Neds Flying Lie

It was about eleven at night when the Mills family heard a loud bang that came from the kitchen. Diana got out of bed to see what was going on. When she turned the corner to the kitchen, she saw her younger brother, Quinn, sitting at the table. His brown hair was covering his face, which was on the counter. His hands were in fists sitting on the table beside his head. He was breathing hard and fast. She didn't even need to ask to know he was frustrated. 

She decided to get them both some water, and went to the fridge to get some. On the floor beside it was a little calendar. It was flipped to December, which was not the current month. She picked it up and was about to ask before being cut off.

"I have to do a speech next Sunday about how great dad is." Quinn sighed. She knew he never did like his father, especially now that he was known far and wide for his amazing invention. "The whole city will be there. How am I supposed to talk to that many people, and let alone about how happy I am for him?" Quinn asked. He lifted his head from the table and looked and his sister. Her hair was a mess, and she stood awkwardly in her pajamas. 

"I get you're upset, but you don't need to chuck the calendar at the poor fridge. Diana said as she tossed it back on the table. "It's still a few days away. Besides, you're great at speeches. What about that one you did at school last month?" She grabbed some cups and starting filling them with water. Taking a sip of one, she handed the other to Quinn, who took it gratefully. "I'm going to bed. I suggest you do the same." After she said that, she finished her glass and turned back to her room.

Quinn took a mouthful of water and picked up the calendar again and stared at it. The day of the speech was on the first of December, and it was the twenty-eighth of November right now, meaning he had three days to prepare. Three days to come up with enough courage to stand in front of thousands of people and talk about his father's amazing flying car. He had been working for years to get it just four inches above where the wheel would be. The Mills name was all over the news, and was spreading by the day, and Quinn didn't like it. Everywhere he went he got happy looks from people and asked about how great this is and how proud he should be of his father, and this and that. But all Quinn wanted was his old life. Hanging out with his best friend Aaron, having lots of free time and not getting noticed everywhere he went. He was tired, so he went to bed.

Today was Friday, the twenty-ninth of November. two days in counting. Quinn boarded the bus and sat in the sixth seat back on the left, right next to Aaron. He was acting weird ever since it happened. Ever since Quinn was always too busy to hang out. 

"Hi." is all Aaron said when he sat down. His red curly hair covered his eyes, but it was obvious he was looking at the phone in his hands. The green jacket he was wearing made him kind of look like a marshmallow. It was getting colder every day, and people were starting to bundle up. 

Aaron snickered at his phone and covered one hand over his mouth. Quinn couldn't see the screen to see what was so funny, and he doubted his friend would show him. He felt weird just sitting there, so he asked "do you want to come hang out at my place tonight? It would be just us. My parents are going out to some restaurant, my sister will just be in her room the whole time, and my parents won't be back until, like, eight forty-five to nine knowing them."

"Oh, yeah, sure. I can be there at five thirty, if that works?" Aaron looked up from his phone to look at him, and then turned back to it. "Don't you have some talk thing to prepare for or something? Shouldn't you be doing that?"

"I've got all weekend to do that, its fine." Quinn shrugged it off. He really wanted his friend to come over, and he needed it to seem like it was no big deal, like friends come first. 

School was boring as normal. He still got a lot of attention from teachers and students alike. It was all pretty normal to him now, but when it first happened, he was overwhelmed, and would lock himself in the bathroom to calm down. After a long day of nothing, he came home at four-thirty. He had an hour to himself, so he did his homework and then turned on his favorite TV show. He lost track of time until the doorbell rang. Quinn jumped up and ran to the door. He opened it and took Aaron's coat and hung it up.

"So," he asked as he kicked off his wet boots. "What are we going to do? Was there a reason you invited me over, or just because you felt like it." He gave Quinn a weird look and looked at his phone.

"I thought we could just hang out, like we used to." Quinn was annoyed, but he tried not to show it best he could. "We can play video games. I just got cod a few days ago, if you want to do that?" He wanted him to say yes, so they could talk without it being to weird. 

Aaron looked up into Quinn's eyes for a solid five seconds, almost disappointed. "Are you at least going to show me what the big hype is about your dad? Like, I've never seen this big thing that's going to put us on the map. I would at least like a look at this amazing thing that has the whole world watching us in awe."

The city that they called home was nothing special. It didn't have a cool monument or a thing people wanted to see, so therefor left it off everyone's bucket list. This four inches was going to save them and give the tourist attraction they've needed for years. It was going to give the city the money it needed to keep going, and is why Quinn's father was now known as a hero all around.

"Uhh, sure? I guess. I'm not even really allowed in the garage much, but..." He trailed off. He wasn't allowed in the garage, let alone bring a friend in.

"Ugh. Fine. How about some pictures. I don't even know what this thing looks like, let alone how it works. Oh!" Aaron almost shouted, and Quinn winced at the fact his sister was just upstairs. "How about a blueprint! That's not going in the garage, and I can still see how this thing works!" Aaron was very smart. He loved to find out how things worked. 

Quinn went over to his father's office and looked around, and Aaron was not far behind. There was something in his eyes that looked almost like joy. Almost. After a good ten minutes of looking, right when they were going to give up, Aaron found it. 

"Oh, man, look at that engine! Its so powerful! And the body is made for such aerodynamics!" His eyes lit up and started dancing around the paper. "So that's how it flies! Hey! Come look here, the doors even flip up! Wait..." His red hair was covering his eyes again and Quinn couldn't see where he was looking. "What's your dads name again?"

Quinn was confused. Why did that matter? It was just a car model. "Ned. I thought you knew that."

"I thought so." He just barely said loud enough to be heard. "So his initials would be N.M, right?" He faced his friend with a look of confusion and shock. He pointed to the bottom right corner of the page.

Diana came down a few seconds after her brother had called her name twice. She found him hunched over a sheet of blue paper. His friend from school was oddly pacing around the room, his skin paler than usual, muttering to himself. 

"What do you guys want? I'm very busy with schoolwork. I've got a big project due next week that I really need to finnish.

"She stood there watching them whispering "It doesn't make sense." Over and over and over. That was weird. She walked over beside her brother and looked at the paper. Why did they get dads blueprints out, and why was it stressing them this much?

"Hey, sis?" He asked in an odd voice, even for him. "Dads initials are N.M, right, or are we missing something?" He then pointed at the little H.C printed in neat little handwriting in the corner. She stared in disbelief and completely forgot to answer him.

Quinn was about to say something when the front door opened and two pairs of feet walked in. His parents were home! He looked at his friend for help, but he just looked right back. It was his sister who hustled up the paper and put it back on its spot on the shelf. They all quietly ran to the living room and Quinn turned on the TV while everyone else sat down and pretended they had been watching it for hours. Quinn bid goodnight to Aaron.

"Is it alright if you come again tomorrow? We can try to figure this out. My parents are off at a meeting from three to five. We can try and find out who this H.C person and why dad has his stuff."

"I don't know man." Aaron looked at the floor, then back at him. "Maybe it's just a typo." But he must have saw the desperation in his friends eyes, because he adds "...fine. Three o'clock tomorrow." And turns out the door whilst almost forgetting his boots.

Quinn started his Saturday questioning who this person might be, and why Ned had their stuff. Had he hired someone? Had he stole from them? Was it a typo like Aaron said? He had to find out. Three o'clock could not come sooner.

He was sitting on the front steps of the house when Aaron arrived. He jumped up to greet him, but like always, his head was in his phone.

"Don't you ever put that thing down?" Quinn asked, and went around to see what he was looking at. Instead of shooing him away, he gave it to him to look at.

It was of the centre of the city. "Why don't we go to town square. We can ask around and see if anyone knows anything. I brought my skateboard." He showed him the colorful board from under his arm, and Quinn grabbed his.

In town, no one knew anything. There were a few people with that initials. Howard Carter, Henry Collins, Hunter Currey, and Miss Hether Cabe. After questioning all of them and other town folk, they did not get a straight answer. A lot asked why, because it was invented by Ned Mills. Others just didn't have a second thought. all the answers were the same. No one had any information.

The clock struck five. They had gotten nowhere. "I can call our parents if we can just get something for supper, like, fast food?" Aaron asked. He already had his phone out. Quinn agreed. They ate outside on the edge of a planter when the paper boy came by, so they both took one. The first headline was about his speech tomorrow. 

"It must be Hether." Aaron said to the paper. "She works at the library, she must be smart enough to do it, and if not, then at least find one somewhere, like, it's a library, for crying out loud!" 

"I don't know." Quinn buried his face in the leadline. "I have the speech tomorrow, and I don't like them anyways, even without knowing my dad maybe didn't do all the work." 

Aaron nudged him, but Quinn hardly noticed between him fantasizing about the next day. Then he pushed him so hard he almost fell over. "What?"

Aaron nodded his head toward the local cafe, where his dad was sitting in the window. That was an odd place for a meeting. He couldn't see who he was talking to. Then he reached for his wallet and pulled out some cash and handed it to the person who was out of sight. 

The boys held the paper so you couldn't see their faces, and their eyes were just poking out the top far enough for them to see. They talk a bit more, and Quinn's father calmly got up and walked out of the store and waved to a few people before turning the corner and disappearing from sight. They watched the cafe to see who was sitting in the other seat. Someone got up and exited the cafe. It was none other than Henry Collins, one of the many to deny any kind of work between themselves and Ned Mills that day. 

Aaron looked at Quinn, and Quinn looked back. They both folded down the papers and began to slowly follow him. He walked a couple blocks to the local park and sat down. The two boys looked at each other one last time before confronting him.

"Hi there, boys. Thats a nice board you've got there." He pointed to Aarons skateboard, and Aaron nodded in response. "What brings you here today? Did you find out who actually invented the flying car, or was it still just your father?" He let out a little laugh before realizing they meant business. 

"Your initials are at the bottom of the blueprints to the car, and not to mention that my father just gave you some money back in the cafe a few minutes ago." Quinn tried his very best to make eye contact, but it didn't go well, and he mostly just looked behind him. He had really bad people skills. 

Henry denied it. "What are you talking about? I never did anything. I just came here from the bank and took out some money. Are you saying this money I just took out isn't mine?" He was visibly upset and clutched the side of the park bench.

"Oh really?" Aaron was actually able to hold eye contact the whole time he talked, and Quinn hoped he could learn from him. "So I can go to the cafe and ask for the security footage and I wont see you in there just now?"

Henry sighed and looked at the floor. "Yes, I helped Ned with the blueprints, but he promised me seventy-five percent if he did the talking, and I really didn't want to do it myself, so I took him up on the offer."

"So wait. Ned approached you first about helping you? Why would he do that?" Quinn was very confused, and he wanted answers.

"He was the first person I told when I first started making it, and I think he wanted the fame or something, but I didn't want to deal with the people. But seeing him now being called the city hero, and getting appreciated, I kind of want it now."

Aaron put a hand on Quinn's shoulder, smiled at him and said "I think we can help with that."

Quinn stepped up onto the podium. Cameras were everywhere, and thousands of people gathered below him. His family insisted on reading his cards, but he wouldn't let them, saying he could do this. Now, after hours of practice, he had it recited from memory. He tapped the microphone twice and bagan.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here today to talk about a day that will go down in history. A day that has saved our city and the people who live here. Today we are going to talk about the four inches and the man who created it. But that man is not all smiles and a good morning kiss. This man is a man who is so quiet that he doesn't want to take full credit for what he spent years on, but now that man wants to speak up. Now that man is ready to take back what is rightfully his!"

Suspicion already. People outright denying that Ned was shy and quiet. Shouts came, and Quinn became frightened again, but he spotted Diana and Aaron in the crowd, and he kept going.

"That man is not my father, Ned Mills, My father has tried to take credit for someone else's work, and he would have gotten pretty far if Henry Collins didn't want that back!"

Henry came onstage and thanked Quinn, who gladly stepped down from the podium. He went to go rejoin his friend, who gave him a pat on the back and walked him out of the raging crowd.

About a month later, everything has mostly calmed down. People still give Ned weird looks when they see him out getting groceries, but other than that, everything is back to normal. Henry regained all his credit for the flying car, and he was even awarded to be an architect by the government. But most importantly, Quinn and Aaron are back the way they were before and maybe even better, and once in a while, they let Diana play cod with them on a Friday night a five, trying to laugh and forget that one day they had all those days ago.

P.S. this reminded me way to much of that one episode from Gravity Falls, Irrational Treasure. Great show by the way