It was a Thursday afternoon. The clouds hung low and the brisk air made Harry shiver as he walked, the money weighing heavy in his pocket. He had finally collected the four hundred electron dollars that he needed. It was exciting, he thought, to be able to take this money back. He’d worked hard for it, and now he wouldn’t be scared to see the imposing figure of the man he owed it to. 

It had happened a few weeks ago, at a rundown auto mechanic shop just out of town. Harry ‘s car, an old Toyota Corolla, had broken down again, and he didn’t have the money to repair it. A new windshield would cost four hundred electrons dollars (with installation). That money would take several weeks to get, but Harry needed that car to get back home.

Suddenly, a man appeared who Harry had never seen before. He towered over Harry, and his voice boomed as he spoke. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Harry gulped. “It’s not a big deal, I just don’t have enough money.” 

“Oh,” he paused, “Maybe I could give you a loan.”

He reached out his hand for Harry to shake. “I’m Corey.” 

Harry shook his hand. “I’m Harry.”

Harry took a deep breath as he opened the door. The huge building could be rented out for events, and right then its largest room was being converted into a dance hall for the Periodic Gala that night. People and streamers were scattered about the room, but the one person he was looking for was nowhere to be found. 

“Corey?” 

No one responded to his calls. But Harry was not to be deterred, and he stopped by each person in the room individually, asking for Corey. He was nowhere to be found. Harry was starting to get stressed, but he wasn’t giving up. That day was the last day he could have given the money back, or else. Harry didn’t like the thought of the ‘or else’, so he put it in the back of his mind. 

Olivia’s hands were tired. She’d worked for a long time and she didn’t feel like anyone had noticed. The paintings she’d created and lent to the Periodic Gala had barely been acknowledged. The work she’d done was ignored, just like usual. Not one person had even spoken to her since she’d arrived. She’d signed up to volunteer to set up the gala because she thought people would notice her, but they didn’t. Everyone seemed to want to ignore her. Her life was lonely, and people didn’t care about her. There was no way anyone would give her the extra electron dollars she needed. She had been getting a little desperate lately, and as she saw the boy entering the almost empty dance hall, money in his outstretched hand, a plan began to form in her head. 

Harry’s mind was so busy that it barely noticed Olivia, whom he didn’t know personally, sneaking up behind him. Olivia snatched the four hundred dollars from his hand. Harry whirled around to see her distinctive red hair running past him. He strained to see the facial features of the mysterious robber and began to run after her, calling out angrily. In his panic, he hastily pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket and snapped a blurry photo of the back of her head as she rushed out the door. 

Sofia was sitting in her Tudor-style home, enjoying some tea, when she heard a frantic knock at the door. Probably those salespeople again, she thought as she put her tea down and walked to the door. She was calm, and didn’t have anything to worry about.

Harry, on the other hand, was panicked. The only thoughts in his head were of disappointing Corey and the even more disappointing consequences. As his sister, Sofia, let him in, he made his panic clear.

Sofia led him into the living room as his yells and shrieks started to make more sense. 

“I lost his money! He’s gonna kill me! I’m gonna die!”

“Shh… He’s not going to kill you… Everything’s going to be okay…”

Harry had calmed down a little, and he started explaining the situation to his sister. She quickly understood his plight, and sat down to help him create a plan. 

“Now, when we get to the gala, we’ll be able to find the person who robbed you pretty easily. They should definitely be there. And the clothes they were wearing, will help, too; they were wearing a really fancy outfit, right?” 

Harry nodded. “I swear I’ve seen them before. They had bright red hair too, so they’ll probably be pretty easy to spot at the Gala.” This part seemed simple to him.

“All we have to do when we get there is corner them. This is easy, there’s two of us and a ton of other people. Then, all you have to do is report them to the police.”

“Right…” Harry said, a little confused, “but are you going to be there?”

Sofia looked away. Crimson colour rose to her cheeks. “Well… I was going to ask someone…” 

“Really? Who?”

“Corey, actually. We’re old friends. He’s not that scary.”

“Huh… whatever you say.”

Sofia’s hands nervously played with the chipping edges of the telephone buttons. She recognized that she had no other choice than to ask Corey to the gala now, not only for herself but for Harry’s sake. If she chickened out, Corey might interfere with her brother’s plan. And she knew that she would never forgive herself for passing up the perfect opportunity to ask her long-term crush to a fancy gala. I mean, he practically had to say yes, right? He was going anyways. She shook her head to clear her mind, and dialled his number. She bit her lip nervously as she awaited his soft, yet gruff greeting. Sofia’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the sound of a quiet and questioning “hello” on the other end of the line. It was him. 

“Hey… it’s Sofia. From school.”

Corey’s eyes widened when he heard Sofia’s gentle voice. Never in a million years had he expected her to be calling him! Corey smiled.

“Oh, hey Sofia. What’s up?” 

Sofia decided that she was going to be outright with him and get it over with as soon as possible.

“I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

 “Yeah, go for it.” 

“Would you like to attend the Periodic Gala with me?”

Corey’s heart raced, but he hid his excitement when he replied to her astonishing inquiry. Nineteen years of living and no one had ever invited him to a gala before. Especially not Sofia, who Corey had never wanted to admit that he had a crush on. 

“…I’ll pay for your ticket, and I would really appreciate it if you came.” 

Corey was already planning to go, and Sofia knew this. Sofia waited hesitantly for an answer. He just couldn’t say no. She silently begged for his approval. 

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah, sure. I’ll go with you.” 

“Awesome! See you tonight.”

They both hung up with grins on their faces. The evening was going to be great. 

Harry was stunned as he arrived at the gala. The room had been completely transformed from the dreary room that it had been a few hours before. The streamers hung from the walls, and small tables dotted the sides of the room. There was a large dance floor, where most of the guests were mingling. 

Sofia felt great as she walked in the door with Corey, but the small rush of anxiety jolted her back to reality. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it. 

Spotting Harry on the dance floor, she took Corey’s arm and led him to the snack tables. They enjoyed a lighthearted conversation, commenting on everything from the taste of the punch to the latest gossip on who arrived at the gala with who. When Harry moved on searching to the dining area next to the snack tables, Sofia took Corey onto the dance floor. She barely noticed how happy Corey seemed, as she was too distracted by Harry. Every time she glanced over at him scoping out the place, she became increasingly more worried for her little brother’s safety. After all, it was a thief they were dealing with, someone unpredictable and most likely dangerous. Corey sensed that Sofia was acting peculiarly, but he decided that he was being too harsh and tried to ignore her troubled demeanour. 

They were near the dance floor when Harry started making a scene. He had spotted the distinctive red hair of a girl who was wearing a fancy dress and obviously fit in with the haughty guests, but seemed to have an air of unease about her. Harry’s insides began to boil, and he knew that he had found the thief. He began to make his way over to where she was nervously shuffling about. He was so distracted by the prospect of catching her that he became ignorant of his surroundings, and as he began to speed up he ran into the side of the snack table and slammed into the punch bowl, which fell to the ground with a crash. Harry leaped away from the loud sound, and stared at the bowl shattered on the ground. He felt the eyes of many gala-goers rest upon him, and sighed. Of course he now had to deal with this disaster. More startled guests twisted to see what the ruckus was about, and immediately a cleaning crew dashed into sight to began cleaning up Harry’s mess.

Sofia cursed under her breath and turned to Corey, who was getting confused. 

“Wait… what’s he doing here?” 

“Oh, my brother? He’s just…”

“That’s your brother? He owes me money. What’s he doing? What’s all the mess about?”

Sofia tried to calm Corey down. 

“It’s probably fine, he’s just clumsy. And about the money, I’m sure he’ll get it to you…”

“But why would he be here in the first place? He hasn’t paid me back!” 

She realized this could be her last chance to prevent something bad from happening. 

“He’s here because the money was stolen. He’s here to try to get it back. Just…wait a few minutes, okay?”

With that, she turned on her heel and ran to help her brother. Corey was left standing there, shocked, concerned, and alone. 

As she ran to join her brother, Sofia took one look back at Corey. He seemed so uncomfortable, like a fish-out-of-water. And very, very confused. She realized that she’d never seen Corey with anyone— family, friends, or even a girlfriend. He was more lonely than she had originally thought. She’d probably made him feel appreciated by inviting him to the gala. And now, she had run away, leaving him alone. He would probably wonder whether she invited him as a distraction (which she had) and whether she actually liked him at all (which she was starting to debate with herself). Had her vitality in this plan given her a fake boost of motivation to ask him to the gala? Had she simply convinced herself that she liked him for the sake of helping Harry? It sure felt like she had no problem choosing to assist Harry over dancing with Corey. Or was she being too hard on herself? Of course she wanted to make sure her brother was okay, as that was her main reason for attending the gala. Was she leading Corey on without knowing? Many thoughts rushed through her head, but Sofia knew it was time to put internal conflict away and focus on the task at hand: getting the money back. 

After he knocked over the punch bowl, Harry started to realize that there were a lot of things that could go wrong with his plan. What if the thief had friends? What if she called the police on him? What if she wasn’t the thief at all?

Sofia had just arrived by the dance tables. Harry pointed at the robber, and Sofia nodded to show that she knew who he was referring to. They began to approached the thief together.

            Olivia was standing alone, twiddling her thumbs. No one has asked her to dance, and she was becoming agitated waiting. As she scanned the room, she spotted Harry, whom she remembered from the other day. He held an intent look on his face, and Olivia realized that he was looking directly at her. Olivia’s heart dropped and she frantically searched for the nearest escape route. Sofia and Harry meant to drive her into the corner of the room, approaching from opposite sides, but it was impossible, with the expanse of the gala floor and the people who were dancing and walking about.

And then the chase began. They dodged through the crowd, but her streaming red hair 

escaped the attempted grabs from Harry and quick clutches of Sofia each time. Harry tried to intimidate her, speeding up and running as fast as he possibly could, but even with Sofia keeping up, Olivia was faster. They couldn’t corner her, and she made a lightning-fast breakaway towards the back door. Olivia grinned gleefully as she sprinted towards the exit. She was going to escape! From now on, she made a silent vow to stay away from this part of town. Those bastards would never catch her. 

The distinctive hair colour was identical to that of the thief who had taken the money, 

which cemented Harry’s beliefs that she was the robber. That was a whole lot of good to him now, as he watched his hopes and dreams disappear with Olivia heaving open the exit door to rush outside. 

Perhaps his hopes and dreams were not lost, however, when the she was stopped by a powerful blockade— Corey, standing in the doorway, preventing her from leaving. This time, she was truly cornered. 

Harry ran across the room to stand in front of the quivering thief.

“I know that you took my money.”

“No…I never…”

“Stop lying! Give me my money!”

Harry narrowed his eyes, anger rising quickly within him. He took a deep breath and

tried to calm himself, but Corey could see just how much Harry wanted to get revenge. Harry’s timidness had been overcome with his needing to retrieve the money. Corey pulled the robber away from Harry and held her tightly in his grip. 

“Please, let’s just keep our calm.” 

Sofia had slunk away, and she nodded at Corey to let him know that she was going to

handle the police situation as she left out the door on the other side of the room. She called 911, and told them to come quickly, as the captured robber was sly and would be hard to handle. The confused guests watched as Corey struggled to keep Olivia still as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. 

“We know you did,” Harry took a deep breath, “so. Stop pretending. I worked hard to get that money so that I could pay Corey here back. I was even scared of him. I didn’t want to get on his bad side… but now I realize that he is actually a pretty nice guy. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have caught you. And same with my sister, Sofia. We all worked together to do what’s right, and without eachother, we would have never been able to carry out this plan to get back what’s rightfully mine. Or Corey’s, I guess. So if you even think that you’re going to be robbing some other innocent soul anytime soon… think again.”

Olivia sighed. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that she was stuck. She knew that 

what she had done was wrong, but she hadn’t really looked at the impact that it had on the people  she did it to. If she had just asked for help, she could have avoided all this. Olivia wiped away her petty tears and realized what she had to do.  

“Here,” she said, pulling the money out of her purse. “I’m sorry. Just take it.” 

Harry took the money and stowed it in his pocket.

The sirens of police cars wailed as they pulled up outside the gala, and police officers 

rushed in. They took Olivia in handcuffs to the vehicles outside and Sofia came rushing back in. She hugged Harry tight, crying and smiling a genuine smile. She was so relieved and happy at the same time, and ever so grateful that her little brother was safe. As she withdrew herself from the warm embrace, Corey stood awkwardly behind her. She swallowed dryly and remembered how horribly rude she had been to him.

“Sofia…” he ventured. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Did you only invite me here so you could do that?”

Sofia looked at her feet, feeling terribly guilty. Her confused thoughts as to whether she truly liked Corey rushed back into her head, but the butterflies in her stomach and her sorrow made her think otherwise. “But I really enjoyed talking with you. Corey… I really do like you.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“So…” he said softly, “do you think you’d want to stay with me at the gala a little longer?”

She was shocked. This was not the response she’d been expecting. She smiled a bit at Corey’s kindness, his forgiveness. Suddenly, she was a little self-aware of the people looking at them. 

That won’t stop me, she thought. “Absolutely, Corey. That sounds awesome.” 

As Sofia and Corey walked away, hand in hand, Harry returned to the snack tables. He’d stay away from the punch, for now.