8th Grade

"Oh… crap." Max breathed and rubbed his head, looking around the corner store- or, what was left of it. Shelves were tossed over and bags upon bags of chips and other goodies lay smashed and crushed on the floor. He was almost scared to move from his spot as there was shattered glass everywhere, and he already was pretty sure he had a few pieces in his arm.

From where he sat near the freezer, Isaac was across the way. The medium stood in one place, jaw slowly dropping the longer he glanced around the room and the more it began to sink in.

The corner store was destroyed and the reality of the situation was starting to weigh heavily on Max's shoulders.

"OH MY GOD, ISAAC! WHAT DO WE DO?!" Max stood and began screaming, hands on either side of his head. His baseball cap was long forgotten somewhere in the corner store (and he was not about to look for it in the chance that a wall may collapse should he try to move much of anything).

"I DON'T KNOW!" Isaac leaned back against the window, one hand pressed to his forehead, either in an attempt to wipe the sweat from his forehead or slow the spinning that was wrecking his mind. Whatever the case, it didn't settle Max's heart at all. They looked left, then right, then left again, then finally at each-other. Their hands fell limply at their sides.

"AH!"

"AH!"

They began screaming at each-other, not entirely sure what they were trying to accomplish.

"AH!"

"AH!"

"STOP!" Max extended his arms and waved them back and forth like a fan. Isaac stopped screaming at the command, instead pausing to pant and crouch down until he caught his breathe. "Okay. My Dad is going to be home in one hour. I think…" Max placed his hands on his hips and glanced from side to side. "I think we can fix all of this by the time he gets home!"

The entire counter fell with a cloud of smoke, sending the cash register straight to the floor with a 'clank' and the accompanying sound of it popping open. A few dollars flew in the smoke, dissipating Max's false sense of hope and security. His shoulder fell just like all of his hopes and dreams. "Okay well I'm thinking we climb the tree up to the roof then we just jump- go ahead and jump! Quick and painless, ya feel me?"

Isaac exhaled, rolled his eyes, and slapped the back of Max's knee. "We need to be smart about this. Let's stop for a few moments and think." He'd sobered from his breakdown with an amazing quickness about him. Max must have been freaking out enough for the both of them. "Is there any way we can replace all of this before your dad gets home?"

Max frowned and thought for a good long while, leaving Isaac to kick up some dirt and think their situation through. Nothing particularly normal ever happened to the Activity Club. That wasn't to say they were annoyed by their constant battles against mischievous spirits- just that they weren't surprised when one came knocking on their front door- or more literally, the entire corner store Max's family lived in. The day's surprise had been an obnoxiously hyper and hungry spirit- a fox spirit with ears the size of two aisles- and yet they'd still only noticed its presence once they heard a shelf fall. The chase had been more or less exhausting and probably not worth all of the damage it dealt. In the end, the fox spirit trotted out of the store like a Pomeranian Lapdog with a diamond-studded collar on its neck, leaving them in the shambles that was Max's home. "I mean, we have an entire new stock in the back anyway, but still!" Max turned his arm to get as close a look as he could to his elbow. With hesitance, he tried to pull some of the glass out of his arm, wincing when he realized he'd definitely need plyers. Isaac nodded and carefully stepped over the pile of glass he'd (luckily) landed next to and not on top of. The spirit had nasty hind legs- that was for sure.

Eventually he found his way to the door that led to the storage room. Isaac held his hand out, opening and closing his hand to gesture for the keys. Max groaned as he gave up on another piece of glass and tossed it Isaac's way. Isaac caught the set easily and went to stick it in the door- only to realize there were like ten.

"What the-? Max, your dad has one corner store, right?"

In the time it took for Isaac to realize opening a door was more difficult a task than it'd sounded, Max had somehow gotten one leg over his neck and was hopping in place (a little too closely to the pile of glass on the floor to be safe). Hearing his name, Max glanced away from his awkwardly-bent elbow and turned (tried to turn) to look at his friend. Isaac would have laughed had he not been so incredibly annoyed by the plethora of keys in his hands. "Oh, uh, yeah. Those are the keys to our bathrooms, bedrooms, the storage room, and a key for the kitchen."

"The kitchen?! Why do you need a key for the KITCHEN?!"

Max shrugged (as much as he could with his own leg over his shoulder) and hopped a little closer, trying desperately to get away from the glass that he was threatening to fall into, eyes wide and a drop of sweat rolling down his head. "I don't know!"

"MAX!"

"OKAY IT'S BECAUSE I SLEEPWALK AND OCCASIONALLY EAT ALL OF THE DAIRY PRODUCTS."

"MAX I DON'T CARE JUST TELL ME WHICH IS THE STORAGE ROOM KEY!"

"I DON'T KNOW! JUST TRY ALL OF THEM!"

Isaac irritatingly tossed the keys in the air and fumbled with them as he looked Max straight in the eyes, trying to make a point. "We don't exactly have enough time for me to do that!"

"Well you have enough time to argue with me about it!"

Isaac screamed and started shoving keys as fast as he could into the keyhole while Max unhooked his leg from its position.

First key was a letdown.

Second key was no better than the first.

Third key was just right.

Fourth key- wait!

Isaac yelped and fiddled around until he found the third key again- only to drop the entire chain and lose it again. Max sucked in his cheeks and grabbed the broom, attempting to pick up as much glass as he possibly could while Isaac tried desperately to pick the keys up. Much to their disdain, the glass was not coming up easily and Isaac continued dropping the keys every time he picked them up.

Max groaned and tossed the broom at Isaac's head, hitting the ginger and sending his face into the door. He nearly laughed at the short cry of pain he heard from his friend, but quickly sobered up when he remembered the intensity of the situation. "That's it! Switch! You sweep the floor and I'll find the dang key!"

Max's hands were much steadier with speed. He found the right key in seconds and managed to unlock the door without any further problems- until the door got stuck. Max pushed once. He pushed twice. He pushed a third time with as much strength as he could muster, but alas the door wouldn't come unstuck. The corners of Max's lips twitched downwards as he jiggled the knob repeatedly.

"Um, Isaac we have a- HOLY COW HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

Isaac stood in the middle of the store, glass swept away neatly and the dust and debris cleared away, leaving the floor shiny and clean. "What?" Max spread his arms and motioned to the entirety of the floor, to which Isaac shrugged and made a cloud in his other hand. "Wind powers, duh."

"I forgot you had those."

"Yeah."

Max turned towards the door and started trying to push against it. Every time he felt like he was getting somewhere, his shoes would slide against the tile of the floor and send him drifting downwards with no break. "The door's jammed. I can't get it open."

"I'm assuming you don't want it broken?"

"You'd be right to assume that, yes!"

There was the faint sound of one of Isaac's clouds fading away.

Almost ten minutes passed and the combined weight of the two spectrals had done nothing to the door. The wooden barrier stood true and strong. Max vaguely wondered how there wasn't a scratch on it, considering he was sure himself and Isaac were covered in splinters.

Exhausted, the two pulled away and sat on the floor, panting and giving the door dirty looks between breathes. "Max," Isaac sighed "I think we need to just take the thing down. We'll say a couple of hooligans smashed the freezer doors and the door to the storage room and we'll be fine."

Even with the lack of air in his lungs, Max managed to laugh. "Did you just use the words hooligans unironically?"

Isaac opened his mouth to retort, realized he had indeed used the word 'hooligan's unironically, and promptly shut his mouth. "Shut up."

"You are such an old man!"

"Max, am I shooting the door down or not?!"

"No!"

"So what are we going to do?"

"Sit here and hope our inevitable death is soon upon us- preferably upon us" Max checked his watch "in less than thirty minutes."

Isaac saw Max's face fall, but he knew it wasn't anything compared to what his face would look like when his father got home and discovered his dream store had been trashed. His own heart plummeted at the thought. Mister Puckett was a great man- a bit childish to be a father- but a great man nevertheless. There had to be something they could do, if not to save Max's dad the stress, but Max the guilt.

"Look" he sighed "maybe there's something else we can do? I don't know, some window in the back we can climb in and out of?"

Max shook his head and leaned back with his palms pressed flat against the tile floor. His cap hid his eyes for the most part, but Isaac could see how defeated he looked. He couldn't blame him. Disappointing a parent was a horrible feeling- one Isaac knew well. While he doubted there was ever a time Max's parents were disappointed in him, he didn't doubt that some sense of shame lingered with Max without an outside source. "If that door doesn't open, there's no getting in there. But if we smash it open, it'll cost my dad a fortune to fix- added onto the shattered glass and everything."

Everything was messed up. His dad would be home any minute and he couldn't do anything to fix up the store even a little. His dad would come home and either sit on his bed for hours contemplating his life choices or weep for a good day before finally getting anything done- after he jumped the hurdle of losing faith in the fresh start he'd hoped for. Max growled in frustration and grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a bag of marshmallows. With as much energy as he had left in him, he tossed it at the storage room door.

Much to their surprise, the wooden door opened as soon as the bag made an impact, slamming against the wall to its side. The spectral's jaws dropped slowly at first, then all at once their mouths were wide open.

"Are" Max's eye twitched "you" he clenched his fists "serious?!" He spread his arms wide, voice echoing in the otherwise empty store.

"Why did we think this was a good idea?!" Isaac's hand was outstretched behind them as they flew around the corner store, his wind sending them soring. On occasion they could feel the scooter lift up just a few inches, but the movement would still make their hearts jump. Max's hand tightened around the handles of their ride while his other hand stacked boxes and bags and cans on shelves, just as Isaac's free arm tightened around his waist. "Dad's gonna get here any second! We've gotta hurry!"

"So this is the best option?!"

"Do you have a better idea?!"

"You mean one that wouldn't potentially send our heads through a concrete wall?!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Then shut up!"

They came to the end of the aisle and Max made a sharp turn- sharp enough that they were riding tipped to the side for a good portion of the following lane. Isaac screeched and slowed the stream of wind for only a moment. When he realized his reaction was doing more harm than good by making them unbalanced, he sent an even stronger gust out of his palm. Max yelped at the change, but tossed pretzels and candies and sunglasses and bottles of glitter all the same.

They didn't hear the sliding doors open or the shuffling of plastic bags and content humming. Max's dad stepped through the threshold with tons upon tons of souvenirs in either hand. He tilted his head to the music he was humming, eyes shut as he embraced the smell of home. "Oh, son! I'm home!" A flash of color sped by him fast enough to spin him around. "Whoa!" Just as his butt hit the ground, he heard the screeching of wheels and what sounded like muffled cries from two boys.

When Max's dad opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Max kicking something away, successfully hiding it from sight. Both boys stood beside each-other, hand folded almost mysteriously behind their backs with smiles as wide and freaky as some of the cosplayers he'd seen at the comic convention. The parent sat up and rubbed his sore buttocks, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Isaac! It's nice to see you came to visit!" He glanced around their home with curious eyes, looking for a sign of whatever it might have been that was making the boys act so strangely. "Em, what did you two do while I was gone?"

"We cleaned the corner store-!"

"We tidied up the shelves-!"

They answered simultaneously, both looking at the other with a fear in their eyes. Max rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "We cleaned the store and fixed the shelves!"

"Oh, how nice of you boys!" As he went to stand, Isaac and Max shot each-other relieved glances, exhaling the air they'd been holding. "That must have been hard work, too! How would you boys like to share some of the ramen noodles I brought home? They're mystery flavored!"

"They have mystery flavors of ramen? That's a thing they make?" Isaac's eye twitched and Max's face went slightly green, a hand flying to his mouth. "No, I just can't read the labels so I have no idea what flavor any of these are!"

Max's father disappeared up the stairs, leaving Max and Isaac to wallow in pride. "I can't believe we just did that!"

"That was so awesome, man!"

"You were so cool!"

"Me? You're the reason we broke the sound barrier! Without you, that would have been impossible!"

"Impossible? Max, you're the one who had sick accuracy! I nearly sent us toppling over like ten times!"

The two sat and gushed over what they'd done for a long time (maybe ten minutes) before Max sighed and wrapped an arm around Isaac. While he was surprised at first, Isaac grinned ear-to-ear and returned the hug full-force, squeezing Max's shoulders. "Seriously, Sparky. I couldn't have done this without you. Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Max."

The two pulled away and followed Max's dad upstairs, kind of nervous about the ramen but not scared enough to reject it.

"So how long until he sees the glass is broken?"

"A week."

"A full week?"

Max returned Isaac's skeptical look with a cynical one.