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by Admin

  “Hey, what’s up?” Ryan lay down his cue and motioned him over. “Why don’t you join us? We’re just finishing a quick game of nine-ball. I’ll be losing in about,” he checked his watch, “Twenty more seconds.” Amused, Paul made his way over.

  The nine ball and the cue ball were the only two objects on the green felt. David drew his stick back to his side, lightly tapped the nine ball, and watched as it obediently rolled into the corner pocket.

  Paul looked out at the dance floor. A strobe light spilled a rainbow of colors across the dancing bodies. The music was upbeat, but Paul could do nothing but worry about Raylee. She'd told him about Crystal's latest tactic in the bathroom, how she'd taunted her.

  “David just won his tenth national championship last week,” Ryan sharpened the tip of his cue.

  Paul looked away from the dance floor. “You’re kidding? Already?”

  “And get this. He’s investing his winnings into a house just outside the bay area."

  “Sounds like he’s got it all.”

  “You think?” Ryan slapped his back and started racking the balls. “Eight or nine?”

  “What?”

  “Eight ball or nine ball?”

  “Hey, you don’t look so good,” David said.

  “I’m just thinking too much,” Paul laughed. He was sure that mentioning his concerns about Crystal wouldn't jive well with her buddies.

  “What do you want to do?” David said sincerely.

  “This,” he gestured to the pool table. “Let’s have some fun. I can’t think of a better way to do that than for you to put me in my place in a game of pool.”

  Another eighties track started playing then, some Billy Joel song. Paul started feeling a bit better. He actually enjoyed getting his butt kicked.

  "Well, I better get back to the girls." David tossed his stick on the table. He was making his way over to Crystal and Gina. Paul had forgotten that he was Gina's boyfriend. Raylee wouldn't like that he was here.

  Crystal gave Paul a friendly wave. Paul waved back, but quickly turned away and said to Henry, "I gotta go."

  Halloween

  Raylee was hanging out at Paul's house, getting dressed in her Queen of Hearts costume while Paul wrestled with his Batman mask. They were attending a Halloween party at the community center. Most of Silver Canyon High would be there. It was the third annual Halloween party that the center had sponsored.

  "What are you so nervous about?"

  Raylee's hands were fidgety as she attempted to apply her makeup. "You would be too if your crush was going to be there. Henry Jones is buddy-buddy with him now." She made a face. "I can't stand Henry. Back in ninth grade, he and David made a bet about who would kiss me before looking at me like I was the biggest loser before taking off."

  "That was two years ago. Maybe he changed."

  "Doubt it."

  "I was playing pool with Ryan and David yesterday. They seemed like cool guys."

  Raylee stared at him as though he'd betrayed her. "David is dating Gina. He's part of their stupid clique."

  "Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's like them, at least, not anymore. He knows I'm friends with you, and he was nice to me."

  "Crystal is nice to you," she pointed out.

  "True. But I know better than to trust her. She thinks she can manipulate any guy." He pulled on his Batman mask and said in a deep voice. "But I'm not just any guy."

  Laughing, she looked into the mirror and rubbed bright red blush on her cheeks before adding a big heart in dark red lipstick.

  "Wow, that looks awesome. Just like a queen."

  “Thanks. Hold on. I gotta call Katy. OK if I use your phone?”

  “Sure.”

  She dialed. Katy picked up on the first ring.

  “You ready for the party?”

  “Hey, Raylee. I can’t make it.”

  “What? Why not?”

  Katy sounded serious, not typical of her. “My parents are cracking down hard on me. My grades have been slipping a bit and I’m putting my scholarship to Princeton at risk.”

  “Princeton?”

  “OK, slight exaggeration. But, seriously, they won’t let me do anything, not even hang out on the weekends, until the school year is over. Have to keep my GPA up or I’ll miss my chances at some of the top universities for chemical engineering. I love chemistry, don’t get me wrong, but on top of that, I’m also taking Trig and Pre-Calculus. Needless to say, it’s a lot.”

  “Oh.” Raylee wasn’t sure what to say. She knew how important this was to Katy, and she didn’t want to say anything that would make her feel more stressed.

  “And I’m applying out of state, so I guess I should get used to not seeing a lot of faces from school.”

  “Oh, man, I didn’t know.”

  Cheerful Katy came back. “Hey, ‘Don’t Worry. Be Happy’.”

  “Wow, you’re the one cheering me up. I’m sorry. I’m gonna miss your humor.”

  “Still got another year with me.”

  “Are you excited, at least?”

  “Definitely. I mean, it’s a lot of work, but I know it will be worth it in the end.” She paused. “And speaking of. . .how are your prospects looking?”

  “Pretty good actually. Mr. Binsen is writing me a letter of recommendation for the Russian Linguistics program.”

  “Oh, how awesome. . .ugh, I have to go, but have a good time.”

  “Thanks, Katy.” She hung up and faced Paul.

  "Do you think Crystal will be there?"

  "Maybe. She hasn't bothered again since. . .?"

  "No."

  "Hey, it's time to go. Let's have a good time, no matter who is there."

  Crystal: Halloween

  T

  here was Gina and David busy kissing and dancing, too busy to take notice that Raylee was here.

  With growing irritation, Crystal watched from across the room as Raylee and Billy spoke at the punch table. It was sickening the way she tried to get this attention. Didn't she know that it wasn't going to work? That he was too good for her?

  And that's when she knew what it was that had been bothering her about Raylee. Nothing bad happened to her. She walked around school as though everything was flowers and rainbows. She had the perfect little life with her perfect parents, her dad the perfect pastor, all of them living in their perfect Victorian house.

  Raylee was laughing at something Billy said.

  No, this wasn't happening. Crystal was not going to let some loser ruin her chances with Billy. She had to find a way to get rid of her. Crossing the dance floor, orange and white bulbs glowing from strings of lights overhead,

  she marched over to Gina and David. The two lovebirds were making out as they danced.

  How immature. Crystal cleared her throat loudly.

  Gina broke away. “Oh, hey.” She raised her eyebrows, eyeing Crystal’s cheerleading outfit. “So, this is your idea of in costume.”

  “If Billy is anything like the other guys, he won’t be able to resist me.”

  Gina looked impressed. “Good plan.”

  Crystal’s anxiety was rising though. Every second that Skinny Penny was with Billy was another second that Crystal was losing. She didn’t believe that Billy

  would fall for her, but he was such a nice guy that he might not realize his mistake until it was too late. And worse than that, if he did fall into Raylee’s trap, Crystal would never get over the humiliation of having been beat out by some pathetic girl who could barely spit out more than two words to anybody.

  “I need your help,” Crystal said.

  Gina had no problem shrugging out of her boyfriend’s arms, her eyes lighting up with the eagerness of a squirrel discovering the last available acorn.

  “Get Henry or Ryan over there.” She pointed Gina in the direction of Billy and Raylee. “Someone who will make her uncomfortable.”

  Gina smiled, a grin that was, as once before, uncannil
y like the Grinch’s. “It’s almost too easy to make her squirm.” She cackled with a vicious delight. The witch hat she was wearing certainly suited her.

  Her best friend took off, racing to the other side of the room where Ryan and Henry were watching the festivities. Less than a minute later, Henry was making his way to the punch table. Crystal’s stomach clenched. She couldn’t wait to see her squirm.

  The wait wasn’t long. Before Henry could even join them, Raylee started looking ill. And within thirty seconds, she was heading to the bathroom, probably out of embarrassment. Crystal knew all about how Henry and David made a bet in freshman year about who would kiss Raylee, making sure that they were just in ear shot so that Raylee could hear it all. She and Gina had enjoyed a good laugh when the boys filled them in. And now, watching the unease with which Raylee now held herself, Crystal could hardly contain the glee inside her.

  Standing up straight and throwing back her chin, she started gracefully forward. With Raylee out of the

  way, Crystal could now take her chance on Billy. And she knew that he would be unable to reject what she was about to propose to him.

  Since his arrival, the whole school had fallen in love with him. The guys had already befriended him, even her ex, Ryan. All of the girls salivated whenever he was near, or even when he wasn’t. So, it would seem that the likelihood of her winning him over involved an insurmountable challenge. Yet, Crystal had something that none of the other girls of this school did—status. The votes had already been tallied for Homecoming Queen. And, as she closed the gap between her and Billy, Gina had informed her that the count for King had unequivocally decided on Billy.

  As though he’d sensed his time was up, Henry moved out of sight as Crystal sidled up to Billy. He was just finishing the rest of his drink when his eyes caught on hers.

  Crystal had dated Ryan, and it had been great while it lasted, but Billy made her feel something she’d never felt before. Freedom.

  In this single moment, as they stared at one another, she harbored no doubts that this guy would be hers, that he had to be hers.

  “Hey, Crystal. Enjoying the party?”

  “Sure. You?”

  “Yeah, it turned out pretty good, didn’t it? It’s really nice to see this town come together.”

  “Well, you know they had to postpone the Homecoming dance to December.” She dunked a paper cup into the punch bowl. “And the votes are already locked in, based on the October date. You and I are King and Queen.”

  He raised his eyebrows as though surprised, but

  impressed.

  Taking that as a good sign, she continued, holding up a finger to her lips. “Shhh, you can't tell anyone. We have to act surprised at the dance." She winked at him. "Technically, we're not supposed to know yet." She waited for him to say something, but he seemed to be waiting for her to go on. "So, it makes sense then that you and I go together then, doesn’t it?”

  Without missing a beat, he replied, “Yes.”

  Her heart thumped once, hard and stretching all the way across her chest. It was happening. It was really happening. But his next words caused her heart to sink.

  “As nominees.” He smiled, a really nice smile, to soften the sucker punch. She nodded, because there wasn’t anything else for her to do, not without looking like a dope.

  When she stepped away from the table, she plastered a huge smile across her face so that nobody would detect the defeat. Officially, though, she had won, she reminded herself. Not in the way she hoped, not with Billy as her boyfriend, but at least as his escort. And when Raylee heard the news, wouldn’t her little heart just break.

  Crystal smiled. This time it was real. And it couldn’t have been timed better, because just as she was making her way across the floor, just as her smile surfaced, Raylee turned her way. Instantly, her face turned downward, her shoulders slumping even as she hurried away to her friend Paul.

  Inside, Crystal laughed and her heart soared and she felt as high as she did out on the football field when her squad cheered the team to glory.

  Billy

  J

  unior year was turning out to be just what Billy hoped. Not only was he told by Crystal that he would be crowned King at the dance, he was also cast as one of the leads in the school play. Drama, of course, meant the world to him because it was up on stage where he could use his gifts and where he felt truly alive. He also, unbeknownst to anyone else, actually cared about his popularity status as well. The more that he was liked, the more he could connect with others.

  As a child, he’d not yet realized the importance of establishing relationships with others. By the time he’d entered middle school, he began to see how necessary it was to form bonds with the rest of humankind as everyone’s lives, the way he saw it, were inexorably intertwined. He hated admitting this to himself, but sometime in the last year, he’d begun to reconsider his thinking.

  So many of Silver Canyon’s students were difficult to connect with; many were dense-minded, unable to see that there was something beyond themselves, while others were overly self-centered, believing that no one else mattered. Both ways of thinking troubled Billy. He respected neither. Unfortunately, for him, Crystal seemed to be of the latter type of thinker. He couldn’t decline his role as king without appearing rude, so he hadn’t, but he wasn’t interested in going with her to the dance. She had made it pretty clear that he would be escorting her to the dance. Once again, to appear civilized, he’d accepted, though he had set a clear boundary that they would be going only as king and queen. Leading her on would have been immature and unkind.

  It was a shame that they couldn’t be more. She was

  obviously beautiful and confident, both admirable qualities, but she used them in atrocious egotistic ways, and that turned him off. He hoped, for her sake, that she would one day realize that the world didn’t revolve around her.

  Strangely, those truths about Crystal bothered him the least. When he’d first arrived on campus, the way she treated Raylee Johnson had been abhorrent. Some girls felt the need to taunt others, to prey upon them as though it were a twisted game of some sort. Crystal Jordan, in that respect, was a dime a dozen.

  None of that should have mattered much to him. After all, he had no interest in dating anyone, not yet. Most His first goal was to improve himself, to reach a status that gave him credibility and likability. So many others seemed to worry over relationships, when it would behoove them to concentrate instead on personal growth. For Billy, that was acting. One would think that New York, one of the premiere places to establish one’s self in the industry, made better sense than attempting to make it in a small town. Billy agreed, at least, before the move. Now, there was a growing realization that stereotypes could easily be defied, that what was on the surface did not necessarily reflect what was underneath.

  That old adage about judging a book by its cover promoted a weakened idea of a thing or of a person. In some cases, it could be true, sure, but the more Billy came to know this town, the more he realized that people were not always what they seemed. That they were so much more than they realized.

  No, walking through the hallway traffic of Silver Canyon High, his thoughts went to Raylee Johnson. She had him baffled. Out of all of the girls he’d ever known, not one of them came close to her. She was unique in the

  way she walked, talked, in the way she responded to others, even in the way she smiled. There was no one like her. And to his utter surprise, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  He pulled open the door to math class, anxiously looking forward to his next class, just so that he could see Raylee again.

  A storm was starting outside. Thunder boomed quietly in the distance, followed by bouts of lightning. Nature fascinated Billy, especially in its unpredictability. It was all part of the mystery of life. But to his wonder, Raylee preoccupied his mind, and PE couldn’t come fast enough. Fortunately, the class was held indoors. By the time he entered the gym, th
e blood pumping to his heart felt warm and insufficient as though he was missing some of his hemoglobin. The rain was pattering lightly against the windows, but his usual appreciation for the wet season was replaced by Raylee.

  He didn’t fully understand why he was responding this way; after all, he had no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship, but nevertheless, he was. Sometimes plans didn’t always work out so well, sometimes what you expected turned out entirely different, and he was okay with that. What troubled him mostly came from the lack of comprehension he had fallen under. Why did this girl affect him so?

  One of Billy’s strengths was detecting other people’s intentions and recognizing his own response to them. Take Crystal Jordan. To him, her intent was obvious, to date him and to keep Raylee away from him. Though she was nice to him, he didn’t care for her sneaky tactics. He also disliked translucent people because they had little to no depth. Or there was Paul McCoy, a guy with class, charming and smart, and obviously devoted to

  his friendship with Rayee. He was one of the more likeable guys, better than the ones who had befriended Billy, like Ryan and Henry.

  Raylee was pulling up her knee socks when she spotted him. The inevitable smile came to her face. Billy knew she liked him, as many girls apparently did, but what he didn’t get was why that fact should be more important.

  He returned her smile and made his way to the side of the volleyball court to start his warm-ups. Henry and David were already stretching.