The weather was fresh and crisp, as the clouds stood in front of the view of the sunlight’s embrace in Toronto, Ontario. I was walking to school, alone, like always. Then my cheerful, yet annoying sister went up to me while riding her pink bike. “Again, Noah?” Candace asked with a stare. “Seriously, you should try riding your bike to school with me, it's fun!” Candace exclaimed.

I glanced up at her. “No thanks.” I said. “I like walking. Alone.” I continued. “Fine, geez, no need to be so uptight about it,” Candance said, looking at me with a sad glance. “See you at school.” She said, riding off on her bike into the distance. I sighed and continued walking to school.

 I walked to the cafeteria and met my best friend, Elijah. Elijah–He was nothing like me. He was outgoing, friendly, and a sports guy–nothing I’m ever capable of being, I thought. Somehow, we ended up becoming friends just because we were in the same class in 7th grade. “Noah.” Elijah called out. “Noah!” He yelled. I then snapped out of my trance and looked at him.

“What?” I asked, annoyed. “You alright? You seem…out of it today.” Elijah asked, worried. “Oh, I’m fine,” I answered. “I’m just tired. Boring lesson in history.” I explained. Elijah nodded. "I see, I see." He responded. 

I walked across an hallway after lunch, holding a book in my hand. However, I stopped in my tracks I recently got it as a gift, yet I never bothered looking in it. I decided to finally read it. I held the book in both hands. The cover page was thin, with a blue and gold framing next to an image that below had the title in golden text. I scanned through a few pages, until I noticed something fell out of the book. 

I picked up a thin piece of paper that fell out of the book. It was thin and a little crumpled. It was blank on one side, and so I turned it over. It looked like a treasure map, showing the layout of Ontario, and a dotted path along to a big “X” labeled onto a spot on the map. “You have to be kidding me.” I muttered. A treasure map? Really?  I thought to myself.  What kind of highschooler would believe in a fake treasure map!? I thought. I sighed. I’m taking this home to throw in the trash, I decided.

I opened the door to my home, which I thought would be empty, but I saw my sister sitting on the couch. She then turned around and smiled when she saw my face. “Hey!” She said, running to give me a hug. “How was your day?” She asked. “Boring.” I held the book in my hands.

She then grabbed the book from my hands and started flipping through the pages, until she stopped. “A treasure map?” She asked. “Yeah, I’m throwing that away.” I replied. “Wait—don't.” Candace said, swatting my hand away. She then took the map and squealed.

“Imagine the treasure we could find with this, we’ll be rich!” She yelled. “I’m telling Abby about this!” She said as she grabbed her phone and started to dial a number. Great, now I have to deal with her bugging about this for a while…I thought with an exhausted groan coming out of my throat. “Don’t be grumpy!” She said, squeezing me with a tight hug.

A little while later, Abby came over to our house to see the treasure map Candace told her about. Abby looked at it, her face was filled with excitement. “Eeee! Let's go on an adventure!” Abby said. “That's what I was thinking,” Candace said. “Noah, come with us!” I stared at her for a second, thinking about it. 

“No, I’m good.” I responded. 

“You're going.” Candance answered back. “Make me!” I said. Candace grabbed a backpack full of stuff and pushed me out of the door, and locked it behind her, while Abby stepped out before she did. 

“Oh come on!” I yelled. “I have the keys, and you're not coming inside until we come back, with our hands full of treasure!” Candace yelled back. “Fine.” I snatched the map from her and started walking along the sidewalk.

We walked along the path, and I fully understood the map now. I didn't want to deal with it though, and handed it to Candace. "Here, you can have fun with this, I'm bored of it." I said. She looked a little surprised but didn't refuse the map and accepted it.

I noticed someone playing in their front yard along a house we walked by. I recognized the person immediately. It was Elijah.

I stopped Candace and Abigail, and turned to face them. "Can I ask Elijah to come with us?" I asked. Candace and Abigail exchanged a glance for a moment, and then Candace faced me. 

"Yeah, just make sure he doesn't get us into any trouble. It'll be nice having one more person with us." She said with a smile.

My face immediately brightened. Maybe this adventure wouldn't be so bad after all. 

I ran over to Elijah with a wide smile on my face. He then noticed me, and dropped his basketball. "Noah? What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise. 

"I'm forced to go on some weird adventure with my sister and her friend to find some hidden treasur-" I said, but Elijah then interrupted me at that moment. 

"Did you say treasure?" Elijah asked. "Erm, yeah, why?" I responded, curious now to why he was so interested in that word. "Count me in! I want some treasure!" 

I was surprised to hear that he was interested in it too, considering how childish this all is. But nonetheless, I was happy a friend was going on the adventure too. "Well, let's go then!" I proposed. 

I walked back to Candace and Abigail with Elijah. "Hey guys!" Elijah said to them, trying to be friendly. "Hi!" Candace responded back. 

"So...are we looking for treasure?" Elijah asked. "Yeah!" Candace replied. Elijah looked happy at the fact I didn't lie, and that this treasure hunt was real.  

"Speaking of the treasure..." Elijah spoke. "Are going to split it? Or..." Elijah then asked. He did bring up a good point. It would be a waste of an adventure if the tresure wasn't split evenly amongst us four. Not that I cared for the treasure anyway, but I still thought about it being unfair to be selfish and have one person keeping the treasure to themselves. 

"Yeah, but I'll get the better amount of it." Candace spoke. Elijah then looked stunned at her answer. "What do you mean by you?" Elijah then asked with an irritated tone. 

"I mean that I get the most treasure, I started this adventure after all!" Candace shouted, she started to get aggravated with this bickering.

Abigail then also felt a little annoyed by Candace's response. "But...you said you'd split the treasure..." Abigail spoke.  "Yeah, I would, but I still get the most of it." Candace said.

Elijah looked really mad. Like he wanted to slap her, or even punch her. But he wasn't going to do that. This would just cause more problems right now then there already is.

I decided to step up and solve the situation, for now. "Guys, please. This is not the time to be arguing. We have treasure to find, remember?" I asked. 

Everyone stared at me for a moment before glancing at eachother with a look of hatred in their eyes. "Fine." Candace mumbled, and started walking ahead of us, looking at the treasure map. 

I thought about what just happened. Are we seriously arguing over this? I thought. Ugh, now I have to be the parent and solve the arguing between these three if that happens again, which probably will. But how? I contemplated. 

I glanced down to the sidewalk and sighed in annoyance as the rest of the group walked in front of me. 

After a few hours of walking, I became bored. This adventure was nothing but walking. Not to mention that everyone was still angry at eachother. 

I then remembered I was carrying a backpack. No wonder why my back felt so...heavy, I thought. I took the backpack off my shoulders and peeked inside for anything interesting to use for the time being. 

My hands rummaged through the backpack, until I felt something thick in there. I quickly pulled it out of the backpack. It was a book. Wait, isn't this the book I found the treasure map in? I thought. I then glanced at the book again. It is... I confirmed in thought, now fully recognizing the book. I looked over the front and back cover, now curious in what this book was even about.