Life on Earth was boring to Jandor Mason. He simply hated living on the small blue planet that floated idly in the universe without any phenomenal events to shake it out of its orbit every now and then. What was even worse was where Jandor lived. The town of Greengale was a tiny, barely noticeable dot on the map. It was very uninteresting, very unimportant, and very boring. Even the name seemed to symbolize boredom to Jandor. For 14 years, he lived an uneventful life in this small community.
Then, when he was 15 years old, Jandor decided that he was tired of this. So he formed the Action and Adventure Club. The sole purpose of the A&A club was to raise funds for new adventures every year. Then the members would come together to determine what adventure they would experience. For three years, Jandor had been the president of the A&A Club. There were now twenty members, and this year he was getting ready to go on his last trip with the group. Jandor was finishing his senior year in high school, and after this summer was over, he would be heading off to college, a prospect he loathed.
Action had been Jandor's whole life, and no one could question that he could endure the challenging experiences he undertook. At over 6 feet tall, he towered above most of his friends. He had short, tangled chestnut hair, and his brown eyes shined with the light of adventure. He spent hours exercising each week and practiced with his collection of medieval weapons as often as possible. Jandor also had many scars on his body. He could tell an exciting story to explain each one of them, but he never did. When asked he would always say, "You had to be there." Jandor felt that life became meaningless without challenges. To him, school wasn't enough of a challenge.
He had always been an honor student, but nothing seemed to compare to the thrill he received when climbing a mountain, or white water rafting, or competing in a medieval combat tournament. The whole situation seemed rather unfair to him. All his life he tried to do something challenging, but nothing ever satisfied his adventurous spirit. Now it was time to "get serious about his future," a phrase his mother had used several times, but he felt that if he stopped now he might never have another adventure. He thought about this as he drove to the Guardman household, the place where they held all of the A&A Club meetings. His sister, Terri sat quietly in the passenger seat.
It wasn't obvious by appearance that 17-year-old Terri Henderson wasn't a blood relative of Jandor. She had dirty blond hair almost the same color as Jandor's, but her blue eyes didn't have the same mischievous glint of adventure. The truth was, they were really only stepsiblings. Both of them had parents who died when they were young. For Terri it was her mother when she was eleven, and for Jandor, it was his father when he was ten. Unfortunately, after Terri's father married Jandor's mother, he was killed in a car accident, leaving an extremely shaken Terri behind. Though they were not bound by blood, Terri and Jandor were as close as any brother and sister could be.
Jandor decided to express his concerns to her. "Terri, you know this'll be my last year as president of the club."
Terri stared out the window of the black jeep. "Of course, then you'll be a big man on campus. What's the matter?"
"I don't know if I'm ready to give up the chase for that one perfect adventure. I'm still trying to find something that's a challenge."
Terri ruffled his hair playfully. "Jandor, I'll never understand you. You'd think college would be enough of a challenge."
"You know what I mean," Jandor said, pulling into the Guardman's driveway. "I just feel like college isn't the right move for me."
"I think you need to grow up," she scolded lightly.
"I know; it's time for me to get serious about my future." He turned off the engine. "I swear you sound like Mom sometimes."
They climbed out the jeep and proceeded to the front door of the tri-level house. A few seconds after ringing the doorbell, a small, brown-skinned woman with long African braids answered the door. She was Veda Guardman, the official chaperone of the A&A Club. She had gone on every trip since Jandor had formed the group. Although she wasn't as passionate about adventure and danger as he was, she did enjoy being with the kids who were members.
Mrs. Guardman looked up at her two visitors. "Hi, some of the others are already here." They followed her down the stairs that led to the basement where they held their meetings.
"Allen," she called, "Jandor and Terri are here."
Before they reached the bottom of the staircase, a short stocky boy in a blue shirt jumped in their path. "Ah-ha! I knew it was you." It was Daniel Mindmon.
Terri pushed him aside. "Daniel, what's with you?"
"Daniel thinks he can guess the order everyone's going to arrive." Allen Guardman answered for Daniel.
Allen was the club secretary. He had lighter skin than his mother and his thin physique masked how strong he really was. His brown eyes and short black hair were barely visible due to the black baseball cap he was wearing.
"I can," Daniel boasted. "I guessed right when you two came." For several years Daniel had insisted that he had powers bordering on telepathy. Most of the group ignored these claims, because despite all of Daniel's boasting, he'd never been able to prove his theory to anyone's satisfaction.
"That was luck. Next you'll be telling us you've got telepathic powers again." The comment came from a girl sitting at the head of the large conference table. She was Becky Gabbie, vice president of the club.
Becky always spoke her mind and didn't tolerate anyone telling her what to do. Most of the others referred to her by her last name, "Gabbie," because she was very vocal and opinionated, but only Jandor called her that to her face and got away with it.
Daniel gave Becky an evil glare. "I'll prove I can."
He continued to successfully guess the appearance of other members of the group, but people paid him little attention as usual. After everyone had arrived and taken their seats, Jandor walked over and stood behind Becky's chair at the head of the table. He never sat down at meetings because he liked free movement.
It had become club tradition that Becky always spoke first. The vice president called everyone to order, and they began to take care of club business. It was the last official meeting of the year before their big trip. Becky reminded them that she, Jandor, and Allen were graduating and going away to college, and so new officers would have to take their place. The current members would vote later during the summer. Several other senior members were leaving as well, so they discussed candidates for new membership, and trips that they were thinking about for the fall. No one seemed to like the idea of the club continuing with so many of its core members leaving, including Jandor, but it seemed to be the only option available.
Jandor mostly paced throughout this part of the meeting, preferring to let Becky take care of the business aspects of the club. When she was done, he stopped and stood behind Becky's chair again.
He cleared his throat. "As many of you know, we've been talking about going somewhere really unique, the Isle of Adventure. It's a place where they can create any adventure you could possibly want. It's perfect."
Derrick Banks sat with his feet propped on the table. "Any kind of adventure?"
"Any kind you want," Jandor confirmed. "They're prepared to do just about anything."
"They've never met me. I can think of some really radical ideas," Derrick said, flexing his muscles. His powerful physique and extremely dark features made him look menacing to those who didn't know how gentle he actually was most of the time. "Sounds like a challenge. Let's go!"
"It's way too expensive," Terri said pessimistically. "I've heard of the Isle of Adventure. It costs a fortune, and there are twenty of us."
Allen shuffled some papers. "That's true, Terri, but we have some special circumstances." He pushed up the brim of his baseball cap to reveal his brown eyes. As far as anyone knew, he never actually took the black cap off.
Alex Calvin Eastman, or Ace to his friends, leaned forward. "Yeah, first off, my father said he'd let us use one of the private jets to get there, so we won't need to pay for that." Ace's father was extremely wealthy, and generous.
Mrs. Guardman spoke from her seat in the corner of the room. "Also, I have a friend who works at the Isle of Adventure. When I told her that you were interested in going, she offered a big discount in exchange for some free advertising." Mrs. Guardman managed a prestigious advertising agency in the nearby city.
"We'll be able to stay at the Isle of Adventure for one week. Plenty of time to do anything we want," Allen continued. "Arrangements have already been made to leave right after school ends. We would need to be there by Monday, so we should probably leave a little ahead of time, like Sunday. All I have to do is call and confirm the reservations."
"Which means today, we need to vote." Jandor moved slowly around the oval conference table again. "If we decide not to go, we'll have to pick one of the other trips."
The A&A club had been voting on trips for three years and they would only go if the vote was unanimous. Sometimes that took a while. As Jandor worked his way around the table, everyone voted in favor of the trip. He was surprised it only took one round of votes.
He went to stand behind Becky's chair again. "Well, that was the most painless vote we've had in three years."
Ace stood. "We can have a big sendoff party Saturday night like we did last year."
"That's a great idea." Jandor beamed. "We'll leave from your place the following day." Everyone began to murmur excitedly to one another. The Eastman house was a mansion, with dozens of rooms, a pool, and an indoor basketball court.
"I think we're finished for today," Becky said, looking up at Jandor.
Jandor glanced at his watch. "Well then, I'll see you people Saturday night. Don't forget to bring your bags."
"I have snacks in the kitchen," Mrs. Guardman announced.
Ace ran up the stairs. Mike Bond and William Jenkins followed as quickly as they could. Although seldom hungry, the trio never missed a chance for free food. The rest lingered in the lower level of the house to talk about the upcoming trip.
Jandor walked over to a visibly nervous member of the group, Amber Maya. This wasn't unusual for Amber, as she always looked nervous. She was fairly new to the group and one of the youngest, only fifteen. In the beginning, Jandor assumed her constant nervous state came from her fear of going on trips that required a great deal of physical strength. Amber looked rather frail at first glance. She was short and skinny with a light tan complexion, brown eyes, and extremely long thick black hair that looked like it should weigh her down. However, after her first trip, when the group went mountain climbing, Jandor quickly realized that Amber could hold her own. Still, she always kept quiet and only seemed close to Allen.
"Are you alright?" Jandor asked as he approached her.
"I'm just a little worried about leaving home so soon after school. You've got to understand that I'm the oldest in my family, and my mom needs me."
"Amber, this is Greengale; nothing ever happens here. I'm sure your mom can get along without you for a week."
Amber nodded with a frown. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Is there anything wrong? Maybe we can help."
"No, nothing." She walked off.
Becky had overheard the conversation and approached Jandor after Amber left. "What was that all about?"
"I'm not sure." He began walking towards the stairs. "I can never get a clear reading on Amber."
Becky followed him. "Don't worry. When Amber's ready to reach out, she will. Talk to Allen about it. Maybe he knows what's wrong."
Jandor nodded as Terri approached them. "Are you ready to go, Jandor?"
"Yeah." He turned to Becky. "Would you like a ride home?"
"Sure." The trio headed upstairs.
***
Mrs. Guardman was still sitting in the same corner of the room when Melvin Conner came and pulled up a chair in front of her. He seemed to want something but said nothing. Realizing that Melvin wasn't going to speak first, she acknowledged him. "Yes, Melvin? What can I do for you?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what kind of adventure I should ask for." Melvin wasn't built for action like Derrick or Jandor. He was scrawny even when compared to Amber. He was surprised that Jandor had even let him in the group. He was only fifteen, and had never left Greengale before. This would be his first trip with the club.
Mrs. Guardman understood his dilemma. She stared at the freckled face across from her. "Well, Melvin, you can do whatever you want, so if there's anything you've wanted to do that you couldn't do before, do it."
"There're a lot of things that fall into that category," Melvin said running his fingers nervously through his short black hair.
"I know you think you're not brave enough to handle a challenging adventure on your own, but the truth is Jandor wouldn't have picked you for the A&A club if he wasn't absolutely positive that you could handle anything that came your way."
Melvin's brown eyes widened. "Well, I wish I was as confident about my abilities as he was, but I guess if Jandor thinks I have what it takes." He paused for a moment. "I know I can come up with a great challenge for the Isle of Adventure. I just need some time to think."
"Good." Mrs. Guardman enjoyed helping the teenagers in the A&A Club. She thought of them as her own children. As Melvin left, two more were headed in her direction, Amanda Ranchild and Daniel. These two argued constantly, one always trying to disprove the other. They were both extremely stubborn.
"Daniel's crazy." Amanda addressed her flatly.
Daniel's jaw dropped. "I'm not crazy. You just have no brain."
"This comment coming from an idiot?"
"You should have more respect for your elders."
"You're only one year older than me!" Amanda screamed in exasperation. She was sixteen and Daniel was seventeen but he always used this fact against her in their heated debates.
Allen came up behind them and gave a quick tug on Amanda's brown ponytail to get her attention. "What could you two possibly be arguing about; not that I really want to know?"
The insults started again, this time with Daniel. "She has the nerve to think that her stupid unicorn sword is better than my rapier."
"My family's sword is ten times better than that old thing," Amanda countered.
"Old!" Daniel shouted. "It may be old, but it's much better than that cheap sword you have. My rapier is made from a type of metal that very few people have ever seen before. Some smiths believe it may even be a type of rock from the quartz family. That makes it valuable."
Allen found the whole thing amusing. "You two remind me of 5-year-old kids. I can't believe you're arguing about swords, of all things. Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No," they said in unison.
Mrs. Guardman realized the argument was going nowhere. "I really don't know anything about swords. I can't help you."
Ace appeared on the scene, having taken his fill of the food in the kitchen. "I have an idea." If it was one thing Ace was full of, other than food, it was ideas. Everyone in the group respected him for his quick thinking. "The Isle of Adventure has medieval competitions and people who test all sorts of weapons. We'll take the blades there and let the experts decide."
Daniel and Amanda seemed to agree on this and headed upstairs, bickering the whole way. Allen followed, trying not to laugh.
Mrs. Guardman's work was still not done. This time, Alyson Silvers stood in front of her.
She was now convinced that she was becoming a talk show host. "Welcome, you're on 'Gabbing with Guardman' and what can I do for you, my child?"
Alyson laughed at the remark. "I need a ride home, if you don't mind."
"Mind?" She stood. "What are mothers for?" She made a general announcement to the remainder of the group. "I'm taking Alyson home. Anyone else want a ride? I'm using the van." Several people came forward, and she led them out the back door to the waiting van. Others also began to leave, by car or on foot, to head home and start preparing for their upcoming trip.