The Conspiracy Theory of June 17

by Alessia Holmes

  ∞

  It's Thursday.

  Jessie, Jada, Flynn, Damon and I are standing in front of our Maths classroom again, just like we did last Friday after Maths. But this time, we're much calmer and have so many things to tell each other, whether that be relevant to the conspiracy or not.

  I mean, just look at us! We’re like a group of primary school kids who have found new best friends. I mean, all the things Flynn had been saying so far have NOTHING to do with the conspiracy. Like, at all.

  "Sooo, anyway, I met this blond chick called Mackenzie..."

  "Mackenzie!" Jada jumps out of her daydream. "You ONLY just met Mackenzie!"

  "Yeah," he says. "She asked me about you and Drew..."

  Jada rolls her eyes.

  "...and hey, I don't know how girls work, but they were kind of creepy questions. Like she asked me, do you know Jada? How is she? Did you know she's been seeing Drew? What do you think of them together? Are they cute together? Do they match? How many hours, minutes and seconds do they spend together approximately every day? She asked me ALL that in the span of like, 30 seconds."

  Jada scoffs. "She's just.... ugh. And besides, Drew and I are just friends."

  "Ok, guys, did you get anything related to the conspiracy over the past five days?" I ask, in a desperate attempt to stop any conversation relating to Mackenzie and get Jada all riled up.

  "Nah. I mean, nothing to the extent that you guys did," Damon tells us. "What you guys saw was really weird and must be related to this whole thing, for sure."

  "Okay, well." I take a deep breath "I think we should all keep our eyes peeled anyway, double check EVERYTHING that seems suspicious, and be prepared for tomorrow. Tomorrow is 'time to get going day', so anything could happen. And look for some clues hinting towards a location. It's a bit of a stretch, but the location could be our cue to find some answers."

  Everyone nods. Jessie's chuckling. "Gosh, Alessia" she says. "You could be the leader of this group, the way you handle everything so perfectly and in such an organised way."

  "Aw, thanks, Jessie."

  "Yeah, I agree," Damon adds, smiling at me.

  Suddenly, the feeling of everyone’s eyes on me is too much. My face flushes. "Um, I think we should go inside." I quickly shuffle inside into our tiny classroom, the others flowing closely behind.

  "Hello and happy Thursday!"

  Mrs Mitzeegh's familiar greeting makes me smile naturally for once. You know, these past few days have been pretty great in terms of classes and school. And, in the midst of almost getting shot, being paranoid and in a state of imminent confusion half the time, I think this is all pretty cool. I mean, we're all physically intact, we haven't lost anyone yet, even when we had gotten so close to that happening, so we should be proud. And besides, it feels good to smile and chill out sometimes, even when times aren't that accommodating.

  Mrs Mitzeegh's maths class goes as per usual. She teaches us quadratic equations, but to be honest I don't think anyone took anything in. I mean, it was the second last day of school, and this didn't go towards our grade or anything. Jessie, Jada and I, however, paid close attention to what she was saying, just to see if she was giving us any clues. We're pretty sure she's involved in this entire thing somehow. I mean, it's no coincidence that we figured it all out IN her class, and that she was acting super weird in the lockdown. Yeah, she's definitely part of it. But how? And whether she was a victim or 'fighters' like us, we had no clue.

  We've decided not to make assumptions anymore, and only be sure if we have solid proof or confirmation. So, no, we don't know anything about Mrs Mitzeegh at this point.

  And today? She was no help. She was just talking about the substitution method and making occasional jokes along the way. Everything just seemed normal.

  Yes, everything was fine, until Damon asks me for my ruler.

  I am just about to tell him to bring his own, but when I look into his eyes it looks like some sort of signal. Or that he's extremely desperate to get my ruler. Either way, as I hand him my ruler, giving him a suspicious glance, he passes me a note from under his desk. I quickly grab it and open it up.

  It reads,

  DESTROY THIS NOTE AFTER YOU READ IT

  Look under your desk

  As soon as I read it, I rip it up, and scrunch the remains tightly in my hand. I reach underneath my desk and find a sticky note.

  But I can't read this one. I look at it long and hard and realise…it's in morse code.

  I waste no time. Mrs Mitzeegh's given us some exercises to do and is at her desk, facing away from us. She's not one of those teachers that does that all lesson, so I know she's going to get back up soon. I take the chance while I have it. I show Jessie the note, who passes it onto Jada. Somehow, without even communicating, we all get the idea and I take out a pen as Jada googles the morse code chart. I start decoding, my hands under my desk, but as I'm a few letters in I notice that Mrs Mitzeegh's getting up. As quick as a flash I shove the paper into Jessie's lap, and open my maths book, the textbook, and pretend to solve some quadratic equations. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Jessie and Jada doing the same thing. As Mrs Mitzeegh walks over to the back of the classroom, Jessie starts decoding again, in her lap.

  "I'll give you the signal when she comes," I whisper to her. Jessie nods. Jada nods at me as well. I think that means she's going to keep a look out as well.

  Then I wonder, would Mrs Mitzeegh even care if we were doing this? I mean, if she's part of the conspiracy, and she herself put the note under our desk...wait, did she?

  Maybe we should hide it from her. Just in case.

  In my peripheral vision I see Damon eyeing us. I try to focus on our job, but I notice he's not stopping. I can't figure out why. Does he want to help, or...?

  "Miss," he says, out of the blue, raising his hand. I feel Jessie freeze next to me. Jada eyes her lap. I furrow my brows.

  Damon's only a few seats away. Why would he call Mrs Mitzeegh at such a critical moment? Our decoding is going to take even longer...

  But as I ponder on this thought, something clicks in my brain.

  He's distracting her. It's risky, because she's close by, but that means we don't have to watch her.

  I don't know why, but I feel like almost immediately Jessie realises this as well. She goes right back to decoding. Eyeing Mrs Mitzeegh carefully, she then takes the note and puts it on her desk.

  This way, both Jada and I can help as well. I keep sneaking a glance at Damon and Mrs Mitzeegh. While she's helping him with the whole maths unit (probably) and answering some completely arbitrary questions about senior maths, Damon looks at me and winks. I give a grateful smile back.

  Jessie's finally decoded the whole thing. She tries to show us, but at the same time Mrs Mitzeegh gets up and comes straight towards us. Not on purpose, of course, but to get to her desk again.

  Jessie doesn't notice until it's too late.

  "Hi girls," she says, giving us a warm smile. I feel Jessie practically jump in her seat, as she slams her arms over the note. Mrs Mitzeegh gives us kind of a confused look, and eyes Jessie's arms. "Are you girls alright?"

  "Yeah, we're fine, Miss," Jada almost squeals in an extremely high-pitched and unnatural tone. I cringe in my head.

  "Okay..." She eyes our paper, frowning. "If you need any help, just let me know." She stands over us for a moment, probably thinking about our sanity, and then moves away, back to her desk.

  After staring at Mrs Mitzeegh's back for what seems like forever, Jessie finally shows me the note.

  It reads,

  Blue and White, Kilts and Unicorns

  Wow. That's unexpected.

  None of us understand it. We all stare at the note as if it would tell us the answer if we stared at it long enough. It doesn't really make sense to be honest - it's only four words. It's not even a complete sentence, or a phrase, just a description. Of something...that we don't know.

  We try everything in the short time that we have le
ft. We google it. We read it backwards. We analyse each element one by one. We search up shops that sell blue and white things, kilts and unicorn toys. We try and find a character who embodies those four words (in case you're wondering, there are not that many characters that wear kilts). We note down the first letters of each word and try and figure out what that could stand for. Literally everything, until the clock strikes the end of class. As I'm walking to Humanities with Jada, having given a very rushed goodbye and 'see you tomorrow' to Jessie, I can't stop thinking about it. Unfinished things make me itch.

  Blue and white...what's blue and white? Some Europe thing. AHA! It's a European...thing. Kilts? What even is a kilt...wait, we googled it before. Ooh, why can't I remember? Unicorns...what do unicorns have to do with it? With this? They don't exist...or do they? Hey, I know, it's the land of Unicorns! Ugh, yes, that would work IF IT EXISTED...

  "Alessia!"

  I almost fall as I'm snapped out of my daydream. Jada is staring at me in awe, and she quickly grabs my arm, scared that I might actually fall.

  "I've been calling your name for ages - are you okay?" She looks at me, concern crossing her face.

  I nod. She pauses, looking away, then tells me, "It's okay Alessia. Maybe we don't need to work it out right now. I mean, the past few messages were pretty obvious, and we're bound to get something hard towards the end of it all. We're going into History now - maybe Ms K has something for us that's going to help us figure it out. Remember, she's just as important as Mrs Mitzeegh."

  "Yeah," I say. "Don't worry about me. You know me, I'm always thinking too hard about things." I try to shrug it off, smiling, reassuring Jada. She's convinced, but something tells me she's going to look out for me anyway.

  Firstly, Jada and I become rebels and rule-breakers as we convince Danica and I to swap places. I mean, there's not really much of a difference between me interacting with Jada and Danica interacting with Jada - well, before anyway. Now there's a world of difference. But it's second class on the second last day of school. If you told me there was still important stuff to do, I'd have a hard time believing it.

  Ms K is at her desk again, staring at her screen, eyebrows furrowed. I'm not going to lie – we did seriously consider Ms K to have a part in this, and as soon as we told the others about her sketchy personality, they were very quick to jump to the conclusion that she works with these evil people in the future. But Jada and I defended her, saying she was probably just like any other weird teenager, even sharing our she-has-the-soul-of-a-teenage-boy theory, which Mrs Renee quite liked. I just hope we were right, and that she really isn't bad.

  About seven minutes into class time, she finally stands up at the front, hands crossed behind her back. "Right guys," she starts.

  Now, usually this process of getting the whole class' attention, as well as getting Leo to shut up, takes ages. But today, the whole class was silent within seconds.

  "Oh," she looks surprised as well. "Well, that was quick."

  "Arrright, miss." says Leo, annoying guy at the front who's still at the front because you honestly would notice if he moved anywhere else.

  She frowns a little at Leo, giving him a look as if to tell him to shut up. Then she finally speaks, "So, as you all may know, today's my second last day before I get kicked out of this school for good. Now, this lesson I'm just going to give out the assessment and give you your overall grade. Frankly, I don't care what you do the rest of the time. Just don't do anything dumb. I'm looking at you three, Leo and friends."

  "Aww, don't worry, miss," Leo remarks, making his friends giggle behind him.

  Ms K rolls her eyes, as does Jada.

  To make a long, boring story about me desperately trying to stay calm while Ms K hands out the papers short, I got an A overall, and an A+ for my essay. Jada just rolled her eyes when I told her, because she had told the panic-stricken me that I would get an A and I didn't believe her. Anyway, she got an A too, and I rolled my eyes as well. "Look at us – stressing about nothing!"

  I think Ms K was proud of those who got an A as well (probably because only like five people from her class did) and she even congratulated me personally. It was kind of a strange experience, I'm not really sure why. Maybe because now that my senses are on high alert, it's hard to see this normally, and not like it may 'mean something'.

  Anyway, as the lesson slowly comes to a close, Ms K gets the class' attention again, this time with papers in her hands.

  "Ok, guys, now before you go, I'm just going to hand these out." She starts walking around the classroom, putting a sheet of A4 paper on everyone's desk. "Now, I don't care what you do with this, maybe you'll throw it away, maybe you won't care about it at all...I wanted to make the letters personal, but I just didn't get the time at the end. So, um, yeah." She stops and stands at the front again, running her hands through her short brown hair and shuffling uncomfortably from foot to foot.

  For the first time in the entire year, the class is silent for once. The noise drops and the atmosphere instantly changes to that of imminent sadness. Everyone is reading their papers intently. Even Leo, who never ever shuts up and never stops messing around or laughing, is not moving, not smiling, and not speaking.

  I can't help thinking that it's as if everyone in the room finally found out about the conspiracy, and what really happened to us last week.

  7.

  Had I not been in class that day, I think I might have cried. Okay, so maybe I'm just emotional about everything. (Yes, that was me, crying in the cinema during Finding Dory). But still, it was just so simply powerful and versatile. The way she expressed how much she liked us, how much she believed in us, that she thought we could do anything that we set our minds to, was sweet in a way that only Ms K could be.

  Weirdly enough, the class stays silent for the rest of the lesson – an absolutely ridiculous notion to even think of for a minute on a normal day. But of course, today is no normal day – in fact, nothing in the past week has been normal.

  Anyway, so equally shocked Ms K finishes the class by reminding us all about the class party again, which not only brings to light that we have to bring food but also the fact that she will be no more at this school from tomorrow. And, as Jada and I are all too familiar with, neither will be Mrs Mitzeegh.

  Suddenly I feel really sad, and kind of scared. Are they heading towards danger? Will they be safe, wherever they go? The dream pops up in my brain, those haunting images of them in danger, but I quickly shake them away. Not the time. But in terms of school - what will class be like, with both of them gone? When Mrs Butch left, it wasn't all too bad because to be honest, not many people liked her – but EVERYONE loves these two. What's going to happen? Who are the new teachers going to be?

  "Adios, guys. See you all tomorrow. Bring food please if you're keen. And, no nuts."

  So deep into my sudden realisation on the concept of new teachers, I almost don't notice Jada when she takes a wrong turn and leads me in the wrong direction.

  "Jada, you're going the wrong way!" I exclaim, but instead of reacting like she usually would, she's quiet. She beckons me to follow her with her hand. I silently follow behind, the all-too familiar feeling overtaking me, until we get to a corner of the hallway, where the students and teachers are just passing by, not noticing us at all.

  Jada dumps her bag on the ground, unzips it and takes out the note Ms K gave us. She flicks to the back, smoothening it out, but right when she does, she freezes.

  "Hey guys," I look up to see Danica towering above us.

  Looking up slowly, we both stare at her in shock, trying to pull ourselves together. I finally stand up, smooth my hair and say hi in the nicest voice possible, even though I want to bid her adieu right then and there. Jada pulls her bag up reluctantly.

  "So..." She starts, rocking back and forth. "Are we going down?"

  Jada looks at me and then back at Danica. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Just, um, lead the way!"

  She looks at us weirdly. "Are you guys o
k-"

  "Fine! Of course! We're fine!" Jada practically yells, a little too enthusiastically. I smile a bit awkwardly, and to prevent any further weird behaviour from Jada I start walking towards the staircase.

  Danica looks a bit weirded out - I mean, I would be too, if I were her. Two of her classmates are hiding in the corner, taking out something from our bags, and when approached, looking like deers caught in the headlights – you're right, it is really weird, and one could only think of so many things to explain it. But the conspiracy? I don't think anyone, not even Danica, would be able to guess what we're going through.

  The whole way to our lunch spot was the longest 15 minutes of my life. The whole time Danica was talking, and we were just nodding and smiling, smiling and nodding – but I could see in Jada's face that she was thinking hard about something serious. To say I was aching to find out what, would be a severe understatement.