Our Stories: Tackle the Text At Wit’s End § The Amanda Project

Tackle the Text At Wit’s End

Hi, guys. I have to make this quick—I’m posting from the BB/BS Center, and Hal and Nia are waiting for me outside. And it’s going to be a very long day. Long & hot. Let me explain.

So, it’s our last shift at the center before this mysterious commercial shoot. All the usual suspects are here, running around like those famous chickens. Even Barbara is too busy to talk to us, which, believe me, is saying a lot. It is total chaos.

Since there was no one around to give us our assignments, we checked our cubbies—Nia’s was empty (lucky), but Hal’s and mine had notes. The same note, actually. “Would you please be a doll and stain the new wood fence out back? Needs to get done before the shoot. Thanks!”

What? The three of us ran out back. The entire playground had been fenced in since the unbirthday party. It looked great, but there was mucho de fence that still needed to be stained. I mean, a lot. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hal groaned.

Standing in the middle of the playground, sun beating down on me, surrounded by all that new fence that needed to be painted, I suddenly, well, lost my cool. “Who are we—Tom Sawyer?” I shouted at no one in particular. “Other than the initials on that tree—and let’s face it, those initials could belong to anyone—we have no proof Amanda ever put a toe in this place. What are we doing?”

Okay, yes, I threw a fit. And it’s a little embarrassing to admit it, but I really just had enough already. Why can’t anything about Amanda just be simple?

This wasn’t the first time. It happened before, when I found the first piece of the postcard sticking out of my locker…

This time I didn’t have to be right in front of my locker to see what was there—the bright yellow piece of paper sticking out from between the vents was visible from several feet away. I slipped it out carefully, sure it would e a note, and I was right. My hands shook, but I could still see that the words on it had definitely been written by Amanda. She had was on one line and think was just beneath it.

She had think?! Was this supposed to mean something? Was it supposed to be some kind of message? Because if so, it wasn’t exactly communicating much to me. Suddenly I felt a wave of frustration. Why can’t she just pick up the phone and call like a normal person? I was so mad I kicked the locker below mine, and the searing pain that ran up my leg after my foot made contact with the metal surface only made me madder. For a second I was tempted to just crumple up the card and toss it. If Amanda had something she wanted to tell me, let her tell me. I was tired of her games, tired of not hearing from her (or not hearing from her in any of the way you normally hear from people). I’d spent the morning serving detention. Why? Amanda. I’d broken into the vice principal’s office and (for all I knew) was about to find out I’d been discovered and was facing expulsion. Why? Amanda. I’d come barreling through the halls of Endeavor like my life depended on it only to find at the end of my race that what awaited me was a scrap of paper that meant…nothing. And why?

Amanda.

My piece of postcard turned out to be just one part of a bigger picture. We’ve practically been indentured servants these past few days, without getting any closer to finding Amanda.

How does this piece fit into the big picture?

15 responses

Chandler 06.25.2010

Maybe you’ll find something while you’re staining the fence. Or maybe she wants you to start a fence-painting company.
AllieK 06.25.2010

People have said this before. but maybe Amanda pretended to be 18 and had a little brother or sister who knows a clue or something.
Alyxtiaz 06.25.2010

Maybe Amanda wants you to think again about the message Nia taped together. And she doesn’t think that you got what the postcard that was sent to you?
BlueRoseGrey 06.25.2010

Well, Amanda was all about helping people. You’re all helping a lot of people by doing this and just being there in general. Plus, maybe she wants you to stick around the BB/BS center for a little while longer. That commercial shoot may have a hint for you guys.
trumpetgirl 06.26.2010

I can totally understand how frustrated you guys are, I sure would be. But I agree with BlueRoseGrey, just stick it out a little longer, see if something pops up. I don’t think Amanda would direct you guys there if it was a dead end, but this clue may be harder (and even bigger) to discover than others, linking together many things we’ve discovered in the past but were left hanging a little bit (the tickets from Heidi, maybe even the initials on the tree finally).
Milana 06.26.2010

It could be a test. Amanda wants you guys to find her, and if people can’t stand helping lonely little kids by staining a fence (which can be so much fun!) then maybe she doesn’t want those people to find her. Amanda ist nicht sehr logisch. Just help out and be happy- you’ll be done soon.
marycaulf 06.26.2010

Yes!!!!!!
stef_stone 06.26.2010

I definitely understand the frusturation. However, Amanda always seemed to have some deeper meaning in everything she did. Maybe she wanted you to be part of this organization for a clue, or maybe she just thought it would be good for you. Stick around until the commercial shoot, I think. We’ll see what turns up there.
lil*dezray 06.26.2010

i totally agree with what you all said. just hang in there for a little while longer,remember, you didn’t start working there for no reason! maybe amanda just wants to see how true a friend you guys are. maybe to her, you’d all work at the center for a year if meant you could find her. maybe amanda’s just one of those ckicks who like to test people. but hey, if you guys are sick of it, maybe it’s time to pick up a fresh trail and start sniffing it out.
atllvr123 06.26.2010

I think you have to take it one step at a time. Just wait for the commercial to be shot! If it seems like Amanda has nothing to do with it, you can just go from there and think of what to do then :) good luck
RRRules 06.27.2010

Yeah, BlueRoseGray’s got it. AV’s about helping others.
This’ll all work out in the end. If you weren’t doing this fence staining and working, you wouldn’t get to the commercial, and it’s definitely important.
AlexInvisible 06.30.2010

Okay. Callie’s note says “She had Think.”
“Think” is CAPITALIZED. Therefore, as a certain Evil Villain in National Treasure said. “It’s capitalized… because it’s a name.”
So, then, is Think a person Amanda was holding hostage (I’m assuming She refers to Amanda herself)? Or perhaps Think was a valuable painting Amanda had stolen/was protecting from being stolen/had inherited/whatever…
Or, lastly, what if Think was some kind of super-top-secret governmenty program that predicted the outcomes of the conjunctions of meteor showers, etc, LIKE THE WORLD-ENDING SPACE PHENOMENON that the place Callie’s mom (or was it her dad?) had worked at predicted in that article in invisible i?
I’m just going out on a limb here and saying that whatever Think was, it was valuable and possibly very dangerous in the wrong hands, and that’s why Amanda moved from town to town and took up different personas, in an attempt to stay off the radar.
emilys861 06.30.2010

I agree with almost all of you! Just keep looking, and you’ll find something(like in between those fences???).
atllvr123 07.05.2010

AlexInvisible- remember that Callie’s torn postcard was just part of a bigger message. I don’t think(haha) that it meant anything by itsself.
ChicGeek 07.18.2010

AlexInvisible’s right! in a pictures worth a thousand words, Iggy Two was IT. in the picture amanda’s arms were around iggy, like she had him. does that make sense? but what i don’t understand is the Think part.