BeSwitched, Paranormal Romance (9 page)

Chrissy had lied to Surla. She really didn’t care about football. It was just a way to try and get Cathy away from Craig. Chrissy was afraid for her. She knew how jealous Tiffany could get. The marching band in the middle of the field was also annoying her. All the drumming over and over was droning on her mind. Soon she was in a daydream. Her wide brown eyes stared ahead as she took the last bite of her hot dog.

“Hey
, girls,” she heard a guy call, breaking her gaze. It was Todd, re-energized from half-time. Being the star quarterback took a lot of sweat and Chrissy could see it across his forehead. His helmet dangled in his right hand.

“Oh, hi
, Todd!” Tiffany smiled. “How ya doin’? You looked really good out there and because of
you
we’re winning.”

“Yeah, it’s been a good game so far,” he said
, looking at all the people around them. Chrissy could tell he wasn’t in the mood for chit chat. He was looking for someone. “But, uh, I just came over to ask if any of you have seen Cathy around.”

“Oh.” Tiffany’s smile faded, then reappeared suddenly. “Oh, yes. I-I did see her a while ago.”

“You did?” He paid full attention to her now. “Where?”

Lisa looked at her friend curiously.

“Yeah,” she continued, “I saw Cathy during the first quarter.” One eyebrow raised. “Some really hot looking guy came and sat next to her. They were talking the whole time. I bet she didn’t pay attention to any of the plays out on the field, ’cause they started their own action, right behind us.”

Todd looked stunned. “Really?!”

“Yep, and soon after the second quarter began, they left together… hand-in-hand.”

Chrissy’s mouth dropped as she turned her head away from the conversation. She knew Tiffany was lying and Todd was believing every word of it.

“Well.” He turned his head also, then looked back. “Thanks for telling me.” Then the red helmet was placed back on his head and he went back toward the field.

“You’re welcome!” Tiffany yelled.

The majorettes started the last performance before the third quarter, twirling their batons in perfect timing and order.

“I can’t believe you told him that.” Chrissy shook her head, but her friends just turned to each other and laughed.

“If only he knew where she really was, huh, Lisa,” Tiffany said.

“Yes. You are sooo bad.” Lisa laughed more.

“Where? Where’s Cathy?” Chrissy asked.

“Nowhere.” Tiffany ignored her
.

“Yeah… in the middle of nowhere,” Lisa said.

“What do you mean?” Chrissy was becoming very worried. She knew they were keeping something awful from her. “Where’s Cathy?”

“Don’t say anything to her,” Tiffany warned Lisa.

“Oh, what’s the big deal? It probably already happened.”

“What?” Chrissy pleaded to know.

“Cathy got abandoned on her date with Craig, with no way to get home, except to walk most of the way.” Lisa laughed as if it were a really funny joke. “Left at a lake.”

“Shut up, Lisa!” Tiffany slapped the girl’s arm.

“And you two were behind this?”

“Yep.” Lisa ignored Tiffany’s demand. “Well, mostly Tiff was.”

“That’s sick… really sick.” Chrissy scooted over a bit. “Look at the weather. There’s rain clouds. What will she do? She could catch pneumonia and the nearest lake is miles from
here.”

“Oh, settle down, Chrissy.” Tiffany took hold of her shoulder. “I always thought you were too much of a ‘goody-goody.’ Only my mom would have been worrying about something like
pneumonia.”

“Really?” Chrissy put on a fake smile and reached for her soda. “Would a ‘goody-goody’ do this?” Orange soda was poured onto the girls’ blanket, immediately soaking to their laps as Chrissy stood up. “I guess there
isn’t
any room for me.” She walked off quickly, not caring to see their response.

“I can’t believe she did that!” she heard Tiffany say, exasperated.

Chrissy jogged over to Todd, who was stretching on the sidelines. “Todd, I need to tell you something.”

He lunged forward, stretching his calves. “What is it?”

“It’s about Cathy.”

“Cathy?” He looked up with more interest. “What is it? I have to go play soon.”

The majorettes were going into their last routine and Chrissy had to hurry up. “Okay.” She brushed her hair behind her ears. “I was sitting with Tiffany and Lisa as you saw earlier, and the truth is Cathy didn’t leave with some cute guy. She didn’t come at all because…”

“Yeah, hurry please.” Todd fixed his knee pads.

“Because Craig took her on a date and…”

“Okay, that’s enough I wanna hear.” He turned away and started walking out on the field with his teammates.

“He left her there, Todd! At a lake, with no way home… as a mean joke!” She called out while the band was drumming to pump up the crowd.

“What?!” He turned quickly, with concern in his eyes.

“Yeah! Meet me at the refreshment stand after the game!”

He nodded and went to his position. Chrissy watched the rest of the game from the opposing school’s side, to be as far away from Tiffany and Lisa as possible. She was sure they saw her talking to Todd.

For the rest of the night, Washington High didn’t score. Todd was obviously distracted thinking about Cathy. His throws were constantly off, and what made it even worse was whenever the team messed up, Chrissy had to hear everyone around her cheer in excitement.

At the lake, Surla was wondering if she and Craig were getting too intimate. They had been kissing for a very long time now.
What would Cathy think? Would she be happy or mad to know what I was doing right now?
But she went along with it still. His hands rubbed up and down her back. It was all okay with her until she felt his fingers working the back of her bra to come off.

“Stop,” Surla said, pulling back.

“What’s the matter?”

“You said I didn’t have to take off any more.”

“You don’t have to…” He smiled. “I’ll take it off for you.”

“What?” She was surprised he would say something like that.

“I said, I’ll take it off for you. You don’t have to do it.”

“Get away fro
m me.” Surla took a couple steps backward, feeling the mushy floor of the lake squish between her toes.

“You aren’t
as mature as I thought you would be.” He walked toward her.

“I said, get away.”

“Cathy.” He reached for her arm.

“Get away!” Surla pushed him off of her, but in the process made herself go back further. The water encircled her neck.

“Fine.” He put up his arms, in a surrendering stance. He then quickly swam to shore, grabbed his clothes, and headed to his car. “I thought you were different than before, Cathy! I wasn’t going to follow through with this, but all you are is a tease!” He turned the key and the ignition started.

“Wait!” Surla knew she had no other way home. “Don’t le
ave! Wait!” But it was too late. Craig sped, like usual, leaving only a cloud of dust.

“Now what can I do?
” She felt short of breath. The first thing she had to do was reach the beach. She was at least thankful she hadn’t stepped back any further.

Slowly, she walked back toward shore, but not before heavy drops were hitting her face. It began raining, like she thought it would, and her body shivered. The drops fell harder and harder, stinging her skin. Her hair matted to her face and neck. When Surla noticed all that was left of her clothes were Cathy’s shoes, she started to cry. Craig was even more rotten than she thought.

“Poor Cathy,” she cried. “I-I shouldn’t h-have been so stupid!” She wiped her face with her forearm, even though the tears blended with the rain.

After the football game ended, Todd and Chrissy met up at the refreshment stand as agreed.

“Did I hear you correctly?” He took off his helmet and brushed a hand through his hair.

“Yes. Cathy is stuck miles away from here at a lake with no way home.” Just then the rain started to pour. “Oh no, what should we do?”

“Did you drive here?”

“No. I just live a couple of blocks away.”

“Okay, good. How about you ride along with me, while we look for this place
? My cell is in the car in case we need to call someone for help.”

The rain made Chrissy’s mascara run. “Okay, sounds good. Let’s hurry.”

Surla hiked through the woods with underwear and shoes as her only covering. Her arms were folded tightly as she consistently trembled. Cathy’s once sparkling blue eyes now looked vacant like a zombie. Surla had stopped crying; sadness was replaced by anger.

It seemed as if she had been trudging through mud for miles before she came upon a phone. It was in a booth of an empty parking lot. Cathy had taught Surla every trick there was about phones the day Craig asked for her phone number.

Her fingers were jittery as she started dialing a collect call, but hung up before finishing. “If I call her mom to pick me up in the middle of nowhere in my underwear because my date abandoned me, that would make her not trust Cathy’s wisdom.” She could dial 911, but even to have an officer see her tricked like that felt too humiliating. Surla contemplated a long time before she thought of someone who she could trust and confide in to help.

It was extremely dark out and the rain made it worse as it slammed against Todd’s windshield. “Craig is a jerk. I could’ve told Cathy he was bad news.” He gripped the steering wheel like it was Craig’s neck.

Chrissy nodded as she helped read road signs. They were headed to Lake Sequoia. “I tried to warn her also. I knew Tiffany was capable of doing something like this. I feel really stupid. I remember when Cathy asked me why I was friends with Tiffany.”

“What did you tell her?”

Chrissy laughed at the foolish comment that was going to come out of her mouth. “I told her because I played Barbie with her when I was just four. I’ve put up with her for a long time.”

“People change,” was his response.

“Yeah, I know. Like Cathy.
She made an incredible change.”

“For the better.” A smile crept on Todd’s face. “The truth is
, though, I always thought Cathy was pretty and nice, but when she came to school a couple weeks ago looking, you know, so different, all I could think was, Wow! She also talks a lot more.”

“That’s cute, Todd.” Chrissy leaned her head on the door’s cold window. They were nearing Lake
Sequoia. The speedometer got higher in anticipation, when suddenly Todd’s cell phone rang. Chrissy’s nerves jumped.

“Hello?” Todd answered.

“Todd?” he heard the faint voice say.

“Yeah, is this Cathy?”

“Yes!” She laughed, happy to have reached him. Surla almost forgot his number. One day while writing notes back and forth in Chemistry class, she slid the folded paper in her lap and opened it so no one could see. It surprised her to find 555-7327 written down. “How did the game go?”

“We lost,” he said quickly. “Where are you, Cathy? I’m here with Chrissy, looking for you. We know what happened.”

Surla’s voice choked up. “You know? How?”

“Don’t cry. We’re coming to get you. Where are you calling from?”

“I-I’m at a vacant gas station, using the payphone. I think it’s at the first station off the exit, by the lake.”

“Okay, we’re not far from there. Do you want to stay on the line with me?”

“Actually, I think I should go. I don’t want anyone to see me. It’s kind of an embarrassing situation. I’ll be hiding behind a bush. You could just honk your horn three times so I know it’s you.”

“Okay, Cath. Stay safe. I’ll be right there.
”

“Thanks, Todd
.”

The blue truck soon pulled up to a small gas station. The parking lot was empty and boards were nailed up in the windows. A sign said, Temporarily CLOSED For Reconstruction.

Honk! Honk! Honk! That was Surla’s signal
, he was there. Chrissy and Todd peered out the rain-splattered windows impatiently. Thunder boomed and lightning that looked like spider webs flashed through the sky.

“Where is she?” Chrissy’s brown eyes searched desperately.

“There’s the only bush I can see.” Todd pointed to a hedge fifteen feet away from a phone-booth.

“Are we at the wrong place?” Chrissy asked, worried.

“I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think so… Maybe I should honk again.” Honk! Honk! Honk! Another ten seconds passed.

“
Where is she?” Todd was tense. “Okay, I’m going to look.” He opened his door. Instantly, sheets of rain poured in and onto the seat. Thunder boomed again, then more lightning.

“Hurry back, Todd! This is scary.” Chrissy said a quick prayer. She saw his shadowed figure run to the hedge. He carefully looked behind it, then dropped to the ground suddenly.