“Please. You can’t get paid that much from The Zone,” Tamara said.
Candace bit her lip. She elbowed Tamara.
“Ow! What?”
“What has your mom said about gentlemen?”
Tamara wrinkled her nose. “Always let them pay when they offer and never feel obligated because of that.”
“So?”
Tamara sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Thank you for the pizza, Joshua, but you’re not getting a kiss for it.”
Josh stared at her like she had grown a second head. “Uh . . . not looking for one.”
“Good!” Tamara said, grabbing the pizza and leading the way back to the living room.
Josh looked at Candace. She just shrugged, and he shook his head. They then joined Tamara in the living room.
3
A large pizza and two movies later, Candace, Josh, and Tamara were laughing so hard they were crying. Tamara had just finished telling Josh about how the entire youth group was coming to the Scare and how Candace had totally freaked out.
It still freaked her out, but the way Tamara told it and the way Josh was laughing, she couldn’t help but laugh too.
“So, which maze? What character did you get?” Josh asked after a minute.
“Candy Craze maze. Apparently, I’m playing Candy. I have no idea what that is,” she said.
Suddenly, Josh stopped laughing and stared at her, eyes bulging. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, why?”
“You’re playing Candy in Candy Craze?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t know what that is?”
“No, why?” Candace said.
Suddenly, Josh started laughing again, so hard that he slid off the couch onto the ground where he clutched his sides as though in pain.
“What is it?” Candace asked, desperately wanting to be in on the joke.
“You’re playing yourself,” he gasped.
“Myself?”
“Yes.”
“You mean?” Tamara asked, laughing too.
“Yes!”
Then they were both on the floor laughing. Candace stared at them in frustration. “What are you talking about?”
“You remember when you were trapped overnight in The Zone a few weeks ago?” Josh asked.
Of course she remembered. She didn’t think she would ever forget that night. She and Kurt had been accidentally locked inside overnight. They had had their first big fight and broken up. Candace had been upset that he was a high school dropout with no plans for the future. They had gotten back together later on, but that night had been a terrible one. “Yeah, not forgetting that any time soon,” she said.
“And you remember the urban legend that started to pop up afterward?”
“You mean that a psycho killer chased me through the park all night?” Candace asked.
Josh nodded.
“So?” she urged.
“They based the new maze on that urban legend. A psycho killer is loose in a deserted theme park, and he’s chasing a terrified cotton candy operator through the maze. Her name is Candy.”
She stared at him in horror, the full impact of what he was saying hitting her. “I’m playing myself,” she whispered.
“That’s what Josh said a minute ago,” Tamara reminded her.
“This isn’t funny,” Candace told them.
They stared at her for a moment in silence before bursting out in even harder laughter.
“Yes, it really is,” Tamara assured her.
Candace tried to decide which was more humiliating: the fact that she was playing herself in a fictitious version of her life or that they made her look like a floozy. She was standing in the costume department of The Zone on Saturday morning, looking at her reflection in a full-length mirror. The skirt was way shorter than the one she had worn all summer and had a tear in it revealing even more leg. Similarly, the blouse was slightly lower cut with several torn parts smeared with fake blood.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said as she did a slow spin.
“You think this is bad, you should see what I lobbied against,” one of the costuming ladies told her. “The maze designers would have had you in your underwear.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Only a little. It wasn’t underwear, but it was indecent at any rate. It’s going to be hard enough spending several hours a night running in this getup.”
“I’m not sure I can do this,” Candace said.
“Play yourself. I figure if you can’t laugh at yourself, life isn’t worth it. Give it a try. You’d be surprised at what you can do.”
Candace stared dubiously at the woman before adjusting her name tag that said Candy. “I guess it’s true that the more things change, the more they stay the same,” she sighed.
She had definitely planned to not have anything to do with cotton candy ever again, and yet here she was, playing a victimized cotton candy vendor.
“Janet, could I get some help?” someone shouted from one of the dressing rooms.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” Janet instructed.
Candace turned back to the mirror and stared at herself for a moment. Suddenly, the images of two men were reflected behind her, one on either side.
“Ummm . . . tasty,” the taller of the two muttered.
“Makes me want candy,” the other added in a voice that made Candace’s skin crawl.
She turned to face the two men who both leered at her. “Who are you?” she demanded.
“I’m Will. This here is Brandon,” the taller one said.
“We’re what you’d call professional Scare monsters,” Brandon added.
Professional creeps is more like it. Candace glanced toward the dressing rooms and wondered when Janet would reappear.
“This is our tenth year working Scare,” Will said. “And you know why?”
“No,” Candace said, taking a step backward.
“Because we like it,” Brandon breathed, his hand descending on her shoulder.
Candace swallowed her own fear and prepared to knee him in the groin like her father had taught her when she was younger. She took a deep breath, ready to shout for help first. Before she could, Josh appeared.
“Knock it off, guys. Save your scare tactics for the players,” Josh said.
Candace and the two men turned to look at him. Josh’s tone was carefree as usual. He sounded like surfer Josh. But something in the way he held himself, though, was distinctly different. He looked taller somehow, and Candace had never noticed before just how broad his shoulders were.
Candace thought the white shirt of his vampire costume showed off the musculature of his upper body and made him seem more imposing than when he was wearing his normal tank top. It wasn’t his shirt, she realized finally. It was the fact that he actually seemed dangerous. She found herself believing that he could rip both Will and Brandon apart with his bare hands and never break a sweat.
Brandon and Will must have felt it too. They beat a hasty retreat.
“No offense, miss,” Will said.
“Sorry, dude,” Brandon added.
Then the two were gone, and Candace sagged in relief. Josh stood for a moment, his posture still tense. Finally, he relaxed and turned to her.
“Sorry about that. I met those guys last year. They can be a little enthusiastic when it comes to scaring people, sometimes inappropriately so.”
“They scared me,” she admitted. “I’m so glad you came when you did.”
“Janet’s been working on my costume. She told me you were over here, so I came to show you what I’ve got so far. Pretty cool, huh?” he asked, spinning.
“Very nice,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “I think you’re missing the cape and fangs, though.”
“Janet’s still working on those.”
“I don’t know. You look more handsome than scary.”
“That’s the idea,” he said, trying to look suave. “Seriously, thanks.”
“No problem,” she blushed slightly as she realized what she had said. “So, in which maze are the evil twins working? Not mine, I hope,” she said.
“Nah. Horrific History, I think.”
“That’s the one Kurt’s working.”
“Good, he can keep an eye on him. Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded. “I’m still rattled, but I’ll be okay.”
“You want me to talk to a supervisor and see if I can get them fired?”
She wanted to say yes. Ultimately, though, that wouldn’t help her face the jerks. She shook her head. “No, it’ll be fine.”
“Okay. By the way, love your costume.”
She punched him in the arm.
“What was that for?”
“This is a terrible costume. I feel like I’m being exploited,”
she said, turning back to the mirror. “I can’t believe they’ve made a maze out of this. I can’t believe I’m starring in it.”
“Very few people have had the impact on this park that you have,” Josh said. “You should be proud.”
“Proud is not the word I would use.”
Janet finally returned. “That was quite a vanishing act,” she chided Josh. “I turned to get your cape, and when I turned back you were gone.”
“Sorry,” he said, looking sheepish.
Janet attached the cape. Josh turned slowly, the cape fluttering. “Better?” he asked.
“Much,” Candace said. “Which maze are you in, Count?”
“Why, Castle Dracula, of course,” he said.
“Seriously?”
“Yup. It’s in the castle. Haven’t you been to a Scare before?”
“No,” Candace admitted.
“Oh you should. It’s marvelous fun,” Janet said, fussing some more with Candace’s costume.
“Truth be told, I’m terrified of mazes. I’m not too fond of being scared either,” Candace said.
“Wow. This must be your idea of just the best time ever,” Josh said.
Candace rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how I let you talk me into it.”
“Me? You’re going to blame me?” he asked.
“Well, I can’t very well blame Janet.”
“Thank you. I get enough blame this time of year,” Janet said, putting some pins around the bottom of Josh’s cape.
“Who’s getting blamed for what?” a familiar voice asked.
Candace turned and saw Roger, one of the guys who had been on her team for the end-of-summer scavenger hunt at the park. She gave him a quick hug.
“Hey, Roger, how’s it going?” Josh asked.
“Great. I’m on the soccer team at school. Varsity,” Roger said, pride in his voice.
“That’s wonderful!” Candace said.
Before Scavenger Hunt, Roger had been the referee best known for tripping over his own feet. Winning that night had changed all of them, though, and Roger had gotten a much needed boost of confidence. Apparently, his klutziness was a thing of the past.
“So, are you back to be a maze monster?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, I get to be a dead baseball player in the Last Draft maze in the Game Zone.”
“Stellar,” Josh said, giving him a high five. “I’m Count Dracula.”
“I was hoping so,” Roger joked. “Otherwise we were going to have to talk about the whole cape thing. It works for you. I’m just not sure you want to adopt it as an everyday thing.”
Josh laughed. “And what do you think of Candy?” he asked.
Roger turned and looked at her. “Are you actually playing yourself?” he asked.
“Apparently,” she said.
“That’s funny. Bold choice.”
“I didn’t exactly choose it. I got the part because I can scream really well.”
There was a pause, and then Roger said, “Of course you can.”
Janet left briefly and returned with a tattered and faded Yankees uniform, which she handed to Roger. His face lit up as he took it from her. “This is going to be great,” he said. “I came to Scare once when I was twelve. I’ve been afraid to ever since.”
“Didn’t like the monsters?” Candace guessed.
“No, I knocked down twenty people and part of a maze roof,” Roger said.
Candace bit her lip to keep from laughing, but it was no use.
Later that night Candace and Tamara were on Tamara’s bed, talking. Candace had told her all about her day, and Tamara had laughed when she heard what happened to Roger at his first Scare.
“Promise me I won’t embarrass myself that badly,” Tamara gasped.
“I can’t even promise I won’t embarrass myself. I refuse to make any guarantees about you.”
“Well, maybe if I do, Josh will swoop in and rescue me,” Tamara teased.
“Are you sure you’re not into him?” Candace asked.
“Yes. Like I told you, it’s just not right.”
“Okay, so he’s not Mr. Right.”
“No.”
“How do you think you’ll know when you meet Mr. Right?” Candace asked.
Tamara flipped onto her back. “I think it will hit me. You know, like magic, right between the eyes. Bam! There he’ll be, and I’ll just know.”
“Don’t you believe in love growing slowly? Like some people who start out as friends, or who kind of like each other and it grows deeper?” Candace asked. She would like to think that what she felt for Kurt could turn into love. She had to admit that as crazy as she was about him, she was pretty sure it wasn’t love. At least, not yet. Maybe someday.
“I think that could happen for you, but not for me. I need to be shocked. You need to be surprised,” Tamara said.
“Okay, you lost me. I don’t get the difference,” Candace confessed.
“Shock is sudden, jolting. It makes everything stop and then start again. You know, like an electric shock. I think it’s going to take something that dramatic to get my attention and to tell me that he’s the one. It’ll be like I’ve always known it was him. I just never knew who he was until the moment I saw him.”
Candace smiled. It sounded like Tamara. She had always been more impulsive, more dramatic than Candace.
“And surprised?” Candace asked.
“Surprise doesn’t have to be harsh like shock. I’m thinking when you fall in love, you’ll wake up one day and realize that it’s been happening and you didn’t even know it. It’ll take you by surprise, but like a nice surprise, like getting a really great present for your birthday that you didn’t expect.”
“I have to admit, that sounds much nicer than shock,” Candace said.
“And that is exactly why you’ll be surprised and I’ll be shocked.”
Candace yawned and glanced at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning. “I’ll be surprised and shocked if I can wake up in time for church.”
Tamara hit her with a pillow. “Make fun now, but mark my words. One day you’re in for the surprise of your life.”
“Before or after you get the shock of yours?”
4
As it turned out, Candace made it to church on time, but she slunk low in the pew the entire time, trying to avoid looking at people from youth group. She still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of them coming to see her at Scare. She dragged Tamara out as soon as the ser vice was over.
They spent the rest of the day hanging out with Tamara’s family, which was fun. The whole experience gave Candace a taste of what it would be like to have a sibling. She was disappointed when the weekend came to an end.
On Monday Candace made it through all of her classes without spending too much time worrying about her friends showing up to Scare. She had more immediate stress. She and Tamara had drama last period. The first week of school the instructor had been sick so they had study hall instead. Now class would really start, and Candace wasn’t sure she was ready to be in the spotlight, no matter what Tamara said.
In the auditorium Candace and Tamara found two chairs
side by side in the semi-circle in front of the stage. They sat down, and Candace looked around. She and Tamara were the only seniors in the class. All the better to embarrass ourselves, she thought.
Everyone took a seat, the bell rang, and Candace looked around for their teacher. Suddenly, Mr. Bailey appeared, somersaulting through the curtains to center stage.
Next to her, Tamara jumped, and Candace tried not to laugh. Tamara hated to be frightened. Maybe in some way this class would be harder on Tamara than her. It was at least something to hope for.
The teacher leapt to his feet and spread his arms wide. “I love the smell of fear in the afternoon,” he joked. “My dear students, I am your teacher Mr. Bailey. Welcome to the theater.”
Everyone cheered, except Tamara. She still looked uneasy from the initial scare.
Candace, on the other hand, had to give him style points for managing to twist a movie and a television quote and put them both together. Mr. Bailey bowed deeply and then sat down on the edge of the stage, his unnaturally long legs dangling.
“This is drama. This class is not for the fainthearted. I warn you now so that those of you who wish can flee.”
Nervous laughter came from several people in the group.
“However, for those of you who wish to stay, I can open your mind and expand your horizons. And I promise you, you’ll have fun doing it.
“Now, I realize that this is technically our first day of class. On the first day of class you expect to be given a syllabus and have the teacher explain how the class works, what kind of tests and papers you can expect, etc. However, this is drama, and the first rule is to expect the unexpected.”
He sprang to his feet effortlessly. “I need a volunteer.”
“Candace,” Tamara piped up.
“What? No!”
“Candace it is. Candace, if you would be so kind as to join me on the stage,” Mr. Bailey said.
Candace stood up, glaring daggers at Tamara. She looked at the stage for a moment in loss.
“You may either jump up here,” Mr. Bailey said, “or take the stairs at the side of the stage,” he indicated with a flourish.
Candace opted for the stairs.
“A sensible young lady,” Mr. Bailey said by way of comment. “Let us see if we can change that.”
The Fall of Candy Corn Page 3