A Pinstriped Finger's My Only Friend (2 page)

ONE HOUR LATER:

Boom!
The school doors fly open, and in bursts Judd, haloed in sunshine from the bright Spring day outside. His hair's windblown from the windows-down drive in his cherry red Mustang (his pride and joy). He's got a real bounce in his step, doesn't he?

(He always does!)

Head held high...

(As always!)

...he strolls up to the door of the admin office and leans inside, holding on to the frame with both hands. Boy, does he flash that lopsided grin of his!

"
There
you are!" says the woman behind the counter--Debbie in her twenties with the long black hair and cute horn rim glasses. "Hey, Sally!" She yells back to the woman working on the desktop computer behind her.

"Yeah, yeah." Sally acts grouchy, but she's a peach. Overweight and gray-haired at fifty-three...

(Judd brought her peanut butter cups just yesterday for her birthday!)

...she digs her some Judd-man! "You win the pool today." She looks over at Judd like she's miffed, but then she adds a little wink.

"I still think that if you're betting on when I get here, I oughtta get a piece of that action." Judd widens his eyes and nods eagerly.

"In your dreams, sugar-cube!" snaps Sally.

(Again with that flash of a wink.)

"Maybe next time, then." Judd shrugs and starts to go.

Debbie clears her throat loudly. "Aren't you forgetting something, Mr. Ramsey?"

Judd bobbles his head sheepishly.

(Still grinning!)

"I need to sign the late log." He strolls to the counter.

Debbie drops her voice to a loud whisper. "Like I don't already have you covered!" She smacks a late pass on the counter...but doesn't move her hand from on top of it. "Don't you play dumb with me, mister! Go big or go home!"

Judd rolls his eyes like he doesn't totally expect this. "Oh, right." Like he isn't loving every minute of playing the game that lets him get away with murder. "Let's see." He digs deep in the front left pocket of his jeans, comes up with nothing. "Huh." Then he checks the back pockets and frowns. "Now where did I put that?" He pats the front of his tight-fitting Euro-cut button-down black vertical-striped shirt, like he really thinks he'll find what he's looking for there. "I've got nothing."

"Time's a wastin'." Debbie snaps her fingers and points at the front right pocket of his jeans. "
Andalé, andalé
."

"Of course!" Judd jams his hand into the pocket and comes up with two mini-sized dark chocolate candy bars. "That was a
c
lose
one!" He plunks the bars down on the counter...

(with a grin!)

...and reaches for the late pass.

Sally lets go of it and scoops up the candy with the speed of a striking cobra. "Get your butt in class before I change my mind." She flicks her head toward the door.

"Don't have to tell
me
twice." Grinning, Judd scoots out into the hall, giving the ladies a backward wave over his head along the way.

*****

Just as Judd starts down the hall of West Beach High, the end-of-class tone sounds, followed by the low rumble of hundreds of students grabbing their gear, jumping up, and storming the classroom doors.

A moment later, the doors fly open, and the low rumble becomes crashing thunder. Teenagers pour into the gleaming hallway like herds of buffalo...buffalo chewing gum and chattering and laughing and texting each other on smartphones.

Judd strides through them like a king, grinning and nodding and tossing off way-cool handshakes...

(How many handshakes does he
know
, anyway?)

"Hey, Judd!" A short kid with brown hair and a bad case of acne pops up in front of him. "Thanks again, man!"

"You got it." Judd can't remember the kid's name or what he's thanking him for, but he gives him a big smile and a fist-bump just the same.

Seconds later, a shy-looking girl with long black hair stumbles into his path. She jolts to a stop and meets his gaze searchingly, hopefully.

Judd's seen her before. He's pretty sure she's in his grade. "How ya doin'?" He shoots her a great big Prince Charming smile.

Her eyes flutter, she smiles back, and he moves on, feeling like he's done a good deed.

(You
know
he made her day! She's already texting like a lunatic!)

As Judd continues through the hall, he keeps grinning and waving and shaking hands. The whole time, his eyes are darting left-right, right-left, searching for someone in particular. It's gotta be Eva, right? The one who sent him the text.

But wait just a cotton-pickin' minute! He sees Eva in the doorway of Mrs. Pomeroy's room, her sleek blonde hair flouncing as she giggles at a girlfriend's joke...and he deliberately veers away!

(But she's hot! What is he
thinking
?)

Instead, he swoops to the opposite side of the hall and hangs a sharp louie. He shoots down an intersecting corridor with a definite plan in mind, still grinning and nodding...

(Is there anyone he
doesn't
say hi to?)

...all the while searching the crowd with those sparkling blue eyes of his. He scans every face, every locker, every doorway, looking for the one person he wants to see more than anyone else in the whole school.

(At least at that moment.)

Then, suddenly, someone jumps up behind him and shouts. "Yahhh!" Her fingers lunge at his sides, tickling his ribs with flickering movements. "Haahhh!"

Judd can't help squirming and laughing. The girl caught him totally by surprise...

(Which is usually
his
trick.)

...but he turns the tables fast. Spinning, he grabs her arms, stopping the tickling, and jerks her toward him. "Gotcha!"

The girl smirks up at him. Her blazing red shoulder-length hair suits her devilish expression.

(Also her
hotness
. Eva the blonde texter better look
out
!)

"You got nothin'!" The smirking girl snaps the words in his face. "I got tired of waiting and broke up with you!"

"We already
were
broken up," says Judd. "So you just broke back
in
."

She pushes away. She's wearing a cheerleader uniform featuring the school's colors--purple and orange. "That isn't how it works! You're crazy! You've lost touch with
reality
."

Judd reels her in closer. "If
I'm
crazy, what does that make
you
?"

"The
sane
one." The girl narrows her eyes and cocks her head at him. "What color is the
sky
in your world, Judd?

"Red." He runs his hand over her fiery hair. "All I see is red, Kaela."

Kaela Sheridan doesn't wait one more second to hop up on her tiptoes and kiss him on the lips. She lets it fly right there, in the middle of the hall, in front of who-knows-and-who-cares...

(And it's a loooong one...)

...and kids are watching and pointing...

(...almost long enough to break the no-making-out-in-the-halls rule and get them both detention.)

...and then some of the kids even start clapping, which is when Kaela finally breaks off the liplock. "Show's over, folks. No more vicarious action for your viewing pleasure."

The kids keep applauding as they flock past. They're on their way somewhere--not class, too early for lunch--and Judd doesn't know where they're going.

Not that it matters when he's busy whispering in Kaela's left ear. Her hair smells so good, like a bouquet of roses, he can barely stand it. "What are you doing after school?"

"Cheering you up." Kaela whispers the words in his right ear. "You're gonna need it after you miss your own
pep rally
."

Judd freezes. Adrenaline burns through his bloodstream like a trail of gasoline touched by a lit match. Every muscle galvanizes, every sense ramps up to eleven on a scale of one to ten.

(Talk about
brain farts
.)

He'd
forgotten
. The kids were all headed for the
pep rally
. It was going to start in...

(He looks up and checks the digital clock hanging from the ceiling.)

...
three minutes
! He'd totally spaced!

Not that he's going to tell
her
that. "You can cheer me up if you want to." He keeps his grin as cool-looking as possible, like he hasn't slipped up. "But I would
never
miss a pep rally." He glances up at the clock.

(
Two minutes!
)

"Not if I get to see
you
dancing around in that sexy
outfit
of yours." With that, he plants a gentle kiss on her full red lips, lingering for just an instant.

And then, he spins away from her and glides down the hall, as cool as can be, toward the gym. Just as he turns the corner and sees the big open doorway ahead, the school marching band strikes up the fight song.

Judd grins to himself and straightens his collar. "No worries." He says it for his own benefit, because he's feeling awesome...

(As usual!)

...and then he jogs the rest of the way to the pep rally.

*****

Judd enters the gym just in time to join the rest of the basketball team as they run past. He trots at the front of the pack like he was there all along, waving and grinning at the roaring crowd of kids in the stands.

His best friend--and the team's star point guard--Wayne Leary, bumps him with his elbow as they run a lap around the gym. "Nice of you to join us, superstar."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Judd grins and waves at a line of teachers on the floor, and every one of them smiles and waves back. "Wouldn't want
you
to hog all the glory, Wayne."

"You suck, Judd." Wayne smiles, too, as he plows his elbow into Judd's side again, harder this time. "You never change, do you?"

"Hey." Judd throws an elbow of his own into Wayne's ribs. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Wayne's coal-black face gleams in the bright wash of light from overhead. "I am so gonna sabotage your ass at practice today."

"Knock yourself out, Leary." Judd shoots him a nasty smirk, but there's nothing mean-spirited about it. Wayne's been his best friend since the eighth grade, and friendship, in their case, consists mainly of harassing each other every chance they get. "It'll be like any other practice, I guess."

Wayne's about to say something when Principal Wyland, at the far end of the gym, starts shouting into her microphone. "This year's West Beach Marauders, district six champions for the fifth year running...are about to become
state champions
for the
third
time in a
row
!"

The crowd roars louder, and the marching band rattles off the fight song again.

The basketball team lines up along one side of the court and awaits their cues. Judd has done it so many times before, he knows the drill well, knows exactly what is coming next...

(Every word, every note, every motion.)

...not that it ever gets old for him. Not that he ever
ever
gets tired of being the star of the show. He's
glad
that some things never change.

Like, for instance, the chills that run up his spine when the principal calls his name. "Introducing Team Captain
Judd Ramsey
!"

The same wave of sound crashes through the gym at the mention of his name. The same surge of energy rushes down from every howling body in the stands, cascading and converging on Judd as he runs to the center of the court. He drinks it in,
basks
in it, as he waves at the adoring multitude.

They throw down their love like a thousand red roses. Judd poses at mid-court under the blazing bright lights, turning in a circle like a champion bullfighter.

The cheerleaders, Kaela included, leap and twist and shake their pompoms. Ranks of smiling teachers and staff clap approvingly. A mascot in a barbarian costume dashes circles around the floor, shaking a plastic prop double-edged ax.

Judd dreams of this moment often. Everyone is focused on him with unwavering intensity. The air crackles with the force of their love and approval. He can do no wrong; his confidence cannot be diminished, and his works cannot be undermined. Everything is all about him.

In other words, it is very much like every other moment of his life.

(Only better.)

Kids are taking photos with their phones. Girls are giving him the eye. Hundreds of people think about him all at once. Does he think about them? No way, José. But it's no big thang. The ones who count are his peeps--his teammates, his buddies, his past-or-present-or-potential girlfriends, the people he parties with. As for the rest...

(Just listen to 'em roar!)

...they matter only as a group, as a mass, beaming their adulation his way in concert. The rest of them only matter because of what they can do for him
together
.

Not that he'd ever tell
them
that. Or that he'd
need
to. Because let's face it, they already know, and they're fine with it.

Obviously. Just watch, as Judd flings up the old double-pump, cranking both fists in the air, and the crowd goes wild. Every kid in the gym howls with sheer overexcited delight, roaring like hypercharged race cars leaping into high gear.

Only a scattering of freaks and weirdos holds back from going bananas. But frankly, they're like shadows to Judd, little blank spaces in the grand super-movie spooling out through his world. They're like bacteria; they have a role in the ecosystem, but he doesn't see them, isn't aware they exist. He doesn't let them spoil his groove, doesn't stop to wonder what the movie looks like to them. Why would he?

One figure stands alone in the ever-lovin' midcourt spotlight, swimming in the glorious currents of mass hero-worship. One hero stands poised...

(Shine on, Judd!
Shine on
!
)

...to win a state championship, cementing his legend...

(
Their
legend! The whole
school
will be champion!)

...and bringing down wave upon wave of glory that is just gonna make him shine brighter and all the rest of them too from his reflected light.

Listen! They're chanting his name!

More chills flicker-flash up his spine. His smile couldn't
be
any wider. This is what he
lives
for; this is what he's all
about
. Open him up, and this is what you'll see.

What's that you hear in the background, rising up to drown out the roar and the fight song from the marching band? Oh yeahhhh....

Judd's theme, that same cool song you heard in your head when he first woke up, when you first saw his face, is playing loud and clear.

Ni
iiiii
ce.