Tabitha Blackwell

Last night when we showed up at Matt’s house to practice, there was a news van waiting for us. We ended up on the 6 PM news although I didn’t say anything. I let the guys do most of the talking and Starla chimed in a bit. Shelley wasn’t there. She was working late at the newspaper. Now the whole town knows. I’m so screwed and I know my dad is going to find out about it before he gets back.

Practice went pretty well and I tried my best to focus on the music, but Starla could sense something was wrong. That’s where I really screwed up. On the way home, she asked me about what was bothering me and like a total idiot I told her everything… why we move all the time, the way my dad treats our family… all of it.

I was up late and didn't sleep. There was a lot to think about. I decided not to write anything down last night in my journal. My mind was racing and I just couldn't focus. Instead, I tried something else an outlet. I'm still confused. That part can just live in my head and I'm not sure that I won't revisit some of what I did again. All I will say here is it didn't involve hurting myself or anything like that. Which leads us to this morning...

Coach North called last night and again this morning. I just got off the phone with her a little while ago. After asking if I was okay, she launched into a lecture about how the people that me and Starla associate with and being in the band don't meet the cheerleader's standards. It sounds like she's going to have a chat with Starla and her parents. Get this, Coach North doesn't want Starla to even see Trevor anymore! Can a teacher do that? I mean, I get the fact there are rules and a higher level of expectations, but can they control our lives at this level?

Between Coach North, Marie and my dad I think I'm screwed. I'm so sorry I ever let myself get talked into being on this stupid team. I didn't really want to to begin with. I thought it might be okay with Starla there with me. That is if we're still here come fall...

I pretty well know this is the end… no more Threat of Invasion, D&D, hanging out at Gary’s or anything else. I fully expect my dad is going to make us relocate and by the time school starts, I will be in another town far, far away from Teal Cove. If there is a silver lining, maybe it’s that I won’t have to endure the hell that is cheerleading this fall and Marie Evan’s shit.

Saturday will probably be the last fun thing I ever do here and my final show with the band. It was fun while it lasted… I just hope my dad doesn’t come home early. All I want is to be able to do that final show Saturday night and enjoy life here one last time.

In the meantime, I just got out of the shower. There is something I feel the need to do. Maybe I'll talk more about it later, maybe not.

Wow, things went spectacularly awful! So, we went back to Debbie Hart Lane last night with the guys. We met up at the mall after Starla got off work. Shelley took me up there and Matt and Trevor came separately. Shelley left her Trans-AM in the parking lot and we rode in Matt's van.

I was excited but didn't really think anything would come of it. I brought some binoculars and walkie-talkies thinking they might be useful. Anyway, we got out toward where we saw the truck the night before and Matt's van broke down in the middle of a storm. A trucker came by and offered to help. I snuck out of Matt's van and hid in the woods. Starla managed to stay out of sight and the trucker thought it was just Trevor, Matt and Shelley. He said that he would radio for help for us.

Something didn't feel right, so I hid in a deer stand off in the woods. Starla came looking for me and waited. I felt really dumb like I had overreacted. Anyway, the cop that came out was the one that "arrested me" at the festival for that charity jail, Thompson. Anyway, he told them that he lived off that road and was going to take Shelley and Trevor to his house to call for help.

It turns out though, we were right about the gang. He took them to a farm where they were cutting up the stolen cars. Sure enough, Jerry was there! The gang overpowered and tied up Trevor and Shelley and the cop came back for me, Matt and Starla. I had a really bad feeling and he ordered us into a house on the property. We were separated in different room and this creepy lady started interrogating me. Starla tried to fight back and was gagged and hogtied in the kitchen floor. Shelley and Trevor were tied up in another building on the property.

Eventually, the criminals came into the room where the old lady was asking me stuff and bound and gagged me and stuffed me in a closet. They left us there and abandoned the place. Fortunately, Starla being super flexible was somehow able to get hold of a pair of scissors with her foot and managed to cut through the ropes. She untied me and Matt. Trevor apparently managed to get loose too and was untying Shelley when Matt went to check on them. Starla was untying me at that point.

It turns out, Jerry made that equipment with the weird voice. Gary called it a number station and they used the Dire Straits song "Sultans of Swing" as a signal. I guess the numbers it broadcast were coded messages to the truckers on the highway to tell them if there was a shipment to pick up.

Here's where stuff gets weird... Jerry and another gang member tried to break into Doreen's house. Still not sure how they ended up there, but apparently they took Shelley's car keys and were going to steal her Firebird. They didn't know that it was at the mall, though.

Jerry is now in jail. The cops brought him with them when they showed up at the Farm at dawn. By that point, we were all untied. We had to go to the police station and our parents all showed up. Right now, I'm terrified about the hell that this is going to bring down when my dad finds out. The whole town, including all the cheerleaders know. Marie and all the older girls showed up at Speedy's and made Starla go with them after grilling us regarding the details.

Poor Shelley has no car keys and has to call her mom- get this! She basically ran away because she had an abusive ex-boyfriend and she ended up in Teal Cove to get away from him. I had no idea. We were talking in Gary's van and I asked her point blank why she was here and she told us. I can so relate to her story, but I can't tell her about my own... It was really awkward, so I opted to not go with Shelley to the newspaper. She was going to talk to her editor about the story and everything that happened.

Today Gary stopped by at work. He bought some electric trucks and trains and was on his way home to set them up. Starla and I decided it would be fun to make a car that looked like Trevor's and get a white van like Matt's. We both went to the hobby store after work and Starla painted them and we brought them over. The setup was really cool. Gary put it together on the kitchen table. When we saw it all, everything was still boxed up. It reminded me of my brother's slot car race sets. He has some trains, too, but we only put them up around the tree at Christmas. Since we move so much, my dad was never in favor of building a model railroad.

Anyway, we found out that Shelley ended up not getting the job at the gym after all. Karen called before me and Starla came by. It really sucks. Something about the class getting canceled. I'm suspicious. I don't know if Marie has that kind of clout with Karen, but I can't help but wonder... We did hang out for awhile and play with the trains and trucks for a bit. Gary got Shelley a Trans-Am that looks just like her real one which is what prompted us to get cars for Trevor and Matt. I just wish they'd have an orange VW so I could stage some train wrecks.

On that note, we got to talking about the situation with Jerry again and doing a little spying on him. Gary didn't want to know about it. I guess if anything happens or he knows then he could be legally liable or something. I don't know but I understand it. I suggested we make a Slurpee run. It seemed like it would be fun to get out of the house for a bit and we could talk a little more. Granted snooping around and trying to figure out if Jerry is up to something could be a problem, but Shelley is also a journalist and there is something up with the guy. It could be her big break if we find something out!

Anyway, we got to 7-11 and guess what? Jerry was there but didn't see us. We decided to pull around and wait out of sight. When he pulled out of the parking lot, he took off going out of town toward the country club. We assumed that was where he was heading, but decided to follow anyway... at a safe distance of course. To our surprise, he turned off on an abandoned road. Then it got weirder, way off in the distance, we could see his tail lights. He stopped up on a hill. Then as we got ready to turn around a big 18 wheeler pulled off the main road! We didn't think that much about it, but it was odd for a big truck to go on an old abandoned road like that. Then we saw the car on the hill (we're sure it had to be Jerry) signal with his headlights. The truck signaled back and turned off on an old dirt road.

We waited a beat and then followed. Jerry and the semi were gone by then, but there was no question they went down that road. It's called "Debbie Hart Lane". At least, it was... The sign was almost illegible. It looks like it's a private dirt road now. Something is up. Starla has to work tomorrow night, but we're gonna go back again after dark once we pick her up at the mall. We may bring Trevor and Matt, too. Gary doesn't want to know anything and we didn't mention what we saw. We made notes so we could find it again. I'm nervous, but also excited that we might get some dirt on Jerry. I wonder if he's involved with the car thefts?

Also, unrelated, but it started raining and we headed back. We told Gary we saw Jerry at the convenience store and waited to go in. That wasn't a lie... we didn't bring up we followed him out of town, though. We grabbed nachoes and Slurpees and brought them back to his place. Anyway, he has a knack for finding creepy robot stuff with his interest in payphones, only this time it was on a radio. Someone was using "Sultan's of Swing" by Dire Straits and then cut the song off and used a robot voice like Gary showed us at Chuck E. Cheese on the payphone. It read a list of numbers. Gary said something about spies do this in Russia or something and that someone has a key to decode what the numbers mean for a secret message. We'll probably never know what it means, if anything. Just kind of weird. Gary is certainly interesting in all the stuff he knows! Between that and everything going on with these car thefts and Jerry being totally creepy and a spaz, there is a lot going on around here.

Oh my god! I thought things couldn't get any weirder. They did. Big time! So after Jerry was all weird on the boat, particularly about going towards where those cars were submerged, he completely spazzed at the game today.

He started off really quiet but got agitated as we started interacting. Shelley brought up the gray car and Jerry lost his poker face. It was so obvious that he knew something about it. Things got super uncomfortable from that point on.

We got there ahead of Shelley. Me and Starla decided to try out Gary's new hammock and Shelley got in from working at the paper and laid on it, too. We had our typical shenanigans. The guys threatened to tie us to it and leave us out there. Of course, nothing came of it, but the scavenger hunt came up again and Jerry took interest in it. We kept details short and steered the conversation away from that topic. He wouldn't really get it.

Anyways, once the game got started, he got super stand-offish an offended Matt mentioned that Starla painted as she showed off Shelley's new mini. I guess the guy took it as a challenge when Matt asked if he painted, too.

So the game started and Jerry refused to join in. He insisted that his wizard stay invisible and not reveal himself. Poor Gary was just trying to add him in since he'd not been part of the group before. He didn't realize that Jerry was going to be adversarial towards our group. When Gary tried to reveal him, he insisted we roll dice to see if we were aware and luck wasn't on our side. He got the better roll.

We ended up playing the game while he completely didn't participate. Finally, as we neared the end of the battle, he made his move. Our characters were pretty beat up, low on hit points, and almost out of spells. Trevor's dwarf was paralyzed by a spell and Matt's elf got hit and was down for the count.

So Jerry got to go before all of us and ended up attacking our characters as well as all the monsters. He cast a knock-out spell that put me, Starla, and Shelley to sleep. That prevented Starla from casting a heal spell on Matt's character. Jerry gloated about how Matt was going to die. Then he planned to loot our bodies and leave us.

All hell broke loose, and Jerry lost his shit. He then flipped us off and stormed out of the game after knocking all our minis over. He took off in a huff with tires squealing. I had little doubt before, but he was definitely following us the day he confronted us at the comic book store. That had to be him that almost ran me over last week, too. I have no doubt he knows something about who stole Marie's car and that he was also in that gray car that was stalking us.

Holy crap, what a day! If finding Sharon tied up in a dumpster wasn't weird enough last night, things just got even stranger. So, we met up at Trevor's and reviewed the ransom stuff. Trevor's dog Lucy invited herself along, but she's cool so I was okay with it.

Anyway, we met Jerry at the docks. He was late, had no food, no suntan lotion or anything else. He was kind of a prick, too. He arrived tires squealing. I'm pretty sure he's the jackass that almost ran me down the other day at Speedee's. So, he didn't really help the guys load or unload the boat or anything and wanted to buy beer and really didn't want to wear his life jacket. Fortunately, Trevor and Matt got him to take a chill pill.

We went swimming and fishing. Shelley caught a catfish. It was sooooo gross and nasty. We got to see it up close and fortunately, Matt threw it overboard. I was kind of worried she was going to want to keep it. We went skiing later. Starla flipped her shit and spazzed when she though she saw a snake and crashed into me. I have a nice bruise on my leg now. Thankfully, it was just a turtle. Oh yeah, Lucy jumped in after Starla when she went skiing first solo. She kept trying to grab her life jacket and drag her back to the boat. She thought she was drowning! It was hilarious and adorable!

After we went swimming, we found a spot near Lakeshore Dr. near the backside of the lake. Jerry suddenly started getting all weird and shit. He swore that he and some friend of his had a rowboat or canoe or some shit and just happened to put it in the water right in that very spot. I mean come on, the lake is freaking huge... anyway, he insisted they saw poisonous snakes there. He actually specified it was a nest but Matt said later that snakes don't make nests or whatever.

Get this though... we decided to go over to that area anyway and there are cars in the water! Not ones that were there for years or that had run off the road and wrecked but freshly dumped ones that had been stripped for parts! What's even crazier is one of them was a fairly new Camaro and guess what? It was Marie Evans! So apparently the car thieves are stripping the cars and then dumping them off from the road into the lake. Shelley had her camera and got pictures.

We went to go get the cops who were patrolling the lake in a boat and they got our names and we gave statements. Thankfully, Trevor and Matt did most of the talking. Shelley talked to them a bit too since she dived in and swam down to take a closer look. Fortunately, no bodies. The cops didn't ask me much. Hopefully they don't call or come by. How the hell would I explain that to my parents?

This is just soooo freaky! What are the odds? Last night Sharon is tied up in a dumpster and then today we find Marie's car at the bottom of Cedar Lake? It is kind of cool though, almost like being Nancy Drew. I mean not like we're going to be the new Scooby Doo gang and go and try to hunt down robbers or car thieves, but it was kind of exciting. I just worry my parents are going to find out and assume that my friends are bad news. I mean, not like we had anything to do with it or whatever. My dad doesn't get it though. God, I'm finally happy and terrified that we're going to move again. What if shit like this keeps happening around this town and he decides we have to move again?

So, the big night finally happened. It went perfectly... almost. Trevor's dad Joe put the ransom note on Trevor's steering wheel and he found it when he got off work. Of course, he went straight to Chuck E. Cheese like he was supposed to and got Matt. It looks like they got most everything on the list. We didn't have a chance to review it yet.

Shelley, Starla, and I hung out at that old abandoned gas station on the way out of town towards the country club. The payphone still works. When we got there initially, a repair truck was there. For a moment I worried that the phone was out of order. We drove around a bit and it was gone after a few minutes. They were probably just getting the money out of the coin box. Gary used his creepy phone voice robot thing when he called to let us know that the guys had come and gone.

I wish we'd planned better because we had to hide in the attic of the restaurant behind the show for two hours without much to do and it was hard to carry on a conversation with those weird robot animals singing. I did Starla's hair up in Princess Leia buns while we waited.

Things almost got blown when the guys tried to sneak in the back. Matt came face to face with Shelley but fortunately, she had her silly string ready! We got the guys pretty good. They had water pistols, but they were no match for us. Trish and Sonya helped out.

About that time, we heard something in the dumpster behind the restaurant. It turned out to be Sharon McLeod from school. Someone had robbed her in the park and tied her up with duct tape and thrown her in the trash! Matt and Trevor might have even seen the car speeding off a few minutes before they discovered her. That was about the time Matt tried to go in the backdoor.

Anyway, we had to call the cops. Shelley took pics and interviewed Sharon. Hopefully, she gets some money for the story, but I hope my parents don't find out. I asked her not to publish any pictures of me or mention my name. God, I hope my parents don't start thinking this place is dangerous. I'm really worried now that I've found a place I'm really happy that we'll have to move again. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow we're going out on the lake on Trevor's boat. We're supposed to hang out with Jerry. He's the guy we met at the comic shop. I'm hoping he's cool because he is going to probably join our D&D game at Gary's on Sunday.

Starla was off work today so we got together to work on our plans for Friday. I caught her up on the discussion in the car with Shelley about making things Star Wars themed. Not only does it fit us as a group, but Matt and Trevor will love it and are more likely to play along. Instead of tying Starla up or making her look like a hostage in the photo, we dressed her up as Princess Leia using a Sundress and sheet. The sheet had blue dots on it but they were tiny and light in color. If you don't look at the picture closely, you don't notice it. Anyway, her mom has a bunch of magazines she subscribes to and we used those and old newspapers to make a ransom note but made lots of references to Star Wars. We brainstormed a list and figured out based on when Trevor and Matt got off work how long it would take them to collect things so they could wrap it up by 10ish when Chuck E. Cheese closes. We're going to ambush them behind the store with 2 cases of Silly String Gary gave Shelley. I just got off the phone with Shelley and Trevor's dad. We're going to run the note and picture by before we go to work when Trevor is working under a car and not looking. His dad will sneak the note out there after Trevor's lunch break and put it in his car where he'll see it when he clocks out for the day. So excited! This is going to so rock if we can pull it off...

Dear Diary,

Today was crazy! Some idiot almost ran us over in a VW beetle and it was just super busy. I had some older guy hit on me and then I was rattled and got yelled at by a customer when I forgot condiments and napkins. I was glad when the shift ended!

Shelley got a call at Fitness Factory. Get this, it was Coach North about taking over her adult aerobics class after school starts back. It sounds like things went well, but Felicia Jackson is in it. Apparently, she tipped off Marie who was waiting for her in the parking lot and confronted her and asked a bunch of questions about who she was and why she was here in town. Nothing really bad happened, but she seemed to be aware that me and Starla are hanging out with her and she didn't like it.

We also talked more about the plans for Friday. After work, we went to the comic book store in the shopping center where work is and looked for a mini for Shelley. Starla got some paints. While I was talking about the plan, this guy named Jerry showed up. I've never seen him before. He's apparently new in the area and looking for a D&D group. He approached me first. Starla thinks he was hitting on me. I don't know, though... For a little bit, I wondered if he was the guy in the gray car but I think I'm imagining things. He didn't really seem flirty or anything, just that he recognized me from Saturday when we played the festival on the beach. I think he is just looking for friends although he is much closer to Shelley's age. Dad would never let me date someone that much older. In fact, I'm not allowed to date at all until I'm 16 which is a whole year away.

After we got the supplies for D&D, we went to Pizza Time Theatre to talk to Gary about it. We figured Matt would be there, too. Trevor actually showed up, too. They did a stupid Star Wars re-enactment of course. That gave me the idea about making it Star Wars themed. I talked with Shelley about it on the way home. Trevor ended up giving Starla a ride, but I'll talk to her tomorrow about this since I don't work. She's off, too. Poor Shelley! She'll be there all alone. Anyway, everyone was open to giving this new guy a chance to play in our game. We're going to see if we can add him on Sunday. Trevor also mentioned us all going out on his dad's boat Saturday and maybe inviting him along. Gary can't make it, but Shelley said she'd go.

Speaking of Shelley, some of her photos were in the paper last night! There was a picture of the band although Trevor was the main focal point, you could kind of see me. At least I was more visible than Matt. The band got mentioned though which was way cool! Starla also got a second picture in because of the pageant. Rock on!

I've discovered the part about having friends that sucks. When they aren't available, it is sooooo boring! I forgot about having to entertain myself when I didn't have anyone to hang out with. I was going to watch TV but Danny pretty well hogged the one in the den all day playing with the Atari. I offered to be player 2 but that didn't go over well. I actually feel sorry for him. I realized that he doesn't have anyone. He's totally given up. After being so used to having to say goodbye after a school year and having problems at the last place we lived with being bullied, he hasn't even tried to make friends here and we've been here a whole year.

I can't say I blame him. It hurts when you get attached to people and have to say goodbye. It always felt like it took so long to really get to know people and feel like part of the group and that's about the time we'd get the dreaded announcement that we needed to plan to let them know we'd be gone in a few months.

Anyway, I thought some more about the kidnapping. I brain stormed a few scenerios and tried to think about how things might backfire or get off track. Trevor might also try to find loop holes in any rules we make. I'm going to see if I can get together with Starla before Friday. I know her mom has a ton of magazines. Maybe we can take some old ones and cut them up to make a ransom-style note. I am going to see if I can borrow mom's camera and get a few pics of her in peril. Once we have everything, I'm going to try to call Trevor's dad Joe and see if there is a way he can give the envelope to Trevor at the end of the day before he leaves work. I think he'd go along with it.

Other than that, I got a popsicle from the ice cream truck. The same lady has been coming through our neighborhood all summer since school let out. I don't get stuff very often, but it was something to do. I wish I was allowed to work more. Being 14 sucks. Oh well, I'll see Shelley and Starla tomorrow at work.

Dear Diary,

Today was mostly awesome. This was our first time working with Shelley where Starla and I like actually knew her. I feel bad now that we didn't talk sooner. Anyway, we had a busy shift, but I managed to talk Starla and Shelley into helping me get back at Trevor and Matt. Starla is going to set up a date on Friday night with Trevor but stand him up. When he arrives, he'll find a ransom note and he and Matt are going to have to go on a scavenger hunt to save her. The whole thing will end at Chuck E. Cheese. We're going to hide out back and Silly String the shit out of them when they come out to get her. Trish and a few of the others that work there are going to be in on it.

After work, Shelley stopped off at the fitness club place in the parking lot to try to get a second job. I think Coach North teaches there. Not sure. I didn't ask Starla. All I know is she does some kind of class and Marie and her cronies are in it (translation= avoid like the plague!) Therefore, I opted not to join. Besides, I'm trying to earn a little extra $ at Speedy's and I didn't want to spend my paycheck paying to hang out with the bitch brigade! I'll have to do that soon enough when cheerleading starts.

I saw the gray car again and pointed it out to Starla and Shelley so I didn't imagine it after all! Does dad have a private investigator spying on me? Whoever is in that car is interested in one of us. Could it be someone watching Shelley (more on that below)?

After work, we went to see Gary at Chuck E. Cheese. He gave us free tokens and food! I had a little fun torturing Starla with the animatronics. I've decided I need a Mr. Munch doll. I'm saving my tickets. We had fun hanging out and planning. Gary said as long as we didn't do anything in the store during business hours, we could end our little plot there. While we were there, two kids started a Silly String fight in the store. Gary decided to pull the whole inventory from the prize counter which is how we decided on what we were going to do to the guys. Gary is supposed to bring it home tonight and give it to Shelley. I want an entire bandelier of that shit (muhahahha!!!).

I'm pretty sure Matt was in the rat suit spying on us but I don't think we said anything to give ourselves away while he was over there near us. We were talking about how Shelley got here. Matt might have overheard some of that. I told everyone about all the moves and how lonely things had been and how many birthdays I spent with no friends hoping to get Shelley to open up.

Get this... she mentioned she left because of an ex-boyfriend. Was she in an abusive relationship? Could whoever that person in the gray car is be spying on her? I want to talk to Starla SOOOOO BAD right now! Damn it. She's at work and won't get off until really late. To make matters worse, I'm off tomorrow. Damn it! What am I going to do??? I need to talk to everyone and they're all working without me.

Only bad note... dad saw Shelley drop me off. He was home early because he played golf at the end of the day. There were 2134646571 questions about who she was, her age, and how I knew her. He also asked about her car. I just said it was a graduation gift. He was reasonably sober at least and didn't get super belligerent but he'll make something of that information next time he goes into asshole mode and find a reason why I shouldn't associate with her...