An Unexpected Disaster

 “There, I think that’s pretty much everything.” Gwen remarked, gazing at the furniture she and her friends had just brought up to the tree house in her backyard. Her parents had always known that their only daughter, Gwen, was a huge fan of nature and the outdoors. So, a few weeks ago, for her Quinceañera, they decided to gift her her very own tree house. Gwen was ecstatic. The following weekend she decided to call a couple of her friends over for a post-Quinceañera celebration.

“Phew, glad that’s over with. That was exhausting.” Megan remarked, falling onto a green bean bag chair and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, the place looks pretty sweet!” Daphne chirped, up righting the waste bin she accidentally knocked over with her foot.

It took a fortnight for the tree house to be completed. It was an 8 by 8 feet rectangular room. The floor was made of polished planks of wood. Cushions of red, green and blue were sparsely placed on top of the wood to give it a more vibrant look. The walls were covered with barks of the neem tree with leaf ornaments pinned every few centimetres apart. In the left corner there was a small table for refreshments. On the shelf beside it, fitted inside a teak picture frame, was a shot of Gwen and her family at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California. An assortment of games including Monopoly, Ludo, Twister and Pictionary among others were stacked in the small, black cupboard below it.

The tree house was jutted between two ripening apple trees. An assortment of colored pebbles placed a few inches apart, connected the three feet of space between the entrance and the weaving ladder. The door was filled with thumb-tacked images of a gorgeous Gwen growing up through the years.

“These are so cute, Gwen! Oh, I remember this one! You called me and told me all about that horrible day, remember?” Megan laughed, playfully smacking her friend in the arm.

“Yeah, I remember.” Gwen said, elbowing her bestie in the side and leading them, both, back inside.       

“So, Gwen. What’s the plan?” Alex asked, stealing a packet of chips from the mini fridge and kneeling on one of the cushions.

“Yeah, fill us in. What are we doing?!” Alex’s cousin, Sophie inquired, dropping next to Alex and grabbing some chips from the bag.

Even Daphne, standing a few feet away at the refreshments table, nodded her head in agreement.

“Have a seat guys, because I have to a surprise for you.” Digging her hand in her pocket, Gwen brought out an exquisite golden locket. “You like it? My grandparents shipped it to me, it arrived yesterday.” She told them, passing it around for each of the friends to see.

“Wow, Gwen, these pictures of you are amazing! The resemblance is uncanny.” Megan exclaimed the other girls agreed.

“This is very pretty.” Daphne gushed.

Fitted inside the locket were two shots of a beaming Gwen, one as an infant and the other taken on the eve of her 15^th birthday.

“Tha---” smack bam, boom,

 “Whoa, what was that?” Alex squealed, as they rushed outside to check what the commotion was.

Standing half a kilometre away, the girls could just make out the outlines of two boys aiming and firing water balloons at the tree house using slingshots.

“Oh no, it’s my pesky brothers, Max and Adrian,” Gwen groaned, “they were supposed to spend the weekend at Aunt Elizabeth’s place. I guess they’re back a day earlier than decided. Hang on, let me call mom and dad… Great, there are no signals here. I’ll be right back.” She said, shoving her phone in her pocket and climbing down the weaving ladder.

“Daph, let me see that locket again.” Sophie said, heading to the refreshment table to pour herself a drink. 

“Yeah, sure. Here.” A look of confusion crossed Daphne’s face as she reached into her pocket to pull it out.

Alex sighed and fixed her friend with a look of disdain. “You lost it, didn’t you?” She said, all too familiar with her mate’s habit of losing things.

“I didn’t lose it, I just misplaced it!” Daphne squeaked.

“What happened?” Megan asked, coming over to join the conversation after getting off the phone with her mom.

“You did what?” She whispered, after Alex had relayed what had happened. 

“Guys, I’m back. Lucky for you, mom and dad weren’t too thrilled after the stunt the Dweebs pulled, so after a lot of debating, I got them grounded for the week. Let’s celebrate!” Gwen joyously told them, fixing a slanted picture on the wall beside her. Turning around and seeing the look on her friends’ faces made her stop in her tracks and do a double take. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I grow horns or something?” She laughed, weaving her way between them to the refreshments table. Always the logical one in the group, Sophie was confused at the whirlwind of emotions she saw. Alex, the book nerd, was busy biting her nails, she did that when she was scared. Daphne, the emotional one, was silently crying with a tears streaming down her pretty face. Megan, the tough one, was busy cracking her knuckles and staring off into space.  

“She’s back, how do we get the locket now?” Daphne whispered.

“Yeah, we’re screwed. Should we just tell her the truth?” Megan suggested.

“And tell her what? ‘Sorry, we lost your grandparents present for you, but great outfit though?'” Alex said, rolling her eyes.

“Great idea, we should definitely do that.” Megan countered sarcastically.

“Guys, guys, stop bickering, focus!” Sophie interjected. 

“Right, sorry Alex, I got frustrated.” Megan apologized, squeezing her friend’s hand.

“Apology accepted, no biggie.”

After some thought, Daphne stated, “How about you guys,’’ she pointed towards Sophie and Alex, “distract Gwen, while we,” pointing at herself and Megan, “get the locket back?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Alex said, Sophie and Megan agreeing.

 “What are you guys talking about, and where are they going?” Gwen questioned, holding a glass of lemonade and making her way back to them.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” Alex assured her, her childish impulse kicking in, “Great outfit, though.”

Unable it to keep it in any longer, Sophie burst out laughing.

More confused than ever, Gwen sighed as she said, “I need better friends.”

Falling on the cushions and gesturing the cousins to have a seat in front of her, Gwen took a moment before she spoke, “You know, I’ve been thinking; you guys mean the world to me and I’m so happy that I got to spend the day with you. Plus, I know you would never hurt or lie to me. I don’t how to repay you. This was literally the best day ever.”

Sophie felt a sharp tug at her heart, she glanced over and saw her cousin close to tears. Making eye contact with Alex, she nodded.

Composing herself as best as she could, she said, “G, we have to tell you something.” 

 Her eyes downcast, Alex nodded.

“Spill already,” Gwen said, noticing the look of sadness plastered on each of the cousins’ faces, she put two and two together. “Wait, please, don’t tell me you guys didn’t lose the locket, did you?” When neither of them replied, she exploded, “Well? Tell me, now please!”

Never seeing her soft-spoken friend in such a fit of rage, Sophie was taken quite aback. Gently placing her hand on Gwen’s arm, she tried and failed to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Enraged, Gwen rubbed her eyes and muttered, “Some friends you are, how in the world do you lose a locket? Well, what are you standing around for? Find it!” She bellowed.

A soft rustling from outside told them that Daphne and Megan were coming back upstairs.

“No luck finding the- Oh, hey, Gwen. Uh… love the outfit?” Daphne stammered.

Behind her, Alex pointed at Gwen’s back and mouthed something.

“Oh, so game over huh?” Megan admitted, “Now you know what horrible friends we are.” 

 “Yeah, I messed up, and I know apologizing is far from it, but I’m sorry. I feel like a horrible friend.” Daphne’s voice grew louder. “But, they ” she said, pointing at her friends, “stood up for me, so now I’m going to do the same for them. If we’re walking out of this tree house, we’re walking out together. Congratulations, Gwen, you’ve just lost all your friends. Let’s leave guys, it’s clear we’re not welcome here anymore.” Daphne finished, turning her back.

“Oh, that was rich, could you give that speech again? I forgot to get it on camera.”

Aghast, the friends were quite in shock with what they were witnessing.

Kneeling on the floor, clutching her ribs, was a delirious Gwen. Seeing their gaping faces only made her laugh harder. 

After getting her heart rate back to normal she explained what had happened.

It turned out; Gwen had ordered duplicate lockets through her grandparents. While the girls were outside, Gwen had stuffed the locket Daphne had left on the floor underneath a loose floorboard, then rushed outside to join the girls. Convincing Daphne to return the locket back to her, she made her way back home to complain about the boys.

“I’m sorry for the way I yelled at you guys, no hard feelings yeah?” Gwen finished, looking at her friends.

“Oh, definitely, I knew you were faking it the whole time.” Megan answered, winking at Gwen, reaching over and squeezing her knee.

“But, I’m confused, I saw the locket on the ground, how did it disappear when we went downstairs to get it?” Daphne asked, scratching her head. 

“Oh, that. Well, I obviously knew what you were getting, so I told Max to grab it and go.”

“And he ACTUALLY DID that?”

“I promised him five bucks for it, so why wouldn’t he?”

“Well played Gwen, well played.” 

After some silence, Alex asked, “So, where is the other locket?”

“Oh, it’s right here.” Gwen announced, fishing it out of her pocket.

“I see. Now we can all admit that this was the BEST party ever.” Daphne exclaimed, the rest agreeing with her.

Glancing out, Sophie commented, “The sun’s setting, I guess we’d better leave now.”

“Agreed.” Daphne, Alex and Megan chimed in.

“Before you guys leave, I’d like to say something,” Gwen said, leading them to the door. “I think we all learnt an important lesson today, we make mistakes, and it’s easy to lie about it, but it takes true courage to stand up for yourself and tell the truth even when no one is there to support you. And I think you guys did that superbly. Thank you for making this day count.” She said, hugging each of them.

In unison, they all said, “Because its all for one, and one for all!”