The Fall of Candy Corn (5 page)

“No,” Candace admitted.

“Oh you should. It's marvelous fun,” Janet said, fussing some more with Candace's costume.

“Truth be told, I'm terrified of mazes. I'm not too fond of being scared either,” Candace said.

“Wow. This must be your idea of just the best time ever,” Josh said.

Candace rolled her eyes. “I'm not sure how I let you talk me into it.”

“Me? You're going to blame me?” he asked.

“Well, I can't very well blame Janet.”

“Thank you. I get enough blame this time of year,” Janet said, putting some pins around the bottom of Josh's cape.

“Who's getting blamed for what?” a familiar voice asked.

Candace turned and saw Roger, one of the guys who had been on her team for the end-of-summer scavenger hunt at the park. She gave him a quick hug.

“Hey, Roger, how's it going?” Josh asked.

“Great. I'm on the soccer team at school. Varsity,” Roger said, pride in his voice.

“That's wonderful!” Candace said.

Before Scavenger Hunt, Roger had been the referee best known for tripping over his own feet. Winning that night had changed all of them, though, and Roger had gotten a much needed boost of confidence. Apparently, his klutziness was a thing of the past.

“So, are you back to be a maze monster?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, I get to be a dead baseball player in the Last Draft maze in the Game Zone.”

“Stellar,” Josh said, giving him a high five. “I'm Count Dracula.”

“I was hoping so,” Roger joked. “Otherwise we were going to have to talk about the whole cape thing. It works for you. I'm just not sure you want to adopt it as an everyday thing.”

Josh laughed. “And what do you think of Candy?” he asked.

Roger turned and looked at her. “Are you actually playing yourself?” he asked.

“Apparently,” she said.

“That's funny. Bold choice.”

“I didn't exactly choose it. I got the part because I can scream really well.”

There was a pause, and then Roger said, “Of course you can.”

Janet left briefly and returned with a tattered and faded Yankees uniform, which she handed to Roger. His face lit up as he took it from her. “This is going to be great,” he said. “I came to Scare once when I was twelve. I've been afraid to ever since.”

“Didn't like the monsters?” Candace guessed.

“No, I knocked down twenty people and part of a maze roof,” Roger said.

Candace bit her lip to keep from laughing, but it was no use.

Later that night Candace and Tamara were on Tamara's bed, talking. Candace had told her all about her day, and Tamara had laughed when she heard what happened to Roger at his first Scare.

“Promise me I won't embarrass myself that badly,” Tamara gasped.

“I can't even promise I won't embarrass myself. I refuse to make any guarantees about you.”

“Well, maybe if I do, Josh will swoop in and rescue me,” Tamara teased.

“Are you sure you're not into him?” Candace asked.

“Yes. Like I told you, it's just not right.”

“Okay, so he's not Mr. Right.”

“No.”

“How do you think you'll know when you meet Mr. Right?” Candace asked.

Tamara flipped onto her back. “I think it will hit me. You know, like magic, right between the eyes. Bam! There he'll be, and I'll just know.”

“Don't you believe in love growing slowly? Like some people who start out as friends, or who kind of like each other and it grows deeper?” Candace asked. She would like to think that what she felt for Kurt could turn into love. She had to admit that as crazy as she was about him, she was pretty sure it wasn't love. At least, not yet. Maybe someday.

“I think that could happen for you, but not for me. I need to be shocked. You need to be surprised,” Tamara said.

“Okay, you lost me. I don't get the difference,” Candace confessed.

“Shock is sudden, jolting. It makes everything stop and then start again. You know, like an electric shock. I think it's going to take something that dramatic to get my attention and to tell me that he's the one. It'll be like I've always known it was him. I just never knew who he was until the moment I saw him.”

Candace smiled. It sounded like Tamara. She had always been more impulsive, more dramatic than Candace.

“And surprised?” Candace asked.

“Surprise doesn't have to be harsh like shock. I'm thinking when you fall in love, you'll wake up one day and realize that it's been happening and you didn't even know it. It'll take you by surprise, but like a nice surprise, like getting a really great present for your birthday that you didn't expect.”

“I have to admit, that sounds much nicer than shock,” Candace said.

“And that is exactly why you'll be surprised and I'll be shocked.”

Candace yawned and glanced at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning. “I'll be surprised and shocked if I can wake up in time for church.”

Tamara hit her with a pillow. “Make fun now, but mark my words. One day you're in for the surprise of your life.”

“Before or after you get the shock of yours?”

4

As it turned out, Candace made it to church on time, but she slunk low in the pew the entire time, trying to avoid looking at people from youth group. She still wasn't comfortable with the idea of them coming to see her at Scare. She dragged Tamara out as soon as the ser vice was over.

They spent the rest of the day hanging out with Tamara's family, which was fun. The whole experience gave Candace a taste of what it would be like to have a sibling. She was disappointed when the weekend came to an end.

On Monday Candace made it through all of her classes without spending too much time worrying about her friends showing up to Scare. She had more immediate stress. She and Tamara had drama last period. The first week of school the instructor had been sick so they had study hall instead. Now class would really start, and Candace wasn't sure she was ready to be in the spotlight, no matter what Tamara said.

In the auditorium Candace and Tamara found two chairs side by side in the semi-circle in front of the stage. They sat down, and Candace looked around. She and Tamara were the only seniors in the class. All the better to embarrass ourselves, she thought.

Everyone took a seat, the bell rang, and Candace looked around for their teacher. Suddenly, Mr. Bailey appeared, somersaulting through the curtains to center stage.

Next to her, Tamara jumped, and Candace tried not to laugh. Tamara hated to be frightened. Maybe in some way this class would be harder on Tamara than her. It was at least something to hope for.

The teacher leapt to his feet and spread his arms wide. “I love the smell of fear in the afternoon,” he joked. “My dear students, I am your teacher Mr. Bailey. Welcome to the theater.”

Everyone cheered, except Tamara. She still looked uneasy from the initial scare.

Candace, on the other hand, had to give him style points for managing to twist a movie and a television quote and put them both together. Mr. Bailey bowed deeply and then sat down on the edge of the stage, his unnaturally long legs dangling.

“This is drama. This class is not for the fainthearted. I warn you now so that those of you who wish can flee.”

Nervous laughter came from several people in the group.

“However, for those of you who wish to stay, I can open your mind and expand your horizons. And I promise you, you'll have fun doing it.

“Now, I realize that this is technically our first day of class. On the first day of class you expect to be given a syllabus and have the teacher explain how the class works, what kind of tests and papers you can expect, etc. However, this is drama, and the first rule is to expect the unexpected.”

He sprang to his feet effortlessly. “I need a volunteer.”

“Candace,” Tamara piped up.

“What? No!”

“Candace it is. Candace, if you would be so kind as to join me on the stage,” Mr. Bailey said.

Candace stood up, glaring daggers at Tamara. She looked at the stage for a moment in loss.

“You may either jump up here,” Mr. Bailey said, “or take the stairs at the side of the stage,” he indicated with a flourish.

Candace opted for the stairs.

“A sensible young lady,” Mr. Bailey said by way of comment. “Let us see if we can change that.”

The class laughed, and Candace trudged up the stairs in misery. Soon she was standing next to her teacher in the center of the stage. He was tall, well over six feet, and incredibly skinny. She had the impression that if she pushed on him just hard enough, he would topple over.

“Candace, you are going to help me demonstrate a little bit of improvisational theater. Just do as I tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Cluck like a chicken.”

Candace hesitated for a moment and then did her best chicken cluck.

“Not bad. Now, flap your wings like a chicken.”

Candace tucked her hands under her arms and flapped them up and down as though they were wings.

“Good. Now act like you're wiping your feet on a welcome mat. Wipe them hard, get everything off them.”

She did as he told her, realizing that it was probably the same scratching motion that chickens made.

“Very good. Now . . . be a chicken!”

She clucked and flapped and scratched all at the same time.

“Excellent! Watch out, the butcher's coming!”

She turned and ran back toward the stairs.

“Bravo! Thank you, Candace, you may take your seat. And that, class, is what we call improv.”

Candace sat down.

“That was cool!” Tamara whispered.

“Just wait until you have to go up there,” Candace said.

“Now that we have the unexpected out of the way,” Mr. Bailey said, “we can move on to the expected.” He jumped onto the ground and retrieved a stack of papers from a chair set off to the side. “This is your syllabus.”

“You mean I was the only one who had to embarrass myself today?” Candace burst out before she could stop herself.

“Yes, and you did it beautifully,” Mr. Bailey said with a smile.

Candace groaned and slid down in her chair.

They spent the next half hour going over the class rules and expectations. When it was over, Mr. Bailey made a final announcement. “I've been asked to remind any seniors in the class that you need to go to the office to sign up for your meetings with the guidance counselor. Good luck with that. And until tomorrow, so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good-bye.”

“Nice touch, ending with a quote from a musical,” Tamara said.

“I'm still mad at you,” Candace said.

“Don't be. You'll never have a first time to get up on that stage again. The rest of us are scared about what we'll have to do first. You can just relax since the worst of it is over.”

“Okay, I acknowledge the soundness of your logic, and therefore I forgive you.”

“Knew you would.”

“Let's go get signed up for our meetings.”

“Right behind you.”

Ten minutes later they left the office and retrieved the stuff they needed from their lockers before heading for the parking lot.

“I'm betting the meeting with the guidance counselor will be a huge waste of time,” Tamara said.

“I hope not. I'm hoping he can help me figure a couple of things out.”

“Like what?”

“Like where to go to college, first of all.”

“Somewhere around here. Maybe Cal State.”

“Maybe, but there are a lot of colleges to choose from. Maybe I'd be better off somewhere else.”

“Don't even joke about that. You are not allowed to move away to college,” Tamara said.

“Why not?”

“Because I'm staying here, and I'll be devastated if you go.”

Candace was distressed. “Well, I mean who knows? Besides, if I moved away, you could come visit and that would be totally awesome.”