by Cody Wagner
I perked up. “So there’s an opening?” I wasn’t sure if that was the right lingo for theater but let the question hang.
“Well, we already had someone in mind. But if you can bring Jimmy here right after Christmas, I’ll give him a shot.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But I can’t promise anything.”
“No, that’s fine. I can’t even guarantee he’ll come,” I said, forcing a laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’ll find a way. When should he be here?”
“Tell him to come the 27th at 2:00.”
“PM?”
She glared at me and I flinched, threw out a goodbye, and ran back to the dorms. Halfway there, I stopped again, a new thought teetering on the edge of my brain. What was it? My mind was drawn back to Adkins and his office.
The bookshelf!
Excited, I swung around and sprinted back to the gym. Adkins still sat at his desk. He pointed at his door the moment I entered.
“I’m in the middle of something, Trales.”
“I just have one quick question, sir. Please.”
Adkins stared at me for a second. “You have thirty seconds. Go.”
I stared at the bookcase and a hint of panic shot up my back. When I’d stopped by earlier, I swore I saw a title Cassie might like, but it wasn’t jumping out at me. My eyes began running up and down the rows and, just when I thought I might have been going crazy, I saw it. Touching my chest in relief, I said, “Can I borrow that book for a couple weeks?”
“Which one?”
I leaned forward and read, “Great Debates in Sports History.”
His eyes found the book.
“Why?”
“I’m thinking outside the box.”
Adkins shook his head, but snatched the book and threw it at me.
“Thank you so much,” I said. “When do you want it back?”
“Don’t worry about it. I have another copy at home.”
I stared at him. “Are you sure?”
“Go,” he said.
“Thank you,” I stammered, backing away as another thought hit. Before I could stop myself, I asked, “Did you know about the opening in the play?”
“GO!”
I pivoted on my feet and ran out into the cold air, grinning. This was way better than pine cones and a plastic turtle.
* * * * *
Cassie, Jimmy, and I decided to exchange our personal gifts right before the white elephant party. That way, we’d have nice presents to think about as we unwrapped junk.
The first thing I opened was a giant box of Twinkies from Jimmy. It was awesome, not only because I loved Twinkies, but because I figured he didn’t have a lot of money and went out of his way to buy me something.
My jaw dropped when I opened Cassie’s gift. It was a framed picture of Roze cleaning poop out of the huge pumpkin. Awesome. I knew Cassie didn’t like our competitive sides, so giving this must have been tough. But she did it, and I hugged her, already planning how to annoy Roze. Cassie seemed to love my reaction and touched my arm where I embraced her.
With my gifts out of the way, I observed Cassie and Jimmy open theirs. Ten minutes ago, I was confident in my selections. After seeing their awesome gifts, I questioned everything. The book suddenly seemed like used junk, and the audition an invitation to torture.
I had nothing to worry about. At least not with Cassie. She was enamored with the book and began to tear into it until I reminded her we had a party to leave for in twenty minutes.
It was hard to gauge the success of Jimmy’s present because, as soon as he realized what I’d given him (I wrapped the monologue in a box), he sat on his bed and scooted back against the wall.
“No way.”
“Why not?” I said, trying to pull him out by the blanket he sat on. “You’re really good.”
“How do you know?”
I stared at Cassie, looking for help, then realized I’d never told her about his performance. She stared at me, confused. Finally, I blurted the first thing that came to mind.
“You talk in your sleep.”
Cassie, still studying me, nodded and spoke to Jimmy. “If you’re that good asleep, I can just imagine how you’ll be awake.”
I had to hide my smile at her cover, but it worked; Jimmy seemed to perk up. He made to scoot forward, but his belly prevented him, which made him withdraw back to the shadow of my bunk.
“No one is going to want to watch this on stage.” He gestured at himself. The admission seemed extremely difficult; he wasn’t used to talking about himself like that. I admit I was surprised hearing it.
Cassie rounded on him. “You know what one of my biggest pet peeves is? People who waste their gifts.”
“Wow, my pet peeve is snoring,” I muttered.
Cassie glared at me then continued, “I choose my friends carefully. And I know you’re not going to sit on your gift and let it waste away.” She paused, then added, “I’d be really disappointed.”
Jimmy softened, but said, “How do you know I’m even talented?”
“Because Blaize won’t stop talking about you when you’re not around.”
I gaped at Cassie and caught her trying not to smile. Jimmy beamed at me and sat up. I’d never mentioned his acting, but couldn’t argue the point, so I grit my teeth and told myself I’d get Cassie back later.
After some debate, Jimmy finally agreed to audition, as long as Cassie and I went along. We both agreed. Hell, I wanted to see him perform again. His going also made my gift worthwhile, and I told myself I owed Adkins for saving me. Making it a mental note of it, I put my presents away, and absently glanced at the clock. 6:56. Barking, I spun around.
“We’re going to be late.”
* * * * *
I was blown away by how many kids showed up for the white elephant party. What seemed like a million kids were gathered around a huge Christmas tree near the video games. It was too tall and bent at the top against the ceiling. Cassie said that made it more unique, admiring the angel that had to be tied on to keep from falling (it pointed almost straight down).
At exactly 7:00, a girl walked around with a bucket of paper numbers for the gift exchange. I drew “23”, sat back, and carefully watched everyone opening their gifts. My goal was to find the best present to steal. After a present was stolen three times, it couldn’t be taken again, so I kept careful count of every trade.
Naturally, I was making it into a competition. In fact, I told myself I’d owe me five dollars if I ended up with something crappy. Yes, it was a self bet and weird, but I didn’t want to lose to myself.
By number fourteen, I could see I was doomed; every present sucked. One girl received a shed snake skin. It took a second for her to realize what it was, but when she did, a supersonic scream filled the room and she hurled the box. The skin wafted to the floor like a feather. Everyone flew back and the room broke into hysterics. It was the worse present of the night.
Until I opened my box containing a tooth.
The room died laughing when they saw it, but I sat back, stewing. I knew I should have stolen the pair of socks. They were too practical and I figured, statistically, there had to be something good in the pile. Not so. No one was going to steal my amazing tooth. I didn’t even want to know what animal had lost it.
Setting my dumb tooth to the side with a groan, I told myself to try and enjoy the rest of the party. Watching Cassie open the torn shorts I threw away helped and I laughed, wondering who had dug through the gym trash after me.
Near the end of the party, when everyone had taken their turn, one guy noticed a very thin present sitting behind the tree. I’d seen the gift, but avoided it, thinking it was just a goofy drawing or something. I didn’t think much of it, but when the boy pulled it out, he looked around, confused.
“It says ‘For Jimmy’.”
My stomach dropped and I saw Jimmy tense. We were both thinking the same thing: it was Orphan Jimmy: The Holiday Edition.
“My friends Luke and Darrin like to mess with me,” he said, looking around uncomfortably, but forcing a chuckle. “They gave me a really cool hat so I figured a gag gift was coming.” His voice was screechy and I looked at Cassie, who stared at him.
I figured Jimmy would open the stupid present, hide his dejection behind a fake smile, and stash the comic. In fact, I was already trying to change the subject to our next game night. However, the second he tore off the wrapping paper, Jimmy’s eyes grew wide and his mouth opened as if he wanted to scream.
I’d never seen him so scared, and jumped up and ran to him. “Are you OK?”
Without answering, he threw down the paper as if it were on fire, causing someone next to him to shriek and scoot away. He frantically looked around.
“Who did this?” he screamed.
No one fessed up and tears welled up in Jimmy’s eyes. Before I could stop him, he flew up and tore off down the hall toward our room.
I was stunned. Curious but hesitant, I leaned forward and looked down at the paper. It was a familiar poster of three women standing on a rock near the ocean. At the top sat the words, Kill the Seeker!
It was that weird Siren poster I’d found months ago.
Thirteen
The Audition
Although people were telling me to leave the Siren poster alone, I picked it up. A couple people actually gasped like it might disintegrate me.
“It’s a piece of paper,” I said, sarcastically, holding it up to them.
I admit I was a bit nervous, though. Jimmy had freaked out seeing it. What did that mean? Baffled, I went back to Cassie, who was staring at the paper.
“They’re Sirens, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” Cassie said. “According to mythology, their voices were hypnotic.”
“Yeah, didn’t some guys die trying to get to them?”
“Yes, Butes from Argonautica.”
“Huh?”
She signed in exasperation. “Jason and the Argonauts. You really should read more.”
I shrugged, noncommittally, as Cassie began walking back to our room. I felt I should tag along so, squeezing the paper in my hands, I followed her, noticing the lobby relax as soon as we left. Apparently, everyone else was relieved we didn’t explode or melt in front of them. “So stupid,” I muttered, although I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d have done in their shoes.
When we arrived at the door, Cassie stared at me instead of going in.
“What?” I asked.
She gestured at the poster still in my hands.
“Do you really think you should walk in brandishing that?”
I wanted to smack myself on the forehead. How stupid could I possibly be?
“Here,” she said, reaching out a hand. I handed her the poster, which she folded and stuck neatly into her pocket.
“Shouldn’t we just trash it?”
“Not yet. Maybe when he’s feeling better we can discuss it.”
I was about to say whatever, but I was curious as well. Why did a paper with old Greek Sirens get to him so bad? Before I could think of anything, Cassie cleared her throat to get my attention and opened the door.
Jimmy was sitting on the bed, legs pulled up, back pressed against the wall. His head was between his knees, making him look like a boulder. Cassie walked over, climbed onto his bed and sat right next to him. I was struck with the memory of Molly climbing up onto my bed to make me feel better. However, I couldn’t bring myself to join her, so I settled for kneeling on the edge of the mattress.
“You OK?” Cassie asked.
Jimmy shrugged. “Fine.”
“You can be honest with us.”
“We’ve seen you in your underwear. There’s nothing else to hide.” I thought I was helping but Cassie shot me a look. I decided to shut up for a while.
“It was Luke and Darrin, wasn’t it?” Cassie asked.
Jimmy shook his head, said, “No. I don’t want to talk about it.”
We sat in silence for awhile. I kept wanting to throw in jokes but decided to take Cassie’s lead. She was a lot better at this than me. After a few minutes, Jimmy said, “You know what the worst part of this is?”
“You’re seen as the weirdo again,” Cassie replied.
Jimmy’s head popped up and he stared at her. “How do you do that?”
She smiled. “It just makes sense.”
He put his head back down, like he didn’t want to look at us when being vulnerable. “Well you’re right. I’m so tired of being the most unpopular kid here.”
It was the most open thing I’d ever heard him say and, remembering some awful times back in Pamata, my chest hurt for him. Swallowing my weird fear of closeness, I scooted onto the bed.
“You’re not the most unpopular kid in school.”
Jimmy looked up at me. Tears were clinging to his eyelashes. “Are you kidding me? Everyone hates me.” His voice grew shrill. “I don’t get it. I was so popular back home.”
Cassie patted his back. “Everyone here doesn’t hate you. You think people who hated you would be on your bed talking to you now?”
Pretending he hadn’t heard her, Jimmy said, “The party was so fun, too.” He shook his head. “Every time I seem to be doing better, something always happens. I’m like socially cursed.” He gestured at his belly. “And this doesn’t help, either.”
Cassie said, “If it bothers you that bad, let’s work out together.” She looked at me and nodded. I jolted, realizing it was my turn.
“Totally.” I knew where Cassie was going and continued, “Just so you know, the field is empty at night. Other than Coach Adkins, I never see anyone there. Especially in the winter. Only crazy people would workout in the snow.” I reached out my hand. “Will you join me in insanity?”
I looked at Cassie and she nodded her approval. Jimmy didn’t budge.
“I’ll join you,” Cassie said.
I looked at her, surprised. She was like a frail pile of sticks, and I couldn’t imagine her working out. I admit I was excited to see her try a push-up. Shoving the hilarious image aside, I added, “I’m sure Roze will, too.”
Jimmy shrugged, but didn’t commit. I went to push him on it, when Cassie said, “Great, we’ll start right after break. But for now, we have a monologue to work on, right Blaize?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know about this,” Jimmy said. “I’ve already made a big enough fool of myself.”
I pointed at Jimmy. “Ms. Burton is going out of her way for us. Someone has to audition. If you don’t, then I’m gonna have to.”
With that, I walked to the desk, picked up the monologue, and began reading it.
Thirty seconds into my performance, I thought I was doing OK. Then I noticed Cassie gaping at me in horror. Jimmy lifted his head and stared, lip trembling to keep from laughing. Was I bad or something? I couldn’t tell, but my voice started giving out as I watched them trying to keep from exploding.
Before I even reached the end, Jimmy flew off the bed and pulled the monologue from my hand. “OK, OK, I’ll do it,” he said. “Just please don’t ever read this again.”
He went back and sat on the bed as Cassie mouthed, “Thank you.”
I flinched. Was she thanking me for screwing up to make Jimmy feel better? My face was on fire, but I grinned like I had planned that all along. Turning away from them to hide my embarrassment, I told myself I might record the monologue just to see how bad I was.
* * * * *
Once Jimmy resigned himself to the audition, most of my attention went into the acting world. Still, a tiny piece of my brain percolated on the Siren poster. Naturally, Jimmy refused to discuss anything, but my mind began connecting the weirdest dots on its own. Especially after hearing Cassie use the word “hypnotic”.
I was already half-convinced subliminal messages were flying around the funeral. Suddenly, my mind wouldn’t stop picturing a hideous woman, sitting on mossy rocks, hypnotizing Kyle. Normally, I’d have che
cked myself into a loony bin for such thoughts, but they wouldn’t leave me alone. I guess my brain decided hypnosis was better than the idea Kyle was just an idiot.
After a couple days, I decided my imagination was going insane. For all I knew, Jimmy had freaky Siren wallpaper as a kid and Kyle was a homophobe. Period. That made much more rational sense. Besides, the last thing I needed was to announce a three thousand year-old scaly woman forced people into joining hate groups. And so, the images just simmered at the back of my head as I focused on Jimmy.
After my terrible performance, Jimmy agreed to read the monologue aloud to me and Cassie. His voice was shaky, but he was still good. Cassie gawked at me, impressed. I’m sure she thought I was exaggerating, so I grinned smugly back at her.
“Wait ‘til he’s not nervous,” I said.
“Seriously, how did you know he could act?” she asked.
I knew this moment was coming and moved a few feet away. Without looking directly at her, I divulged seeing Jimmy perform when I trailed him alone.
She was clearly upset I’d hidden it from her (or that she missed out) and, for the rest of the day, she didn’t seem eager to talk to me. She put her frustration aside to work with Jimmy, but I could see her eying both of us periodically.
At first, Jimmy would only perform the monologue for me and Cassie. The day before his audition, we convinced him to do it for Roze over Cassie’s camera phone. Still in Georgia, Roze seemed eager to have anything to do with us.
By the time he finished, Roze looked just as impressed as me and Cassie.
“I hate to say this, but you’re better than me.”
“Do you act?” Jimmy asked. I think, in the back of his mind, he was envisioning them together on Broadway.
“A little,” she said, smiling.
“So does Blaize,” Jimmy replied. “Want to see him do it?”
I hung up the phone and glared at him.
* * * * *
The morning of his audition, Jimmy was a nervous wreck. Cassie and I made him do the monologue over and over, but he couldn’t get through it without forgetting the words. It was weird, seeing as he had performed it at least a million and eight times over the past three days. The monologue just seemed to fly out of his head and, at breakfast, he poked at his food, muttering the words out of order. A few minutes later, I heard, “ . . . worst Christmas present ever.”