Geogirl. Kelly Rysten

two,” I said.

      “Are you sure?” Twiggy asked. “You still need to sleep, you know.”

      “I’ll sleep on Thursday,” I said.

      “Whipped cream?” she asked.

      I looked down at my muffin top.

      “No, just the caffeine please.”

      Twiggy didn’t order coffee. He ordered a huge cookie. Sugar might help, too, I thought but then remembered my muffin top.

      “So what’s this contest?” I asked. “Are you seriously going to do it?”

      “Yeah! My dad’s got a fishing trip lined up and he said he’d leave the key under the eaves. He’ll never know if I’m there or not. I don’t really care about a cruise, but just think… geocaching an island overseas! Dang! I’ve never been on an island except when Dopey dared me to swim the lake at the park. All I found over there was tons of goose droppings. It made me glad the only way back was another swim.”

      “Geocaching in the Bahamas does sound adventurous,” I admitted. “What makes you think you can win?”

      “Because,” he said, “I have the best geocaching partner.”

      “Oh cool! Who’s going with you?”

      “Uh… you?” he said hopefully.

      “There’s no way my mom would let me do that. Where is it? Where will we stay? What time will I get to sleep at night? Is there drinking, drugs, speeding, kissing or anything beyond holding hands involved? Those are all questions I have to have an answer for to get permission to go with you.”

      “Gabby, you’re over eighteen. You’re over twenty-one. You are old enough to do whatever you want.”

      “But I am not old enough to be disrespectful and do something that would send my parents into a worried, heart wrenching wait for their precious child to return from a wild fling with an irresponsible boy. My mom makes out with my dad on dates. She knows what cars are for.”

      “It’s a wonder they had four kids.”

      “Twig! What a thing to say!”

      “Well, it’s true isn’t it?”

      “No! Well… I admit they are a little strict.”

      “A little? You’re the only student I know who has to keep a chart proving they brushed their teeth every night. You don’t even lie on it! You could just as easily sign the little box even if you don’t brush your teeth.”

      “That would be lying.”

      Twiggy and I had this conversation often. It wasn’t that he was a chronic liar or anything, it’s just that his parents didn’t keep track of him as carefully, and to be honest he could really use somebody to keep him from doing things he’d be sorry for later, which gave me an idea.

       Chapter 2

      I got a B on my final. In the classes I liked better I got A’s just barely. I was a good student, but I wasn’t destined for greatness.

      “Hello?” my mom said when she answered the land line. I sure wish my parents would come up to speed with technology.

      “Hi, Mom!” I said. “I did pretty good on my grades.”

      “That’s wonderful, honey. Your dad and I are so proud of you.”

      Akk! She could sure pour it on thick.

      “Thanks, Mom. Hey, I need some advice.”

      “Of course, honey, that’s what mothers are for.”

      “I have this friend. We do this fun hobby together. And well, Twiggy has this bright idea to enter a contest. It involves this hobby, but it also involves some travel. I worry that Twiggy will fall asleep at the wheel or something and we’re really the best of friends. We study together and hang out at the coffee shop. If you had a friend who just wanted to do something a tiny bit adventurous don’t you think you should go along to, like, make sure they didn’t fall off a cliff or get a speeding ticket or fall asleep and run off the road? We have so many similar interests. I can crank up the car stereo and do impromptu karaoke to keep us awake. I’ll even teach Twiggy some hymns if I can go. It would just mean being a little late coming home from college, but I’d be there for Meredith’s birthday.” There, I thought that covered most of her questions.

      “What is this hobby?” she asked.

      “It’s called geocaching!” I said brightly. “We look for hidden treasures.”

      “Like time capsules?” she asked.

      “Yeah!” I said only lying a little, teensy bit. They were time capsules of a sort. They just represented a time very recent.

      “Where are these time capsules?” she asked.

      “Oh, all over the place! There’s a few right here on campus! There are a few thousand of them in town.”

      “Really!”

      “Yeah!”

      “And where will this travel take you?” she asked.

      “I don’t know! That’s half the fun! You see we go online and they have a treasure map.” I felt a little guilty leading her on about the treasure or time capsule idea. The treasure was worthless and the time capsule was only half true. But she could understand the idea of looking on a treasure map for a time capsule. “The map gives us the coordinates to find the capsule.”

      “The coordinates?”

      “Yeah! The longitude and latitude. We load the coordinates into Twiggy’s GPS and it leads us to the capsules.”

      “Wow, you are learning a thing or two at college.”

      “Yeah, did you know the coordinates are broken down into degrees, minutes and seconds? We’re given the coordinates down to three decimal places which is about three feet, so there is no way to get lost!” I crossed my fingers hoping she would believe me. I wasn’t quite sure if it was that close but it could be.

      “And this Twiggy, is she usually a responsible student?”

      “Oh! Yeah! Better grades than me!” Without studying, I added mentally. “We study together a lot and I’m sure my grades have improved.”

      “When will you be home?”

      “The eleventh!” I said. As long as I had answers and sounded excited maybe I could sway her.

      “That’s a long time. Where will you be staying?”

      “We’ll get reservations. I still have enough money for a night or two. Maybe Twiggy’s parents will let us have a slumber party at their house.”

      My parents were so, so, so traditional. I had to think traditionally when I talked to my mom about things like this.

      “Is there any partying involved? Any drinking?”

      “Coffee, tea and soda.”

      “Drugs?”

      “Only Tylenol if we drink too much coffee.”

      “Sex?”

      “With Twiggy?” I asked.

      “With anybody!” she almost gasped.

      “Mom! What kind of a girl do you think I am?”

      “I’ll think…”

      “Thanks Mom! Oh I just knew you’d see it my way! I’ll be home in time to help Meredith get ready for her sweet sixteen! I can’t wait to tell Twiggy!”

      And I hung up. They sure didn’t know what a schemer of a kid they raised.