Later
Chapter 3 – Lost Time
“Way to jinx it Alex!” Sam screamed as she fell through the twisting metal shoot at an incredible speed. Her red, vibrant hair trailed behind her like a failed parachute.
“I didn’t knooow! I didn’t knooooow!” Alex cried as she fell behind her. Her tears were pushed directly out of her tear ducts, not even touching her brown cheeks.
“I’ll never be able to get these wrinkles out!” Clover screamed while she kept her hands placed firmly between her legs in an attempt to hide the contents of her dress from the eyes of peeping WOOHP cameras.
Alex then opened her eyes to see a light forming at the bottom of the tunnel that kept getting larger. She closed her eyes again the moment before she impacted the red couch under the opening of the chute, it barely cushioning her fall. She then felt the harsh impact of Sam dropping on top of her, followed by the extra weight of Clover being added to the pile. After reeling for a few moments, the three girls untangled their selves from the provocative looking heap to sit on Jerry’s office couch properly. Alex sat at the center, and Sam and Clover sat to each side of her.
The three girls then began simultaneously adjusting their hair and make-up. However, they stopped and blinked when they noticed the dead serious expression of their boss standing in front of his desk. The seasoned, fifty-five year-old WOOHP director often maintained a businesslike demeanor. However, the girls could sense that something had really upset him.
Finally, Jerry spoke. “Spies, I’m sorry, but I must alert you of some truly shocking and disheartening news.” His British accent sounded even more sober than usual.
“What is it Jerry?” Sam asked.
“It’s about the fate of one of world’s finest young men.”
“Oh my god, did Tony Eagle have an accident on the half-pipe?” Clover asked.
“Did something happen to JRL Jr., the dashing junior senator from Massachusetts?” Sam asked. “Not that I believe in that family curse or anything.”
“Is it The King of Pop, Jackson John?” Alex asked. “I know he’s innocent, he would never hurt those elephants.”
“No, I’m sorry to say…” Jerry stopped for a moment, getting too choked up, and brushed some tears away from the corners of his eyes. After a long, dramatic pause, he finally gained enough composure to continue. “David Nicklefield missed his Classical Literature class.”
Sam, Alex, and Clover all gasped in total shock. “Wait, we already knew that,” Alex said, after realizing.
“I guess word really did get around fast,” Sam said, astounded. “Still, I’m really worried about him.”
“Me too,” Clover and Alex both agreed.
“Do you know where poor, defenseless David is?” Clover asked.
“Unfortunately, no. In fact, no one knows where David is.” Jerry glanced at his watch. “He has been missing since exactly 50 minutes ago.”
“But why would WOOHP care about David missing,” Alex asked. “I know he’s a super hottie, I mean a real super hottie, but what does he have to do with saving the world?”
“David has everything to do with saving the world, Alex. Even at age 17, David has become one of the leading, young activists of the United States. His involvement in after-school activities and international community service has made him a renowned public figure on a global stage.
His future looks very bright as well. Our WOOHP super computers have estimated with 67.9 percent accuracy that David will be elected president of the United States at age 35 and subsequently lead all other nations towards a thousand year long era of world peace. As you can see, David’s personal safety is a matter of extreme importance to the future security of every nation on the planet.”
“Wow, I had no idea David could be that important,” Sam marveled.
“He’s even cuter than before,” Alex swooned.
“I could be with a president,” Clover swooned.
“It pains me that I was not able to recruit him as a spy. He would’ve been our top agent. But alas, David’s future belongs in the world of international politics not at WOOHP,” Jerry explained almost tearing up again.
“Do you know anything about David’s whereabouts?” Sam inquired. “Any clues at all?”
“Unfortunately, no. However, his disappearance coincided with a mysterious power loss of exactly 3 minutes through out all of Beverley Hills High School that I’m sure you all noticed. Strangely enough, a lapse in the surveillance footage from all the hundreds of hidden cameras WOOHP has installed through out the school also occurred during this power failure even though the cameras run on a different power source. I’m still unable to explain how that was possible. As for David, he has not been seen or heard from since the cameras resumed their regular operation. However, we do know whoever is responsible for David’s disappearance must have acted during this period of lost time.”
“Wait, do you have these cameras every where?” Alex asked after disturbing possibilities had flashed into her mind.
“I don’t even want to know,” Clover said dryly.
“Best not to think about it girls,” Sam told them, trying to save her mind from being deeply scarred. “Jerry, has there been any escapes from the WOOHP Prisoner Holding Facility?”
“What,” Jerry asked, being momentarily distracted. “Uhhhh, yes, that was my first thought as well, that one of your past adversaries had escaped and was trying to exact revenge. However, since I oversaw the upgrading of WOOHP security last month, there has not been one single escape.”
“Cha-right, that’s what you said the last 104 times, Jerr,” Clover snipped sarcastically.
“I can assure you this time it is the truth. We have every inmate under tight surveillance, and everyone is accounted for. For example…” He extracted a small remote from his pocket and aimed it up at the big screen in front of them. “Here’s Tim Scam.” The screen switched to a live video feed of Scam leaning against the wall of his cell nonchalantly with arms crossed. “My brother, Terrence.”
“God save the queen!” Terrence shouted before he fell back into bed after his dream-induced outburst. He then resumed his loud, British-accented snoring.
“Boogie Gus.” He was picking his nose and humming some archaic pop tune completely oblivious to the camera. “Dr. Gilee.” Gilee had a perpetual look of terror on his face, being frozen in a block of ice that kept him in suspended animation. “And even the Coffee King.”
“Coffee! Coffee! I need Coffee,” The man with the scraggly hair kept repeating to himself as he shook uncontrollably and hugged his knees from his position on the floor.
“Then who do you think could’ve kidnapped David?” Clover asked.
“While our cameras malfunctioned inside the school, our surveillance satellites on the other hand were fully functional. They spotted no one entering or leaving the building during that lapse of lost time. Further more, no one suspicious was spotted entering the school that day. Our satellite technology has also been upgraded to the point where we can read the human retina from orbit. The retina can even be read through sun glasses and contact lenses. Disguised individuals will be spotted easily. Only the regular students, staff, and faculty were inside the school before, during, and after the lost time. So the only possibility left is that someone who regularly attends the school is responsible for David’s disappearance.”
“Do you have any suspects?” Sam asked.
“Yes, we do. From analysis of the video by WOOHP’s super computers, four prime suspects have been identified from all the possible candidates. Here is the first suspect.” The image on the screen switched to that of a very pretty, young girl with maroon hair and a love-sick look on her face.
“Tara!” The three girls exclaimed.
“So you know this girl?” Jerry asked.
“She’s my fashion and beauty protégé,” Clover explained. “Jerry, I can tell you there’s no way she kidnapped David. I’m a very good role-model. Plus if she was up to something, I would know it.”
“Yeah, I kinda doubt that,” Sam snorted harshly, still being mad with Clover.
“I’m sorry, Sam, did you say something?” Clover shot back.
“Well regardless of what you think about her character, Tara Respighi has been diagnosed with several obsessive personality disorders, making her a prime candidate for committing such a crime. She was also completely missing from her psychology class before the lapse in video and only resurfaced roaming the halls sometime later.”
“Knowing Tara she probably skipped class to snoop through Clover’s gym bag,” Sam said.
“What are you talking about?” Clover gave Sam a puzzled and angry look. “My protégé would never do something like that.”
Both Sam and Alex started snickering.
“What’s so funny?” Clover asked, still confused.
“Okaaaay, moving along,” Jerry said as the screen changed behind him to show the mug-shot of a teenaged boy with freckles, glasses, and badly combed hair.
“Arnold?” The three girls asked before they started cracking up.
“Jerry, please, Arnold would probably get beat up by 1st graders,” Clover said. “David could so take him.”
“True. From my review of the other footage, his fighting skills are rather pathetic, but if you girls remember this would not be the first time Mr. Jackson had received supernatural powers including strength and agility.”
“You’re right,” Sam realized.
“I just hope he doesn’t try to turn us into nerds again, yuck,” Alex said, still a bit traumatized. Sam and Clover nodded in agreement.
“And I believe you all know the third suspect,” Jerry said. The screen changed to show the long, raven hair, fair skin, and purple eyes of Mandy.
“She did it!” Clover shouted as she pointed at the screen accusingly.
“How are you so sure?” Jerry asked curiously.
“If Mandy is accused of something, she did it.”
“Clover! I know Mandy isn’t always the nicest person, and she does have a lot of faults, but I don’t think she would ever hurt anyone,” Sam explained. “At least, give her the benefit of the doubt. These are serious allegations.”
“I am serious. I don’t know why you’re defending that skank.”
“Mandy is not a skank!”
“She sure is. Work on one lab with her, and now my best friend is turning traitor on me, huh?”
“What did you call me?” Sam snarled.
Clover was about to open her mouth again, but she stopped when she felt Alex tugging on her shoulder. “Clover, just please let it go. You two are supposed to be best friends. I don’t like seeing you get like this.”
“Not to mention you are being very unprofessional in the work place,” Jerry added.
“Well, fine! I’ll just go back to not talking to her if that’s how it is.”
“Fine with me!” Sam snapped back.
“In any event, regarding the suspicions of Amanda Luxe, we did capture this video.” The screen changed to camera footage from one of the hallways of Beverly Hills High. It showed Clover talking to David for a second before it zoomed in on Mandy who was watching them from the background obviously trying to snoop on them. The camera then zoomed back out to listen in to Clover and David’s conversation.
“Come on David. Why would you want to spend time with those smelly, old turtles when you could spend tonight with me? I’ll make it worth you while,” Clover said as she placed her hand and his chest and ran it down to his stomach.
Back on Jerry’s couch, Clover nervously turned her head to see Sam, Alex, and Jerry giving her suspicious looks.
“Ha, ha,” Clover laughed nervously, obviously embarrassed.
Back on the screen, David answered her, “I’m sorry Clover, but nothing is more worth while than the satisfaction I get from helping preserve our endangered species.”
At that moment, a mass that had been rolling down the hall-way came to stop near where David and Clover were standing. The camera zoomed in to reveal it was actually a boy and girl entangled with each other. “How dare you pull my hair!” Tara screamed at Arnold.
“You did it first!” The boy screamed back as they both kept tugging on each other’s hair. However, they ceased their clawing and hair pulling when they noticed the person standing above them.
“Hi Clover!” They both greeted her ecstatically from the floor. When they noticed David standing next to her, they both growled at him for encroaching on their territory
Clover looked at them for a second before she turned her attention back to David. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can’t do to change your mind?” She asked while giving a sly smile and a raised eye-brow as if the suggestion wasn’t obvious enough.
“No, I’m sorry, Clover. Maybe we can go out some other time. Right now, I have to get to classic lit or I’m gong to be tardy. Talk to you later, Clover,” he said as he waved and walked off in the direction of his class.
Clover reluctantly accepted defeat for the time being and started walking again. The camera followed her as she neared the corner in the hall way where Mandy was waiting for her with a devilish smirk. “Awww, poor Clover batting for zero.”
“Go suck on a lemon Mandy,” she said as she stormed past.
“Yeah, and I’m sure you know a whole lot about sucking.” A giggle almost escaped from Sam’s lips before she covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself. She looked over at Clover, and she looked absolutely furious as she stared up at the screen.
“Now its Mandy’s turn,” she said to herself as she stretched her interlocked fingers up on the screen. The dark haired girl then sprinted quickly down the hall just in time to catch David before he entered his class. “Saaaay, David…”
“Sorry, Mandy, but I can’t go on a date with you,” he said, cutting her off. “Tonight I’m volunteering in the Galapagos Islands to help the endangered, giant tortoises that have come down with a rare virus,” he said the moment before he entered the door and shut it behind him.
Mandy just stood there and fumed. “I hope those turtles eat you alive, you skinny, pretentious prick,” she muttered to herself.
Sam laughed loudly after hearing that remark. Then she realized that Clover, Alex, and Jerry’s eyes were all piercing through her with nasty stares. “Ummm… Yeah, what a horrible thing to say.”
“Indeed,” Jerry agreed.
On the video, Mandy walked back to her locker, looking pretty upset. She flung open the door and it banged against the metal of the adjacent locker. The locker door then swung back and stopped to block the view of exactly what she was messing with in her locker. The video then suddenly changed to static.
“And that’s when the interruption in our surveillance footage took place,” Jerry explained.
“Ok, but who’s the last suspect,” Alex asked curiously.
“Very good question, Alex.” He pressed a button, and the screen switched to the familiar portrait of a girl with smooth cocoa colored skin, a dark bowl-like hairdo, and a pretty, cute face.
Sam, Clover, and Alex’s jaws dropped open.
“Alexandra Vasquez. Age 17. 5 foot 4. 112 pounds. Biological child of Hector Vasquez, a prosecuting attorney, and Carmen Guerrero, the founder of True Match Online Dating Service. Step child of Shawn Hart, a door to door salesman. A very modest student but an efficient problem solver if put under pressure. Excels at most athletic activities and has significantly higher than average agility. Highly skilled in several martial arts including karate, judo, kick-boxing, and Kung-WOOHP. A WOOHP agent for 3 years. Assigned to team mates, Clover Ewing and Samantha Simpson. Elevated to Super Spy status after 2 and a half years of service. Mission success rate is 87.9 percent,” Jerry said, finally finishing reading her file.
“Meeeeeee?” Alex asked, shocked as her eyes started to water up.
“What kind of tea are you drinking?” Clover shouted angry. “Alex would never hurt anyone in a million years!”
“I agree,” Sam said. “Don’t you know us well enough to trust us? This is completely ridiculous.”
“I do trust you. I apologize Alex, but this suspicion is based on the cold, hard facts deduced by the analysis of the video by our WOOHP super computers. Here I’ll show you.” The image on the screen changed to video recorded by another camera hidden inside Beverly Hills High School. “This is the shop class in room 113 in which you were supposed to be attending. Your seat is the 2nd from the left in the 3rd row from the front. As you can see, your seat is clearly empty.”
“I thought you said you were going to shop class, Alex,” Sam told her.
“I was. Honest. I just realized I left my wood-carving project in my room so I ran back home before class started. I got it, but then I accidentally tripped and dropped it down a drain on the way back. It was shaped like a bunny, I swear,” she pleaded. “You guys believe me right?” She asked.
“Of course we do,” Sam said as she put a hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah, like you even need to ask,” Clover said as she rubbed her other shoulder comfortingly. “We know you’d never do anything wrong, especially to David of all people. Its not your fault some people are getting senile.”
“Hmmm.” Jerry scrunched his lips up. “There’s one problem with that story. We checked the satellite video and there’s no trace of Alex leaving the building or walking to or from your villa during that time span.”
Alex gave a really guilty expression as everyone stared at her for an explanation. She then reached into the back pocket of her shorts and then held out a beautiful gold ring with a very large, glimmering diamond. “This is why no one saw me,” she said sheepishly.
Jerry walked up and raised Alex’s hand while she still held the ring and got a closer look at it. “It’s the WOOHP Diamond Invisibility Shield!” he exclaimed. “How did you get this? It hasn’t even made it to the testing stage yet.”
“Wellllll…. I kinda begged Ricky from R&D until he let me borrow it for a while.”
“Well, I’ll be borrowing it back now,” Jerry said as he snapped the ring back from her fingers. “You know taking gadgets this early in the development cycle for personal use is strictly against WOOHP policy. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“I’m really, really sorry, Jerry. Being invisible just sounded so cool, and it was such a pretty ring. I couldn’t help myself. I knew what I did was wrong. You can do anything you want to me, just please don’t punish Ricky. It’s not really his fault, and I kinda like him too,” Alex admitted, blushing a bit.
“Well, since this is your first infraction, Alex, I will try to over look it as long as nothing like this ever happens again. As for Richard, he is a great asset to WOOHP, but he should’ve known better. I may have to dock his pay for this.”
“Wait, you actually pay people?” Clover asked, shocked.
“Ok, time for gadgets!” Jerry yelled, quickly changing the subject. “GLADIS?”
“Today’s gadgets will be the Heat-Sensor 6000 Infrared Sunglasses and the Ice-Queen Perfume,” the electronic, female voice of GLADIS, the computer, explained. Two long metallic arms than came down from the ceiling and dropped the sunglasses and vials of perfume into Sam and Clover’s laps.
“Where’s my gadgets?” Alex asked.
“I’m sorry but I do not aid and abed potential criminals,” GLADIS answered, her robotic, monotone voice giving off as much sass as possible.
“I’m sorry, but I agree with GLADIS. Your alibi appears to be sound, but I must see if Richard, the records of your shop class, and probably even the sewer corroborate your story before I can give you gadgets again. I’m also going to have to ask you for your x-powder.”
“Ok.” Alex handed it over and then stared down at the floor, feeling humiliated from the whole ordeal.
“You still haven’t explained exactly what our mission is, Jerry,” Sam told him.
“Your mission is simply to attend school normally as if David had never disappeared, investigate the suspects, and keep a keen eye out for any clues. There is a possibility that the perpetrator may strike again, so be ready. Because of the danger of this situation and because I thought you would be short-handed due to Alex being a suspect, I went ahead and arranged for a top WOOHP agent to assist you with the investigation. I believe you know him already,” Jerry said, grinning as a tall, muscular, incredibly handsome, young man with brunette hair and a blue WOOHP uniform walked into the room.
“Dean!” All three girls cheered joyously before they ran up and hugged him.
“Ladies, ladies, one at a time. There’s enough Dean to go around for everybody. Believe me, I’m happy to see you again too.”
“For this investigation Dean will be working undercover as a new transfer at your school,” Jerry explained.
“And don’t worry, when the Dean Machine is on the scene, the case will come clean,” he said, oozing confidence.
Sam removed herself from him. “I think you mean the case will be closed or solved, Dean. There’s no such thing as a case coming clean.”
“What you said was so cool because it rhymed,” Alex said as she nuzzled against his broad shoulder.
Clover stared into the glass, admiring the girl with the beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes who continued to look back at her. “Hey, sexy,” she said as she winked at her. She then puckered her lips to finish applying her pink lip-stick. That’s when she noticed another familiar face had appeared in the bath-room mirror, and she didn’t look very happy. “What’s wrong Alex?”
“Sam’s been real quite all night, Clover. I think she’s really upset about David.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. It looks like she’s taking it pretty hard. She even said she wanted to stay in tonight instead of going out. You should go talk to her. I don’t think you two should be mad at each other right now.”
“Ok,” Clover agreed. She finished applying her make-up and then walked through the hall way, down the stairs, and into the living room to see Sam staring silently ahead at the tv screen. She didn’t look too engrossed in what she was watching though. In fact, she looked like she was deep in thought and pretty distraught.
“Hi, Sam.”
“Hi,” she replied without much enthusiasm. She didn’t even turn her head to look at her.
“I’m about to go on my date tonight, and I thought maybe we could talk first.”
“I’m guessing it’s not with Arnold,” Sam said cynically.
“No, I was gonna go out with Kenny from Chemistry. But if I take out Arnold instead will you maybe not be mad at me anymore?”
“Well, it would be a start,” Sam said, finally looking at her.
“Listen, Sam, after I saw myself up there on the screen like that I felt humiliated. Thinking back now, I’m ashamed about what I did. I should’ve never gone behind your back like that. I’m really sorry. Will you please forgive me?”
“Well, I was thinking about it too. You have a right to ask out David as much as I do. It was wrong for me to have gotten mad about that. But we should be honest with each other. You don’t need to lie to me about something like that. But now that you’ve apologized, yes, I do forgive you.” Sam managed to curl her lips up into a small smile to try to demonstrate the fact, but to Clover she still looked depressed.
Clover responded by running up and wrapping her arms around her in a warm hug. “Sam, you’re my best friend, and I love you. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“Its ok, Clover. I love you too, even if we do fight sometimes,” she said as she hugged her back.
“Hey, you want me to stay home tonight? We could watch movies and order Tai food.”
“No, its ok. I think Arnold deserves at least one date, especially after Tara beat him up like that.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Plus do a little investigating. He is a suspect as hard as that is to believe.”
“Sure, no problem, but you really don’t have a date tonight?”
“No.”
“I could give you some digits, I have plenty,” Clover offered.
“No, its ok. I just don’t feel like going out tonight. I can stay home one night. It’s not a big deal.”
“Well, all right. You’re really worried about David, aren’t you?”
Sam hesitated for a moment before she finally answered, “Yeah.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back if it’s the last thing I do,” Clover said, raising a clamped fist.
“I’m sure we will.”
“Well, I guess I better call Kenny to tell him the bad news and then call Arnold,” she said, her disinterest in the last part extremely apparent. “You just try to have a good night Sammy. I’ll see you when I get home. Hopefully, that’s as soon as possible.”
“Sure thing, Clover.”
Clover then extracted her cell phone from her purse, flipped it open, and pressed a few buttons to make the call. “Hi Kenny… Yeah, ummm, about tonight, I just remembered I’m busy… I’m washing my hair… Sorry, maybe some other time. Bah bye,” she said before she cut him off.
She then called Arnold’s number which was saved in her phone’s memory for easy access to homework answers. “Hello, Arnold… Yes, it’s me Clover… You doing anything tonight, of course not, but can you still walk?… Damn… Well, put on the least embarrassing thing you have, we’re going out tonight…. Yes, really… No, this is not a joke, but I’m telling your right now I’m not going to be caught dead in the stupid observatory,” Clover said. She kept barking commands at him through the phone as she walked out the door.
Alex, who had been watching the entire scene unfold from on top of the stairs, came down, stopped in front of Sam, and smiled at her. “Thanks, Sam”
“Thanks for what, Alex?”
“For being yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t know how good of a person Clover would be if you weren’t always there to bring her back down to earth. You know, not everyone is lucky enough to have someone like you.”
“Thanks Alex. I think you give me too much credit though. Clover’s really not that bad.”
“Of course she isn’t.” Alex put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and continued to smile warmly at her. “Ok, I’m going out on my date now. Just try to cheer up, ok Sam? Don’t worry, we’ll get David back.”
“I’m sure we will. Have fun, ok? I’ll be all right.”
She waved at her friend who waved back and then passed through the front door. Sam couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty from lying to Alex and Clover like that. David’s disappearance had upset her, but something else had very much been on her mind.
She turned off the tv and then solemnly marched up the stairs and down the hall to her room. She then sat down into her comfy recliner in which she had spent countless hours studying. She wanted to try to think again, except this time not about math or science.
She glanced over at the digital clock on her dresser. It read 7:05. Then she heard her voice again, reminding her, “If you decide yes, give me a call sometime before eight.” Just hearing that voice again in her head gave her a rush. She had found it annoying before, but somehow it sounded different now. It was still nasally, but it also held a very cute and sexy element to it. Soon other things she had said to her during Chemistry re-entered her mind, “We’ll get so close to each other, it’ll be like we’re even more than friends… I also want you to know that I feel the exact, same way about you, Sam… I can’t stand seeing someone as cute, smart, and beautiful as you go to waste.”
She put her hand on her chest and could feel the very strong thumping rhythm of her heart. She then moved it to her cheek and it felt warm, and she could feel the sweat from her palm. In fact her whole body felt like it had been taken over by a pleasant, warm, intoxicating sensation. She then relived how the caress of Mandy’s slender fingers and the stare she gave her with those deep, purple eyes made her feel like she was going to melt into the floor. She had liked many guys before, but somehow her moments with them weren’t quite the same. The attention she had received from Mandy for that short while had made her feel like the most special girl in the world. It didn’t seem logical at all. With all the nasty things she had done in the past, she shouldn’t make her feel this way, but some how none of that seemed to matter anymore. All that seemed to matter was being able to share something like that with her again.
Then suddenly her euphoria was crashed by Clover’s voice entering her head, “Sam, if you work with Mandy, I swear I’m not talking to you for the rest of the day,” and then again, “I don’t know why you are defending that skank… and now my best friend is turning traitor on me, huh?” Many earlier instances of Clover exploding over Mandy’s antics and Clover and Alex vocalizing their hatred for the girl flooded back into her memory. In fact, their hatred for Mandy seemed stronger than the disdain they had for any of their enemies they fought as spies.
Then she heard her own words she had said not too long ago, “But we should be honest with each other.” How could she ever be honest to them about liking Mandy like that? It seemed unfathomable. If she tried to keep it a secret, what if they were to find out? How would they react? She had been best friends with Clover and Alex almost as far back as she could remember. She loved them dearly. They were even closer to her than her own family. Could her friendship with them possibly end over something like this?
Despite these worries that were gnawing at her stomach, she couldn’t help feeling that insatiable, warm feeling blanket over her again when she thought about Mandy. What Mandy had said about the looks Sam gave her was true. Her beauty and her distinctive allure had often stolen her attention. And now that she had admitted it to herself, she begun to realize this wasn’t just a recent occurrence. She could begin to feel that these emotions traveled back further than that. But how long had she admired her? Months? Years? Since the first time she saw her?
She wasn’t quite sure what the answer was yet, but a history of crush was beginning to bubble its way back up from her subconscious. Perhaps it had been pushed down into the dark depths or her mind due to despair it could never be acted on or paranoia that someone else would find out. Maybe she had joined in on the hatred of Mandy as a defense to keep these feelings at bay. Either way, she could feel a great longing coming back into her heart, a longing to be with Mandy.
Sam glanced at her clock again and was shocked to see it read 7:57. Had she really been sitting here thinking for that long? Her heart started pounding again, but this time out of panic. She looked over at the cell-phone on her dresser and then at her cordless phone on the night-stand. They both seemed like a million miles away.
Finally, she got up, went to the night stand, and picked the cordless handset up off of the base. She then stared at it in her hand. What was Mandy’s number? She hadn’t even bothered to find out. She started to panic some more, but then some how all the digits to Mandy’s phone number almost magically appeared in her head one by one. Why did she know it? She must’ve read it from the school phone-book at some point in the past. That was the only explanation.
However, when she looked down at the numbers on the phone, suddenly visions of Clover and Alex’s faces materialized and forlornly stared back up at her almost begging her not to do it. She turned away from them to look back at her clock again. It read 7:59. She reached forward with a terribly trembling finger and inched it closer and closer to the pad. It touched the key for the number 3, but she hesitated in actually pressing it in. She wanted to press it so badly, but whenever she tried it was like some invisible force was holding her finger back.
Instead, she looked at the clock and it was 8:00. The phone dropped to the ground, and two trails of tears began pouring down her cheeks. She collapsed onto her bed and buried her head into her pillow which soon became damp with tears. Maybe tomorrow things would go back to being normal. Maybe some how she would be able to forget the whole thing had ever happened and go on with her life. Right now, however, it really hurt.
To Be Continued