They stood on the wide, crowded sidewalk near the entrance to Parrington Central, the largest high school in the area. This was where George and Brian were going to be wrestling. And Tyler, Allie thought with a twinge of nervousness. Some of her newfound courage was seeping away now. She didn’t feel good about seeing Tyler right now.
“Shouldn’t we go in?” Celia said brightly.
“It’s almost noon right now,” Allie said, checking the clock on her cell. “They started half an hour ago.”
“I hope we haven’t missed any of George and Brian’s matches,” Celia said.
Liz shrugged off her coat. “Whatever. I’m just here to meet Rich.” She pulled some blush out of her purse and began applying it, checking herself with a mirror as they walked.
Allie looked skeptically at Liz’s short skirt and low-cut blouse, an outfit that Mrs. Simonelli definitely would not have approved of. “Why are you dressed like that, anyway? This is a wrestling match, remember?”
“I gotta look good,” Liz said. “Or else I’ll end up with no boyfriend, like you two.”
They walked into the school, paid the five-dollar admission fee, and went into the cavernous main auditorium. It was three times as big as the Sparrow Hills main gym, with a huge scoreboard and bleachers that looked as if they could seat thousands.
“This is a high school?” Celia said, gaping.
“I guess so,” Allie said, who was more concerned with locating the Sparrow Hills team. She searched the bleachers for the familiar black and red of Sparrow Hills. There seemed to be dozens of schools represented here.
“Well, I’d love to hang out with you two single losers, but I gotta go find Rich. See ya later,” Liz said as she disappeared into the crowds.
“Freshmen.” Allie rolled her eyes.
“We better hurry up,” Celia said, making her way up the bleachers through crowds of wrestlers, students and parents.
“Look! There’s Sparrow Hills!” Allie said, pointing to the familiar red-and-black jerseys. On the floor below were a bunch of wrestlers. Mr. Lamar was yelling at one of the matches in progress, and he didn’t look too happy.
When they got to the bleachers in front of the Sparrow Hills teams, they found Liz there, looking very cool and pleased with herself. She sat next to a guy with a mass of long curly hair. Allie assumed he was the famous Rich Rogers.
“Hey, Liz!” Celia said, and made her way over to them.
Liz gave them a look that seemed to say that she was too cool to talk to them. That didn’t stop Celia from sitting down right next to them. Allie followed suit.
“Hi!” Celia said. “You must be Rich. I’m—”
“Rich, these are two girls that go to my school,” Liz said in a bored voice. “Celia Costain and Allie Weaver.”
“Uh, hi,” Rich grunted, then looked at her again. “Hey, did you say your name was Allie Weaver? I think we met at the Guerins’ house last year.”
“Oh, yeah.” Allie had crashed Rachel Guerin’s graduation party with Madison and Nikki. Now that she thought about it, she had a dim recollection of this guy being there too. He was a sophomore like, Allie but he’d never been in any of her classes.
“Maybe you can take me to some parties now,” Liz said, cuddling his arm and gazing at him admiringly.
Rich laughed and patted her hand. “Sure, sure, babe.”
Celia and Allie exchanged looks. This is SO sad, Allie thought.
“So,” Celia said. “How’s Sparrow Hills doing?”
“Not too good,” Rich said. “They’ve lost every match so far. It’s weird; I heard they were pretty good this year. Didn’t they pick up some new guy…Peterson?”
“Yeah!” Celia and Allie both said. “He’s in our school,” Celia said. “Has he wrestled yet?”
“That’s the strange thing,” Rich said. “He didn’t show. I heard the guys on the team talking about it.”
“Huh?” Celia said. “That’s weird…”
Something’s wrong, Allie thought. She looked down at the row of Sparrow Hills wrestlers sitting on their assigned bench. She could only see the backs of their heads. She frowned, and went from wrestler to wrestler. Sure enough, there was no George. And where was Brian?
“Brian!” Celia yelled. “Hey, Brian! Up here!”
Brian was walking up the aisle at the base of the bleachers, away from the main floor. He was wearing the red-and-black Sparrow Hills singlet, and there was a grim, determined look on his face.
“Brian!” Allie yelled, and at last Brian looked up and his face brightened.
“Celia! Allie!” he said. “I’m—”
But just then the crowd around them roared. One of the Sparrow Hills wrestlers was pinned.
“Oh, give me a break!” Rich shouted. “You’re terrible!”
They met Brian at the base of the bleachers. “I’m glad you’re here,” Brian said, glancing back at the rows of bleachers. “It’s been awful.”
“Because the team is losing?” said Celia.
“No, it’s not just that. Never mind,” Brian said, going red.
“Where’s George?” Allie said.
“I don’t know,” Brian said in consternation. “We were supposed to meet this morning to practice, but he hasn’t showed.”
“That’s crazy,” Celia said. “George wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Something must have happened to him!”
“That’s what I think, too,” Brian said. “Look, I can’t stay long. I was just going to find a pay phone. I’m getting really worried.”
Allie felt a surge of anger. I bet Tyler has something to do with this. “I’ll be right back,” she snapped, and headed for the main floor.
She made her way to the Sparrow Hills wrestlers. Mr. Lamar looked up in surprise at her approach. “Hey Allie!” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for Tyler,” Allie said. “Where is he?”
Mr. Lamar frowned. “Right over there,” he said, pointing to the ring. “And from the looks of it, he’ll be back soon. I don’t know what’s wrong with the team today; first Flynt’s out with a shoulder injury, now Tyler’s off—”
Tyler was in the middle of a match that was going badly for him. His opponent had him down. Suddenly the ref slapped the mat with an open palm and blew his whistle.
“Well, there you go,” Mr. Lamar said in a disgusted voice. “Go ahead and talk to him, if you want to.”
“Thanks,” Allie said.
Tyler was walking dejectedly back to the bench. When he saw her, he scowled. “What do you want?” he said.
“I was just looking for George,” Allie said. “Have you seen him?”
“No,” he spat, and walked away.
“Are you sure?” Allie persisted, following him. “No one knows where he is.”
“You seem really interested in George all the sudden,” Tyler said, glaring at her. “That’s real interesting. Not very surprising, but interesting.”
“I just want to know where he is, since he does seem to be missing,” she said in what she hoped was a reasonable tone.
“Well, I don’t know,” Tyler said. “So leave me alone.” He stalked back to the benches.
He’s lying, Allie thought. She felt another wave of anger. I can’t believe I dated him. Now what?
When she got back to Celia and Brian, Celia was talking on her cell phone to someone. “Where did you drop him off? Okay. Thanks.” She snapped the cell phone shut as Allie walked up. “What did you find out?”
“Tyler said he hadn’t seen him, but I think he’s lying.”
“Okay,” Celia said. “George’s mom told said she dropped him off this morning, and she saw him go into the school.”
“But he wasn’t there,” Brian said. “I never saw him; I didn’t even see his gear.”
“Maybe we should go back to the school anyway, just to make sure,” Allie said.
“Maybe we should call 911,” Celia said. “I wish dad wasn't out of town this weekend
…”
“Let’s go to Sparrow Hills,” Allie insisted. “Right now. Maybe he’s still there.”
“Okay, okay.” Celia sighed. “I’ll tell Liz we’re taking off. Maybe her boyfriend can drive her home. Brian, you should tell Mr. Lamar that you think something happened to George. Maybe he can find out what happened.”
“Okay,” Brian said. “I can do that. I can’t be any more unpopular anyway.”
“Oh, and Brian,” Allie said. “Good luck today.”
Brian looked startled and then smiled briefly. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll need it.”
George worked relentlessly to get the sock out of his mouth. He couldn’t loosen the ropes around his wrists and ankles, but at least he could move his head against the ground. And so he had scraped away at the duct tape, over and over again, until it finally began to peel away. Now it was almost off.
Finally! With a cry, he spit the sock out of his mouth. It fell to the floor in front of him, looking wet and very chewed up. He could still taste it in his mouth. The duct tape still dangled in strips from one side of his mouth; he must look really stupid.
For a few minutes he lay there, enjoying the freedom of being able to move his jaws. Then he thought about his next move. It wouldn’t do any good to yell for help; the school was empty and no one knew he was here. Wouldn’t it be great if no one ever found out? If he could free himself, than no one would ever need to know how Tyler had humiliated him and kept him from wrestling in the Sectionals.
Not that I’m going to let Tyler forget this. I’m going to get him back. I don’t care how.
But if only he could possibly avoid looking ridiculous in front of everyone in Sparrow Hills… He thought of the newspaper articles about his performance last year, and winced to think of making the paper this year only as a object of Tyler’s stupid hazing.
No way am I going to let the school janitor find me like this…or the cops …
He had to get his hands or feet free. He strained with all his might to break the cords. But it was no good: the nylon was much stronger than he was. His exertions allowed him to straighten his legs some more, but they didn’t get him free.
“Okay, okay,” he muttered, trying not to give up. Maybe he could loosen something else. Groping with his fingers, he discovered that the cord from his feet to his hands was fastened to his wrists with a single loop tied with a single hard, tight knot. Maybe, just maybe, he could untie that knot.
He bent his wrists as far as they could go and reached for the knot with his index and middle fingers. He could almost reach it. Over and over again his fingers brushed it. “Come on!” he grunted, and yanked with his feet, trying to bring the knot down just a tiny bit more.
It wouldn’t budge. His muscles twitched and throbbed from being tied in this unnatural position.
It wasn’t fair. Suddenly he was angry at God.
YOU got me into this.
You tricked me into this. Oh, sure, it was fine when I first started praying: You helped me win matches and get to States. But what gives? Now, the more I pray, the more trouble I get in. I try to do the right thing, and look what happens to me!
He was so angry he was blinking back tears. He wasn’t sure if it was pain or stress or just the disappointment at feeling betrayed by his God.
What do You want from me?
You know, I’m not so sure I want to keep bringing You with me if this is what You do to me…
Can’t You just let me be a regular guy? Just one of those normal Catholics, like Liz or the guys at St. Lucy’s?
Why do I have to be a SPECIAL Catholic, a John Paul 2 High kid? I’m just so sick and tired of being…called.
Weary, sore and humiliated, he put his head down and prayed.
Whatever.
Whatever You want.
…I guess that’s what’s going to happen anyhow.
You don’t drive fast enough!” Allie said for the hundredth time, as they drove up the road to Sparrow Hills.
“It won’t help George if we’re dead,” Celia pointed out patiently, and came to a stop at the stop sign.
“There are no cars here!” Allie said. “Come on!”
“That’s no excuse.” Celia carefully looked both ways before stepping on the gas. They sped up the road, and turned into the parking lot. There were a few cars in the lot, but the building seemed dark and empty.
Once they came to a stop, Allie jumped out of the car, ran over to the main doors and yanked on them.
“They’re locked!” she said in despair to Celia, who had just run up.
“What about the side door?” Celia said, and the two of them hurried around the building to the metal doors that opened onto the basketball court.
“Locked.” Celia tugged at them. “There’s got to be another way in. Let’s go around the school building and check all the doors.”
There didn’t seem to be anything else to do. The two girls hurried across the grass, rounding one big brick corner after another, looking for more doors. But every time they found one, it was locked. Eventually they found themselves approaching the main entrance of the school again.
“This is ridiculous,” Allie said. “I swear I’m going to break this door down if it’s not open.” She was feeling so reckless and desperate now that she grabbed the handle and pulled, knowing full well that it would be locked. It opened.
“Oh!” Allie was so surprised that she just stood there with her mouth open for a moment. “Oh, thank God!!” She pulled the door fully open and started through.
“Allie! Wait! Look!” There was something in Celia’s voice that made Allie stop.
“What?” she said, turning around impatiently.
Celia was looking at the deadbolt. She turned the lock and a piece fell to the floor with a clatter. “This lock’s been broken,” she said.
“Oh.” Allie shrugged. “Lucky for us, I guess.”
“Don’t you get it?” Celia said. “This door was locked a few minutes ago. Someone must have just broken it. That means someone else is already inside.”
George lay in the darkness, resigning himself to the inevitable. The team would come back eventually, and Tyler and the others would untie him once they had a chance to do so without anyone noticing. They were probably counting on him being too embarrassed to say anything. The worst thing was, they were right. He just wanted to go home and forget this day had ever happened.
RATTLE. RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE.
It was the first sound George had heard in hours. For a moment he was too shocked to recognize it. Sounds like someone’s trying to open the gym doors.
Suddenly he was caught in a turmoil of conflicting emotions. His aching muscles screamed for relief and urged him to yell for help, but he wanted to find out who it was first. It was stupid, probably his pride, but he was cautious… He listened.
But the rattling sound had stopped, and George felt a sudden panic well up in him. He changed his mind.
“Uh–Hey!” he called out. “Who’s there?”
Only silence answered him. “No,” he whispered. “Come on. HEY!” he yelled. “IS ANYONE THERE?”
Still nothing. He swore.
“Hel-LOOOOOO???”
George’s spine prickled. A voice had spoken: a weird, raspy, singsong voice. Under other circumstances George might have found it funny.
“Hey!” he yelled back. “Can you help me?”
“You need HELP?”
“Yeah! Sort of!”
“Aw…you need some help?” The voice sounded sympathetic.
“Yeah!” George yelled, throwing caution to the wind. “I’m locked in the closet!”
“And all alone?”
“Yeah!” George said, wondering now what this guy’s deal was.
“And nobody knows you’re here?”
“YEAH!” George shouted. “Some guys on the wrestling team tied me up and left me here! I’ve been in here for hours! Can you help me?”
There was no reply.
&
nbsp; George waited impatiently. Maybe the guy had gone off to get help, but George hadn’t heard any footsteps.
“Heh heh heh.” There was a low, nasty laugh, as if someone had just played a cruel joke and was shamelessly amused by it.
Then there was silence again. George listened, feeling uneasy. Was this some kind of stupid prank?
“Hello?” he finally said. “Are you still there? Are you going to get help, or what?”
“Heh heh heh, heh heh heh.” The snickering laugh continued. It sounded like the guy was really amused. Really amused, so amused that he couldn’t help laughing, and he couldn’t stop laughing. It sounded like he found the whole situation hilarious.
George tensed, his stomach churning. Suddenly he felt that it might be better to have a closet and locked doors between himself and someone like that.
And that might not be enough.
Allie and Celia stayed close together as they ventured down the darkened hallways of the school. Sparrow Hills didn’t have a lot of windows in the hallways, and it was hard to see.
“How can we get to the gym from here?” Celia asked.
“This way, I think,” Allie murmured. It was easy to get lost in Sparrow Hills. The hallways were dim and full of shadows. It was creeping her out. Their footsteps seemed very loud, echoing down the halls
Is someone else really here? Allie thought. What burglar would rob a school? She thought of kids with too much time on their hands, vandalizing the school over the weekend for kicks, kids who were so bored that they would do anything for fun, even fire a gun with blanks at a girl…
“We shouldn’t even be here,” Allie muttered. “What are we doing?”
Celia didn’t answer for a moment. “Well,” she said finally, “We’re trying to find George. Maybe we have to rescue him. You know what this reminds me of?”
“No,” Allie said, irritated.
“St. George and the Dragon. Have you ever read that book? This princess Una has to find St. George so he can fight the dragon—”
“What?”
“It’s like we’re on a quest to—”
“Rescue St. George?” Allie snapped. “That’s backward!”
“Not really. Sometimes the knights of King Arthur were rescued from dungeons by fair maidens. Girls had to do the rescuing sometimes. It’s like something out of G.K. Chesterton,” Celia added dreamily.
Catholic, Reluctantly (The John Paul 2 High Series) Page 19
