by Earl Sewell
“What can I get for you?” asked Miss Bingham, who had apparently volunteered to work the stand.
“Water, please,” I said as I opened my small purse that matched my dress and pulled out some money. Once I paid Miss Bingham, I searched for Keysha. I spotted her on the dance floor with Wesley. They looked very happy and couldn’t seem to stop smiling at each other. I decided that it wasn’t a good time to interrupt them. I glanced around the cafeteria and spotted Viviana and her friend, LaShaunda. Viviana was wearing the blue-and-black spaghetti-strap dress and high-heeled shoes my mother had purchased for her.
LaShaunda looked as if she had just rolled out of bed. She had on blue jeans and a T-shirt, which made me wonder why her mother hadn’t purchased a nice dress for her.
“You look beautiful.”
I screamed and then flinched.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Why did you sneak up on me like that, Misalo?” I said, punching his left shoulder.
“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.” He laughed.
“You could have fooled me,” I said, jabbing him with my index finger.
“Stop poking me.” He smiled. I took a moment to look at him. He was dressed handsomely. He had on nice black slacks with a navy blue shirt and matching vest.
“You look pretty nice yourself,” I admitted.
“How long have you been here?” He leaned into me and spoke purposely in my ear so I could hear his words clearly over the music. His warm breath tickled my neck and gave me goose bumps.
“I just arrived,” I said, rubbing my bare arms.
“Are you cold? If so, I left my jacket in the car. I could go get it, if you’d like.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, looking back in the vicinity where I’d seen Viviana.
“So why aren’t you with your new girlfriend?” I asked, just to irritate him.
“I don’t have a girlfriend, Maya,” Misalo spoke softly.
“Viviana would probably love it if you were to go over and talk to her,” I said, pointing in the direction I’d last seen her.
“Will you ever forgive me for being such an idiot?” he asked earnestly. I answered by shrugging my shoulders.
“Maya, I was a jackass. Viviana convinced me that the lies she told were the truth. She should go into politics or something. I am sorry for hurting you so badly.” Misalo maneuvered so that he was standing directly in front of me. I studied his somber eyes and saw deep sorrow in them.
“I was blinded by anger and—” he paused for a moment before he whispered “—horniness.” His shoulders slumped forward. “When I realized I had lost the most precious person in my life, I mentally beat myself up. In fact, I’m still beating myself up.”
“As you should,” I said.
“You’re right. I just came over to tell you how nice you look. I will leave you alone now,” he said and began backing away from me.
Just before he turned his back to me, I blurted out, “Aren’t you going to ask me for a dance?”
Misalo paused. He looked as if he wasn’t sure he had heard me correctly.
“What did you just say?” he asked, stepping back toward me.
“It would be nice if you asked me for a dance. I like this song,” I said. Misalo paid attention to the melody.
“It’s a slow song,” he said.
“Yeah, I know.” I smiled at him. My icy attitude toward him had begun melting. Misalo took my hand and pulled me out to the dance area. Once he found a spot for us, I stepped into his embrace, and we rocked back and forth.
twenty
VIVIANA
When I saw Misalo dancing with Maya, my stomach flipped. I was actually hoping that we would speak to each other. I knew that I wasn’t his favorite person, but that didn’t mean that he had to ignore me.
“Do you want to get his attention?” LaShaunda asked when she noticed how upset I had become.
“How am I going to do that? He’s all hugged up with her,” I said.
“We could go and push her out of the way. You stand in front of him and I’ll stand behind him. We’ll turn him into a sandwich. He’s a guy, so he’ll like that. It will make him feel special,” LaShaunda said.
“No. I don’t want to do that,” I answered, trying to do a better job of concealing my bruised heart.
“Are you sure? I’m telling you it will work, and if your cousin tries to start a fight, you know that I’ve got your back.”
“If I start a fight with her, Keysha will jump in and she’ll fight,” I said, shifting uneasily.
“There are plenty of other guys around,” LaShaunda pointed out.
“Yeah, but none of them are as special as Misalo.” I sighed in frustration as a song called “Stanky Leg” began to play.
“Look, it’s my responsibility as your friend to cheer you up and make sure you have fun here tonight. So I’m going to make you laugh by doing the Stanky Leg.”
I cracked up at her rendition of the dance. She moved in the goofiest way. “That song and dance is old,” I said to her.
“I don’t care,” LaShaunda said as she squatted down and kicked one leg out to the side.
“You’re doing it wrong,” I said, laughing and joining in.
As the evening continued, LaShaunda and I danced and gyrated and screamed when the DJ played a popular song that we liked. At one point Red, the boy from my history class, asked if he could dance with me. As he and I danced to a fast-paced song, LaShaunda sandwiched him between us. The grin that spread across Red’s face was priceless. I am certain he felt like the ultimate playboy. After the song ended, Red stuck to me and LaShaunda like an insect glued to a strip of flypaper.
About an hour later the music stopped, and one of the teachers began making announcements. He made a comment about the great effort the football team put in even though they didn’t win. He held up someone’s lost cell phone until a female student stepped forward to claim it. Then the Homecoming King and Queen were announced. The winners were people that neither LaShaunda nor I had ever met or heard of.
“I could have been Homecoming Queen if I wanted to,” LaShaunda boasted.
“Why didn’t you run?” I asked, encouraging her to continue with the lie she was telling.
“These people aren’t ready for me. They’re not ready to deal with a true queen,” LaShaunda bragged about herself.
“Well, I’m glad you spared everyone, your Royal Highness,” said Red, who was standing nearby and overheard LaShaunda.
“Dude, get lost before I punch you in the eye,” LaShaunda said. Red laughed and did not take her threat seriously. Another song came on and I began dancing. Red joined me and, for the first time, I realized that I was actually having fun.
* * *
That following Monday, the dismissal bell had rung, and the hallway was filled with noisy students leaving for the day. I stood in front of my locker, fumbling with my combination lock, which was jammed. On my third attempt, it finally opened. I placed a few books on the top shelf then squatted down and removed my history and English books. I heard a loud bang from someone slapping the palm of their hand against the locker next to me.
“What’s up?” LaShaunda had appeared out of nowhere.
“Nothing,” I answered, rising. “I’m on my way to my trivia quiz show practice.”
“What is up with you?” asked LaShaunda, irritated.
“What are you talking about?” I asked defensively.
“We have to go and handle some business, and you’re worried about some stupid trivia practice?” LaShaunda asked as I noticed one of her eyebrows shoot up.
I didn’t relish getting into an argument, but I wanted to go to practice first. “Relax. It will not take that long.”
“It’s going to take long enough,” LaShaunda complained.
“No, it will not,” I answered sharply.
“Something is wrong with you. I think you actually like hanging around with those boring brainy people.” LaShaunda stabbed me in the shoulder a few times with her finger. I swatted it away once I slammed my locker shut.
“This isn’t about hanging out with nerds,” I said and began walking.
LaShaunda popped her fingers then smirked. “Then it must be about dude. You still have a thing for him, don’t you?”
I said nothing and allowed her to draw her own conclusion as she raced to catch up with me.
“Are you trying to hook back up with Misalo?” she asked.
“Thought had crossed my mind. We used to have something very special,” I said as I headed to practice.
“So why did dude break up with you?” LaShaunda asked.
“Look. I don’t want to talk about it, okay,” I said as I pulled open the door to the auditorium.
“I didn’t realize it was such a sensitive subject.” She held her hands up as if she were surrendering to the police.
“Are you coming in or are you going to wait out here?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll come in and watch you play with the geek squad.” She laughed condescendingly.
Mr. Morgan had me sit in the front row along with Maya, Keysha and Misalo. He went over the rules of the game and how points were earned. He talked about the various subject areas we needed to become familiar with, as well.
“This is going to require a lot of studying on your part,” he explained as he reached into a box that was sitting on top of a table near where he was standing. He removed four large envelopes.
“What’s that?” Maya asked.
“Study materials,” Mr. Morgan explained.
“Aw, man, I have to memorize all of this stuff?” Misalo whined.
“It’s not about memorizing,” Mr. Morgan said as he handed out the packets.
“Do any of you know what the best way to learn is?” he asked.
“Through memorization,” Maya said, absolutely certain her answer was correct.
“No,” said Mr. Morgan.
“Well, I don’t know if this is correct, but I do what my father told me to do. He said that I should not try to memorize anything, but take in information as new knowledge that I can use.”
“Bingo.” Mr. Morgan pointed at me. “Your father is a very smart man. I am going to show you how to take in and retain knowledge differently. That’s one of the secrets to winning. We have a lot of work to do. Today I want to go over what is in the packet, assign some reading and do a game show run-through. So let’s get to it. Open up your packets and pull out the study guide.”
Mr. Morgan had us practice for two hours. He drilled us on questions, made us read and did various exercises to help us retain information. After LaShaunda saw that I wouldn’t be leaving as soon as I had thought, she walked out. I could tell by the cynical expression on her face that she was not happy.
twenty-one
MAYA
Since our trivia team was so small, we had to travel on a short yellow bus. I hated riding on the smaller bus. It was too cramped, and the seats were not as comfortable as the ones on the larger buses. The team and I were heading to Homewood High School for our first competition. Students from Thornridge and Hillcrest High would also be there competing. I was both nervous and excited at the same time. I silently quizzed myself, but it only added to my sense of anxiousness. I felt as if my brain had locked up. I shifted myself to look at Misalo, who was sitting at the back of the bus with his earbuds in. He was bobbing his head to the beat of some song while he stared out the window. He had told me that it was his way of focusing before competitions.
“Augh!” I complained loudly.
“Are you okay?” asked Keysha, who was sitting in the seat across the aisle from me, toying with her cell phone.
“This bus has the worst shocks. I feel like I’m a ball being bounced.” I exhaled as I smashed my head into the seat back.
“It’s not that bad,” Keysha said.
“It’s bad enough.” I glanced at Keysha, and she nodded her head in the direction of Viviana, who was sitting in front of us behind the bus driver and across the aisle from Mr. Morgan.
“What’s wrong with her? Why is she so quiet?” Keysha whispered.
“I think her friend is mad at her.”
“Oh,” said Keysha, distracted by a video clip she was watching on her cell phone.
“Why ask me a question and then tune me out?” I didn’t like how rude Keysha was being by allowing her cell phone to be a distraction.
“Girl, would you just relax? You’re all wound up,” Keysha said.
“I’m trying to, but my mind will not stop racing,” I reluctantly admitted.
“You’ll be fine.” Keysha continued to scroll through her phone. “Oh, wow. Look at this. I just came across something I had totally forgotten about,” she whispered and then waved for me to come and sit directly beside her.
“What kind of video is it?” I leaned closer to her.
“Shhh. Just look,” Keysha said as if she were about to show me a disgusting video.
“What the hell,” I said out loud. Keysha jabbed me with her elbow.
“Be quiet. I don’t want Mr. Morgan to come back here.”
“Is that?” I pointed to the back of Viviana’s head.
“Yes,” Keysha said. “I shot it when Wesley and I were at Lollapalooza.”
I cupped my hand and placed it against Keysha’s ear and whispered, “It looks like she’s pickpocketing.”
Keysha nodded her head and confirmed that I was right.
“Can you email that to me? It might come in handy,” I said.
“Sure. I meant to show it to you a while back, but I forgot.” Keysha attached the video clip to an email and sent it.
A short while later we parked at Homewood High School, got off the bus and walked into the auditorium. There were more people there than I had anticipated. The audience not only consisted of the other teams, but of parents and teachers. There must have been at least fifty people who had come out to watch. The stage had two sets of game show podiums where four players each from two schools could stand and one podium for the moderator. Whatever school won the first round would have to go up against the winner of the second round. The losing schools would then compete against each other for second place. After checking in and getting settled, I learned that we were up first and had to compete against Thornridge High School.
We walked onto the stage and took our spot at the game show podium. Viviana was in the first position, Keysha was in the second, I was in the third and Misalo was in the fourth.
“Are you ready to do this, babe?” asked Misalo, who had reached over and placed his hand on top of mine.
“I’m nervous and my hands are cold,” I whispered to him.
“You’ll be fine,” he tried to assure me.
The moderator introduced herself as Jane, the librarian from Homewood. She had a very soothing voice, a pleasant smile and wore glasses. She gave us instructions and told us that we had to press a buzzer in order to answer the questions. The button trigger was very sensitive and would determine who pressed it first. Another librarian from Homewood High named Kathy was the scorekeeper. Kathy waved to all the contestants with a warm smile that made me feel a little more at ease.
“Are you ready for this?” I leaned over and asked Keysha. She tapped her index finger like a telegraph operator against the surface of the game show podium.
“Yeah. I just want to get the show on the road,” she said as she bit down on her bottom lip. I looked a little farther down at Viviana. She had a solemn expression on her face that was d
ifficult for me to interpret. I couldn’t tell if she was concentrating or had completely freaked out. She had totally zoned out, which I thought was weird.
“Okay. Thornridge High, are you ready?” asked Jane. The Thornridge High players said yes.
“Thornwood players, are you ready?” she asked us, and we all said yes.
Jane read the first question. “The industrial revolution began in the late eighteenth century in what country?” I heard a quick ding and realized a Thornridge High player wanted to answer.
“The United Kingdom,” answered a girl with fiery red hair and freckles.
“That is correct,” said Jane. “Most major earthquakes occur along the rim of what ocean?” Again, there was another ding indicating that a Thornridge player had pressed the button first and had an answer.
“The Pacific Ocean,” answered a scrawny-looking guy with chapped lips.
“That is correct,” answered Jane.
“We’re getting our butts kicked,” I mumbled.
“Getting Played is a novel written by what American author?”
Keysha pressed the buzzer first this time. “Celeste Norfleet,” she answered.
“That is correct,” said Jane.
“Yes.” Keysha pumped her fist.
“What is the oldest major baseball park still in use?” asked Jane.
Misalo hit the buzzer first that time. “Fenway Park,” he answered.
“That is correct,” said Jane.
I reached over and touched Misalo’s hand briefly.
“Pablo Picasso, Alexander Graham Bell and General Patton all had what common reading disorder?” asked Jane, but no one pressed the buzzer. There was an eerie moment of silence. Finally, Viviana pressed the buzzer.
“Oh, God. I hope she doesn’t mess up,” I said to myself.
“Dyslexia.”
“That is correct,” said Jane.
“After twenty days, a frog embryo develops into what fishlike creature?”
I hit the buzzer first on that one. “A tadpole,” I answered.
“That is correct,” said Jane.