Candace finally asked Martha about it. The older woman smiled at the question. “Summer is everyone’s least favorite season to work. It’s too crowded, too hot, and too monotonous. What you’re sensing is the anticipation all us old-timers feel when summer draws to a close and we can start to prepare for autumn.”
It made sense. She, herself, was starting to feel anticipation for returning to school. It was her senior year, and she intended to make the most of it.
In addition to the end of summer chaos, there was a steadily building frenzy revolving around the Scavenger Hunt. More teams could be seen every day in the park doing practice runs and team-building exercises. Josh’s team members had taken to holding up signs that said We Want Pizza! as they passed by her cart.
“What is that about?” Sue asked one day, seeing one of the signs go by while she was using her break to chat with Candace.
“I bet Josh that the loser would buy the other’s team pizza.”
Sue looked serious for a moment. “You didn’t involve all of us in that, did you?”
“No, just me. If we lose, I buy them all pizza.”
Sue looked relieved. “And if we win?”
“Josh buys all of us pizza.”
“Well, then, let’s plan to trash them.”
“I just don’t know how. They’ve got it all together, and our team will be lucky not to fall down on the railroad tracks and get run over.”
“You’ve heard of David and Goliath. Where there’s a will, God has a way.”
“I like that,” Candace said, laughing.
“Feel free to use it,” Sue said. “See you later.”
“Later.”
Candace was once again in the Splash Zone, but she hadn’t seen Josh all day. She knew he was scheduled to work, so she wondered if he was okay. When her shift was finally done for the day, he appeared, as if by magic.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“Special project. Come with me. I want to show you something,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him.
“Where are we going?” she asked, jogging to keep up.
“Somewhere.”
“What’s going on?” Candace asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Josh said.
She let him lead her all the way across the park. Finally they arrived at the picnic area where Tamara had had her birthday party. It looked like there was some party going on. People were milling all around. There were several guys in suits and a lot of refs.
On the platform reserved for entertainment stood several people, and she suddenly recognized one of them.
“Wait, is that —”
“The owner of the park, former quarterback John Hanson? Yup.”
“What is going on?” she asked.
“See for yourself.”
Josh cleared his throat and then spoke loudly, “She’s here.”
Suddenly all faces were turned toward Candace, and people were cheering and clapping. “There’s got to be some mistake,” she said to Josh.
“Nope, no mistake.”
John Hanson spoke loudly into the microphone, “Come on up here, Candace!”
Trembling, she made her way toward the stage. When she reached the edge, he leaned down and offered her his hand to help her up. He then showed her to a seat.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for coming out today. It’s truly a great occasion.”
There was applause, and Candace sat on her chair, staring at John Hanson’s back. In front of him a sea of people were gathered, listening to his every word with rapt attention. What was she doing here?
“It isn’t every day that you get to take something you’ve built and make it better. For quite a while there’s been a team of people brainstorming how to attract more corporate and private events to The Zone. And now, thanks, to the little lady behind me, we have the solution!”
There was more applause as Candace sat there, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
“And so, I give you the new and improved Party Zone!”
The crowd roared as huge bags of confetti exploded and rained down on everyone. Candace reached out her hand and caught several pieces — pink and green and blue.
“And now, let’s hear from Candace, the referee who gave this place its new name.”
Candace shook her head wildly, but John hauled her to her feet and dragged her toward the microphone. “Speech!” people in the crowd began shouting.
It was like a scene straight out of one of her nightmares, with the exception that she wasn’t standing in her underwear. She glanced down quickly just to make sure.
“I don’t know what to say,” she spoke into the microphone. “I mean, I don’t know, somehow the name seemed like a nobrainer to me.”
A roar of laughter greeted that.
“What can I say, really? This is the strangest day yet in the weirdest, coolest summer of my life,” she said.
The crowd laughed. “I mean, half the time I can’t even seem to get my cotton candy cart to do what I want.” More laughter followed.
“So, I guess I’d just like to thank all of you for helping me out and being so nice. Thank you.”
She tried to retreat back to her seat, but John caught her hand. “Hold on, there’s one more thing left to do,” he said.
Candace just stared, barely believing what was happening. Suddenly he handed her a pair of giant scissors. She grasped them awkwardly.
“And now, my dear, if you would be so kind as to cut the ribbon and declare this Party Zone open for business,” he said, maneuvering her over to the side of the stage where a big red ribbon was strung.
She swung the scissors around and brought them to bear on the ribbon, and with a snip the ribbon dropped to the ground.
The crowd cheered its approval, and Candace seriously considered fainting. John took the scissors from her and whispered, “You can leave now if you like.”
She nodded and hopped off the stage with the help of Josh.
“That was awesome!” he told her.
She punched him in the shoulder. “Is this your doing?”
“Nope, you’ve got your supervisor to thank for that.”
“Great. Can you just get me out of here?” she asked.
He nodded and led the way through the press of the crowd. From the looks of things, half the players were in attendance along with every ref not actively working.
They made it through finally, and Josh walked her toward the Locker Room. Out in the clear she began to breathe easier.
“Trust me,” he said, “this falls under the category of days you’ll look back on and cherish.”
“Right now it’s just falling under the category of bizarre. Thanks for helping me get out of there.”
“Hey, that’s what friends do, right? They keep each other’s secrets and help each other out.”
“I guess so.”
“And speaking of secrets, I think you owe me a new one. The old one’s kinda outdated,” he said.
“It’s a deal.”
“Candace!” Candace spun around to see Tamara rushing after her. “You were awesome!” her friend said, cheeks flushed and out of breath.
“Thanks. I felt like an idiot. I didn’t even know all that was going to happen,” Candace said, hugging Tamara. “Wait a minute, how come you’re here?”
“A little bird told me,” Tamara said with a laugh. “That was so cool.”
Suddenly Candace realized that she had totally forgotten her manners. “Oh, I’m sorry. Tamara, this is my friend, Josh. Josh, this is my best friend, Tamara.”
They shook hands. “So what do we do now?” Tamara asked, eyes wide.
“Well, I’m off work,” Candace said. “I’d just like to get out of here.”
“Cool. Ice cream?”
“You read my mind.”
“I’ll catch you ladies later,” Josh said.
“Wait, I thought you could com
e with us,” Tamara said.
He grinned. “Stellar. Come on, Candace, let’s grab our stuff so we can get out of here.”
“Meet me out front,” Tamara said. “I’ll drive.”
Josh turned and headed toward the Locker Room. Candace lingered for a minute. “Are you sure?” she asked Tamara in a whisper.
“I’ve been enough of a pain about you having other friends. I think it’s time I get to know them.”
Candace gave Tamara a quick hug and then raced after Josh.
“Tamara seems cool,” Josh said as he and Candace walked toward the front of the park.
“She’s great,” Candace said. She glanced sideways at Josh, wishing she could read him better. “You know, she’s not seeing anybody. You could ask her out if you wanted to.”
He shook his head. “She seems like a rich girl.”
“So?”
“I don’t date rich girls.”
“Why?”
“They’re usually not very down to earth. Don’t get me wrong, Tamara seems nice, not snobby or anything, but still.”
“She does think that she can buy anything, even if it’s not for sale,” Candace joked.
“I knew it! Yeah, she seems cool, but just not my type.”
Candace wasn’t so sure. It had seemed for a moment when the two shook hands that there had been some sort of spark. Maybe she was imagining it. Still, it was no stranger than anything else that day.
When they left Big D’s an hour later, all three of them were sticky with ice cream. To be fair, although Josh had started the ice-cream fight that had gotten the three of them kicked out of the restaurant, neither she nor Tamara had hesitated to hurl ice cream back at him.
Tamara dropped them both back at The Zone to get their cars, and then Candace headed straight home to get a shower and throw her uniform in the wash. As soon as she got out of the shower, she saw that Tamara had IMd her.
U there?
Yeah.
That was totally fun.
It took me 30 min to wash ice cream out of my hair,
Candace typed.
Ha! Only took me 20.
Thanks. I had fun.
Me too. Josh is pretty cool.
Yeah, lots of fun.
And way hot.
Candace laughed.
Someone crushing?
No, just admiring. Not my type.
Candace sat back and stared at that for a moment. Finally she responded.
Does that matter?
Don’t know. I think so. Sorry I didn’t get to know himsooner.
Yeah, summer could have been a lot more fun.
At least it’s fun now.
U said it.
So, what are we going to do tomorrow night?
I don’t know. We could take Josh to the Coffee Garden and try to get kicked out of there.
LOL!!
TTFN
Hasta la bye bye.
20
For the next couple of days every ref that passed Candace went out of their way to high-five her and congratulate her. It was like she was a celebrity. As Scavenger Hunt got closer, though, everyone became preoccupied with it again. Even Candace was getting excited, and the night before she could barely sleep.
The day of Scavenger Hunt dawned, and she had arrived at work with butterflies in her stomach. The event didn’t start until after dark but the anticipation that filled the Locker Room was overwhelming. Teams had posted signs everywhere naming and proclaiming themselves champions. Of course, the one sign that was larger than all the others simply read: We Want Pizza!
“Candace, I’ve got a special project for you today,” Martha said, approaching Candace as soon as she exited the Locker Room.
“What?” Candace asked suspiciously. “Last time you had a special thing for me to do, it directly resulted in me ending up on stage and having to give a speech.”
“Yes, but aren’t you glad? And the Party Zone is a much better name than the picnic area. Already bookings have tripled, I hear. People are excited, and it has breathed new life into the area.”
Candace rolled her eyes. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to make some cotton candy and package it for one of our stadium events.”
“You mean put it in those plastic bags?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Candace admitted.
“You’ll be working off field and in the shade.”
“I am totally your girl,” Candace said.
Martha smiled. “I thought you might be. We’re going to need quite a lot of it, so I requisitioned you some help.”
Candace followed Martha over to her cart, which was parked under some shade trees behind a building. Beside it there were several cardboard boxes filled with cones. Another large box was filled with plastic sleeves and twist ties. Yet another box had cardboard flats that were designed to hold the finished cotton candies. Candace’s eyes bugged out of her head.
“That’s a lot of cotton candy,” she said.
“Yes, it is.”
“Hi, Candace,” Sue said, joining them.
“I couldn’t pull anyone off carts, so I was able to get Sue here to help you.”
“Just tell me what to do,” Sue said.
“Okay, this is going to take a while,” Candace said.
“I have absolute faith in you ladies. Call me on the walkie-talkie if you need anything,” Martha said as she walked away.
“Wow,” Candace said.
“What part do you want me to do?” Sue asked.
“Well, if you could handle putting the cotton candy in the plastic bag and stacking them in those cardboard holders, that would be great,” Candace said.
“Consider it done.”
“This is not how I envisioned spending my day,” Candace said, picking up the first empty cone and stepping toward the machine.
“Me either,” Sue laughed. “But you won’t hear me complaining.”
It took about fifteen minutes to establish a groove. Soon they were ripping along faster than Candace would have thought possible. Because of the size of the bags, she had to put less cotton candy on the sticks than she was used to, but that helped everything move faster.
After a couple of hours they had managed to go through nearly half the boxes of cones and several vats of cotton candy. Candace’s wrists and back were starting to ache from the constant motion.
“Since we seem to be all alone on this, I think it’s up to us to call our own breaks,” Candace said.
“Works for me,” Sue answered.
Candace picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted Martha, who confirmed that they could break whenever they needed to.
“Sounds like she was pleased with our progress,” Sue noted.
“I hope so, because I’m not sure I can keep it up,” Candace said.
“Don’t forget we have a half day today. If we don’t finish, someone else will have to… unless it can wait until tomorrow,” Sue said.
“That’s right, I had forgotten about that,” Candace said.
It was Scavenger Hunt day, and to keep from having some referees tired after working full days competing against referees who had had the day off, everyone was supposed to work a half day. That way, theoretically, it was all fair.
“I’m getting pretty excited,” Sue admitted. “What do you think it will be like?”
“Well, I’ve talked to a couple of people who’ve done it before, and it sounds like a cross between a traditional scavenger hunt and a trivia contest,” Candace said. “We’ll have to run all over the park looking for things and writing things down on a piece of paper.”
“Someone should probably bring a flashlight, then.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s a really good idea. Even if they have all the lights on, who knows what we’re going to be trying to find.”
“And if they don’t have all the lights on, it will be wicked dark.” Candace shook her head. “Te
ll me about it. The night I got trapped here, only a few park lights stayed on. It was really dark, and there were places you couldn’t see anything.”
“That must have been frightening!” Sue said.
“Not really.”
“We should get back to it.”
“You’re right. Otherwise there’ll be no chance of finishing.” As it was, they finished with two minutes to spare. “Look at that. We could have done at least five more,” Sue said.
“Speak for yourself!” Candace rolled her eyes. “I think I need a nap. I definitely need some aspirin; my wrists are killing me.”
“I hope they’re not hurting tonight.”
“Me too.”
“I’m heading home to get some rest,” Sue said.
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you back here at seven thirty.”
Candace headed home where she lay down on her bed and tried to get some rest. Unfortunately, she just couldn’t fall asleep. She lay there thinking about the Scavenger Hunt and how much pizza Josh’s team could possibly eat, and Kurt, and how was she going to survive the night with Lisa, Pete, and Roger. Two of them had it in for her, and the third was a danger to himself and others.
She finally got up at half past five, went downstairs, and tried to eat dinner with her parents. They were having meatloaf, which normally she really liked. It was hard to choke down the food, though. She wasn’t hungry, but she forced herself, knowing she’d regret it later if she didn’t.
“You excited about tonight?” her dad asked.
“Nervous more than anything,” she admitted.
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think,” her mom said.
“The best thing you can do is try to have fun no matter who’s on your team. Just give the best you can. No one can ask anything more,” her dad encouraged.
“Thanks,” she said, feeling a little bit better despite her misgivings.