Chapter 14

WHAT’S YOUR TALENT?

It had been two days since the attack of the rainbow griefers and the Wither, and everything was quiet. With no one reporting rainbow griefer sightings or skeleton invasions, Victoria and Stefan finally announced that classes could restart and schedules would return to normal. Meanwhile, Lucy couldn’t believe Maya and Debbie were being treated like heroes, when she knew they were working with the griefers.

As Lucy walked into the dining hall the afternoon that classes restarted, Phoebe and Jane called out to her from the lunch line. “Over here! We’re by the fruit.”

Ever since the Wither incident, Lucy had been avoiding her friends. She only spoke to Phoebe and Jane when they were in the dorm before bed, when she had no choice because there was no way to avoid them. Lucy wished she had her own room. She wished Victoria and Stefan would let her leave campus and spend some time on Steve’s wheat farm to take a break and clear her head. But she had heard that her friends kept searching for her on campus, and she knew Phoebe and Jane were worried about her. With a sigh, she picked up a tray and walked over to them.

“Do you want an apple?” asked Jane.

“Okay,” Lucy mumbled.

Phoebe squinted at Lucy. “What has gotten into you, Lucy? You’ve been so grumpy ever since the Wither was destroyed. Aren’t you glad the attacks on the Overworld seem to have ended?”

“No,” Lucy confessed. “I’m upset because I know Maya and Debbie have something to do with these attacks, and Victoria and Stefan don’t believe me.”

Phoebe said, “Maybe Victoria and Stefan don’t, but Jane and I believe you.”

“Really?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah,” Jane chimed in. “It was hard to believe at first, because they fought the Wither with us, but we know you wouldn’t lie about what you saw.”

Relief washed over Lucy. “Thanks for trusting me. I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you. Will you help me convince Victoria and Stefan?”

Phoebe nodded. “Maybe there will be a chance at the talent show meeting later. See you there?”

Lucy nodded and filled her tray with food, feeling much better.

At the meeting that afternoon, Lucy scanned the room looking for Maya, but she wasn’t there. Though she faced away from him, she could hear Stefan summing up the plans that had been made for the event so far. “There will be various performances to showcase everyone’s talent.”

“Will we be able to participate?” Phoebe asked. “I mean, we are working on the show, but can we also perform?”

“Of course. I hope every one of you auditions.”

Just then, Maya and Debbie slipped into the meeting room and stood in the back. But the meeting was wrapping up. Stefan announced, “We will have auditions tomorrow after breakfast,” and then stepped away from the podium.

As everyone shuffled out of the room, Lucy forgot about talking to Stefan and instead followed Maya and Debbie out of the meeting. She was curious to see where they were going and why they had been late, but she was disappointed when she found them just walking back to the dorms.

Lucy entered her dorm room and climbed into bed with a sigh. Maybe Maya and Debbie would audition for the talent show the next day, and she could spend the time searching through their room for clues.

Phoebe and Jane walked in the room. “Are you in bed already?” Phoebe asked.

“Aren’t you going to prepare for your audition?” added Jane.

“I don’t have a talent,” Lucy replied.

“Of course you do.” Phoebe smiled. “You’re one of the most skilled hunters in the Overworld.”

“Thanks, but I just can’t stand the thought of all those eyes on me,” Lucy said with a shudder. “Besides, how am I going to hunt on stage?”

“That’s easy. Stefan is working on having people brew potions, hunt, and battle on the stage. He wants the show to highlight everything we do at Minecrafters Academy,” Phoebe explained.

Jane said, “I overheard Debbie talking about auditioning to be in the battle.”

“Well, she is an amazing fighter,” said Lucy. “I just wish she wasn’t secretly working with the rainbow griefers.”

“Just because you saw her spawn the Wither with Maya doesn’t mean she is actually working with the rainbow griefers. They could have done that for some other reason,” said Jane.

“But what?” Lucy asked.

Phoebe and Jane shrugged. “I just think that, although spawning the Wither was awful, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Phoebe said.

Lucy wanted to scream. “But what other conclusion could there be? Why won’t anyone just believe me?”

Her words were cut off by a knock on the door, and Phoebe opened it to find Maya standing there, Debbie just behind her. “There is something we’d like to explain,” Maya said.