The Secrets of Paramount Hills. Kalayla Seehafer

he asked as politely as possible.

      “Yeesh, dude I haven’t even got a menu!!” Chris snapped. The guy’s eyes went wide and he bowed clumsily and said,

      “Yes sir, right away sir!” The man scurried away. I laughed and set my head down on the table.

      “I can’t believe this is working!” Chris whispered. I laughed again and then walked out Molly looking like a disaster.

      “Get me… OUT OF HERE!!!” she whisper-yelled and handed us menus. She had food in her hair, on her apron, on her shoes, on her face. What did she do? Food fight already? She glared at me then walked away. I picked up the menu to see that for celebrities things were free. Good to know, all you can eat buffet tonight! I scanned the menu, and noticed something weird:

       The Regal Train

       Lunch/Dinner

       Pot Roast-a slowly cooked roast covered in out best gravy

       Spaghetti-authentic Italian spaghetti made by our Italian chefs

      BLT-Cooked to your liking bacon, w ith fresh tomato, and lettuce between your choice of bread

       Fish and Chips-authentic Alaskan cod, cooked in our special beer batter, and with our deep-fried to perfection fries

       Ask your server for specials

       Dessert

       Creme Brulee-a decadent vanilla custard with perfectly roasted sugar on top topped with your choice of fruit

       Ice Cream Sundae-a sundae with up to three scoops of your choice of ice cream, topped with up to three toppings of your choice, all in a crystal bowl

       Triple Decker Chocolate Cake-enjoy this moist rich cake, with alternating layers of white chocolate frosting and dark chocolate and milk chocolate

      Something was off about this menu

      “Chris hand me a napkin!” I snapped. He quickly looked around for one but came up empty-handed. I grabbed his wrist and a pen I had on me and began to write furiously.

      “Ouch! I don’t want a permanent tattoo!!” he snapped back. Suddenly Kaylee appeared out of nowhere.

      “Hey, K.I.D.S member in the aisle next to you two seats back,” she whispered as she put down an unordered creme brulee and ice cream sundae. Chris smiled and began to dig in. I took his arm back to read what I had written.

      Run now Get off the train now

      I looked back at the menu, and scanned the letters. A few selected letters were underlined, to make the message above.

      I gulped and looked where Kaylee told me too. There sat a guy facing us eating spaghetti messily. He was huge. He had broad shoulders and bulging muscles. A wispy mustache caught his spaghetti. I gulped. He looked right at our table. Kaylee was on our aisle still and went a few tables down. I took a deep breath.

      “Chris, don’t look but 5 o’clock is a K.I.D.S member. We need to get off now,” I ordered with urgency in my voice. Chris looked in his direction, but I dug my nails into his arm.

      “I said don’t look, stupid!” I seethed. Chris and I casually got up and began to walk past. The man sprang up and grabbed Chris. The passengers screamed and Molly came rushing through the door. I kicked the guy and he released Chris.

      “Let’s get outta here!” I blurted and we ran. We ran through all the train cars, the man chasing after us, my wig flying off, shoving people out of the way and food flying every way. The French ticketmaster was after us too.

      “Zeez are not zee Crisp kidz! Seize them!” he called. They chased us through the train cars until we came to the door. I flung open the door, teetering on the edge. As I fell forward, barely caught myself and landed on the opposing platform. I flung open the door and ripped the tarp off the Corvette. I hopped in and Chris, Kaylee, and Molly in right after me.

      “Now what?” Molly asked nervously. I looked at the GPS to see where we were about an hour’s drive from the Empire State building. I don’t know why-probably because he’s a) stupid and b) adreline rush, but Chris gunned the gas, sending us through the train car, and CRASH!

      Too Much PINK!

      I opened my eyes to bright lights. Gosh was I in a laboratory? I sat up with a huge headache to find myself on a gray couch. I rubbed my head and realized there was a small beam of sunlight. I got up.

      “OUCH!! Mind my FACE much!!!” Chris yelled. I jumped back onto the couch, as he sat up holding his head. He looked around just as confused as I was. I turned to the right of the couch and saw Kaylee sitting there flicking through the TV channels.

      “KAYLEE WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING??? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE THE HECK WE ARE!!!” I yelled so loud that the whole world heard. Kaylee smiled nervously.

      “Um… well after the Corvette was destroyed,” she started, but I cut her off.

      “DESTROYED!!!!?” I screamed. Chris laughed. I whipped towards him.

      “You destroyed a 60,000 dollar Corvette?!” I cried. He thought about it for a second.

      “Yep, pretty much!” he exclaimed. Before I could whack the crap out of him, Kaylee continued.

      “Well, I woke up and apparently this lady brought us here or something. She works at a hospital, but we were fine, so we just came here,” Kaylee replied, turning off the TV. I rubbed my forehead again and realized there was a big bump.

      “Gosh, we’re beat up,” I commented, noticing scratches on Chris and Kaylee’s, face, hands and arms. Then out of nowhere (okay actually out of the hallway behind the couch) came a medium height blonde. She wore a doctor’s uniform and chatted on the phone a mile a minute. She waved at us and smiled, and then took a notepad out of the drawer and began to scribble frantically.

      “No… no, she has a 3:30 appointment! Why are you asking me this? (pause) No, I’m not your secretary! (pause) You can’t fire me. I’m your BOSS! (longer pause) ARGH! You know I can fire you! (pause) Did you… did you just hang up on me!?” she yelled into the phone. Okay, this was way too weird. She set her phone down and smiled.

      “Hi so sorry, I’m Ellen or Ellie for short. So where are you guys from?” she asked. I gulped. I hesitated to answer, but Kaylee jabbed me in the ribs.

      “Well, I guess uh… Chris here was driving super reckless last night and we crashed! Good job Chris!” I seethed, punching him.

      “Ouch!” he mumbled. Ellie nodded.

      “Well, that makes sense I was in the ambulance that picked you guys up! But you’re all good, fell on a mound of dirt!” she exclaimed, and checked her watch.

      “Oh, crap, almost late for work. There’s a jar of emergency money that you guys are more than welcome to use… I mean take it all if you want, I got more than enough in the bank! It’s in the cupboards above the sink. The key is in the bottom of the trash can. And there’s a great bagel shop a few blocks away, okay byyyye!” she called, speeding through her words, and rushed out the door. Wow. That was… just wow.

      “Um… guys,” Kaylee breathed looking around. I was deep in thought to even hear her. Okay so we were all probably hungry, so we'll stop by that bagel shop. But then from there, where do we go?

      “CHLOE MOLLY’S MISSING!!!!” Kaylee screamed right in my face. I snapped back to reality.

      “No, she’s right there!” I exclaimed, pointing to a pile of blankets. Wait… Molly would never sleep on the floor. Oh gosh… Molly was actually missing.

      “She