| |
1985
Wicasa Bluffs High School
––––––––
“I GUESS WE won.” Katie snickered.
She clasped the wooden plank above her, lifted her legs and swung back and forth, climbing the slats backward until it was too high risk a fall. Just a slip of a girl, her grandmother called her. She didn’t really understand what that meant.
The homecoming of Katie’s sophomore year had been a warm one. A few brave crickets still chirped in the chill of an October night. The bleachers above the two girls had emptied of football fans, the field lights all switched off. The second to last car in the high school parking lot pulled onto Second Street and its tires squealed away in revelry. The moon provided only a hazy cut of light. It would be a tricky walk to Lucy’s escape pod (what she called her AMC Pacer because it did look as if it had been shot out the back end of a spaceship).
Katie dropped back down into the gravel.
“We probably should have watched the last quarter,” Lucy said. “You sure you’re not embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“Of course not. It’s just that . . .” Katie blushed. Fortunately, it was too dark to see.
“Mmm. Oh, almost forgot,” Lucy said quietly and dug the toe of her sneaker into the rocks. “I got the part.”
“What, in Sound of Music?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Wow, that’s so awesome.”
Lucy chuckled. “It’s no big deal. I’m sure it will be a disaster. Gotta wear a dress.”
Back then WBHS performed Christmas plays of sketchy quality. Classes had barely started before kids began debating who would be the next group of stooges to be marched up on the auditorium stage. It was nearly as important as voting for the homecoming court. Except the school play was more of a vote for the anti-royalty.
“You will be fantastic, Luce. You know I’ll be right there in the front row.”
Lucy shuddered. “Yikes. Maybe you shouldn’t. I’ll flub my lines. You will be so—distracting.” She betrayed a sly smile.
Katie pushed at her. “I wouldn’t miss it.” She wedged her flashlight under her chin and murmured, “I should get home before the ghost of Maiden Leap shows up.”
“Hey, it’s only six o’clock in the morning.”
Katie flicked off the flashlight. “Huh?”
“In Paris.” Lucy wore four Swatches up the same wrist, set to different time zones, all the places she wanted to go in life: New York, Hong Kong, Paris, L.A. She said it helped her picture what people were doing anywhere at any point in time, said it reminded her there was a world beyond Wicasa Bluffs. “Let’s go to the diner, get some breakfast crepes, speak French, and drive the waitress nuts.”
Katie groaned. “Oh, I wish I could. But my parents would kill me.”
Lucy’s teeth shone brighter than anything. “One more kiss then?”
“Two more.” Katie wrapped her arms around Lucy’s over-sized pea coat, the wool had already scratched her cheeks raw. She would tell her mother it was from Gary Lindstrom’s attempt at a beard. “Okay, three, but seriously no more. Jeez.”