scowl suddenly faltered, giving way to an agony Link had never thought him capable of. It was if Link had just stabbed his father through the heart. His father's eyes welled, rimming deep with tears. Then he did something Link had never before seen him do. His father cried. Right there in the middle of the kitchen, he put his head down on the island countertop and began to sob deep, unrestrained tears of sorrow.
Link drew back. For the moment the venom vanished from his fangs. All he could do was stare. For the first time in a long while, instead of his enemy, Link now saw his father for what he really was...broken. And the worst part about it, the part that burned deepest in Link's gut, was the painful truth that he had been the one who'd broken him.
Ayden was the first to react. He hugged his father's leg hard and kept on hugging for several minutes. Meanwhile, Link could think of nothing clever to say, nothing meaningful whatsoever. Like a pedestrian who'd just witnessed a horrific car crash, all he could do was watch.
After a few moments, his dad raised his head, though not his eyes. His gaze remained fixed on the kitchen floor. He gently pushed Ayden away from his leg and said, "It's time to leave, Ayden. Get your shoes." Then he turned and walked away.
17
Sending Up the Fuzz
The next morning Link arrived at school with the same sense of loathing he had experienced on his first day. Though nobody launched a Frisbee at his face this time, he felt the curious stares of all the other children boring holes into the back of his head.
Finally, Link turned to Celia and said, "Do you get the feeling that kids are staring at us?"
She playfully punched him in the arm and giggled. "Don't be silly. They're only staring at you. They couldn't care less about me."
"Thanks. I feel so much better."
"Glad I could help." She giggled again as she stuffed her history book into her bag. "Look, it's no big deal, so don't freak or anything, but I heard some gossip about you this morning."
"Big shock. Was it started by that devil-spawn, Kaylee? I bet she'd love to spread a bunch of lies about me."
"It's possible, but that's not who I'm talking about."
"If it wasn't her, who was it? Nobody else knows about it except for you." Link spun on Celia, "It wasn't you, was it?" he said in disbelief.
"That's not the point," she said, sheepishly twirling the frayed tassel on her backpack.
"It was you?" Link stuttered, incredulous at Celia's betrayal. "How could you?"
"First of all, don't sweat it. And secondly, you're welcome."
Link fumed as the room began closing in around him. "Thanking you is not exactly what I had in mind."
Again, Celia's indefatigable smile showed that she had absolutely no clue how badly she had upset him. She let out a little squeal of excitement as she continued, "Ah, the joys of sending fuzz. You don't live in a favorite haunt of the NGP and not pick up a few things about the nature of gossip. Like it or not, you are a new kid. Actually, you're the only new kid. So you're not a new kid. You're the new kid.
"Anyway, some people feel threatened by change, and some, I suspect, don't like red hair." She laughed at her own joke. "Man, I am full of them today, aren't I?"
Link said nothing.
"You're an oddity, something new and shiny. Kids don't want to look. They just do. With me so far?"
Link nodded though he wasn't sure. He'd never been called shiny before, and to be honest, he had no clue how he should respond.
Celia pushed on. "If you'd come to school looking all John Merricky, they'd have stalked you all day, creating outlandish reasons for your face."
"John Merricky?" Link questioned.
"The Elephant Man. John Merrick...you know...try to keep up, will you?"
"Some kid had elephants?"
"No. The Elephant Man. He was this really disfigured guy from the circus. Or maybe it was a fair. It's not important. The point is, I confused everyone into thinking my story was true by spreading all the rumors before anyone else had a chance to spread ones of their own. Pretty brilliant, eh?"
"What rumors did you start?" Link asked.
"Aside from the ones about your webbed feet and surgically removed duck tail?"
Link wanted to be mad, but truthfully he was touched that Celia had cared enough to help him. Though Link had yet to decide whether or not she was crazy, he had to admit that she was growing on him. "Seriously, what story did you make up about me?"
Celia shrugged. "Depends."
"Depends? On what?"
"On which period you're referring to. Telling the same lie over and over bored me, so I mixed it up a bit. They won't have a clue what to believe. But I'll tell you what they won't believe...the truth. Honestly, who runs into a tree?"
18
Panch
In literature class, Link was about to sit in his wobbly chair near the front of the room when somebody called out to him. Convinced he must be hearing voices again, Link ignored it and began to sit down.
"Dude, Weasley! Over here."
There it was again. Maybe he wasn't hearing things after all. Link lifted his head. A kid in the second row waved his hands towards the seat next to him like an airport traffic controller. Was this a joke? Link was in no mood to be humiliated this early in the morning.
The scruffy-haired surfer waited patiently with his left arm draped over the reserved seat. Despite his apprehension, Link decided to go. But he remained vigilant for the slightest sign of a trap. As he drew closer, he noticed the stack of colorful beaded necklaces the boy wore around his neck and the silver stud earring of a yellow ladybug in his left ear. He wore a rust-colored polo shirt, baggy tan cargo pants, and a pair of well-worn brown suede clogs.
"Hello," Link said quietly.
"Dude! What's up? Name's Frances, but all my friends call me Panch."
"Punch?"
"No, Panch. You know...curly haired Mexican dude on all those old 'wanted' posters. Wears that gnarly hat. You know. The dude! He's all like, revolutionary and everything."
"Pancho Villa?" Link remembered the unit about the Mexican-American War from his history class the year before. But hadn't Pancho Villa been a notorious bandit?
"Yeah! Villa, that's him. Last year, first day of school, I wear this nappy pullover I got from one of my boys back home. Some kid said that I looked like Pancho Villa. Next thing I knew some chicklet started callin' me Panch. Bet you know how that goes," he said smiling. "I'm guessin' Weasley is not your real name. Am I right?"
"My name's Lincoln, Link for short." He extended his hand for a shake.
Panch quickly slapped it. "So, Link, is it true?"
Link eyed him suspiciously, "Depends. What are you talking about?"
"Did you really break up a robbery at the Center Mart? I heard you chased away the baddies and got your head all busted by one of the dudes tryin' to make a run for it."
Maybe it was Panch's willingness to talk with him. Maybe it was the laid-back way in which he carried himself. Or maybe it was because the kid's name was Panch. Who knew? Whatever the case, Link decided to tell him the truth. He inhaled deeply then he said, "Actually, Panch, I ran into a tree."
"While you were chasing the bad guys?"
"No bad guys. Just me and the tree, mano el treeo. Turns out it's a good idea to watch where you're running."
For a few moments, Panch sat there, absorbing the new information. He stared at Link with the sort of intense scrutiny he probably reserved for scanning the watery horizon for the best wave to catch.
After a brief deliberation, his face broke into a huge smile, and he started to laugh. He gave Link a hardy slap on the back, and said, "Yeah, Celia told me you'd say something crazy. Too modest and all. Dude, word of advice: nobody's gonna buy such a lame story. Hitting a tree? Whatever. I mean like anyone'd be dumb enough to do that."
Link decided to change the topic rather than pursue the matter any further. He had tried to do the right thing. It wasn't his fault if the boy hadn't believed him. And besi
des, he liked this kid. Link didn't know why it wasn't currently raining in his universe, but he wasn't about to remind it of this fact by pulling out an umbrella.
19
A Cruel Twist of Fade
Link strutted through the hallway towards his last class of the day, his spirits higher than they had been in months. Things were finally beginning to look up, and there was reason to believe his good fortune would continue.
He still heard hushed whispering wherever he went and very few people, aside from Panch and Celia, had actually talked to him. But at least nobody was spreading lies about him. Not hurtful ones anyway. Besides, there was only one period left. Link knew better than to tempt the universe into action by an unjustified overconfidence, yet an odd tingling of excitement came with the mere prospect of a good day at school. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had one of those.
Link walked into the classroom, his bag slung casually over his shoulder and his head held high. The burgeoning glimpse at happiness grew even wider when he saw the familiar faces of friends. Both Panch and Celia were busy laughing about something and failed to notice him as he entered.
Tom, a boy Link had met during Professor Biteme's computer class, was also sitting with them, seemingly hard at work, scribbling something down on a torn piece of notebook paper.
"Hey, Weasley!" Panch said in greeting when he saw Link approach.
"Knock it off," Celia said, giving him a whack in the arm. "His name's Link."
"Chill, woman. Ain't no thang. Link's cool. He don't mind. Do ya, Link?"
Strangely enough, coming from a friend, especially one named Panch, Link didn't
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