"troy, troy is that you?" andi calls out towards him. i groan (a common occurence for me) in response to this. of course it's troy up there, and after he gets andi and stef out of this well they'll all take off and leave the rest of us down here for ourselves.

"what are you doing down in a well?" troy exclaims, as if this is the strangest thing he's encountered all day. considering he's run brand off the highway while he was riding a small childs bike, this isn't the weirdest thing he's seen or done.

"don't ask stupid questions! we're stuck, just send down the bucket, c'mon!" after a pause the boys above ground laugh, as if us being in danger is funny.

"see my men, wishes really do come true," troy snickers, making me sick he'd treat andi this way. i might not like the girl but this is no way to treat a lady. you cannot tell your friends you're planning to get with a girl in such a way and then top it off with making a snide remark about it.

"hey! don't talk about andi like that!" i call up at him. everyone in the room turns to my attention, as if shocked i'm defending her. girls have to stick with other girls when it comes to these things. i couldn't stand by and let troy do this to the woman he's interested in.

even though brand and andi have been subtly flirting, it was obvious andi was closer to troy, and a part of me believes she's going back to troy after we get out of this well.

"what'd you say metal mouth?" troy called back, squinting to catch my face. this angers me very much, the only person i allow to call me 'metal mouth' is brand and that's out of humour and interest.

"don't call her that!" brand calls up next. surprising everyone including me.

"listen troy, you have to respect people a litt-"

i'm interrupted as troy speaks over me.

"no you listen. if you wanna get out of here you can shut it or stay down there, okay?" he replies, which makes me a bit more angry at him but he has a point. troy is in control of our fate at this point.

"just lower it will you?" mouth shouts.

troy and his friends begin to lower it towards us when i glance at mikey. he's in serious deep thought staring at the ground.

the group gets into a fuss over who's going first when mikey starts mumbling.

"chester copperpot..."

"mikey! not this again!" stef yells in frustration.

"-we've got a chance!"

"chance at what, mikey? getting killed? look, if we keep going someone's going to get hurt. maybe dead. besides, we gotta get to the police," andi tells him softly, comfortably.

"maybe chunk already got to the police,"

"maybe chunk is dead!"

"don't say that....never say that. goonies never say die,"

"i'm not a goonie, i want to go home," andi replies, turning her head away.

i turn around and look at the pool, the coins glittering against the water and the chunky walls remind me of the movies.

"the next time we see sky it'll be over another town. the next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. our parents, they want the best stuff for us. but right now they gotta do what's right for them, 'cause it's their time. their time, up there. down here it's our time. it's our time down here. that's all over the second we ride up troy's bucket,"

i stop and turn to my adventure mates, and think about what's said. earlier today we were trying our best to devise a plan for us all to stick together, and now that an opportunity is given to us we're backing out?

"look, a couple years ago, my mom and dad got on that big game show. remember, brand? mom spent a month makin' those funny costumes. she was a giant egg. dad was a frying pan. my dad kept sayin' we were gonna live in a place called "easy street". so we drove all the way to hollywood. when we got there, they put us in this big audience, with all these other people in funny costumes. then some dude with lipstick and sprayed hair came down the stairs. he walks up to us. first he makes mom guess how much toilet bowl cleaner costs; she gets it right. then he makes my Dad guess what a jar of ragu spaghetti sauce weighs; he gets it right. then he asks my dad "the big prize is behind door #1? door #2? or door #3?" now my dad's lucky number was always "2". he got married on august two. he got his job on june two. and he's got two kids...."

"what's your point?"

"he picked door three, and behind it was one thousand....toothpicks. he lucked out on his very own chance. just like i feel like we're doing right now,"

the story is borderline heartwarming but it doesn't send the room into an immediate response of wanting to stay.

"mikey's right. we can't just throw away this chance when it means we'll all stay together. andi and stef, if you guys want to go, you can go. there's nothing at risk for you," i reply to the group.

everyone looks at each other as if understanding what's going on.

"hey andi! are you staying down there with the goonies or up here where you belong? i ain't got all day!"

andi stops, looks at stef, then at brand. her eyebrows move closer in decision before she shakes her head.

andi smiles before picking up a pile of rocks and taking her jacket off, setting both into the bucket.

"there's your answer troy," she whispers before taking the lead towards and exit tunnel.

i stay in my tracks watching the kids take off, the bucker flies upward before it drops back down.

"andi, you goonie!" troy yells in frustration. i smile at this.