Mandy’s Dream Beau
Marcia Carrington
Copyright 2014 Marcia Carrington
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.
Credit for the cover image:
(C) Imagery Majestic - Dreamstime.com
Mandy’s Dream Beau
“Please enter the bus in single file, and no pushing,” the high school teacher commanded the students as they entered the large yellow bus, watching them carefully as they ascended it. Mandy Adams made her way into the bus, and found a window seat, which she preferred. She wanted it to be this way, as she felt totally out of place in high school. Mandy did not particularly want to speak to anyone, and found it hard to make new friends. She had just enrolled in a new high school as she and her mom had moved states after her parents’ divorce, and nothing was the same as it was. A new home. A new high school for the last year of school. A new state. New people to meet and, hopefully, become friends with. All of this seemed too much for her to take all at once, but this was exactly what happened.
In her other school, she had her friends, and they would visit each other’s homes, sleep over, have pajama parties, and they got along well. They would also visit the beautiful carnival which was permanently in her old town, with its assortments of rides, carousels, and games. They would spend hours playing there, laughing it up, and enjoying the experience. Mandy also remembered the corn fields and wide open spaces there, and was misty-eyed from these recollections.
In her new high school, so far, nothing had gone right for Mandy. It seemed as if everything was turned upside down overnight, with little rhyme or reason. Coupled with the fact that she was being teased by the students there for some unknown reason, made Mandy retreat into herself. She did not want to burden her mom with her problems, who was working to support both herself and Mandy, and had enough to worry about. Mandy was nudged by a girl who went to sit on the seat next to hers, and she awakened from her thoughts.
There was one thing, though, which stood out for Mandy after joining her new high school. Her only consolation was that the high school arranged a weekly visit to the local roller skating rink. A bus would come and collect the students every Friday, and take them to the skating place. While she was not a brilliant skater, and had to hold the support bar many times so she did not fall, it made Mandy happy nonetheless to skate, and was a diversion from her unhappy circumstances.
Mandy would thrill to the sound of the music, and enjoyed how the skating rink’s disc jockeys would feature many of her favorite tunes in their program. She would hum along to these under her breath, the songs bringing a glow to her face. The glittering disco ball in the center of the skating floor was also another highlight for her; it added a retro feel to the skating experience for Mandy, and, its sparkly radiance was enough to ensure that she was a skating girl from her favorite music era, the 1980s, at least for a few hours. When it was discovered by some fellow students that she preferred this music era to others, they made fun of her at school for her orientation, but it did not matter to Mandy - if she enjoyed herself, that was the main thing.
Mandy also loved to attend the skating rink for another reason. It was one of the only times when she could see the most handsome guy in high school, Daniel Parsons. Daniel had the most beautiful hazel eyes, darkest brown hair that was slightly wavy in a whimsical manner she could play with all day, and the dreamiest smile she had ever seen on a guy. She often watched him with longing from far afield, as he was always with a group of his friends, but Mandy would quickly bypass him. Daniel would notice her, but never reacted openly to her presence.
Many of the kids at school became aware of this, and berated Mandy for liking him. Some of the girls warned her that Daniel was out of bounds, and someone like her would never see the light of day with him.
“He wouldn’t be interested in you,” they would say. “You’re plain, boring, and about as exciting as breakfast cereal.”
Mandy sighed, wanting to take this out of her mind, and continued to look out the bus window. The town where she came from was much uninhabited compared to this. Her new town was a large city, with expansive suburbs, vast malls, and other amenities she did not have before. Mandy was like a fish out of water coming to grips with all of this, but knew the adjustment would take time. Before long, the bus had arrived at the skating rink, and ground to a screeching halt. She saw the skating rink’s large sign ‘Chardwell Skating Heaven’, and Mandy’s heart pounded with heightened anticipation. The teacher arose from her seat and proceeded to the front of the bus, and stood with authority, watching the students until they stopped talking.
“We have now arrived at the skating rink. Remember to walk out in single file, and no pushing,” she said, with an austere expression.
The teacher moved outside the bus, and awaited the students to disembark. Despite the teacher’s warnings, there was some pushing and a little shoving to leave the bus, and Mandy was like a sardine in a tub for a spell, but, thankfully, this abated as she descended the bus.
She walked into the skating rink’s front entrance, and through to the desk where she picked up her roller skates. Mandy found a seat near the edge of the rink, and sat down to tie up her roller skates. There were many people there as there normally was, all eager to put on their skates, and get out on the skating floor. Mandy had planned on doing her usual round of activities at the skating rink, and was well versed in this. She would steer away from the other kids, do some skating, and, when she needed a rest, sit on the curb, and watch the other people skate.
Today Mandy thought she would divert a little away from the others, and checked out the notice board which featured coming attractions at the skating rink. She was engrossed in reading this, and fascinated to discover that a 1980s night was going to take place soon. Mandy knew she could not attend this as she had no way of getting there at night, but just the notion of this made her warm inside. She did not notice that she was gradually being surrounded by a group of young men, who were watching her with anger.
“Hey,” one of them said, annoyed that she had not seen them, and Mandy slowly turned around to face him. She noticed that there was a group of eight teenage boys encircling her, and a fear began to fester in the pit of her stomach. Mandy watched them with apprehension, and knew that another teasing session was about to begin.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re not a normal person - you don’t talk to anyone, you keep your own company, eat popcorn on your own…I’ve never met anyone so…miserable. And such a loner. Loner, loner,” they taunted in unison, this word filling Mandy’s ears, and she began to cry. The humiliation always seemed to come in spurts at school, especially whenever these people wanted to satisfy their sadistic thrills. Mandy thought she would fall down and start crying hysterically, but another young man came and joined the group, and, to her surprise, it was Daniel Parsons. His face was as evil as those of the other young men, and Mandy feared he would also make fun of her.
“What’s going on here?” Daniel asked, towering above them all, his eyes carrying much malice.
The head of the gang looked at Daniel, and laughed.
“What’s going on? What does it look like? We’re just keeping Pandy Mandy company,” he said, as Mandy tried to look away, but they continued to eye her with great malevolence.
Daniel looked at Mandy with an expression of sympathy, and turned his attention back to the young man.
“Stop it, now,” Daniel commanded, his eyes harsh. “Leave her alone.” They all froze, chilled by the savagery in his eyes, and he continued, “If you ever do this again, I’ll have your heads - on a silver platter.” The group ranted and snickered, and stood
with defiance for a spell, but brushed by Daniel one by one, knowing that they were defeated. Daniel steadily stood his ground, and they quickly dispersed. A few of the young men glowered at Daniel, but he matched them look for look. After they had finally left, Daniel watched Mandy, and smiled at her.
“I’m sorry about them, they can be such amateurs sometimes; you okay?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, I’m all right,” Mandy said, almost tripping over her skates. She felt a little dizzy, as this latest bout of teasing had arrived unexpectedly, and caught her off-guard.
“No, you’re not, come over here,” Daniel said, guiding her to a bench nearby. They sat together, and he looked at her with
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