The next day, after school, instead of walking back to Roxy's house calmly and casually as usual, the trio was sprinting as fast as they could. They had to see if anything was damaged! Once they turned the corner and ran another twenty-five feet or so, they dashed behind Roxy's house and burst through the gate, just like Major did the previous day. Caleb climbed up into the treehouse, Roxy close behind, while Leah stopped to close the gate. Then she, too, climbed the wooden ladder into the treehouse and helped her friends who were already rooting through every nook of their precious little home.

Thankfully, the project had been untouched, but other things definitely weren't.

Just as Leah opened the door of the mini-fridge, she cried, "Some of our drinks are missing!"

Caleb pointed out, rummaging through the snack box, "And so are some of our snacks!"

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted her!" Roxy yelled, stamping her foot on the wooden floor. It made the treehouse shudder. "What should we do?" Leah placed a firm hand on her friend's shoulder, quietly placating her.

Caleb stood up and closed the lid of the snack box. He narrowed his eyes and grumbled, "She probably smuggled them in the bag she brought. We should confront her about it."

Leah gave a small nod in agreement. "Yes. She should know she doesn't have free reign in our treehouse." She placed her hands on her hips, adopting a rather scary look.

Roxy's hair fell around her face as she looked down at the floor, noticeably upset. "I shouldn't have invited her over here," she said quietly. She then sank into a cushion on the floor.

Leah put an arm over Roxy's shoulders and said, "There's no time for that. It could've been worse, and we can always buy more food if we do enough chores. We can't change the past, so let's not mope around about it and change the future instead!"

Roxy looked up. "You're right, thank you, Leah."

Aisling arrived pretty soon. Once everyone got the supplies set up, the three asked Aisling about the stolen items.

Aisling's eyes widened. That was the strongest expression she showed them on her face the whole time they'd known her. "Stolen items? I never stole anything! I know how special this place is to you guys!"

Caleb looked skeptical as a tenseness filled the air around the four. "I heard things like this have happened before, so I find that hard to believe," he replied, narrowing his eyes. Leah and Roxy nodded with the same look on their faces.

Aisling's mouth fell open in pure disbelief. Her eyes no longer glinted with surprise, but with anger. "You-you believe those rumors?" Her hands curled into fists at her sides, knuckles whitening. 

The trio looked at each other, perplexed and angry. Is this a manipulative trick she uses?

"You mean it's not true?" inquired Leah. She was pretty doubtful as she tugged on the ruffles of her skirt. She wondered what Aisling would say to that.

Aisling shook her head, sending her hair flying around her head like a snowstorm. "You shouldn't believe rumors unless there is proof they are true. But of course you guys would jump to conclusions!"

Roxy was skeptical, too. Aisling didn't have feelings on her face, so she wondered if she was telling the truth or hiding it. "What about when you ripped up Greg's math worksheet?" she challenged. "Or when you ruined Isla's relationship with Jordan?" The air in the treehouse tightened even more as the argument got worse. The distant birdsong stopped, as if the birds who were singing were trying to listen in on what was happening.

Aisling blinked, then her eyebrows drew together with an unidentifiable emotion. "I did not do that! Greg hated me because I kept telling him the answers he wrote were incorrect (which they were). He told me that he would get his revenge, but I was only trying to help him. He tore his own worksheet right before my eyes and framed me for doing it to get me into trouble and separate me from him! He could've just asked to be put in another group!

"No one believed my recount of the event, no one searched for evidence or anything! Everyone only believes Greg because he's popular and no one cares to consider the perspective of the 'timid mouse'! He keeps saying that I put the blame on him because he did not want to admit his defeat and lose his precious reputation! None of the teachers tried to stop it. 

"And Isla was the one who ruined her party! She invited me, and but rigged my seat and my games and she didn't mean for Jordan to sit there instead and it isn't fair!"

There was a silence as the echo of Aisling's raised voice rang and the trio took in what she just said. The only sound was of birdsong, which suddenly started again as if nothing happened. The three realized how much they must have hurt her. Aisling said those words firmly; she didn't whine like a toddler snitching on another for stealing a toy. With that, they all knew Aisling was telling the truth.

"I'm so sorry." Leah whispered finally. She walked over to Aisling and put an arm over her shoulders. The girl stiffened, then slackened, closing her eyes. "You're right, no one should judge you like that. We were so worried all this time that you would ruin our project since we believed the rumors," she sighed sadly, "You're a great person, Aisling, really."

"It's okay, I guess. You didn't really do anything. You just listened to what people told you, which I get." Aisling said to the trio, "I would do that, too." She then looked at Caleb, and raised a slender eyebrow at him. "Is that why you didn't want me to get my water bottle?"

Caleb flushed at being called out, but nodded. There was a resigned silence for a moment, then he broke it.

"If you weren't the one who stole our food, then who did?" he asked, changing the subject.

Aisling shrugged, looking at the floor, deflated. "I haven't got a clue."

"Well, we're gonna find out somehow!" Roxy declared, speaking up for the first time since Aisling's admission, and with more fire in her voice than before. "We can take a break from the project, it's due in two weeks and we're already in a great spot. Wanna help us find the thief, Aisling?"

Aisling's eyes lit up. "I'd love to!" She looked around the room at the three. "Where should we start?"

"Well, what better way to find a thief than to catch him in the act?" Caleb asked. The girls listened intently. "My dad might have a surveillance camera or two in our basement. I could ask for one, make up an excuse to use it, and we'd catch the thief that way! Then we will have actual evidence to back up our suspicions," he said, glancing at Aisling. He knew Aisling wanted to smile at Caleb's connection to her story, but her eyes just glittered instead.

"Great idea!" said the girls in unison.

"Well, I'd better get going then! We have a mystery to solve! You three should stay here and watch the treehouse," Caleb replied.

"Good luck!" said Leah with a smile, "But what will be your excuse?"

"I'll say it's for a science project," Caleb replied with a shrug as he made his way down the ladder. "He doesn't have the time to pay attention to my school life, so he wouldn't bat an eye."

"Let's hope this works!" said Roxy, beaming at her friends.

In a blink, Caleb was racing down the street on his bike (he'd left it at Roxy's house and kept forgetting to take it back home). His short jet black hair was waving behind him, as was the orange shirt he was wearing. Leah and Roxy gave Aisling a better tour of the treehouse and Aisling gave some great ideas of what could be added to it someday. While doing that, they hid some of the snacks under some loose floorboards so they would be safe from the thief. The rest of the drinks and snacks were left in their original spots as bait.

In around twenty minutes, Caleb was back, his hair windblown, leaning his bike against the fence and taking three cameras (unlike what he'd assumed earlier) out from the basket attached to the front of it.

He called up to the girls from the ground, "I'm really good at persuading people!"

The three girls looked down at him, all beaming, except for Aisling, of course.

"You're truly awesome, Caleb!" Roxy called.

"What she said!" Leah replied through a huge grin.

A smile tried to peek at the corners of Aisling's lips, but she did not let it fully bloom. She flashed two thumbs ups at Caleb before quickly disappearing inside the treehouse.

Caleb was up there in a few seconds, having Leah and Roxy hold the cameras for him so he could climb up more easily.

"They're fully charged too!" informed Caleb once he'd hoisted himself up onto the platform. He stood up and brushed off his jeans.

"Yes!" both Leah and Roxy yelled through their grins. Aisling's eyes softened with approval.

Aisling took the cameras and hid them well, in shelves and in unnoticed corners. She connected them to her phone so she was able to watch the footage, and so did everyone else.

"We'll start recording right before I leave," she ordered. "Until then, we'll keep a close eye on the treehouse."

The trio nodded at the girl, still beaming. They were impressed with how great of a person Aisling actually turned out to be. They silently agreed that she would join them on all of their future adventures together.

_ \ | / _

Word Count: 1617