Althena Book 2

14. Ride

Kayode passes out stuff when we get done. "I know nobody likes talking about the fundraiser, but you all like doing stuff. It is that time of year. Does anyone have any trip ideas to work towards?"

"Camping."

"We can rent the cabin again, but that's not very expensive. We already have the money for that. We need something we can set a goal for."

Ami's hand shoots up. "Spend the night with elephants."

"I can check into a zoo overnight trip, but I don't think they let people sleep with the elephants."

Elaine nods. "They will roll over, and you will be very flat."

I sit straight up. "Maybe we could sleep in an aquarium."

Ami points at me. "There is a huge one at the zoo. We could sleep in that building and be surrounded by fish."

"That is a good idea, girls. I still need a few more. That one might end up being too expensive."

Saray shrugs her shoulders. "Theme park. The one with the rides."

"Excellent idea." She writes it down. "Let's try for one more."

"A resort on the ocean for a weekend. We could relax and lay on the beach."

"That's probably more expensive than renting out the aquarium."

Hanorah puts her hand up. "What about a college stay? We could stay in the dorms like real students for a night. Maybe get a tour and stay for a lecture or something."

"Great idea. I will check the prices of these and get back with you. We'll come up with a goal for the sales. This year we are selling frozen foods." She hands out a bunch of stuff.

Everyone flips to the prizes.

"I NEED PANDA PAJAMAS." Ami screams out of nowhere.

Elaine nods. "The prize theme is pandas this year, and it is geared towards camping items. If you can sell 200, you get all of them. And there is some cute stuff, so try your best."

We go upstairs together. Cyrus looks at the ceiling. "What now?"

We hand over the papers. Mike rubs his face. "Can't we make a donation?"

Lila screams, "WE NEED THE PRIZES."

Conner comes in and takes someone's paper. "Darkmoon already bought 10,000 boxes of cookies. We're out of fundraisers for the year."

"They do have a donated item, Mike. It goes to a food bank." Cyrus shows it to him. "$10. How many do you need to sell for the prizes?"

"200 each."

"7 of you. 14,000. You can put me down for 200 donated items on each of them. Hang on and I'll get you a check."

Drogon comes around the corner laughing. "I'll donate 14,000 to the club. But please don't send any more fundraisers here. We would rather donate to the groups than buy stuff."

"WE NEED PRIZES."

"The group keeps all the money from a donation. They only keep a fraction of the money from fundraisers."

"BUT IT'S PANDA STUFF." Ami shoves the prize paper at his face.

"Always the damn prizes." Cyrus bursts out laughing.

Lila and I sit at the table with the boys to eat dinner and an omega comes in. "One of the girls is trying to leave on foot. I'm not sure how safe that is."

"We'll get her." Lila pulls me up.

We catch Saray in the driveway. "What are you doing?"

"I forgot to ask for a ride from someone."

"We can take you home. Let's eat first though. I'm starving." I pull her back in with us. "We're going to take her home after food."

Drogon shakes his head. "It's going to be dark. We can send her by helicopter. You don't need to be driving around on roads you don't know at night."

"That works."

He smiles at Saray. "Do you go to Green Valley as well?"

"Yes, I live in the district."

Drogon's smile falls off his face. Mike noticed it but nobody else did. The omega's put some white chicken chili in front of us. I dive in. I am starving. "This is amazing."

Lila shakes her head. "You're allowed to breathe."

"I'm hungry though."

"Do you guys not feed her?"

Conner laughs. "We haven't had mountains of school food all day."

"The school food isn't even that good. But this chili is." Lila shovels it in too.

"Your school food is amazing. You would starve to death in Crystal Falls. The food they gave us looked like mush. Do you like the school food here, Saray?"

She takes a break from shoving the chili in. "I usually pack. It's not my favorite either."

I dip my bread in the chili and take a bite. Suddenly, I remember that I used to say that too. I swallow everything in my mouth at once. It hurts going down. I'm surprised I didn't choke. Then I look at Drogon.

He waves his fingers at me, so I don't talk. I want to ask him how much the tuition is and what it means that she's inside the district. I keep my mouth shut instead.

"I guess I'm the only one who likes it."

"I like it." I sit back and stretch. "I wish they had tacos though."

Lila gives me a weird look. "They do. You have to make them."

"What?"

Conner laughs. "The nacho bar has taco shells in it. You could make a taco."

"Well, I know what I'm having tomorrow."

We sit around the table laughing and finish eating.

"Will your parents be upset that you ate here, Saray? I didn't even think about it." Mike taps his spoon on the table. He knows something is up.

"No. My mom works late. I pick up my little brother from the neighbor when I get home."

The spoon drops. "Put together a big bowl of chili and some bread for Saray to take with her. And get the helicopter ready."

"Yes, sir."

He smiles at her. "You won't have to make anything for your brother this way. It should save you some time. It's getting late."

"Thank you."

"Any time. Lila, go home. I'm positive you have a home somewhere."

She cracks up laughing. "Yea, yea. I'm going. I'll see you all tomorrow. Come on, Saray. I'll walk you out and show you where the helicopter is."

"Thank you."

They leave and we hear the door shut.

"What the hell was that?" Cyrus is staring at Drogon.

"Yea, something wasn't right." Conner gets another piece of pie.

Drogon nods. "Green Valley doesn't have buses like normal schools. The students are shipped in with helicopters, drivers, and some drive. The district is very small. Students have to apply and be approved from outside the district. The actual district is only for kids who can walk to it. But the tuition is still the same. It's a lot of money. However, there is a city law in effect. Any student who lives in a school district whose family falls below a certain poverty rate attends that school for free."

Cyrus looks at me. "And what happened to you? I thought you were going to choke."

"She said she packs because she doesn't like the food. I used to say that too. It was a lie, so people didn't know I couldn't afford to eat the school food."

"Damn. Do you know anything about her?"

"No. She's a junior. She didn't say she was doing any extra stuff. Everyone else did."

Drogon nods. "Extras cost money. The school uniforms are part of the tuition. She would get those free. I'll talk to Penn tomorrow. See how many kids are there under that law and how many of them have money in their lunch accounts."

I shake my head. "You can't call her out like that, Drogon. It would be so embarrassing."

"I'm only going to ask how many and check their accounts. I won't say her name. It honestly can't be that many. The district is small."

Cyrus crosses his arms. "This might be a bigger problem than Green Valley. You'll want to involve the advisors. You could have kids who can't afford to eat all over the city."

Drogon rubs his face. "That's true. We don't know how big this problem is."

Mike picks me up. "I'll help with it tomorrow. I'm getting this one in bed. Maybe she'll sleep tonight."

"I probably need another day off."

They laugh and he carries me to bed.