The Abandoned Building Society(Shelby Lawrence) Her favorite place to be, was the old abandoned place up the street from her house. Her six friends and her held meetings there, shared their biggest secrets, sleepovers, and it’s where they came up with the plan that saved the people of Willowtown from a severe drought last month. They had all been working together to try and revive it, it had practically no roof, the paint was peeling, and the old machines that once made quality leather shoes were now buried under fifty years worth of dust. Not to mention the scraggly little tree that grew in the center of the meeting room. She went up the overgrown walkway, up to the door that was a plank of wood. As she was about to set the plank aside, she saw a piece of paper on it. As her eyes glanced over it, a huge stone sunk in her chest. She grabbed it and ran inside, her nimble body weaved around the machines and nails jutting up from the floor. Breathless, she entered the small, classroom sized meeting room, where she saw two of her friends sitting. “Hey you guys! Call the others, we have to have an emergency meeting!”

Her best friend looked up at her, with a worried look on his face, “What’s the problem Cordia?”

Fear bubbled up inside her like a Coca-Cola. “Jacque please just call them.”

“Ok, Ok.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket, dialed the number and put it on speaker. “Hey Athena,”

“Hey Jacque what’s up?”

“We need you at the abandoned factory ASAP, emergency meeting..”

“Ok, i’ll be right over, I can pick up Jodie on my way there if you want.”

“That’s great thank you.” He hung up, and began dialing again “Now i’ll call the other two.” The phone rang, and then it picked up.

“Jacque, how are you?”

“Harry, we need you here at the A.B. now! We have an emergency meeting, can you grab Blythe on your way here?”

“Sure thing, i’ll be right there.” He hung up and then looked up at Cordia, “Now we just sit and wait.”

She walked over to the podium at the front of the room, and picked up the gavel. “Ok, I hope they get here soon, this is urgent. Kalista, Jacque, you’re my best friends here. Just remember that whatever happens, we stay friends no matter what.”

That’s when she heard the muffled footsteps of her friends walking through the building. Her friends Athena and Jodie came walking in, “Hey Cordia, you haven’t called an E.M. in a long time. Must be bad.”

Giving a short nod, she replied, “Yes it is, go take a seat please.” Jodie walked over the the chair next to Jacque, and sat down awkwardly. They kissed each other on the cheeks, and faced forward. Athena sat next to Kalista. A couple minutes later, Harry and Blythe arrived, and sat in their chairs next to Athena. They all gave a short nod to show that they were ready.

“Excellent. I call this Emergency Meeting to order, all members rise and say the creed with me.”

Everyone stood up unanimously, “On our honor, we shall try to serve our community, have each others back in good times or bad, for we are the Teens of the Abandoned Building Society.” They all took their seats.

“Thank you.” She tapped her gavel on the podium. “I have called this E.M. today because of this note I found on the Plank Door. I am going to read it to you, Abandoned Building: To be torn down tomorrow”

Everyone gasped, and started chattering about the Who, What, When, Why and How. “Order everyone Order! This is no time to panic, well kinda, but what we need is a solution.”

Harry raised his hand. “Will this be the end of the Teens of the Abandoned Building Society?”

Cordia shook her head, “No it won’t, hopefully we can work something out.”

Jacque shouted out, “I know what we should do, we should write to the town hall and tell them not to tear it down.”

Then Cordia whacked the gavel, “No, the quiet ones never get listened to, we should camp out here and when the wreckers come, we will stand out front so they can’t tear us down. We shall protect, and defend this building, because it’s not just a building, it’s home. Who’s with me? Jodie, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, stress probably isn’t good for the baby.”

“No, I’m going to, I want my baby to grow up here. I will defend with you. Right Jacque?”

He nodded “Of course, our baby should know this place.”

Everyone else shouted in agreement. Harry stood up, “We need to show everyone just how important this building is.”

Cordia nodded, “I agree Harry. Alright then it’s settled, tonight we come here and sleepover, this meeting is adjourned.”

Everyone got up and started conversing. Cordia walked over to Jodie, “Hello, how far along are you now?”

Jodie replied, “seven months, and now we know the gender.”

“Oh, my gosh. Tell me.”

“Ok, I am going to announce it over there to everyone.” She walked her way over to the podium. “Hey everyone! I have an announcement to make! Jacque and I have found out the gender of our baby.”

All of them turned their attention to her. “I am pleased to announce that our baby is going to be an adorable little girl!”

They all clapped in unison, and Athena shouted out, “Congratulations! What will her name be?”

Jodie started giggling. “Well, the thing is, we can’t decide on a name, we were hoping you would all have suggestions.”

Harry spoke out, “How about Lilly?”

Then Athena walked over to her, “I think Diana is a wonderful name.”

The others began shouting out names. Then Kalista spoke out over them, “Well, since we all love this town so much, how about you name her Willow, after Willowtown?”

Jodie slowly nodded her head. “I like that, what about you Jacque?”

“I love it Jodie. That’s it then, our little girl will be named Willow. Thank you everyone.”

They walked away from the podium, and started mingling with Harry and Blythe.

*****

About a half hour later everyone left, and went home. Cordia stayed and sat in one of the chairs, thinking about all the memories she made in the Abandoned Building, like the time that she first made the group, and the time that Jodie and Jacque announced that they were pregnant, and the time they solved the problem of the drought. So many memories, in danger of being torn down.

*****

Later that evening at about six o’clock, everyone entered the building, and sat in their seats, while Jodie took two 2 liters of Mountain Dew out of her bag. “I brought the official drink of the Teens of the Abandoned Building Society.”

“Thank you Jodie,” Cordia smiled, as she watched her loyal friends gathered around talking about how furious they were that someone would even consider tearing down such a historical building.

*****

Fifteen minutes later, Athena jumped up excitedly, “Hey! Three of my cousins are willing to help us!”

“Thank you Athena.” She was thrilled that these people were willing to help save the building. Her mind raced with thoughts, Will it be enough? Can we actually pull this off? What will become of the Abandoned Building Society if we don’t? Her mind was jerked away from her mustang-like thoughts, when a loud clanging noise came from outside the meeting room. Everyone turned their attention to Cordia, wondering if she knew what it might be. “I don’t know what that was guys. I’m gonna go have a look.” She tip toed across the floor, and opened the door of the meeting room. Scanning the dusty, and nail ridden floor, she heard muffled foot steps, and with it was the sound of tapping. Tck Tck Tck. It stopped, for a few seconds, and then it got louder and faster, and then sounded as if something was running. The room was dark, and she sensed that something was right near her, but she didn’t see what it was until it knocked her to the ground. She felt like she was being suffocated, and then she realized that the intruder was a big, fluffy and dumb looking dog. Pushing herself off the ground, and getting into sitting position, she looked at the dog. “Why hello there sweetie, where did you come from?” The dog licked her face, and that’s when she saw that the poor creature’s ribs were showing, and a couple spots of fur were matted. Cordia stood up and patted her leg, and the dog ran up to her and stood by her side. “You’re a good doggie aren’t you? Doesn’t look like you belong to any one.” She walked into the meeting room with the dog right at her side. Everyone looked back and saw them. Harry, was baffled “All that noise from that little dog?”

“She’s not so little, look at her she’s the size of a Border Collie. Well those are small, but still.”

All of them unanimously gave an “Awwww.” of adoration.

Blythe looked at her, “What breed do you think she is?”

Cordia led the little dog to the podium. “Well, if you look at her shape, minus the legs, you can definitely see some sheltie in her, but her legs and the medium length fur shows that she has some German Shepherd, very pretty.” They got up and ran over to pet her. She licked their faces, and kept pushing them down. When she shook, fur flew out everywhere. Harry asked, “Can we keep her? She could be our mascot!

Cordia nodded slowly in thought. “I think we can, we’d have to pitch in money to feed her, and we’d have to groom her, and we all have to agree on a name.” A silence fell over them, as they all tried to come up with a name. Athena looked up, “My allowance is ten dollars a week, I can give half of it each time I get money.”

Jodie nodded in agreement, “I can give ten a week from my paycheck. Jacque, what about you?”

“Oh, I can do twelve dollars a week.” Then he looked back at the dog, and continued petting her.

Kalista smiled, “I’m getting eighty dollars for my birthday, and I can give you half of it.”

Everyone was excited to pitch in and keep the dog, Cordia was writing the numbers down on a sheet of scrap paper, “That’s sixty-seven dollars for this week. and I can give ten a week, so that means we make seventy-seven a week, giving us three hundred and eight dollars a month! We can do this guys! Now what to name her…”

They all grew silent again, because they knew they needed a good name. Kalista looked up “How about Gypsy?”

Everyone shook their heads ‘no’.

A solid minute went by when finally Harry stood up, “Ok, this is a weird name but I think it’s cool. Ampersand.”

Athena looked over at him, “You mean the & symbol?”

“Yeah, it sounds cool right.”

Two of the members nodded.

Cordia smiled, “I like it, it’s unique, just like us. Let’s see if she likes it.” She walked across the room, “Ampersand, come here!” The dog ran straight over to her and put her paws up on Cordia’s chest. “She likes it! All in favor of naming this sweet dog Ampersand stand up.”

Harry, Kalista, Jodie Jacque and Blythe stood up, with Athena Half standing up. “Alright it’s settled, Ampersand is the newest member of our team!” The group shouted in delight, clapping and yelling at the sky. Ampersand joined in, giving a few short howls. “Arooooooo! Arooooooo!” The group walked over to their sleep area which was a circular shape, and sat on their sleeping bags, while Ampersand sat in the middle of the circle.

Blythe and Harry were chatting, and then Athena got on her knees, “Hey guys, does anyone remember our very first day together? We couldn’t stand each other!”

Cordia giggled, “Hehe, yeah. I remember it as if it were yesterday…By the end of that day, we all were best friends.”

*********

The rest of the night was spent chatting and looking back on old memories, while drinking Mountain Dew and eating the official snack of the A.B.S, Jammy Dodgers. Around one AM they dozed off, into a heavy sleep.

*********

The sunlight shining through one of the many holes in the roof, fell across Cordia’s eyes and nearly blinded her. She woke up and looked at her cell phone, “Nine o’clock? Wow, um, ok then. Hey guys wake up!”

Slowly they began stirring, Athena was the first to sit and stretch. Followed by Harry and then Jodie and Jacque. Blythe was the last to roll out of the sleeping bag. “Today is the day we’ll stand our ground.” She said quietly.

Cordia nodded in agreement, “Well said Blythe.”

“Thanks.”

Jodie stood up, “Who’s ready for breakfast, some protest cakes, and a side of ‘don’t tear our building down’ juice?”

Athena and Kalista giggled. The others were still too tired to even think. Then they heard loud engines outside, Cordia looked at her friends, all so loyal, and so determined to protect this old, dusty and falling apart building. “Guys, remember whatever happens out there we’ll still be friends.” They walked through the building, around the machines, and boards on the floor. Cordia came to the plank door, and set it aside. As they walked outside, into the sunlight it was if time slowed down and nothing else existed. They linked hands and stretched as far as they could at the front of the building, with Cordia in the center and Athena and Jacque at the ends. Ampersand was standing behind them. A black car pulled up on the grass, and a tall, and intimidating man stepped out. Following it, was a wrecking ball, and a few demolitionists. The man spoke to his crew, “First we will hit the building with the wrecking ball, and them the demolitionists will tear apart anything that didn’t go down.”

He turned around and saw the defiant team of teenagers. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves some protesters. Hey kids, scram! This building is going down, whether you like it or not!”

Cordia stared back at him with rebellion in her eyes.

“You got exactly one minute to move out of the way, or we’re gonna have to call the cops.”

The kids didn’t even flinch, although deep inside they were absolutely frightened to death. “I mean it!”

Cordia stepped forward, “No, we will stand our ground. This building is our true home. It’s where we, the Abandoned Building Society hold our meetings, and it’s where our lives happen, you may not have noticed, but every time this town is miraculously saved from a crisis, it’s us. The drought that seemed to have no end? We stopped it. The wanted thief who somehow fell into a trap that no one claimed to have set up? That was us. Remember when the cows from the farm disappeared and then came home a month later? We found them and brought them home. Without this building, we would not have met each other, and would not have done these things. This town would be out of control without us behind the scenes. So with that said, we will not move.” She fell back into the chain, and linked hands with Harry and Blythe.

The man shook his head, and stomped his foot. “Listen kid, that’s great and all but I got a business here, and it’s costs me more money the longer I stand here. I’m calling the cops.” He lifted up his phone and dialed.

She glared at him. “Sir, calling the cops won’t matter, if this building is going to be knocked down, i’m going to be a good captain and go down with my ship. Guys, a girl couldn’t ask for a better group of friends, it’s been an honor to be your leader.”

Since the police station was only a minute away, they had arrived very quickly. Three cop cars pulled up on the grass, and one of the cops stepped out of his car.

“Hello, what’s the problem guys?” He asked in a friendly voice.

The kids recognised him right away “Officer Seamus!”

“Kids! What are you doing?”

“This man is trying to tear down our building, which you know is very important, we are simply just using our first amendment rights.”

Officer Seamus looked at both teams, the full grown demolition crew, and the young teens with flaming passion glowing in their eyes. Suddenly suspicion bubbled up inside him, like a siren saying WATCH OUT!

“Hey, may I see your permit?” He asked

The man fumbled around for words “Um… well… I don’t have one.”

Everyone gasped. “Well, no permit means that this project here is null in void. This wasn’t a qualified demolition, so now I must arrest you.”

“What?! No! Ugh! I would have been able to tear this place down if it weren’t for you…incongruous teenagers!”

The kids cheered triumphantly, as the man was shoved into the cop car and whisked away. The demolitionists got in their cars and drove away.

“We did it! We actually did it guys!” officer Seamus walked over to them, “Great job guys. The town knows how important this building is.”

“Thank you, Seamus. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

He walked back to his car and opened the door, gave them one last look, and then he drove away.

Cordia looked at her triumphant group of friends, and beamed with pride “I love you guys!”

Blythe giggled, “Well, a team can only be as great as it’s leader.”

“Thanks Blythe, now let’s go inside and celebrate!”
They all ran inside, and sat down with a cup of Mountain Dew,each of them proud to be a part of the best group in the world, the Abandoned Building Society.

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