Amelia was surprised to see that the bake sale was drawing as much hype as any sports team competing for a state championship. When she stopped in to see the all-purpose room the school had reserved for the sale, she immediately turned to Reggie and started to laugh.
“This room isn’t big enough.”
“What?”
“I’ve got over thirty people who have committed to bringing something for the sale. You’ve got four long tables in here. I’ll need at least ten.” She put her hand on Reggie’s shoulder. “I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Reggie looked at her, confused.
“That’s from Jaws. Rod Steiger says, ‘I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat.’ When he first sees the shark. Nothing?”
Reggie scratched his head.
“Will the gym do?”
“Yes!” Amelia nodded excitedly. “That would be fantastic. Then it’s like a real event and not just some side project to appease the art club. Excellent.”
“I’ll get some of the boys to move these tables and set up some more. Good thing it isn’t basketball season,” Reggie said. “You wait here. When the boys come down, you tell them where to put the tables. You’re in charge.”
“Thanks, Reggie.”
In a few minutes, a dozen boys came down the hall. Reggie was behind them, barking orders and telling them to pay attention, quit screwing around, and do what the lady asked.
Amelia scanned the faces and saw Joe Smarman chuckling with another boy before Reggie tapped him on the shoulder and ordered him to shut up and listen. She gave the boys their instructions. They were happy to help. Of course they were. It got them out of whatever class they had been in.
All the boys seemed pleasant and in good spirits. There was no doom and gloom over the death of their classmate. But Amelia didn’t find that too worrisome. They were teenagers. Life was one drama after another. Sure, the death of a classmate was horrible, but they’d won a game for him. They were helping with the bake sale. They were going to classes, and life was continuing.
As they maneuvered the tables from the smaller room to the gym, Amelia stood out of their way and watched. Finally, she got a minute to talk to Joe without too many of his classmates around.
“I was at the game the other night. You guys did a great job. Brian would be proud,” she said to Joe.
He stopped for a moment and looked at Amelia with a small grin on his face. He didn’t look like the boy who was out on the field, snarling and shouting and running as if he were a bull in an arena.
This Joe Smarman had a cherub’s face on a Herculean body. His sandy hair was short, as if he were in the military, and he wore a gold chain with a tiny cross on it. Maybe it was a regular-size charm, but it looked miniscule against his massive chest.
“Thanks. I know he would.”
“Did you know him well?”
“He was my best friend,” Joe replied.
“Really?”
“Yeah. We pushed each other to do our best. Every year, we tried to beat each other on grades and sports and stuff.” Amelia saw the boy’s eyes start to water. “It’s kind of hard staying focused without him chasing my heels.”
“I’ll bet.”
“I know he’s in a better place. He wasn’t very religious. His family didn’t practice. But I do, and I know he’s in a better place. He just had to reach perfection before me.” Joe chuckled, quickly wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
“I’ll bet you’re right, Joe.” Amelia couldn’t believe the contrast between the boy she was talking to and the report she’d gotten about him from Stacy. It didn’t make any sense. “It sounds like everyone really liked him. Did he have lots of friends?”
“He hung out with us guys on the football team. It was the girls who really chased after him. That was why my grades have always been better than his. But everyone has a weakness. Mine is cupcakes.” He chuckled innocently again.
Amelia could have been knocked over with a feather.
“Well, Joe, I own the Pink Cupcake on Food Truck Alley. I’ll be selling cupcakes at the bake sale, so I hope you’ll stop by.”
“My mom brought me cupcakes from there. They come in hot-pink boxes, right?”
Amelia smiled and nodded and took his order. “Thanks, Joe. It was nice chatting with you.”
“You too.” He shrugged shyly and went to help move some more tables.
Amelia’s mind was spinning as she watched the boys quickly set up the tables. The gym was filled within a few minutes. But it wasn’t the excitement of decorating, assigning numbers, confirming participants, and baking her own cupcakes that had her in a dither.
Joe Smarman didn’t fit the description she’d gotten from Stacy Arlings. One of them was lying.
Stacy’s conviction seemed unshakable. Joe didn’t even mention her. Had there been some kind of issue between the two teens, surely Joe would have said something.
Part of her wanted to call him back to grill him a little more about Brian’s relationship with Stacy and what he knew about it. But that might come across as creepy and a little pervy, so she decided against it.
“Will this work for you, Amelia?”
Reggie had come up behind her. When she turned around, she caught him wiping his nose with a white handkerchief.
“This is great.”
“We’ve got a ton of decorations and things left over from a pep rally that are just collecting dust in the supply closet.” He sneezed a couple times. “Feel free to help yourself.”
“Thanks, Reggie. I appreciate that. I’ll have my kids help out, and we’ll get the place ready by tomorrow morning.”
“Sure. If you can come back at dismissal, I’ll be here for at least another hour or two.”
“That’ll be plenty of time.” Amelia watched him wipe his nose again. “How are you feeling?”
“I sound a lot worse than I am. What’s got me more aggravated than this cold are the kids who are moping around and using Brian’s death as a reason to slack off.”
“Really?” Amelia leaned in closer. “Well, some of them might really be hurting. I heard he had a girlfriend.”
Reggie rolled his eyes.
“That girl has a crisis every day. It’s the same old routine for her. Do you remember being that young and in love, Amelia? Because I swear I was a little smarter than the kids of today are. When I was a teenager, I wanted a job so I could get a car. That was it. Plain and simple.”
“It is a good bit more complicated today, I guess.”
“It’s annoying.”
“Has there been any progress from the police that you know of?” Amelia trod carefully as she cast her line out in a fishing expedition.
“We’ve let those guys talk to anyone and everyone they want to. Even some of the teachers have been questioned. I’m sure after everything is done, they are going to rule it an accidental death.”
“You think so?”
“It’s the only logical explanation.” He wiped his nose again. “Brian was in the gym when he wasn’t supposed to be. Senior year makes even the most well-behaved kids feel the need to break the rules at least once.” He cleared his throat. “Someone came in, he panicked and lost his footing. When he fell off the bleachers, he hit his head just right to put the lights out permanently. It’s sad, but I’ll bet that is what happened. The police just need to be thorough.”
“Maybe you missed your calling, Reggie. Ever think of a career change to private investigator? Homicide detective, maybe?”
“And give all this up?” He shrugged. “I’ll see you after school.”
That afternoon, when the school was emptied of nearly all the students, Amelia was joined by Meg and Adam plus Katherine and Amy.
“This is a nice surprise.” She gave all the kids a hug.
“Many hands make easy work,” Katherine replied. “I heard that there were going to be over fifty people bringing some kind of dessert. I doubt any of them will even come close to your cupcakes, Mrs. Harley.”
“Well, thanks, Katherine. Not everybody likes cupcakes, so with that many people, I’m sure there will be something for everyone.”
With the keys for the supply closet in her hand, Amelia unlocked the door and found more than enough stuff to decorate not just the tables but half the gym as well. There were banners with the school name, huge pictures of the mascot, a knight with a huge shield, pom-poms, streamers, and half a dozen trinkets in the school colors of red, white, and black.
While Amelia had the kids start covering the tables and putting up the banners, she left the gym to use the ladies’ room. It looked exactly like the bathroom where she’d attended high school. There was graffiti on the stall doors. It smelled of soap and ammonia.
She stepped into the last stall away from the door, which was propped open with a tiny wedge of wood. Amelia was just about to flush the toilet when something made her freeze.
“Stacy, you have to stop.” It was a girl’s voice.
“How do you think I feel seeing him every day? He’s the reason Brian isn’t here anymore.”
“You don’t know that. Joe is as harmless as a fly unless you have a football in your hand. Then he’s like a wild man. But…”
“So you don’t believe me either?”
“I don’t think Joe did anything to Brian. It doesn’t make sense. And just last week, you were riding in the car with both of them. I saw you. You were laughing and smiling and…”
“Fine, Laney. Take their side.”
“I’m not taking sides. I just think you need to stop bad-mouthing Joe to everyone. It’s making you look psychotic.”
“Oh, okay, my boyfriend is dead because of him, and you expect me to just go on with my life?”
“Stacy, you were talking about breaking up with Brian. Now, you are, like, making it out like you guys were going to get married or something.”
“You just don’t understand.”
“Come on. We’ve been friends forever. Stacy, if Joe did anything to Brian, the police will figure it out.”
“They won’t. They don’t believe me any more than you do.”
“Maybe it’s because it’s sounding crazier and crazier every time you say it. Look, we’ve got cheerleading practice whether you like it or not. Football practice is all the way down the field. Just don’t look down there.”
“That’s your solution? Just ignore it and it’ll go away? Brilliant.”
“Stacy, wait.”
Amelia held her breath and listened. The girl who went by the name Laney mumbled a couple of colorful words under her breath about Stacy and then used the sink. Amelia had nothing to lose, so she flushed the toilet and came out of the stall.
“Oh gosh. I didn’t know anyone was in here,” the girl said, tugging at the hem of her cheerleading skirt.
“It’s okay, honey,” Amelia said soothingly as she went to a sink to wash her hands. “You aren’t the first person I’ve run into at school over the past few days who’s having a rough time. You were friends with Brian?”
“Yeah.” She nodded suspiciously.
“I’m Amelia. I’m organizing the bake sale for the art-club fundraiser.”
“Oh, yeah, and the donation in Brian’s name. Sure.” She warmed up. “I’ll definitely be buying something. Even though I shouldn’t. My thighs are huge.”
Amelia could see the girl didn’t have an ounce of fat on her.
“Honey, please. Trust me when I tell you that there isn’t a boy worth his salt who wouldn’t be thrilled to have you on his arm.”
“Thanks.” She smiled.
“Is your friend okay?”
“Stacy? Yeah. Brian was her boyfriend. Well, they hadn’t officially broken up when he, you know.” She stuck her tongue out and tilted her head against her shoulder. “But they were fighting all the time. He did something that she said she’d never forgive him for, but she never said what. He probably forgot to call her or didn’t drive her to school or something like that.”
“Was she that kind of girlfriend? Unappreciative?”
“Stacy can be pretty selfish when she wants to be. She keeps saying Joe had something to do with Brian’s death, but it doesn’t make any sense. Those guys were friends even if all they did was talk smack to each other all day.”
“That’s Joe Smarman. You don’t believe Joe was involved.”
“I mean, maybe.” She shrugged. “But I just don’t think so.”
“Well, these things have a way of working themselves out. Stacy might just be trying to cope and she doesn’t know how. Be patient. She’ll come around.”
Laney nodded and gave that same suspicious smile.
“See you at the bake sale,” she said before leaving.
“I hope so, honey.”
When Amelia got back to the gym, the kids were waiting.
“Don’t go in, Mom,” Meg said. “We want you to be surprised when you bring our cupcakes tomorrow.”
“What did you guys do?”
“It’s all finished, Mrs. Harley,” Amy said. “You are going to love it.”
“You’re done decorating already? I was only in the bathroom for a few minutes.”
“Many hands make easy work,” Katherine said. She bounced on her heels with excitement.
“Yeah, Mom. Just wait until tomorrow. You’ve got enough work to do, getting the cupcakes ready. We handled everything in there. We’ve even got the pay station set up and everything.” Adam nodded.
“If you guys say so.”
Amelia walked with her army of four back to Reggie’s office to give back the keys. They left the school and headed back home. Amelia had an evening of baking ahead of her. But as usual, her kids made it all worth it.