by CJ Adler
“What up, Flower? Finally joining da fun?” Jam says, having noticed me. He's been busy trying to gather all the tarantulas freely running around. I'm glad that he, at least, thinks that this is fun.
Bells, Max, and Benley all turn my way upon finally seeing me.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Benley exclaims in relief. “You found me!” he says, exasperated, even though we both know he purposely left me. “Your friends are bullying me again.”
I shake my head at Bells and Max in disapproval. “Even when you're both injured, nothing stops you two from abusing others.”
Bell offers a smile filled with pride. “You must know.”
I happen to glance at Jam again. I raise my eyebrow, curious. “Why are you barefoot?”
“Shoes are too mainstream,” he replies in ease, not bothered about accidentally stepping on a spider.
“Uh-oh. It seems Burnsville's very own, Aqueela Lawson, has decided to make an appearance on the field. Everbody here at Burnsville knows the trouble that she gets into. Could she possibly be the one behind all the chaos tonight?” Luke comments aloud.
The audience gasps in realization, all eyes now on me.
I grin. “Cool. I'm popular after all.”
“Yeah, but in the bad sense. It's impossible to not have heard of you with all the crazy antics you're always pulling,” Bell says, clearing that much up for me.
Meanwhile, Benley has stolen Max's wheelchair remote. Basically, he has just taken ownership over Max's life. “Oooh!” Benley exclaims excitedly, a childlike innocence to his eyes as he glances down at the remote in his hands in fascination.
“Look at all these colorful buttons!”
BoyBand, apparently, has a weakness for gadgets. That's an assumption based on the fact that he's now going crazy and pressing all the buttons at once, sending Max flying into the backside of our fat, duck mascot.
“I worry about him getting his hands on a doomsday device. We'd all be goners,” Bell mumbles as she watches Benley, with wide eyes, lose his mind.
“Ouch! Stop it!” Max whines as he flies back and forth into the backside of the duck, the audience laughing their heads off at the sight. “It stinks!”
I grab the remote from Benley and hand it back to Max before Max ends up in a coffin. The crowd boos at me for that. Nonetheless, they get over it quickly when Oog continues to rile up the football team.
Boss Man releases a breath as he finally catches Oog and grabs him, lifting him up into his arms just as his eyes meet mine. “Aqueela!” he shouts out in anger.
“Don't ever ask me to babysit again!”
Won't do!
He cracks a smile as he holds up Oog's small frame to me like that scene from “The Lion King”, except, Oog's not nearly as cute as Simba. Oog bares his teeth to the audience and growls, thrashing around in Boss Man's grip, trying to get free.
“I got him,” Greg informs me, truly relieved.
I smile back at him but my smile drops when I see what's coming. “Boss Man, duck!” I warn him.
“I see the mascot duck. What about it?” Greg calls back to me from the small distance between us.
It's too late!
One moment they're perfectly fine, the next, I see them on the ground, both buried under the weight of a million football players—they just got tackled by, pretty much, the entire football team. They've literally disappeared under all the jocks.
Before I can act, there's a warrior cry from behind me. I turn around, just in time, to see Gland charging my way. A shriek leaves my lips as I grab onto Max's wheelchair and duck behind him, using him as cover.
Gland shoves Max and me out of his way. Max goes spinning around in circles from within his wheelchair. Gland stops, feeling guilty, and turns back to apologize to me. “Sorry, Eela, that was so rude of me.” He doesn't even bother to apologize to Max.
“Sure, run over the disabled guy in the wheelchair!” Max hisses sarcastically.
“He's good for nothing anyway.”
It's then that I see that Gland is in a football uniform. He goes back to his warrior cry as he charges through the football players like a bulldozer. He begins tossing the football players aside effortlessly in an attempt to dig Oog and Greg out.
The fat duck keeps the crowd going by shaking his gigantic backside in front of the football players, taunting them.
“You were going to sacrifice me?!” Max shouts at me after finally managing to turn his wheelchair my way. “I'm already in a wheelchair and temporarily disabled! What more do you want?!”
Him in a coffin?
“It's nothing personal, Max. I just consider my own life more valuable than yours,” I reassure him. As a result, he just looks angrier
The mascot takes off his mask. My jaw drops at the sight.
“So, that's why our mascot is fatter than usual and why the rear side smells so bad,” Max speaks up, blatant in his words.
“Simo?” I question aloud, confused.
How'd he get the mascot outfit? How did Gland get a football uniform? So many questions...
Simo ignores me and turns to the audience who are cheering and clapping him on. “Simo want to thank all for opportunity to be mascot. Simo dreamed always of being mascot.”
He's a lousy mascot. Everyone knows that mascots are never supposed to reveal their identity. Meanwhile, Gland dives in and finally pulls Boss Man and Oog out from under the mass of football players.
Boss Man, barely conscious, is breathing heavily. He almost suffocated. Still, he manages to lift his head from Gland's arms to glare at me. “I'm going to kill you,” he assures me, his easy-going nature now dead.
“Eela!” Oog screams before racing to me and hugging my leg. “Oog missed you.”
I crouch down to his level to talk to him properly. “You caused all this chaos just 'cause you missed me?”
He nods, a blissful smile on his face.
“Would you look at that?” Benley takes the liberty to openly laugh at me.
“This is all your fault.”
“Shut up!” I smack him before eavesdropping on a different convo.
“You'd make a fine football player. We are extending our invitation to you. We would like you to consider being the quarterback of our college football team. We want to recruit you for the position. We're offering you a full-time scholarship,” some Dean from some varsity tells Gland, impressed by his skills.
“And Simo for mascot!” Simo pipes up, the Dean ignoring him.
A tear drips down Gland's face before he gets all emotional. He shakes the Dean's hands over and over again. “Bless you. Bless you, brother. You've just made a little, black boy's heart very happy. I accept. My daddy would be so proud.”
All because of a 'friendly' game of football…
“Wow,” Bells comments, taken aback. “I never thought I'd see the day that Gland would shed a tear.”
“But he's not even a school student, he's a grown man!” Laiken objects, unhappy with the outcome.
Gland spins around to face Laiken, an angry glare intact. He towers over Laiken threateningly, holding himself back from murder. “Don't ruin this for me, White Boy,” he mutters to Lai in warning, meaning it.
Laiken, heeding the warning, backs off with his hands placed up in surrender, having learned his lesson: don't mess with Gland.
It's then that Melinda walks past before stopping directly in front of me, her hands placed on her hips. “Drowned rat makes an appearance to a school event for the first time ever and this is what happens,” she states, motioning to the field as if it's all my fault, which it is, but she doesn't need to know that. She scowls. “I don't know how but I just know that this is your doing somehow.”
Well, she isn't wrong.
Chapter 52
And You're Out
“C'mon, you can't stay mad at me forever, Sims,” I reason, nudging him in the side as we wait in the food line. Actually, he's waiting in the line. I'm just trying to get him to forgive me for dat
ing Jay, as ridiculous as it may sound.
After our gang's little fiasco, things have really calmed down. The football game seems to actually be taking place after all. It's half-time right now. Since then, we've all returned to our seats, including Bells; she's pretty much useless to her cheerleading team now, so says Nancy anyway.
I managed to catch Slobber before sending him home with Boss Man, Gland, Oog, and Jam. They are not to come back here, no matter how much Oog begs Boss Man like the first time 'round. Clearly, he can't be trusted.
The security guards and Principal P are still trying to find out who the sole cause of the chaos is. Melinda is trying to link me to it all. I don't need any more mayhem. I need to keep my head down for the time being.
“Simo ignoring you. Simo can't hear you,” Simo says in response, speaking in the third person like always. It's his and Oog's thing.
“Simo!” I tug on his arm in desperation. “I'm sorry.”
He keeps his eyes trained ahead of him. At first, I think it's because he's instilling the 'ignoring feature' again. However, on closer inspection, I see that he's staring at the chubby lady serving food.
I take a look at the woman. She has her short hair up in a hairnet and grub smeared all over her clothes. Still, Simo seems blown away. I put two and two together as a devious smirk curves my lips.
“Hi, how can I help you? Sir? Ma'am?” the 'grub' lady addresses us with her yellow-stained teeth.
Simo begins to turn red for no apparent reason as he stutters over his words, getting the wrong impression. “N-no,” he shakes his head as he gestures from himself to me, “Sprinkle and Simo n-not…not together.”
I burst out laughing at this, finding it all to be very entertaining.
“I know, sir. I was just acting out of profession. I didn't mean anything by it,” the chubby lady explains sweetly.
Here's my gateway to forgiveness.
I take charge. “Sorry, what I think my friend over here is trying to say is that he finds you beautiful.”
The lady blushes red herself as she glances at Simo for confirmation. “Is that so?”
Simo stays silent, not understanding. I discreetly nudge him with my elbow. “Y-yes?” Simo asks more than states as if unsure.
The food lady smiles at this before taking out a slip of paper and handing it over to him. “Call me sometime then…” She trails off in search of a name.
“Simo,” Simo answers a little more confidently this time.
I think it's safe to say that Simo and I are officially on good terms again.
“I'll just leave you two to it then,” I say, saluting them as I leave the line and head back to my seat.
“Jeez. He's really out, hey?” Benley says as Max pokes Jay's forehead repeatedly as if awaiting a response.
On any normal occasion, Jay would have woken up by now. I swat Max's hand away. “Cut it out.” I take my seat in between Jay and Benley again.
“Tried to tell the moron,” Susie pipes up, pointing to Max who keeps glaring at her.
“It's weird though, right?” Benley asks me, uncertain. “Who can sleep through all this chaos?”
I shrug. “Jay's usually a light sleeper. It is strange.”
“You'd know,” Max replies, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. I scowl at him for that. He knows that I'm not like that.
“Enough about Jay's sleeping habits,” Troy interrupts all too quickly before releasing a nervous chuckle, glancing around helplessly as if guilty of something.
“Suspicious much?” I mutter.
“What?” Troy gasps before rambling anxiously. “I'm not suspicious! You're suspicions — I mean, suspicious!”
Just as I'm about to look deeper into the matter of why Jay is sleeping so heavily, Blubber speaks up. “Have you seen Simo?”
“Chatting up the lady in the food line,” I answer him, aware of how close he is with Simo.
“Which 'food' lady?” Blubber asks as a frown makes its way onto his face.
“The one 'round the corner,” I tell him, taking in his distraught facial expression. I raise an inquisitive eyebrow at him. “Why?”
“Because that's my mom!” Blubber shouts at me in horror. “Tell me you didn't set them up.”
“I set them up,” I answer bluntly, now feeling responsible for whatever I've just started.
I see the resemblance now that Blubber has pointed it out. I actually just met the mother who gave birth to this little demon.
“They should be making out,” I check my wrist where there is no watch, “right 'bout now. If you hurry, you might be able to—”
Blubber's already out of his seat, darting toward the food stand while screaming back over his shoulder at me, “Damn you, Aqueela Lawson!”
Benley, as always, laughs at my misfortune. “Nice going. Can't do anything right, can you?”
“Apparently not.” I huff, frustrated.
“Woah,” Benley adds gently this time, leaning closer to me, “you know I was only kidding, right?”
“Yeah.” I force a smile.
“Looks like we found our Kiss Cam couple!” a voice rings through the speakers for all to hear.
I freeze as a blinding light falls onto Benley and me.
“Sure does, Luke. Well spotted,” the other commentator, Jason, replies as Benley and I come onto the big screen displayed in front of the entire audience.
I groan, staring up at the ceiling in despair as the crowds begin to chant wildly:
“Kiss, Kiss, Kiss!”
Did I mention that I hate school events?
I raise my fist in the air in anger and shake it, staring right up at the commentators' room. “Not well spotted, Luke! You must be blind!” I hiss at him, the entire audience able to see me on the screen ahead of us.
“Wow! What a temper, huh, Jason?” Luke's voice comes through the speakers again.
“Yeah. She's a firecracker,” Jason agrees.
I've never been one to fall into peer pressure. I stand up, still waving my fist 'round. “I'm going to come up there and kill you both!” I threaten them, annoyed.
“Kiss already! I want to watch the game!” someone from the crowd yells at me.
I fall back down in my seat and cross my arms over my chest angrily. I glance at Benley to see him smirking. “So, are we gonna make out or what?” he asks.
“Or what,” I answer with much resistance, pushing Benley away from me.
“C'mon, Aqueela,” Benley persists, “Jay won't even have to know.”
How is Jay even sleeping through all of this? He's literally in the spotlight.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss!” the crowds, including Max, continue to chant on like mad people.
I duck my head in embarrassment. “Fine,” I agree reluctantly.
Benley freezes in surprise before hesitantly leaning in. Just as he is about to kiss me, I turn my head in the opposite direction. I quickly reach for Jay's jacket and pull his sleeping form to me before planting my lips on his instead of Benley's.
What I'm not expecting is for Jay to kiss me back as if he subconsciously knows that it's me, nor am I expecting the spotlight to shift off of Benley and rather onto Jay instead.
The crowds cheer enthusiastically at the sight before applauding.
“She always has to take all the fun out of everything,” I hear Max say but I ignore him.
“Cover your eyes, Susie. This is rated R,” Troy says from the background.
Jay moves his lips against mine softly as my heart beats uncontrollably in my chest. “Aqueela?” he eventually murmurs, confused. It's a quick kiss because we have a literal, live audience. I pull away from him just as his hand comes up to cup my cheek, keeping me in place. “What was that for?” he whispers, a dazed look to his blue eyes.
I choose not to tell him that we're on the Kiss Cam. He's too half-asleep to realize it. Instead, I go with another truthful answer. “Everything.”
I lean back in my seat when the Kiss Cam is removed off
of us and the crowds have refocused their attention elsewhere.
“So, he wakes up when she kisses him, huh? This is like a scene from Cinderella.” Susie giggles as she glances up at Jay in wonder. “Is he a prince?”
“It's sad that you still watch that!” Max snaps at little Susie for no apparent reason. “And it's Sleeping Beauty, you nut job,” he corrects her.
“I do watch Disney princesses still. I'm seven, what's your excuse?” Susie retorts back, successfully silencing him.
Jay lets out a yawn as he stretches out his arms above him. “I don't feel so good,” he tells me. “I feel funny.”
I pat his leg, offering him a sympathetic look. “Go back to sleep. S'okay,” I advise, concerned.
“No can do. I'm awake now,” he answers. “Can't go back to sleep after that.” He chuckles, winking at me before taking in his surroundings.
Troy suddenly gets up and crouches down in front of us before waving his hand up and down in front of Jay.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Jay asks him, confused.
Troy jumps back at Jay's icy tone. “You feeling A-OK, BroJay?” he queries as if actually worried about someone other than himself; that's exactly when I begin to grow suspicious.
“No,” Jay answers truthfully. “I feel funny all over.”
“Troy,” I drawl, narrowing my eyes at him, “what did you do?”
He raises his hands up defensively before backing away. “Woah, woah, slow your roll. I didn't do anything,” he straight up lies. “All I did was buy a drink from some stoned druggie because I felt sorry for him and his lack of decent attire. I was too scared to try the drink in case it had been drugged, so, I simply switched drinks with BroJay and waited patiently to see the outcome.”
I start softly, “You drugged—” my voice gets louder, “—my boyfriend?!”
“First of all, you make it sound terrible when you put it like that. It was accidentally on purpose,” he has the nerve to say.
How would he have liked me to say it?!
“Second, did I forget to mention that?” he asks, batting his long, feminine lashes as if innocent.
“Yes!” I shout at him. “Coincidentally, you did forget to mention that!” I snap, furious.