Swept Under: Chapter 4: (looking for feedback) 20/04/26

  ‘All she had to do was take to stupid book, but ended up causing a whole scene. I shouldn’t have said yes to her dumb plan,’ thought Maxis.

  Trevor looked shocked. “That was so random,” he said.

  Cameron's lip was quivering and he stuttered as he spoke. “W-Was I t-too rough?” he asked.

  “She tried to take your book. I don’t think you’re at fault here,” Trevor said.

  “So what do you think of it?” Maxis asked, pointing to his art.

  “I don’t know what to think,” Cameron replied. “It’s just an alleyway. It's as artistic as a photographed alleyway.”

  “It’s good, Maxis,” said Trevor. He looked at Cameron. “I think it’s best if you default to giving compliments, even when the thing you’re complimenting is boring.”

  Maxis scrunched his artwork into a ball and threw it at Cameron. “Catch,” he said.

  Cameron held onto his book and let the ball hit his face. Maxis snatched the book out of Cameron’s hands and hopped up onto the desk. He strided over each row of seats and tables, towards the door. As he exited, he heard Cameron jump out of his seat in pursuit.

  Maxis ran through the hallway and saw Karina sitting against a wall, still sulking. He tossed her the book and half whispered to her to “hide it” before running out of the building. He ran through the school’s campus with Cameron on his tail. They made a trip across the field, around the office building and back to the sheltered eating area.

  Maxis took a quick look behind him to see how far he was from Cameron. He’d definitely been catching up. When Maxis turned his head back to look in front of him, he noticed a pole coming up. He tried to step to the side but was shoulder charged into it from behind by Cameron. 

  Maxis hit the side of his head and fell to the ground.

  “Where’s the book?” Cameron asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Maxis. I dropped it somewhere around the school.”

  Maxis saw Trevor approaching. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Trevor would ask if he was ok. 

  “What is wrong with you!” Trevor shouted at Maxis. 

***

  Maxis found Karina sitting in the grandstands of the empty gymnasium after school. She was flicking through the pages of the book, frustrated.

  “What is it?” Maxis asked, approaching her.

  “There’s nothing in here. He wasn’t writing anything,” she said. “Theyre all drawings.”

  Maxis glanced at the book from the side. It contained drawings of plants, landscapes and a bunch of other odd things. As the pages continued to turn, the drawings disappeared, and so Karina stopped turning them. 

  “Half the book is empty,” she said. She stopped for a moment, then smiled and giggled. 

  “What’s funny?”

  “Half the book is still usable.”

  Maxis immediately understood what she meant. It was horrible, straight from the devil himself. Such a thought put weight on Maxis’ organs, but he thought about Cameron and Trevor, and he went along with the evil plan. 

  “So what do we write, and about who?” He asked.

  “Well, you know the boys. Tell me, who would be the best test subject?”

  Maxis knew exactly who.