"Okay," Amelia called out. "We'll play Minecraft. Charlie gets first controller, Beth gets second, Hannah gets third, and I get the fourth. Tim will change with Beth when my timer goes off, Wes will change with Hannah, and Ralph with switch with me."
Charlie was surprised when she found herself being forced back into the front of the TV again. Amelia set her timer on her phone and they began. Charlie was shown how to start a new map and while Charlie had an easier time keeping up with the pace, it was clear everyone else knew precisely what they were doing, while Charlie was still working out how to create the tools.
Charlie was able to hang in there until Amelia's timer went off the second time. At that point, she'd had enough. She had started mining, only to find her mine shaft ran straight into Wes' which meant all that she could have gotten from it was already harvested.
As the others started up their turn, Charlie had to ask Amelia, "When will your party start?"
Everyone laughed, which surprised Charlie, but also made her annoyed. –Charlie, this is part of the party.– Amelia said through her magic.