“Hey, what cha doing up there, Skinny Gymnast?” Brook yelled at the doorway.
“Nothing,” Donna said as she dragged some of the boxes down, handing them to Brook and then grabbing the other. “I’m just in the mood to look through some of my mom’s stuff.”
“Wish I could say that about my mom. All the ghosts in her closet would probably do worse than haunt me if I went digging through that crap,” Brook told her.
Donna gave her only friend the best sympathetic look she could come up with. “I could do this later, if you want to get breakfast,” Donna offered.
“No way, your like my little innocent baby sister.”
Donna smiled shyly while rolling her eyes.
“I’m up for doing anything you want on the first day I’ve been with you when you’ve had enough guts to skip school. I’ll make a daredevil out of you before my stay’s over,” Brook went on.
Donna laughed.
* * *
Rebecca
Rebecca entered the school hallway late and soaking wet. She was freezing and grateful she didn’t see anyone upon entering because she knew she looked a mess. She shook her moccasins out on the small carpet and headed toward her locker. She slowed down when she saw Lynn leaning against Ryan at his locker, which was a couple of feet away from hers.
“If we have to wait here, we might as well have some fun,” Lynn was saying to Ryan who was staring down past her neck.
They glanced at Rebecca as she walked by but then went back to their own private conversation. She was a nobody to them, not even worth acknowledgement in their eyes. At least Lynn didn’t make fun of her like she did Donna and Spencer. Spencer kind of asked for it, but Rebecca never understood why Lynn was so cold to Donna. Then again, this was Lynn Eris, the most beautiful and popular girl at school. She never ever looked bad, not even on rainy days. Rebecca used to wish in middle school that instead of her being born smart she could have been born looking like Lynn.
Rebecca opened her locker and grabbed her bag. She did most of her homework during homeroom, so why should she keep bringing it back and forth. After her stuff being almost found the day of the accident, Rebecca had learned not to carry around as much, and she took her name off of everything. Even her graphing calculator, which was very, very, expensive.
Rebecca shut her locker and right as she turned toward her classroom she saw him: Paul. He was standing in the hallway, looking right at her with such emotion in his eyes. At that moment, Rebecca forgot she was at school, and that there was anyone else around. She ran up to him. “Paul,” she cried as she hugged him. “I was so worried,” she whispered into his ear.
He smiled at her, fixing his glasses. “We can go over our projects at lunch,” he told her loudly.
She nodded, reading his message. All of a sudden they were in the school again, and down the hall behind Paul was Randy lighting a cigarette. Was it just Rebecca’s imagination or was he looking at Paul? She looked up. Paul glanced at Ryan and Lynn who were still whispering to each other behind them.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I’ll walk you to class.”
Having him hold her hand as they walked over to her computer class made her feel so warm and seemed to take some of her fear away. She was silent, wondering why he’d decided to code their message in front of Lynn, Ryan, and Randy. Then she felt goose bumps go down her spine as she stepped into her classroom alone, without Paul’s cool hands. Could the others Paul spoke about be her age, like Donna? Could they be in her class right now? Or could they be … No, there’s no way.
* * *
Donna
Brook and Donna had sorted through two boxes of her dad’s football trophies and her mom’s prom pictures.
“Your dad was a hottie!” Broke told Donna as she looked at the pictures.
“Him and my mom were king and queen,” Donna told her. “She wasn’t dating him then, I don’t think.”
“They look pretty in love.”
“Yeah, she was engaged to someone else though, look at the engagement ring,” Donna said, pointing to the big ring on her wedding finger.
“Wow,” Brook said looking at the size of the ring. “So your mom was engaged to some other guy, but realized she was in love with the town’s star football player. Sounds like a movie.”
“Yeah, a movie without a happy ending,” Donna added.
“Donna, loving someone who loves you back is a magical ending, no matter what happens next. I don’t think anyone in our generation even has a clue to what true love really is.”
“Says the girl who never gives her heart away,” Donna teased.
“You’ll learn one day, trust me.”
Donna opened up another box that had her mom’s name on it but saw a bunch of newspaper clippings and ribbons. Brook grabbed a ribbon out and read it. “First place in the Applegate magic show. Doug Young.”
“My dad hates magic.” Her heart started beating. “The date says 1952, this had to have been my grandfather.” She picked up a newspaper clipping and read it. It said her grandfather’s trick of levitation had made the news and as the winner he was going to perform his trick in Washington D.C. in front of the Vice President and the soldiers just returning from war.
“Seems both your dad and your grandpa were town legends, ha,” Brook started.
Donna stared at the article reading it over and over. If by town legend you mean my father who can barely pay the power bill and my grandfather who murdered someone and then got murdered himself … Her dad hated to even bring up Grandpa in a conversation, but she had to ask him about this. If her grandfather’s trick was great enough to be performed in front of the Vice President, could it have been more then a trick? Could he have been like her?
Chapter Five
Spencer
Spencer scraped off the last piece of gum underneath Mr. Harris’s desk. I hate this place! he thought to himself. Mr. Harris walked in.
“That’s your and Mr. Mart’s classrooms. What do you say we call this a wrap!”
“Mr. Klingalsmith, your detention was to do Mr. Smith’s and Mrs. Smith’s classrooms also,” Mr. Harris instructed.
“Why don’t I just rent the movie instead?” Spencer joked.
“Spencer,” the teacher began.
“Oh, come on, Mr. Harris. There is no man on earth who wouldn’t want to kick back and watch Angelina Jolie,” Spencer continued with his charade.
The teacher stopped, smiled, then started again. “Ya know, I had quite a bit of wit too, when I was your age, and there’s nothing wrong with being funny, really. Statistically speaking, people who laugh more live longer.”
“You’ve finally seen the light. What a relief.” Spencer acted as if he was going to walk out the door.
“BUT you and Miss Eris repeatedly interrupt my class over and over. It’s getting very tiresome.”
“I agree, and ya know. Maybe if the girl would actually be forced to serve a detention she’d stop, but no, she preys on the helpless, and then skips detention to get her nails done. Where’s Batman when you need him?” Spencer continued, on a roll now. “In fact, since she and I were supposed to do all four classrooms together, and I did two rooms, that’s half of a class rooms. I say that’s worth, what, a get out of detention I can use later?”
“Ok, ok, Mr. Klingalsmith, you’ve made your point. You can leave.”
Spencer smiled victoriously. He was already an hour late to work but figured his mom would cover for him. As he left the classroom, he thought for the first time that Lynn’s special status had actually helped him get out of detention. He’d make sure to turn that into material for tomorrow’s class.
* * *
Donna
Donna watched the clock, wondering when her dad was going to finally come home. She needed to ask him about Grandpa. Even if he only spat out two words, it would be enough. Next week she’d have to stop by her grandmother’s for Thanksgiving before going over to the Applegate’s, so then she co
uld look around there also. She might be alone, but she was going to get to the bottom of this.
She heard a loud noise come from the downstairs closet, and Smoky started barking. She jumped, backing away toward the door. She felt this time the instant her body turned. The heat, the feeling of her skin turning into little balls and jumping around, and falling asleep at once. She didn’t even have to look in the mirror to know what she had just turned into.
“Brook!” she yelled instinctively. She didn’t even know she could speak in her “it” form, but she had without thinking of it. There was no answer, and Donna all of a sudden felt very afraid and felt in her body a painless static.
“It’s just me! I’m trying to find some old material and the shelf fell!” Brook yelled at last.
The phone started to ring. Donna shook, her heart racing. Well, at least she felt more connected with her body or whatever she was now. She felt like her whole being was beating, as if she was one big heart.
Donna walked over to the phone in the kitchen and tried to pick it up. Instead of her hand going through it, pure electricity started coming out of the phone and into her hand. Donna stepped away, afraid. The phone was dead but she could hear the one in her dad’s room ringing. It stopped after a moment.
“Donna!”
“Just a second!” Donna yelled, hearing Brook come down the stairs. Donna panicked, not knowing what to do. She looked down at her reflection in a frying pan and saw that she didn’t even look like even half of a human being. She wasn’t just glowing transparent; all she was now was a bright electric light formed in the shape of a human, like some kind of alien or something.
She tried to close her eyes and concentrate, like when she was in the backyard, to make herself turn back, but she couldn’t. Her heart and body beat so intensely, and she felt so light, as if any moment she’d just evaporate or explode. She ran right through the wall to the outside rain. It was thundering and very dark. She felt the water pour into her, reforming her face, skin, hair, everything.
The minute she felt whole she walked over to the front door, opened it, and stepped inside naked. Brook was there with Smoky, staring at her. “Wow, Donna!” Brook started. “Do you like, have a boy out there or something?”
Donna took a deep breath, walking over to the couch and taking the throw off of it and covering herself. “The, um, shower wasn’t working,” Donna lied. It was the only thing she could think of, as dumb as it sounded. She went upstairs to her room and saw that all her clothes were on the floor in a huge pile.
Donna turned to Brook. “Why are my clothes on the floor?”
“I’m just doing a little restyling,” Brook said in a proud voice.
“Restyling?” Donna dropped the throw and pulled a long baggie T-shirt on.
“Yeah, your dad called and said he’s going out of town on the search with a bunch of others, which only makes our plans even better because now you have no curfew.”
“Plans?”
“We, my dear, are going to party and are going to dance all night long just like we do in the city.”
“But, Brook, East Applegate is nothing like the city.”
“Yes, well where we’re going is not in East Applegate; it’s a surprise. Now come on, I already have your outfit planned out.” She grabbed Donna and dragged her into the laundry room, where Brook had Donna’s mom’s old sewing machine out. On the machine she had a tiny skirt made out of Donna’s old trousers with pink lace material from Donna’s nightgown sewn around the skirt.
“Wow.” Donna started looking at the skirt as Brook held it up, excited.
“Isn’t it hot?”
Those trousers had been Donna’s oldest; she had owned them since she was thirteen. She always used them after gymnastics. She had in the last week burned two of her other favorites when she’d accidentally “turned,” and only had two more left.
“It’s, great, um, only, it’s kind of short for me.”
“Donna.” Brook held them up to Donna’s waist. “I love you and all, but everything you wear is meant for someone who is like 200 pounds, and your not 200 pounds anymore. Now tonight if you wear this skirt and my tan top, with your hot little gymnast figure, you’ll have guys galore. Trust me, there are some hotties coming our way.”
* * *
Randy
Randy and Ryan stood outside the diner. He pulled out his second cigarette and without him even thinking twice, the cigarette lit itself, and he inhaled the smoke.
“Man, ya know, that’s really getting out of control,” Ryan spat, pissed off.
Randy stared ahead half ignoring his brother as Miss Klingalsmith took out the trash. Her skirt looks shorter today …“What’s getting out of hand is Dad insisting I go with you and Lynn on every pathetic joke of a mission he assigns us to.”
“Don’t complain to me, you brought that on yourself,” Ryan told him.
“Ya know,” Randy pissed too now, “you can pretend you’re so much better and try to act like the older brother, but progressing physically doesn’t mean crap if you don’t progress mentally.”
“Here we go,” Ryan rolled his eyes.
“Everyone else is going, Ryan; you are staying put!” Randy yelled. “All me, Dad, even your girlfriend keep telling you is to stop caring so much about normal people. We aren’t normal, and we’ll never be. We save them when it’s convenient for the team. Every person you care for outside the team you put in danger, and it will be me Dad assigns to wipe the blood off your hands.”
“So what would you have me do?” Ryan asked, controlling his anger. “Quit the football team? Flunk the tenth grade and do everything I can to screw myself? If I did things your way, you wouldn’t even allow me to date Lynn, would you? You’d have me do the same thing you did to her. You didn’t deserve her, I do, and it burns you.”
“You deserve her? Don’t kid yourself. She’s the cheerleading captain, and now that I’m gone you’re the top athlete. It’s Dad’s dream come true, and you do it cause he loves it!” Randy yelled and didn’t care who heard. His brother was his dad’s tool, and it made him sick.
“It always comes down to this doesn’t it? Dad encourages me because he knows I’ll listen.”
“Wake up, little brother, wake up and become a man. You think I don’t know who that book on gymnastics is for?” Randy knew his brother couldn’t make excuses now. “The two women Dad ever made a commitment with are both dead, and now you put one of their daughters lives on the line. Sooner or later this obsession will break you and Lynn up, and then they’ll both fall because of you. Then you’ll wish you would have listened to me.”
Randy could see it all happen before his very eyes, his brother wasn’t ready for a real mission because all it took was one mistake and the person goes after the ones you care for. Flashes of Lea’s face thundered in Randy’s head and he let the cigarette in his hands burn to ash. Next the trash in the dumpster across from them burst into flames.
After a moment, Spencer and his mom ran outside and started to put the fire out. Spencer turned and looked at Randy, looking at the pack of cigarettes in his hand. “Why don’t you watch where you’re smoking!” he yelled out toward him.
Randy smiled and was half tempted to light Spencer’s shoes on fire. This sophomore was going to learn his lesson in keeping his mouth shut, once Randy cooled off. Just as Ryan started half lecturing him, and half insulting him, Brook walked out of the drug store down the street. It was hard not to miss the tall, leggy brunette with her brown leather skirt and lacey top.
“Ya know what?” Randy said, interrupting his brother. “You go have a great night with your girlfriend while I go enjoy myself with a woman, how they’re meant to be enjoyed,” Randy said as he peeled himself off the wall and started over.
Ryan reached out and grabbed Randy with all his strength and stopped him. “You are way too out of control right now to be around a NORMAL person, why don’t you take your own advice?”
Randy gave his brother a fi
erce look, looking down at his shoes, letting them lightly heat up, and then back to his face. If Randy was ever going to get in an argument with his brother, it was best to be in public, because his brother was too much of a wuss to really do something about it unless they were in closed doors. “You really want to go there?” Randy threatened.
Randy let his anger burn through his body, up his arms. Ryan still held on standing his ground, and Randy had to stop himself from smiling as smoke started coming out from under Ryan’s grasp. The smell of burning flesh caught the air, causing him to let go.
Randy walked off with a smile, tempted to turn back and watch his brother rip off his shoes when he tried to walk due to the fact Randy had made them melt partially into the cement.
Randy walked up to Brook who was just getting off her cell phone. She smiled a mean smile and turned to him. “Ya know,” she started, “isn’t it the girls job to get the guy all—” she looked him up and down, “—heated up, only to make him take a long cold shower afterwards?” She slowly started to walk toward Donna’s.
He smiled, amused, keeping up with her pace.
“So why then was I the one to take an ice cold shower in your guest house? Thought I knew what to expect from you, guess I was wrong.”
“I had a family emergency, but tonight that’s not going to happen,” he told her.
“Well actually, me and Donna are going to a party tonight with these guys we’ve met,” she bragged.
He laughed, stepping in front of her. “The only parties worth going to in East Applegate are the ones that I put on.”
“Actually,” she walked around him, causing him to follow her, “this party is in West Applegate.”
“Well I hope you enjoy driving trucks through the mud. That’s pretty much the only thing worth doing there,” he told her coldly now.
“Ha! Is this about that whole football rivalry thing?” She said it as if it was the most pathetic excuse she’d ever heard.