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Love swelled in me as I reached for him and kissed him, his perfect words echoing in my head. And deep inside of me, in a place that had been broken by my childhood, the wound started to heal.
Chapter Thirteen
It took no time at all for our lives to return to normal with only the smallest difference, Bastian didn't have any homework or exams and so he could literally sit and watch me do my homework while feasting on his much-loved potato chips. It wasn't right.
Caden proved to be like the rest of us mere mortals and completely caved under the pressure of Dr. Wright, moving into the house only days after Bastian returned. Dr. Wright felt as Poppy and I did, we wanted the family, and we were a family, to always be close by. It was nice with all of us together even if Poppy and Caden had taken to bickering with each other like an old married couple.
The soccer team had an exhibition game—sort of a promotion for the sport to encourage new members, and his coach, Mr. Ellis, was going to allow Bastian to play. This meant practice, lots of practice with Bastian wearing only sweatpants and cleats. Let me just say it now, I loved soccer.
It was during one night at practice that I realized I still hadn't gotten Bastian back for his Victory stunt. What, I wondered, would be good enough a stunt to top the pep rally from hell? Thinking about the pep rally forced thoughts of Brad front and center. My anger hadn’tfaded, but I couldn't deny there was a touch of sadness there too, at the loss of the friend I had believed him to be.
I watched Bastian as he ran down the field, saw the setup before he nailed it into the goal. I stared at his back, to the part of his tattoo that trailed down his spine and felt overly warm, again. Yet while I watched him laughing with his teammates, a diabolical idea came to me.
The Spring fair was coming. The idea behind the fair was really quite nice, a celebration of renewal and rebirth, and how nothing was constant and we could always redefine ourselves, just like the Earth did every Spring.
The fair was probably the most popular school function, but even the fair had a black mark and that was the master of ceremonies, or what we thought of as the mascot of the fair. It was a role so utterly embarrassing it caused grown men to shiver and children to run in fear. Thanks, Mrs. Farlay.
Why the mascot wasn't just abandoned due to the serious aversion everyone had to it was just another stigma which only added to the mascot's amusingly dark allure. Coach Farlay's wife’srole in the planning probably ensured it was kept in the school social calendar.
Needless to say no one ever volunteered to play the mascot. So determined was the student body year after year to avoid becoming the dreaded mascot that a lottery was created. Every name in the school, including those of the teachers (to promote unity) was placed in a large circular basket like a big bingo ball draw and one name was randomly selected.
I watched Bastian as an evil little smile spread over my face. Oh yes, payback was a bitch.
***
“Are you insane? You're talking about breaking and entering, sabotage and fraud. It can't be done, Lark, forget it.”
I just stared at Shawn, our class president, as he tried in vain to persuade me from my course of action, but he was going to learn that he was wasting his time. I was happy to see that Poppy and Shawn were growing more comfortable with being friends and that the pain of their breakup was becoming a distant memory. Bastian was off at a soccer meeting, which gave me a chance to meet with my accomplices.
“I say let's do it. It's diabolical, Lark,” Sophia said.
Poppy grinned like a fool.“Not to mention if Bastian's the m-word, it won’t fall on any of us.”
Everyone, including Shawn, nodded in agreement and I knew that I had them. I turned my attention to Shawn.
“As the class president, you have access to the room. Anyone who might catch you will either help or turn a blind eye because no one wants to get picked. All you have to do is remove the ballots and replace them with the ones I'll give you.”
“What if someone looks at the ballots?”Shawn asked.
I held his stare.“In the three years we've witnessed the lottery, has anyone ever?”
“No.”
“Trust me, it'll work.”
“He isn't going to like it.”Sophia said.
“True, but he only has to play the m-word for the opening ceremony. Fifteen minutes isn't going to kill him.”I replied.
A noticeable shiver went through Shawn.“Fifteen minutes is too freaking long.”said Shawn.
“You're stepping it up, Lark. Are you prepared for his retaliation?”Poppy asked.
I grinned, like the Grinch, and drawled, “Bring it on.”
***
While operation “Payback” was underway, Ms. Whitney approached me during seventh period.
