Fanon:PLET (The Sextet)

Yes, sextet is a real thing, apparently it is a trilogy of six, so don't go insulting me about this apparent profanity. (I'm looking at you, Swayam.)

Nominated

Master Collection:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14cXvqGewBSyapyVhgEo4n6bRS1aEKJOrJK5hhtUsOwI/edit?usp=sharing

Important Note:
I do not own PLET in any way, I just put the stories together for more accessible and convenient reading.

If you want to view all of the original work, check it out right here.

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Chapter 1
Peyton dashed through the forest, looking for the giant oak marked with red paint. Summer o’ 7th grade had just arrived, and it was going to be another summer of creating comics with the treehouse friends. Just as Peyton was drawing characters in his mind, someone pushed him from behind.

Clenching his fists, Peyton prepared for a fight, but the familiar laugh cooled him down.

“Ha, gotcha!” laughed Henry. “Ready for another summer of money?”

“Sure am,” replied Peyton, as he dusted off his jeans and picked himself up. “I’m gonna save up for a new computer, mine’s slower than your grandma. They both laughed. Last year, the friends racked up almost $24,000 by selling comics during the summer. This year, they were going big. Their goal was $35,000.

The rest of the friends were already in the treehouse by the time Peyton and Henry arrived. Suyash, Jacob, and Carter were already brainstorming ideas for new characters and plots.

“I got it, Neptune Ninja! A ninja from Neptune,” said Carter. “The antagonist will be Lord Marty, and it’ll be called ‘The Cosmic Ninjas’!!!!”

“Yeah! We can give Neptune Ninja a sidekick, Kat! Crazy Kat!” Suyash added. “I already know how I’m going to draw Crazy Kat, and I’ve got some ideas for other characters too.”

“I’ve got an idea for another comic, ‘The Tales of Joe Moraliste!;’” exclaimed Peyton. “The main character will be Joe Moraliste!”

“Wow, I never would’ve guessed,” said Henry, rolling his eyes. The friends got to work. Suyash and Henry started drawing characters, and Peyton and Carter worked on the plot. Even when a thunderstorm came around, they still created comics as if everything were normal. It wasn’t until lightning struck nearby that the friends decided to call it for the day.

“Think of some more characters, Suyash for ‘The Cosmic Ninjas!’, we need more!” yelled Carter over the pounding of the rain.

Chapter 2
“Where’s Henry?” asked Jacob. “He said that he could come today.” A day had passed since the storm, and the friends were back to drawing and writing.

“That’s funny, Henry’s never late,” said Carter. “He’s more likely to make a grammar mistake than be late.” Everyone cracked up. Henry was notorious for being a grammar cop, he would sometimes rip apart pages with grammar mistakes.

“There he is!” shouted Peyton. “He’s, uh, with someone.” Everyone looked out the window. Following Henry was a short, blond-haired boy with glasses. Nobody had seen him around before.

“Hey guys, this is Pat!” said Henry. “He just moved in a few houses down from me, and he says that he’s really good with technology and coding, and he likes to write stories!”

“That’s great!” replied Peyton. “Come on in Pat! Welcome to our gang!” At the end of every summer, the friends would upload all of their comics on their website. Their cartoons were extremely popular; every year, they would get thousands and thousands of people who purchased their comics.

Henry showed Pat what they were working on, he stared for minutes without saying a word. Just when the friends started debating over whether Pat was mute, he said something.

“Joe Moraliste’s pants don’t go well with his shirt; his pants should be green, not brown. It looks bad, you should redo it.” Henry and Peyton looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

“I guess he has a point,” said Jacob, after a moment of silence.

“Jacob, we’ve already drawn 20 pages of Joe Moraliste. We’re not going to redraw everything just because some new kid says so,” Henry replied.

“Yeah, sorry, Pat, maybe we can make him switch pants in the story,” said Carter. Suyash nodded in agreement, but Peyton looked aggravated.

“No! That makes no sense, why would a warrior in the middle of war change pants for absolutely no reason?! Pat’s not even a part of Joe Moraliste, maybe he can help write other comics, but not this one.” Silence fell upon the treehouse again. Henry just stared at his friends blankly. He worried that Pat would get in the way of the friends’ work. After all, they had a lofty goal to reach, and at this rate, there was no way they were going to get it done.

Suyash sighed. “You know what, I’m going to head home for the day. I’m getting bored.” He climbed down the ladder and trotted home. Suyash was one of the best writers in the gang, and the others knew that without him, they wouldn’t be able to form a solid storyline.

“Yeah, I’m going to head home, too,” said Carter. Peyton left too, but only after giving Pat a dirty look. Henry and Jacob stayed, they played Go Fish with Pat to pass the time. After Henry won for the 5th time in a row, everyone went home.

Chapter 3
Peyton lay in his bed. It was Monday morning, and it was raining again, but the Good Oak Comics staff never worked on Mondays. He kept thinking about Pat, and he wondered if he should give him a second chance. The rain stopped soon, and Peyton decided that he would apologize to Pat. He hopped on his bike and rode to Henry’s street. Pat was sitting on the porch, eating a bowl of ice cream.

“Uh, hi Pat,” said Peyton nervously. He wasn’t good with apologies. “I just wanted to say sorry for freaking out yesterday. I thought that maybe I could show you our website, that’s if you’re still interested, of course.

Pat stared at Peyton for a moment before answering. “Yeah, sure, come on in.” He opened the door and let Peyton in. The two went upstairs into Pat’s room. On his desk were a bunch of Neptune Ninja comics.

“Whoa! Did you draw these?” Peyton was shocked, they were some of the highest quality drawings he had ever seen. “I wish, man!” replied Pat. “My brother drew these, he’s really into art.”

“Can I meet him? He’d be an excellent addition to our team!” Peyton was really excited, Pat’s brother’s drawings were much better than Carter’s and Henry’s. Pat looked down.

“Unfortunately no, he’s really xenophobic. He literally panics at the sight of strangers.”

“That sucks,” replied Peyton. “I’ve never met someone with xenophobia before. I read about it last year, I honestly didn’t think it was real. What’s his name?”

“Cameron.”

“Okay. Anyways, I’ll show you the website!” Pat showed Peyton to his computer, and Peyton opened up the website. He showed him everything, and Pat seemed really interested. “Do you know how to code?”

“I do, actually,” Pat replied. “I’m kind of new to it, but it’s enjoyable!”

“That’s great, bro! I’ll finally have someone to help me when it’s time to publish the comics to our store.” Peyton was thrilled. He was the only person from Good Oak Comics who could code, and doing all the coding himself took a long time.

Pat looked down again. “I don’t want to sound greedy, but will my brother and I each get a share of your guys’ revenue if I help out?”

“Sure! As long as your brother keeps drawing those comics, they’re amazing!” Pat gave Peyton a tour of his house and hung out for the rest of the day.

Chapter 4
Henry was surprised to see Pat back at the treehouse the next day. He didn’t think that Pat would return after the heated argument. Peyton apologized for his break down, and everything was calm again.

“Your brother’s an outstanding artist Pat,” said Jacob. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“Thanks, I wish he could be here and meet you guys. Also, I have an idea for a comic too. It’s sort of like a parody of the American Revolution.” He showed everyone his comics, and everyone was impressed. “My brother drew these, not me. But I wrote the story!”

Carter put his hand on Pat’s shoulder. “Welcome to Good Oak Comics Pat!” Everyone cheered. Carter helped Pat with his comic, and Henry and Suyash continued writing The Cosmic Ninjas. Peyton and Jacob worked on Joe Moraliste. They worked for hours and lots of fun.

“Yo, I’m hungry. Let’s go to The Baseball Grill!” Henry proposed. Everyone except Jacob agreed.

“Ugh, why must we always go there?” Jacob’s dad owned The Baseball Grill, and frankly, he didn’t like going there during work hours. But his friends insisted, so he reluctantly followed. It was a lovely day, so they decided to walk.

“So Pat, do you mind if I ask how long Cameron’s been xenophobic?” asked Suyash.

“He’s been for most of his life,” Pat said with a sigh. “He never goes outside, he just spends most of his time drawing in his room. The only time he comes out of there is to eat and use the bathroom.”

“That sucks,” said Jacob. “I really want to meet him, he could give me some good drawing advice. I hope he continues helping out on The Cosmic Ninjas!” The gang finally arrived at The Baseball Grill, and the waiter didn’t look very happy to serve them.

“When are you actually going to come in and work, Jacob? We could really use another waiter.”

“Yeah, whatever, Zach! I make more money than you by drawing comics, get a real job!” The waiter walked away, angrily. “That’s my annoying brother, Zach. Sometimes, I wish he was xenophobic! He’s so toxic.” Zach came back with six glasses of water. He spat in Jacob’s before leaving.

“So, I thought we should do a fourth comic if we want to reach our goal,” said Peyton. “Ideas? Anyone?”

“We could write a choose your own adventure,” Carter suggested.

“Or a comic about a zombie apocalypse,” Henry added. “I don’t know, let’s talk after we eat.” Zach brought them their food, and everyone ate happily except Jacob, whose burger had been burnt. Nobody ordered any dessert to save time, and after everyone was done with their entrees, they went back to the treehouse.

Chapter 5
The gang enjoyed having Pat around. It turned out that he was a great story writer too. Every day, he would bring comics that Cameron drew. By the end of July, Good Oak Comics had finished The Cosmic Ninjas and Joe Moraliste.

“How’s the history comic, Pat? We need to get it done by the end of next week,” said Suyash.

“It’s getting there, we just need to proofread it and maybe fix some of the art.”

“Hey, I’m going to put The Cosmic Ninjas and Joe Moraliste on our website for sale, come on Pat.” Pat and Peyton left the treehouse, and it was just Jacob, Carter, Henry, and Suyash.

“Should we give Pat’s brother, Cameron, a share of our earnings?” Jacob suggested.

“Yeah sure, he did help a lot. Should we give him an equal share?” said Henry.

“Why the f not,” replied Carter.

Chapter 6
"Our first sale!" exclaimed Peyton. "It's been minutes, and we've already made a sale!"

"Let's goooooo!"

"Yeah!!!!"

"We're gonna be rich!"

The comics had been uploaded onto the store. Soon enough, Good Oak Comics had made their second sale, they were on a roll.

"Dang! They're selling pretty fast!" said Henry happily. "Look! Our first review! 5 stars!"

"Let's celebrate! Baseball Grill anyone? Milkshakes on me!" shouted Jacob.

"Yeah!" Everyone nodded in agreement except Pat. He looked down.

"Uh guys, I can't. I have to do some school stuff."

"What?" asked Carter. "School doesn't start for 4 weeks? You're going to Adams Middle School, right?"

"I'm not actually," said Pat, with a sigh. "I'm going to a boarding school in France. It's an excellent school, and they make you do a ton of stuff before you leave."

"Wow, uh- that sucks, man," said Henry. "When are you leaving?"

"I'm leaving in 3 weeks, I won't be back until November, for Thanksgiving break."

"But, what about Cameron?"

"Oh, he's always been good on his own. He probably won't even notice that I'm gone. I should go, I have a lot of stuff to do." Pat climbed down the ladder and went home. Nobody said anything, they just looked down in sadness.

"It's funny," said Jacob quietly. "I've never had a friend move away before." "Neither have I," said Henry. "I'm heading home, I don't feel like going to Baseball Grill." He left, and the rest of the gang just played Go Fish for the rest of the day. ONE MONTH LATER

Chapter 7
"Looks like school lunch is worse than last year! Again!" yelled Carter with disgust.

"Bring your own lunch, dude. I just bring microwave burritos; they're not that healthy, but it's at least food," said Henry. "Peyton, how much did we make this week?"

"$7,000! We're doing great! That brings our total, to, uh…:

"$22,000," said Henry. "Get good at math, you're running our sales on the website."

"This French Onion Soup looks like it was made out of powder!"

"Carter, it's not that bad," said Jacob. "Speaking of French, have you given Pat his share?"

"I have, I've given both Pat and Cameron their shares," Peyton replied. "You know, we should find a way to thank Cameron for everything he's done. Even if we can't do it in person, I guess we could give a note to his parents or something."

"Good idea!" Suyash replied. "I'll get some colored paper and markers from the art room."

"I'm going to write: 'You're a great artist, pal. Thanks for everything you've done, -Henry.'"

"I'm going to say: 'Thanks for helping out, our comics are much better because of you. Keep drawing! -Jacob.'" Suyash returned with the art supplies, and the friends got to work.

"Let's put the Good Oak Comics logo in the center," Peyton suggested. By the end of lunch, the gang was already done.

"Henry, can you slip it through Cameron's window after school?" Suyash asked.

"I would, but I have a math club after School. Do you want to do it, Jacob? You live close to him too."

"Yeah, sure, I don't have anything to do." The rest of the day passed quickly, and the bell rang.

"See ya tomorrow!" Henry yelled to his friends.

"Bye!" replied Jacob. He hopped onto his bike and rode towards Pat's neighborhood.

Chapter 8
Jacob took out his phone. He didn't go to Henry's neighborhood often, and he had no clue where Pat lived. "Henry, which house is Pat's again?"

"It's a yellow one!"

"Yeah, three of the houses are yellow!"

"It's the one with a double garage, there should be a shed in the backyard."

"Okay, I see it, thanks, Henry!" Jacob hung up. He got off his bike and walked towards the house. After circling the house, Jacob just realized that he didn't know which window was Cameron's. He called Henry again.

"What do you want, Jacob?"

"Which window is Cameron's?"

"I'm not sure it's been a while since I went to his house. Try to go inside, maybe? His room is upstairs, the first one on the left. Bye." Henry hung up. Jacob knocked on the door, but there was no response. He tried the doorknob, and the door was unlocked.

"Hello?" shouted Jacob into the empty hallway. "Anyone home?" No response. Jacob decided to just slide the thank you note under the door and leave. However, he accidentally bumped into the door when sliding the note, it pushed open.

"Oh, shoot!" Jacob said to himself. He tried to quickly shut the door, but he slipped and fell into the room. What Jacob saw shocked him. There was nothing in the area but a piano and some chairs.

"Oh, phew, this must be the wrong room!" Jacob was relieved. "Dang it, Henry, he must have tricked me." But then Jacob noticed some family photos on the wall. The only people in the pictures were Pat and his parents. In fact, the pictures looked as if they had been taken pretty recently. Jacob wondered why Cameron wasn't in any of them. He checked the other rooms, no sign of Cameron's room anywhere. As he went down the stairs, he saw more family photos. There wasn't a single photo of Cameron anywhere. Jacob stopped cold when he realized the truth. The truth was that Cameron didn't exist. Cameron was just someone Pat made up so he could get twice the share of the money. All the comics were drawn by Pat, not Cameron.

"That lying fraud!" shouted Jacob angrily. He ripped the note apart and stormed out of the house. He took out his phone and sent a message to the group chat.

[Meet me at the treehouse at 6 PM, important!]

Jacob rode to his house, went up the stairs, and slammed the door. He did the math and found that everyone in the gang was losing more than $500 each because of Pat. He angrily punched the wall and lay on his bed for the rest of the afternoon.

Chapter 9
"What's up, Jacob?" said Carter. "What's so important that we had to meet here?" Jacob just looked out the window angrily. He waited for the rest of his friends to arrive before spilling the news.

"Pat's a freaking fraud," said Jacob. He was so angry that he was close to crying.

"Yeesh, what did he do to you? Pat's our friend, you shouldn't -

"He lied to all of us to get more money." Peyton and Henry looked at each other, confused. Nobody had ever seen Jacob so upset before. Suyash decided to break the silence.

"You know, Pat and Cameron did help-..."

"THERE IS NO CAMERON! CAMERON'S MADE UP! HE ONLY MADE UP CAMERON TO GET TWICE THE SHARE OF MONEY!!!!!" Jacob kicked the wall.

"How do you know?" asked Peyton.

"I walked by a dozen family photos. There was no 'brother' in any of them. I went into what was supposed to be Cameron's room. There was nothing but a piano."

"That son of a gun," Henry furiously said to himself.

Peyton looked up. "But he told us about Cameron even before we brought up money, so why would he-"

"Before I introduced him to you, I told him about Good Oak Comics, and that he could make money if he helped out," said Henry. He looked sad, "Guys, I'm sorry. This is all my fault, I should've never brought him into our group."

"Henry, don't blame yourself, It's all of our faults. I mean, we shouldn't have believed his ridiculous story in the first place. Xenophobia? Too shy to meet anyone? That's such a stupid lie, I can't believe we fell for it," said Carter, with a hand on his forehead.

Peyton picked up his backpack. "I'm heading home, I'm going to take Pat and Cameron's names off the author list." He ran home. "We are each losing more than $500 because of that fraud," said Jacob. "We'd be making an extra $1300 each if Pat wasn't a part of Good Oak Comics," Henry added.

Carter left the treehouse without saying a word. Jacob left, too, followed by Suyash. Henry stayed, he knew that it was his fault for bringing Pat onto the team. He didn't even leave when night fell, he slept in the treehouse, and he cried himself to sleep.

Chapter 10
"Come on in Peyton!" Henry welcomed him into his house. "Did you find anything good?"

"Hehe, I found Cameron's fake YouTube channel, and Pat's Twitter account."

"Excellent! Let's get to work!"

"I'm commenting 'fraud' under all of his videos."

"Ha! Also, put 'Hi Pat! How does it feel to be a lying oaf?'" They both laughed.

"Hey, remember his stupid idea of green pants for Joe Moraliste?"

"Yeah, that was so dumb!"

"Let's make a parody of that, Pat Moraliste!"

"Oh my goodness, yes!"

"I'll get some paper and pencils." The two worked on Pat Moraliste for hours; they even skipped dinner to work on it.

"And… Part 1 is done! Post it on the internet, Peyton?"

"Should we sell it in the store?"

"Heck, no! Who would pay to read Pat's garbage ideas?" Someone knocked on the door as they were laughing. "Coming!" It was Carter and Jacob.

"What are you two doing?" asked Carter.

"OH, we're making the greatest parody ever, ready Peyton? One, two, three…"

"Pat Moraliste!!!" exclaimed Henry and Peyton, together. Henry let Carter and Jacob inside.

"Uh, guys, don't you think these seem kind of mean?" asked Jacob.

"Whatever, nothing $6000 can't make up for. Join us, it's fun!"

"I'm good, but these are really funny," said Jacob. Carter laughed in agreement. "Look! He's holding a gun backward! Ha!" The friends finished Pat Moraliste after one week, and they posted it on Twitter. It got over 2,000 likes.

"Guys," said Peyton. "Halloween is soon, and I've got the perfect plan."

Chapter 11
“WHO ARE WE??!!!” yelled Peyton.

“GOOD OAK COMICS!!!”

“ATTACK!!!” Henry bombarded the poor yellow house with eggs, Jacob did the same. Peyton and Suyash stealthily sneaked up to the house, spraying the five letters of the alphabet that spelled FRAUD on the house with red paint. Carter threw a fat roll of toilet paper on the house, followed by half a dozen eggs.

“MORE EGGS PEYTON!” shouted Henry.

“WE’RE ALL OUT!! RETREAT!!!” The gang ran off, just as Pat’s father walked out the door cursing at the kids. They kept running until they reached the safety of the treehouse. Henry had stored extra eggs in the treehouse, in case anyone followed them.

“That’ll teach Pat! When’s he coming back again?” asked Peyton.

“November? Thanksgiving, I think, what should we do then?” asked Suyash.

“I don’t know, I think we’ve done enough revenge already,” said Jacob. Carter nodded in agreement.

“Are you kidding? Making Pat’s dad spend a few hours cleaning egg whites off his windows isn’t going to make up for several hundred dollars.”

“$1300 Peyton, $1300,” said Henry angrily.

“Guys, he did help us, though,” said Carter. “He-”

“He’s a fraud, and that’s all that matters,” said Peyton. “I don’t care if he wrote a hundred arcs by himself, he’s nothing to me.”

“I agree, I’ve lost all my respect for him,” said Jacob.

“Peyton, how much are we at now?” asked Carter.

“We’re at... $44,000!”

“Nice!” said Suyash. “$9,000 past our goal!”

“An extra $6,000 for Pat,” said Henry angrily. Suyash looked down disappointedly, Peyton just scratched his head, he looked sad.

“You know what,” said Carter, standing on a table. “We made a mistake, that’s all! Let’s forget about Pat, screw him! Better now than later, we learned a good lesson from this, and we will only grow!”

“Carter’s right,” said Suyash. “Let’s create some new comics, without Pat this time. We’ll show him who we are!”

“Yes!” yelled, everyone in agreement. The friends went to Baseball Grill after and celebrated what was going to be a great, successful year.

Chapter 12
“You know, I just realized something,” said Peyton, he was scowling. “Pat probably used Good Oak Comics to help him get into his boarding school! He used us again!”

“Oh Peyton,” said Henry. “I’m sure that there are much worse things that he’s done that we haven’t thought of yet.”

“Um, guys?” asked Jacob. “I thought that we were going to forget about Pat?”

“It’s just that the thought of everything he’s done makes me so mad. How could you not be Jacob?”

“I am, I’ve just moved on. Anyways, do you think Mr.Purse should be a good guy or bad guy?”

“What kind of a stupid name is Mr. Purse?” asked Suyash. “What’s next, Dr. Makeup?” Henry chuckled.

“Also guys, we finished Pat Moraliste,” Peyton announced. “It’s so funny, honestly. We should publish it and post it on like 10 websites.” Jacob and Carter rolled their eyes.

“Let me recheck it for grammar mistakes,” said Henry.

“I thought the Pat Moraliste thing was a joke between the five of us,” said Jacob. “It seems a bit harsh to post all over the internet, don’t you think Peyton?”

“Jacob, must I remind you, that this was the fraud that stole over $1,000 from us? Not kidnapping him and holding him for ransom is already good enough!”

“We’re not criminals, Peyton,” said Henry. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t get revenge, hehe.”

“And…. Pat Moraliste is now on our Facebook page! I can’t wait for Pat to see it!” Peyton grinned happily.

“Ha! I’m going to send it to GoComics, they can put it on their website for free!” Henry added.

Suyash spit water out of his mouth. “These Pat Moraliste comics are so funny! Water’s coming out of my nose, it hurts! Totally worth the laughs.”

Carter and Jacob sighed.

Chapter 13
“Zach, I thought you went to college,” said Henry. Jacob laughed hysterically.

“He flunked out after the first trimester!” Juice came out of Jacob’s nose. “He’s so bad!”

“Shut up, Jacob, or I’ll have dad burn your food again!” Zach stormed back into the kitchen.

“Oooh! I’ll burn your food again!” Jacob scoffed, mocking Zach. “What an imbecile.”

“Guys, this is going to piss you all off,” said Peyton. He was scowling again. “On Pat’s boarding school profile, it says that he’s had experience as a professional cartoonist and story writer! He used us again! Again!”

“Will you please stop bringing him up every day?!” yelled Carter. “The thought of him ruins my day! Bringing him up does us no good! Please stop!” Suyash groaned, Jacob just sipped his juice loudly. Nobody said anything for a while.

“I got a new dog today,” said Henry, trying to break the silence. “His name is Fancy.”

“Fancy sounds like a name for elegant, royal poodles,” said Suyash while laughing.

“Shut up! My mom named him. Also, he’s a beagle. Poodles are for little girls.”

“Imagine a beagle named Fancy!” Everyone cracked up except for Henry.

Zach returned to the table with everyone’s food. “Fancy sounds like a wuss dog. You should meet my cat Jimmy, he’s really cool. Also, Jacob, your chicken totally isn’t messed up.”

Jacob spat out a piece of his chicken. “Why is it so spicy?” Zach laughed and went back into the kitchen.

“Did you hear that Pat’s dad called the police?” said Henry. “We didn’t leave any clues, thankfully. We’re off the hook.”

“I kinda feel bad,” said Carter. “Pat told us that his dad was extremely busy.”

“Pat’s full of lies; I doubt the fatty is even employed,” said Peyton with a mouth full of pasta. Suyash and Jacob rolled their eyes. Zach came back to the table.

“You know, that Pat kid you’re talking about went to my history club. Every week he would take extra snacks and books for his brother.”

“Yeah! Isn’t he a fraud, Zach?” asked Peyton.

“I guess so, I don’t really care. I only went there to get extra credit in my honors history class.”

“See? Zach thinks he’s a fraud too, Jacob.”

Jacob looked down and sighed. “When will Peyton get over Pat?” Jacob asked himself. “When will he?”

Chapter 14
“Do any of you guys have plans for Thanksgiving?” asked Jacob.

“I don’t,” said Henry.

“My family’s going on a vacation to Germany!” said Peyton with a smile on his face. “I’m excited, I’ve always wanted to go to Europe.”

“Bring us some souvenirs,” said Suyash.

“Carter, you’re coming to my house for Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yeah, hope your dad makes a good turkey. By the way, when are you leaving for Germany, Peyton?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow, actually. It was sort of a last-minute planned trip.”

“So you aren’t going to finish Night Monsters with us?” asked Henry, with a frown on this face.

“Unfortunately not, but I know it’s in good hands. I have to go pack, see y’all later.” Peyton climbed down the ladder and went home.

“So Pat’s coming back soon, huh?” said Suyash.

“I hope not, I don’t want to see that fraud,” said Henry angrily.

“Pat actually gave me his phone number before he left for France,” said Suyash. “Should we call him?”

“Are you seriously considering talking to him? Boy, you can’t be so forgiving. I’m heading home. See you fools later.” Henry grabbed his backpack and went home.

“Do you think we should call him Jacob?”

“Sure, I kind of want him to explain himself. What about you, Carter?”

“I’m not ready to forgive him, but I do want an explanation. I have to go home too for dinner, you coming to Jacob?”

“Yep.” The two left and went to Jacob’s house. Suyash took out his phone and opened his contacts. “Michael, Mel, Nancy,...” he muttered to himself. “Owen, Pat! Found him.” He sent Pat a message. [Heard you were coming back this week?]

No response. It was 3 am French time, so Suyash grabbed his stuff and headed home.

Chapter 15
Suyash’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Pat..

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Suddenly, Suyash’s bedroom door swung open. It was his father.

“Didn’t I tell you lights out at 10:30?”

“Sorry, Dad!”

“Give me your phone.” Suyash’s dad took his phone and turned off his lights. The next day, Suyash rushed to school to tell his friends about his conversation with Pat. Unfortunately, his dad didn’t give his phone back after he stayed up 30 minutes after bedtime.

“Henry, I texted Pat, and he responded!”

“Seriously? I told you to not contact him, why would you? You know what he’s done to us.”

“Henry, he denies it.” Henry put his hand to his forehead.

“Do you have a reason to believe him?”

“He says he’s camera-shy.”

“And? Is that enough for you?”

“I guess you’re right, he played us pretty bad last time.

“Exactly, don’t let him make a fool out of you again.” The bell rang for First Period; Henry went to French, and Suyash went to Science.

“What’s up, Suyash?” asked Jacob. “Last class before Thanksgiving break!”

“Yeah, remember Pat?”

“Ugh, please don’t bring him up.”

“He messaged me, he said that Cameron does exist.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Silence!” yelled Mr. P-dog. “You have three worksheets due by the end of the class! Use your notebook for notes, I’m going to take a nap at my desk.”

“Who else knows?” whispered Jacob.

“Only you and Henry. By the way, don’t tell Peyton. I don’t want to ruin his vacation.”

“Should I tell Carter?”

“Tell him in person next class.”

“Okay.”

“I see you kids chattering over there! Concentrate, these worksheets are due by the end of class, or it’s a zero in the grade book!” yelled Mr. Pranava. “And let me sleep! I have to coach basketball practice after school!”

“Mr. Pranava is the sole reason I’m not doing basketball until high school,” said Jacob as he rolled his eyes.

Chapter 16
The bell rang for Second Period.

“Ugh, I didn’t get the second worksheet done, my mom’s going to kill me,” said Suyash.

“No turkey for you,” laughed Henry. “It must suck to have Mr. P-dog for science.”

“Tell me about it. Look, there’s Carter.”

“Carter!” Suyash yelled. “Get your butt over here!” Carter pushed his way through the kids in the hallway.

“What? Make it quick, my next class is at the other end of the hallway, and if I’m late I get detention, and if I get detention, I-”

“Yes, we get it. You don’t want detention,” said Jacob. “It turns out that Pat claims that Cameron is real.”

“How do we know he isn’t lying again?”

“We don’t,” said Henry. “Agh, some idiot poked me with a pencil in the halls.”

“Does Peyton know?” asked Carter.

“He does not,” replied Suyash. “We don’t really plan on telling him, he’s probably happily staying in Europe right now.”

“I want him to explain himself,” said Jacob angrily. “Suyash, tell him to meet us at the treehouse, or else we tell his boarding school about the fraud.”

“Alright, I will.” Suyash went to his next class, art. Art was his least favorite class, none of his friends were in it, and he sat next to a really annoying kid named Nate.

“Oh, hey, Suyash,” said Nate while picking his nose. Suyash just ignored him. Nate was often suspended for insolent behavior and school vandalism. “Hey, do you have any red spray paint, it’s the only color of the turkey I don’t have.”

“What? Why do you need red spray paint? No, you can’t have it.”

“How does $50 sound? I have to do it today, I’m leaving for my grandma’s house at 4 in the afternoon.” Suyash picked up his things and moved to another table. Mrs. Kelly, the art teacher, had left the room, so Suyash pulled out his phone, which had a notification: another message from Pat. He responded. ..

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“We’ll see him there,” Suyash said to himself.

Chapter 17
“Remind me, why are we doing this again?” asked Henry.

“We should give him a chance to explain himself,” answered Suyash. Jacob had a giant grin on his face.

“What’s so funny?” asked Henry.

“I knew Pat wouldn’t lie to us. Last night, he, Cameron, and I played Roblox together. Therefore, Cameron is real!”

“What? How’s that evidence? Someone could’ve posed as him.”

“There he is!” shouted Carter. Pat stood outside the treehouse; he was holding a red drawstring bag.

“Hi, Pat!” shouted Jacob. Pat shyly waved. “Come on up!” Jacob dropped the ladder, and Pat slowly climbed up.

“Hi guys,” said Pat quietly. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t make things very clear about Cameron and me before I left.”

“Shut up, Pat,” said Henry angrily. “I’m not believing crap until I see evidence that Cameron exists.”

“Did you forget what I told you earlier?” said Jacob.

“Are you seriously foolish enough to believe Pat again with evidence as weak as that?” responded Henry angrily.

“He drew some comics for you guys apologizing,” said Pat.

“How do I know you didn’t draw them?” asked Henry.

“I have a completely different drawing style, see?” He laid some comics on the table.

“Hm,” muttered Suyash.

“Pat, you’re a good artist, I admit that,” said Henry. “Most good artists can draw in more than one style, this evidence isn’t good enough.”

“What more do you want him to do, Henry?” asked Carter.

“I want to see Cameron with my own eyes,” replied Henry. “I don’t care about xenophobia or whatever, this is a fraud we’re talking about.”

“I’m not a fraud,” said Pat.

“Yeah, Henry,” Jacob responded immediately. Henry ignored Jacob.

“I want to see Cameron,” said Henry.

“No! He might have a panic attack, he can’t stand the sight of strangers.”

“Dude, I have mottephobia, the fear of moths. Do I have panic attacks when I see one? NO! I get scared, but I don’t pass out or have panic attacks.”

“He’s really xenophobic! I’ve seen him have panic attacks before Henry! They’re bad! You don’t know what it’s like.”

“Neither do you!” shouted Henry at the top of his lungs. “That’s because all of this is lies!” Henry turned to Jacob. “And you’re stupid enough to believe this scoundrel! Again!”

“Why don’t you believe him?! What about his evidence, don’t you believe?!” yelled Jacob. Henry and Jacob shouted at each other while Carter and Suyash analyzed Pat’s comics.

“They do look a lot different from each other,” Carter pointed out. Henry stopped yelling.

“Suyash, what do you think?”

“Hm, I don’t know,” Suyash responded.

“I’m out,” said Henry. He grabbed his stuff and left. “Have fun getting your money stolen! Again!” he yelled back at the treehouse. Jacob looked angry.

“He’s so biased against him,” he said while shaking his head.

“He has a reason to, he believes that Pat stole our money,” said Carter

“I’m not a thief,” said Pat.

“We know,” said Jacob. “We know.”

Chapter 18
“WHAT?!?!?!” shouted Peyton. “THAT’S OUTRAGEOUS!”

“Agh, don’t shout! My phone was right by my ear,” replied Henry.

“How could they be so gullible to believe Pat again?!”

“Good question, I have no idea. Hey, sorry for calling you and ruining your day. It’s just that nobody will listen to me.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Peyton angrily. “I’m so mad, though!”

“It’s okay, though,” said Henry. “You manage the website and payments, just don’t pay Pat.”

“I wonder if we can report Pat to the cops,” said Peyton. “Then, they can barge in and see if Cameron is real or not. They won’t give a crap about xenophobia.”

“We should save that as a last resort,” said Henry. “Let’s not make things complicated by getting the police involved.”

“Fair enough,” said Peyton. “I come back in 4 days; we’ll talk some sense into our friends.”

“Hopefully,” said Henry. “I have to go, bye.” Henry hung up the phone. “At least someone will listen to me,” Henry muttered to himself. He went to his desk and turned on his computer, and he searched up Cameron on a search engine.

“Nothing,” he said to himself. He turned off his computer and went to bed.

Chapter 19 “We are now preparing to land,” said the flight attendant. “Please fasten your seatbelts and raise your tables.” Peyton did as she asked. He didn’t say a word the entire flight, he kept thinking about how much money Good Oak Comics was going to lose again. Peyton went to bed as soon as he got home, even though it was still light outside. The next morning, he met with Henry at the mall. “What do we do?”  asked Henry. “What can we do?” replied Peyton. “I refuse to work with a fraud, if Pat stays then I go.” “He’s going back to France in a week, we have until next summer.” “We make the most money during the summer!” yelled Peyton angrily. “You know, we don’t need Pat’s permission to see if Cameron’s real or not,” said Henry. “We’ll just ask Pat’s parents.” “Oh, I thought you meant that we break in and find Cameron. Now that I think about it, that’s a stupid idea. There’s a 99.99% chance that Cameron doesn’t exist.” “100%, Peyton,” replied Henry. “I’m going to buy a burger, you want one?” “I’m good, thanks. Actually, I’m going to head home. I have some summer reading stuff to do.” “Have fun,” said Henry. As Peyton walked outside, he was devising a plan. He was going to prove that Cameron wasn’t real, once and for all.

Chapter 20 “Peyton? What’s up, man!” yelled Suyash from across the street. Peyton hadn’t planned to see Suyash. “Uh, hey!” “How was Europe?” “Fun! We went to this really cool art museum, it was really cool!” “Let’s go to the treehouse! We can talk there!” Not wanting to sound suspicious, Peyton agreed. They walked to the treehouse. “Did you guys create any new comics while I was gone?” “No, we didn’t really do much while you were gone, mainly because Henry wasn’t here.” “Henry? Why wasn’t he here? I thought he was in town for all of Thanksgiving break?” Suyash sighed and turned around. “It’s Pat,” he said. “He refuses to work with him.” “Um, I thought we found out that he was a fraud a few months ago.” “Apparently he isn’t,” Suyash replied. “Jacob and Carter believe him.” “Do you?” asked Peyton. “Answer me truthfully.” Suyash sat down. He groaned. “Well? Yes or no?” “I guess I do,” said Suyash. Peyton looked angry. “Hey, you should listen to his side of the story first.” “Oh really?” asked Peyton. “Tell me, what excuse did he come up with that’s so convincing?” “Jacob said that he-” “I don’t care what Jacob said!” yelled Peyton. “What did Pat say that’s so convincing?” “Well, he did bring two comics. One was drawn by Pat, and the other was drawn by Cameron.” “Oh, so the man can draw in two different styles. Good for him! How is that evidence?” “They looked really different, the handwriting was different too.” “Are you serious?” Peyton pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and started drawing. “What are you doing?” “Wait.” Suyash sat down and took a sip of water. “Here,” said Peyton. “I drew 2 talking ducks, in 2 different art styles, and 2 different handwritings! It’s so easy!” Suyash just stared. He didn’t know what to say. “Hey guys!” exclaimed Jacob as he climbed into the treehouse. “What’s up? Welcome back Peyton!” “So you believe that Cameron is real too?” asked Peyton. “Well, yeah,” said Jacob. “It’s pretty clear that he’s real.” Peyton stood up angrily. “How is he real?” he yelled. “I played Roblox with Pat and Cameron,” said Jacob. “Jeez, you need to chill out! I just came here to say hi, you know.” “Yeah, and how do you know that the second account was Cameron?” “His account was called ComicsCreatorz,” Jacob said. “Who else would name themselves ComicsCreatorz?” “Uh, Pat?!” Peyton blurted out. “What was the name of Pat’s account?” “His username was Pig Lover,” responded Jacob. “Pig Lover is probably Pat’s friend!” yelled Peyton. “Seriously?! When has Pat ever shown love for pigs?!” “Just because he doesn’t draw pigs doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love them, Peyton,” said Jacob. “Whatever!” yelled Peyton. “Have fun getting robbed again! Stupid, gullible turds.” Peyton jumped down from the treehouse and left. “Goodness, he’s so salty,” said Jacob. “Hm,” Suyash nodded in agreement.

Chapter 21 “Hey guys!” said Henry’s dad. “Welcome!” It was Thanksgiving, and Suyash and Carter’s families were invited to eat at Henry’s house. “Hi, Carter!” greeted Henry. “I think that dinner’s going to be ready soon.” “Great! I’m starving,” replied Carter. “What should we do until then?” “Well, I think that we should talk about -...” “Pat?” asked Carter. “Actually, no,” responded Henry. “I wanted to talk to you about Peyton.” “What about him? I heard he had a breakdown yesterday at the treehouse.” “Yeah, Jacob told me the same thing. Listen, I’m worried that Peyton’s going to leave Good Oak Comics.” “Why would he leave?” asked Carter, but he already knew the answer to that question. “Pat, huh?” Henry nodded. “Peyton’s been our friend for years now, we grew up drawing comics with him,” said Henry. “Just because he leaves Good Oak Comics doesn’t mean he’s not going to be our friend anymore.” “You’re fine with him leaving? He’s done so much for us, the entire website was built by him,” said Henry. “If I’m going to be honest, he probably contributes more than anybody.” “I don’t want him to leave, I just wish that he could get along with Pat,” said Carter. “Peyton hates Pat because he’s a fraud,” said Henry. “The only way you could convince him to stay is to somehow convince him that Cameron exists. Personally, I can’t really help you there because I also think that Cameron is fake.”  “Dinner’s ready!” yelled Henry’s dad from downstairs. “Let’s talk about this later,” said Carter. “I’m starving.” Just as they went downstairs, the doorbell rang. It was Suyash. “Hey everyone!”  “Hi Suyash,” said Henry. “You’re just in time! Dinner’s just been served!” “Great! Let’s eat!” yelled Suyash. The three of them sat next to each other at the dinner table. They were so hungry that they didn’t say a word for the entire meal. “You kids want any dessert?” asked Henry’s mom. “No thanks, Mom!” replied Henry. “Guys, let’s go to my room and talk.” Suyash and Carter followed Henry to his room. “Where’s Jacob? Doesn’t he usually come to your house for Thanksgiving, Henry?” asked Suyash. “He went to Pat’s house for Thanksgiving this year, actually.” “So what about Peyton?” asked Carter. “What can we do? It’s not like we can get actual proof that Cameron is real,” responded Suyash. “Or fake,” said Henry. “We can ask Jacob!” exclaimed Suyash. “He’s at Pat’s house, he can find out for sure.” “Is this not suspicious to you guys at all?” asked Henry. “The parents of a xenophobic child invited guests over for Thanksgiving?” Suyash and Carter ignored him. Carter took out his phone and dialed Jacob’s number. “Dang!” yelled Carter. “He didn’t pick up!” “Leave a voicemail,” suggested Henry. “Good idea.”  “Please leave your message after the tone,” said the phone. “Hey, Jacob! It’s Carter. Since you’re at Pat’s house, could you ask Pat’s parents if Cameron’s real? Thanks!” Carter hung up. “I guess we’ll soon know the truth,” said Henry.

Chapter 22 “Where are you going, Peyton? It’s Thanksgiving, spend some time with your family.” “Maybe later, Mom,” replied Peyton as he put on his coat. He wrapped his mom in a tight hug before grabbing his bag and leaving the house. He hopped on his bike and rode to Pat’s house. Pat saw him from the window, and he opened the door. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I need to talk to your parents, this is important,” Peyton responded. Pat shut the door, but Peyton stopped him. “Let me in!” “Dude, you can’t enter my house unless I give you permission!” Pat tried shutting the door again, but Peyton grabbed the door and slammed it in Pat’s face. Pat hit the ground, and Peyton went inside forcefully. “Pat!” screamed Pat’s mother. “Who are you?!” yelled Pat’s father. “Melissa, call the police!” “WHERE’S CAMERON?!” screamed Peyton. Jacob went around the corner. “Peyton? What the heck? What are you doing here?” he asked. Peyton looked in the dining room but didn’t see a boy that could be Cameron. “Oh right, xenophobia,” Peyton said to himself. He raced up the stairs. Pat’s father went after him. “Young man! I don’t know who you are, or what you are doing, but-...” Peyton grabbed one of the picture frames off the wall and whacked Pat’s dad in the head with it. He toppled down the stairs with an OOF. “Marty!” screamed Pat’s mom. Peyton kicked the first door on the left open. It was just a piano. He opened the second and third doors, but there were only closets. Just as he was about to open another door, Jacob grabbed him from behind and pinned his arm to his back. “Let me go, you gullible turd!” Peyton yelled. A police car arrived just as Peyton broke free from Jacob’s grip. The cops stormed inside and pinned Peyton to the ground. They handcuffed him and took him away.

Chapter 23
“Would you mind telling us why you entered the Mitchell residency and assaulted two of the residents?” asked the deputy.

“I’ll tell you what’s up,” said Peyton angrily. “Pat Mitchell committed fraud against Good Oak Comics Enterprises!” The cops laughed.

“Do you have any proof, son? And how exactly did he commit fraud, tell us.”

“He told us he had a brother that was helping us out with everything,” said Peyton. “It turns out that his brother was made-up, he only told us so he could get twice the salary.”

“Is that your excuse for breaking into a home?”

Peyton didn’t answer the question, he just looked down.

“I said, is that your excuse for breaking into a home?”

“Yes,” replied Peyton quietly.

“I’m going to call your parents.” The deputy left the room and went on the phone. The other police officer stayed to keep an eye on him.

“He really did commit fraud,” Peyton said to him.

“We’ll investigate that later, kid,” he replied. Peyton didn’t say another word until his parents came to the station. He was fined $500 for assault and battery, and another $500 for breaking and entering. “Since this is your first offense, you won’t get juvie this one time,” said the deputy as Peyton and his parents left the station.

“What kind of stupid kid does things like this on Thanksgiving?” asked the deputy.

“I don’t know, should we investigate the fraud?”

“How about tomorrow, I’m going to go home.”

“Me too.”

Chapter 24
Pat woke up to pounding on his front door. His parents were Black Friday shopping, and his face had turned purple overnight. He opened the door to see two police officers.

“Are you Pat Mitchell?”

“I am. Is there something wrong, officer?”

“Yes, you have been accused of fraud. You have been accused of creating a second identity to get two salaries.”

“That is false, officer,” Pat responded. “I have a little brother, Cameron. He’s xenophobic and freaks out at the sight of strangers, so I wouldn’t recommend looking for him.”

“Yes, we were informed of the xenophobia,” the officer said. “If that’s true, then he should be taken to a mental health facility to cure his xenophobia.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Pat said.

“Kid, think about it. Do you want him to spend his entire life alone in this house? We need to cure his xenophobia. But first, I need to confirm that he is real. Are your parents at home?”

“No, they’re off Black Friday shopping.”

“Can we come in? It’ll be quick.”

“Okay,” Pat said as he let the officers in.

“Where is your brother?”

“He’s in his room, it’s upstairs. Follow me.” The officers followed Pat into the first door on the left.

“I don’t see anything but a piano and some old chairs,” said the officer.

“Wait,” said Pat, he walked over to the closet.

“Cameron,” he whispered.

Chapter 25
“Was Peyton actually arrested?” asked Carter.

“Yeah, I heard he was heavily fined, too,” Jacob replied.

“Hey, you never called us back,” said Suyash.

“Oh yeah, things were crazy that night, so I forgot,” Jacob responded. “I didn’t see him with my own eyes, but Pat and his parents kept bringing food upstairs and coming back with empty plates.”

“I guess that’s pretty convincing,” said Henry.

“It’s weird,” said Jacob. “When I went into Pat’s house a few months ago, I checked all the rooms upstairs, but there was no sign of Cameron.”

“So, what about Peyton?” asked Carter.

“Frankly, I don’t think we can work with him. He’s violent, and he was literally arrested.”

“Yeah,” said Suyash.

“I really wish Pat cleared things up before he left,” said Henry. “We’d still have Peyton if he did.”

“True, and all the fraud stuff wouldn’t have happened,” Suyash added.

“If Cameron is real, then I feel awful for egging his house,” said Jacob.

“Yeah, same,” said Henry in accord. “Let’s not tell Pat about that.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“The timing is bad, too,” said Carter. “We could’ve gotten a lot of work done this Thanksgiving Break.”

“Let’s go to the Baseball Grill, want to invite Pat, Suyash?”

“Agh, I left my phone at home.”

“No worries,” said Henry. “He lives close to me, we can just go to his house and ask him.” The four of them left the treehouse and headed towards Pat’s house.

Chapter 26
“Hi Cameron, I’m Kelly.” Cameron just stared. Kelly could tell that he was shaking a little.

“Why don’t your family, you, and I go somewhere?” she said.

“It’s okay,” said Pat’s father. “Kelly’s really nice.” Kelly held Cameron’s hand as they walked downstairs. She gave him an action figure and a pack of gummy worms.

“Do you want to put this on?” Kelly asked. She took out a blindfold and offered it to Cameron. Cameron looked at Pat, who nodded. He put on the blindfold, and Kelly took him outside.

“He hasn’t been outside in so long,” said Pat. A tear dropped from the corner of his eye.

Jacob, Carter, Suyash, and Henry came by just as Kelly escorted Cameron into a blue minivan. Pat saw them, and he put a finger to his lip, signaling them to be quiet. The four of them just stared in amazement. Pat’s parents followed Cameron onto the van, and they left.

“Hey, Kelly, can I go talk to my friends for a second?” asked Pat. Kelly nodded. Pat walked over to the four friends, who still hadn’t said a word.

“So, he is real?” asked Henry. Pat just smiled.

“They’re taking him to a mental health facility for kids,” Pat said. “He’s going to be staying with Kelly for a while.”

“That’s great,” said Carter. “I really hope he gets cured.”

“Well, I should go,” said Pat. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, hopefully.” He waved as he got onto the minivan. As it drove away, a familiar figure appeared in the distance. It was Peyton, he was sitting on his bike, just staring. He smiled and waved as he rode his bike to his friends.

“Hi, guys,” he said. “I’m really sorry about everything, I’m sorry for calling you guys gullible turds.” Henry laughed. Nobody else said anything.

Peyton looked down and started fiddling with his jacket.

“I’m moving to Oregon,” he said. “My parents want me to have a fresh start, and I think that’s a good idea too.”

“Oh,” said Jacob. “Well, goodbye, Peyton. When are you leaving?”

“I’m leaving in four days,” Peyton said. “I guess that means I’m not going to be a part of Good Oak Comics anymore.”

“You’re always a part of Good Oak Comics,” said Carter. “It doesn’t matter where you are, you will always be a member of the Good Oak Comics family.”

“Aw, thank you, Carter,” said Peyton. His eyes filled with tears, and he gave everyone a hug. “It was great growing up with you guys,” he said. “I had a blast drawing comics in the treehouse, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

“Visit in the summer, maybe?” Henry suggested. Peyton smiled and looked down.

“I’ll try,” he said. “And even if I don’t, I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see each other. I have to go, goodbye, friends.”

“Goodbye,” said Jacob. “You’ve taught me so much, have fun in Oregon.”

“I wish you luck in your future endeavors,” said Henry. “Bye, I hope Oregon is good for you.”

“Bye, Peyton. Good luck in life,” said Suyash. Peyton smiled at him.

“Suyash, I am putting you in charge of Good Oak Comics, is that cool?”

“Of course, man,” Suyash replied. They high-fived.

“Goodbye, all of you.” Peyton hopped on his bike and went home.

Chapter 27
7 MONTHS LATER

“Summer vacation!” shouted Henry.

“Let’s go!” exclaimed Carter.

The team met at the treehouse, ready for another successful summer of creating comics.

“Hey, where’s Pat?” asked Jacob.

“Oh, he’s got a great surprise for all of you, you’re going to love it,” said Henry with a grin on his face. Suyash and Carter looked at each other with confused looks.

“Hey, guys!” shouted Pat. Everyone looked out the window, but nobody paid attention to him. Behind Pat was a younger kid with blond hair.

“Cameron?!” shouted Suyash in disbelief.

“Hey, guys! It’s me, Cameron!” Cameron exclaimed.

“You’re not xenophobic?” asked Jacob.

“Not anymore,” said Cameron with a smile on his face. “I never plan on being afraid of anything ever again.”

“That’s great,” said Henry. “Also, Peyton sent me a whole story that he drew and wrote himself! He wants us to publish it.”

“Let’s do it!” shouted Carter. Jacob and Suyash looked at Pat.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Pat said with a big smile.

''In the summer o’8th grade, Good Oak Comics made $70,000 in revenue, an all-time high. Cameron enrolled in public school and made tons of friends on his first day there. He moved out of his little closet and lived just as any other young teenager would. Six months later, Peyton visited during Christmas, and he made amends with Pat. Zach re-enrolled in college and graduated four years later. Although Henry, Suyash, Carter, Jacob, Pat, Peyton, and Cameron all went their separate ways after high school, they remained friends. Friends forever.''

THE END.