The next morning began as any other. Paula rose bright and early, as she had been recently. Since Ness had landed in prison, Paula had found herself unable to sleep for long periods of time. Oftentimes, she would wake up two or three times in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, seeing his face, hearing his voice, and believing for a second that everything was back to normal again, that Ness wasn’t in jail after all, that he was safe, that he was free. But it was always the same for Paula. Moments later, she’d realize that it had all been a dream and that Ness was in jail for a crime he hadn’t committed. Now, his case was even worse, with this vandalism charge added to the other one. It tore Paula apart just thinking about Ness being locked up in that place.
She tried to shake these thoughts out of her head as she got dressed and prepared to depart for Onett. As she was brushing her teeth, Paula looked in the mirror to see a one tear trickling down her cheek. She felt so miserable inside.
About an hour later, Paula found herself waiting outside the arcade in Onett, just as she’d planned the previous day. Jeff and Poo had said they’d meet her there to play some video games after their long day of searching for Mike in the Lost Underworld. The way Paula saw it, however, there wasn’t much of a reason to celebrate when Ness was sitting in a cell, awaiting his fate in another part of Onett. How could she even fake a smile to hide the pain? Paula didn’t know, but she decided to try anyway, for Jeff and Poo’s sake. Still, Paula couldn’t keep herself from gazing in the direction of the Onett Police Station, where Ness was being held. She knew he was innocent, but how could she prove it?
All of a sudden, a voice broke her trance. "Hey! Paula, sorry we’re late!" She recognized it as the voice of her friend Jeff. Paula whirled around to see him hurrying down the street, followed closely by Poo.
Paula waved and tried to smile. "Good morning!" she called to Jeff and Poo. "What took you so long? I’ve been waiting her forever!" she joked, hoping it would help her to smile more.
"I believe it," Jeff answered her. "We would’ve been on time, except somebody had to get in just a few more minutes of Mu training." He turned around and glared at Poo.
"What?" Poo said with innocence in his eyes. At this, both Poo and Jeff burst into laughter, and Paula forced herself to join them. She was in quite a bit of emotional pain right now, and after all, wasn’t laughter supposed to be the best medicine?
"It doesn’t matter," Paula said, feigning happiness. "Let’s play some games! That’s what we’re here for!" At this, she raced inside the arcade, followed by Jeff and Poo. They were all eager to relax and enjoy themselves after their tiresome journey to the Lost Underworld.
It was hours before they stopped playing games in the arcade. "Please?" Poo protested when Jeff and Paula declared that they’d had their fill. "Just one more game!"
"No, Poo," Jeff said, taking him by the arm and leading him away from the change machine. "I think you’ve played enough games for one day!" More laughter followed, and Paula wished that she could be truly happy. But Paula knew in her heart that as long as an innocent Ness was being held prisoner by the police, that wouldn’t be possible. She sighed as she left the arcade.
"Bye!" Jeff called to Paula as he started away. Paula waved at him and watched him start to go. Jeff paused for a second. "Poo, are you coming?"
"Yeah!" Poo cried, running after Jeff. It seemed that the two of them were going back to the Andonuts Lab in Winters to work on some science experiments with the famous scientist who was Jeff’s father. Paula looked at her two friends as they left and wondered if their smiles were sincere ones. Were they hurting too, or was it only Paula who felt so badly about Ness being in trouble?
All alone now, Paula decided to take a brief stroll through Onett, a town that, up until now, she had loved so much. Circumstances had changed, however. Now, everything about the little town in Eagleland reminded her of Ness, and she felt sick just looking at the familiar buildings everywhere and the friendly people who passed her on the sidewalk. How could everyone else go on, knowing what had happened to Ness? Paula couldn’t comprehend such an idea because she couldn’t imagine not being Ness’s friend.
Also, Paula felt incredibly guilty that she and Ness had been fighting on the last day that she’d seen him. If only she’d called a truce, everything might have ended up okay. Yet somehow, Paula knew that what had happened to Ness was not her fault. They’d only had a simple argument, and that hadn’t caused Ness to land in trouble with the law. Still, she wished that she could see Ness one more time, even if it was just for a second. Paula wanted to tell Ness that she was sorry.
Paula was rounding the corner after the Onett Bakery when an astonishing sight met her eyes. There, in plain sight, was Ness! He looked the same as always, red baseball cap and all. "Ness!" she cried, running to him with outstretched arms. "Ness, I’m so glad to see you!" Paula threw her arms around him in a strong embrace. She never wanted to let go. Finally, she would be able to apologize for everything.
Just then, it occurred to her. "Ness, why aren’t you still locked up?" Ness’s silence bothered Paula. He just stared at her for a minute and then looked away. Then she noticed something else that was peculiar. "What are you doing?"
Paula couldn’t believe her eyes. All the letters from the sign which hung on the outside of the Onett Police Station had been removed, it seemed. Most of them had been rearranged so that they were just jumbles of letters instead of real words. Ness held a couple letters in his hand, preparing to put them up in the wrong places as well. "Nothing," he murmured, going back to work.
Paula’s mouth hung open. "You’re a criminal? For real?" she gasped. "How could you do this? You’re not like this, Ness. You’d never do something like this. Ness, what’s going on?" Paula’s voice was becoming more and more frantic as she panicked. Was it really Ness who had been guilty in the first two cases? Had Ness escaped from prison and decided to commit a third crime? Paula was terribly confused.
"Who says I’m not like this?" Ness said icily. Paula felt hurt by his harsh words and felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. "And will you please stop calling me that? I’d appreciate it very much." Then, he turned away from Paula again.
Paula was taken completely by surprise with these words, and at the same time, she was still perplexed. "Calling you what?" she inquired, caution in her voice.
"Ness," he said angrily, glaring at Paula with rage in his eyes. "Please stop calling me Ness."
His words left Paula breathless. What did he mean? Then, suddenly, it hit her. She whispered one word to the boy. "Mike?"