• Brandon: Muscle
    Reed: Sports Expert
    Regan: Tech Wiz
    Benjamin: History Genuis
    Max: Man with the Plan
    Max wrote down these names and descriptions. He didn’t know whether they would be crazy enough to believe him, but all he knew was he needed them to help him.
    Max was the kind of guy that you wouldn’t think of as a normal fifteen-year-old boy. He didn’t pay much attention to school, unless it was history. He listened to every word, hung on to every single detail, took accurate notes, and even asked questions. None of these things happened in any other class. His highest grade he’d ever gotten in classes besides history was a C+. He was barely getting by ninth grade. Graduation was next week so he had this week off.
    He needed a full out plan. He couldn’t just wing-it, not with the Silver Stone on the line. But he didn’t know what was to come. He knew that it would be tough though.
    The story of the Silver Stone starts with the Declaration of Independence. It was signed in 1776 and fought until about 1786. They weren’t fighting all that time though. During that time the Continental Congress was set up and shot down. The states were given freedoms that were soon taken away. Finally, in 1786 the U.S. presidency was established.
    The men that went after the Silver Stone knew that it wasn’t safe while the war was going on. So they waited until the Continental Congress was set up but, at the last moment they decided to wait a little longer because they knew the Continental Congress was a bad idea that would pass over the new country quickly. After the new idea of presidency took place they headed east. The area of the Silver Stone was roughly around Madrid, Spain.
    These men traveled far and wide deciphering codes and decoding clues, none of which ever led them to find the Silver Stone. Some clues led them to England where they were ridiculed for being a part of this conspiracy and treachery against their mother country. They were given dirty looks and rude gestures, but the treasure hunters never gave up their search.
    When two members out of five of their team died in 1797 of the Spanish influenza that they had caught while in Spain, the team did not give up. They retreated back to America and regrouped. The captain-Max’s great great great grandfather-recruited four other young men to help with the chase, while the English were figuring out the same mystery that is the Silver Stone. The English were able to figure out the clues and codes to the point, and even further, that the Americans were.
    The search became a race and the excitement of finding the Stone became anxiety not to be shot by the other team. It became a very violent game of capture the flag.
    At the wall of Charles De Gaulle at the border of France was the shooting that killed all of the Englishmen and all of the Americans except one, Max’s great great great grandfather. He was able to limp back to America only to be told he was crazy by everyone except one woman, whom he married.
    His son as well as his daughter looked for the Stone as hard-if not harder-as their father. They followed the same clues and were left blank at the wall of Charles De Gaulle, without the shooting. After being, what they thought was stumped, at the wall, they continued home for the son to become Max’s great great grandfather.
    Generations followed for the men of the Stewart family to follow the same trail and be stopped at the French border. John, Max’s father, had done so, except he and his wife, Charlotte, had done it together. She wanted a thrill and had married him three days after they got back. Now, she thinks he’s crazy and they fight all of the time.
    John still thinks that it’s out there somewhere and Charlotte just rolls her eyes at the mention of the subject and yells at the continuation of it. She just says that it’s a waste of time and that John should spend his time doing something actually constructive rather than filling Max’s head with crap like that. Of course that’s all that Max hears because his parents fight more after he goes to ‘bed’ than they do any other time.
    Max was eating dinner peacefully at the table when his father asks, “So Max, any closer to that Stone?” Max hits his forehead with his hand as his mother rolls her eyes.
    “I don’t want mention of that obstruction at this table.” She ordered, her expression emotionless.
    “We’ll talk about the Stone all we want, I pay for this house. Right Max?” he asked.
    “Don’t drag me into this,” Max muttered.
    “Oho! So now since you paid for it it’s yours!?” said Charlotte slamming her hands on the table and hoisting herself into a standing position.
    “Yes, it is and always has been!” said John, copying Charlotte.
    “Good Lord,” Max said quietly, dropping his head. Max didn’t like when his parents fought, they were never quiet or civilized about it. Charlotte got up and moved around the table half-way and met John there. They were inches away from each other, staring each other down.
    “Well, I apologize for stealing things that you paid for!” she yelled, her expression quickly changing to angry.
    “Charlotte, if you really hate me, why don’t you move out!?” he yelled.
    “I’m only thinking of Max!” she yelled back. This wasn’t entirely true, she did still love him, she just thought he needed to lay off the Silver Stone thing. They walked into the living room still yelling things like “ungrateful” and “waste-of-time.”
    “Does this mean I get to be excused?” Max yelled into the living room. No answer came. He took that to mean yes. Max got up cleaned the counter, put away the left-overs, and washed dishes. He was used to this because this sort of thing happened almost every night. The yelling, the slamming, the standing, the moving into the living room, the whole enchilada. Everything was the same, arguing about rights, possessions, money, and the only thing that sparked it was the mention of two words ‘Silver Stone’ and even ‘Stone’ would do it depending on whether she was actually listening to the conversation or not.
    Once Max was finished he slipped past his parents without being noticed and up the stairs. He picked up his phone and dialed his neighbor’s/best friend’s number. “Hey man what’s up?” Ben asked.
    “They’re fighting.” Max stated. There was a blank line for a moment and then Ben came back on.
    “You’re clear,” Ben said. Whenever Max’s parents fought, he would go over to his best friend’s-Benjamin Black-house. Ben’s parents knew and they were okay with it because they knew Charlotte and John and in fact, they went on the search for the Silver Stone with them. Max sometimes spent the night there and then got up and back in his bed before his parents woke up.
    “Thanks, man.” Max said.
    “See ya,” Ben said and hung up but not before Max could return the favor.
    Max packed up his stuff, opened the window, threw a rope out, and climbed out. He opened a hatch in the ground that looked like grass and stuck the rope in there with his grappling hook. He snuck past the light of the living room window within which his parents were still arguing about God knows what. Max got to Ben’s house and knocked on the door. Scott-Ben’s brother-opened the door. “Hey, little man! What’s up?” he asked. Scott was extremely tall and muscular.
    “Nothing much,” Max replied, stepping inside. Scott smiled and Will and Leslie were in the kitchen when he walked in. Leslie and Will are Ben, Scott, and Jess’s parents. When Max rounded the corner, he noticed Jess cleaning the dishes. It was, undoubtedly, her turn.
    “Max!” Leslie greeted him. Will turned around and smiled, “What’s up?”
    “Just the usual,” Max said, dropping his backpack. Max looked at Jess, she smiled and he smiled back. He walked over to her and started helping her do the dishes. Scott went back to his original position of watching ESPN on the couch.
    “You don’t have to help me,” she said.
    “I want to.” Max said, smiling. Max always felt a certain duty to help the Blacks do chores since they housed him almost every day of the week. Once they had finished the dishes Max asked, “Is there anything else I can do?” Will and Leslie laughed.
    “Max, you are the weirdest 15-year-old boy I’ve ever met.” Will said.
    “But, no. There isn’t anything else that we will allow you to do,” Leslie said, sill laughing a little. “You are the guest.”
    “Hardly, I spend more time here than at home.” Max said. Leslie, Will, and Jess laughed. Scott wasn’t paying attention.
    “Thank you, Max. Ben is upstairs.” Leslie said. Max grabbed his backpack and walked up the stairs. He heard Jess yell “Thank You!” He smiled to himself and walked on to Ben’s room. When he walked in, Ben was doing research on where the Silver Stone might be.
    “How’s the research coming along?” he asked. Ben nearly fell out of his seat. Max roared with laughter.
    “I didn’t hear you coming,” he said, picking up his desk chair.
    “Obviously,” Max said, smiling. “So anyway, how’s the research coming along? Any new finds?”
    “It’s pretty good, but no new finds.” Ben said.