The Ghost of Lizard's Rock (17 page)

School dances are a big
deal in Tiny, especially, school dances to celebrate the start of
the new football season. Usually seventh and eighth grade dances
take place in our gym in the afternoon. Some of the gym lights are
turned off and the student council plays CDs that students bring
in. You can buy your way out of class for the last two periods of
the day, but they are usually pretty lame or so says Eric. No
matter what, it’s better than being in class so nobody complains
too loudly.

Tonight is different! The
dance is actually at night, starting at 7:00 p.m. and ending at
10:00 p.m. Even better, it is the only dance of the year when the
high school and the middle school combine. Everyone in town from
the seventh grade to twelfth grade will be there. There will be a
real DJ, special lights, decorations and everything.

Unfortunately for seventh
and eighth graders, we have to live through the embarrassment of
being signed in and out by our parents, but at least we get to go
to a real dance!

This dance is a really big
deal to most students. It pretty much solidifies s your social
status for the year.

The night begins with the
introduction of the football team in full uniform, followed by the
high school cheerleaders - pompoms and all.

This is going to be a huge
night for Eric as well. He is the first ninth grader ever to make
first string at the high school. Luckily for Eric, everyone likes
him. There is already a line up of girls following him everywhere
he goes - even eleventh and twelfth grade girls are flirting with
him.

“
Hey!” exclaimed Eric as
he tried to brace himself for the impact of me charging into
him.

I bounced off his chest,
stumbled backward, and fell into Allie who had been blindly
following my lead.

Eric let me go ahead and
fall to the floor, but easily reached out and caught Allie in mid
air. He held onto to her until she managed to steady herself,
before he let his hand fall from her waist… it was then that he
actually offered his hand to pull me up off the floor.

Eric looked back at Allie,
“You okay?”

Allie turned a million
shades of pink and purple while staring up into Eric’s
face.

Eric repeated, “You’re
Allie, right?” He turned to face her properly.

“Um…ya…hi.” Allie managed
to mumble while still staring into his eyes.

“No time for this,” I
grabbed Allie and yanked her out the front door, “We’re off to see
G.G.”

Allie’s head was still
turned toward Eric as I pulled her along behind me.

“Tell mom we’ll be back in
time for supper.”

Allie was still a shade of
light pink as we made our way up to the front door of Grandma
Grace’s house.

“G.G.,” I pushed the front
door open. “I need your fashion and make-up help.”

“I’m in here Kati,” said
Grandma Grace from the living room. “I just finished up my Pilates
DVD.” G.G. added with a giggle, “Gotta keep up my girlish
figure.”

I grabbed Allie’s arm and
pulled her into the living room with me.

“What do you think?”
Grandma Grace was on her feet and did a twirl for our inspection.
“I just picked up this set the other day - Lululemon yoga pants. I
thought they would inspire me to work out more.”

Without missing a beat or
even taking a breath G.G. continued, “You must be Allie.” She
walked over to Allie and took her gently by the hand, “So nice to
see you again. I stopped by your house the first afternoon you
moved to Tiny. I think you were in the back yard with the little
guys.”

Allie looked frozen and
slightly confused.

Grandma Grace tended to
have that effect on people. She was truly a teenager trapped in a
grandma’s body. G.G. was always trying the newest diet or exercise
trend in a determined effort to maintain her girlish figure. She
didn’t talk like a typical grandma either. Grandma Grace could
sound perfectly formal one minute and like a 13 year old, depending
on the situation.

As for following G.G.’s
thought process; that got some getting used to, especially if she
was excited. This afternoon, she was excited. You would think it
was her that was going to the dance the way she spun into
action.

“I’ve been waiting for you
all day. I can’t believe the big dance is tonight. Aren’t you
excited?” She continued babbling along, as she moved from the
living room to the kitchen and back again, not really noticing or
caring that as she left the room we couldn’t hear what she was
saying.

“It’s a new recipe,” said
G.G., as she returned with several cans of diet Coke and some
freshly baked brownies. “They’re supposed to be low in fat and very
healthy.” She sat the plate down in front of us. “What do you
think? I was a bit surprised when the recipe called for kidney
beans but you have to make sacrifices to look fabulous.”

“They look great,” I said
grabbing a brownie off the plate and passing one to Allie who was
still looking a bit confused. “We need your help. Hair, make up,
clothing…basically the works.”

G.G. went into high gear
like a kid at Christmas. Soon, Allie and I had our hair blown out
and shinning, as if we were in a hair commercial. Our make up was
subtle but perfect.

Allie transformed from a
looking like a little kid to resembling a magical pixie with huge
moon eyes and porcelain skin. It was only after it was all done,
that G.G. presented Allie with a reflection of her new self in the
mirror.

Allie stared into the
mirror without saying a word. For a split second, I thought she was
going to cry. Then without saying a word she reached out and very
gently touched the cold surface of the mirror. Her fingertips
traced down the reflection of her cheek and stopped on her
lips.

“Dear,” said G.G. softly,
“you look absolutely beautiful!”

Allie reached for a gold
locket hanging around her neck and opened it. Inside was a tiny
picture of a young woman. Allie glanced down at it with a sad smile
on her lips and then turned to show it to G.G. “I look like…”
Allie’s voice trailed off as she fought off the tears.

“Allie,” said G.G., “You
look exactly like your mother. She would be amazed at what a
beautiful young lady you have become.” Grandma Grace pulled Allie
toward her and held her tightly.

Allie hugged G.G. in
return, “Thank you.”

“Now girls,” said Grandma
Grace, “There is something even more important than hair and
make-up – gossip!” And with that statement the quiet sadness
disappeared and Allie looked genuinely happy.

Grandma Grace turned
quickly toward me, “What’s his name?”

I looked up shocked. I had
not said a word about boys to G.G. and I certainly hadn’t said a
single word to anyone about Troy. “Whose name?” I said
questioningly. “What are you talking about G.G.?”

“The boy you have a crush
on of course. The reason you’re so excited about this dance. The
reason you are turning pink right now.” Grandma Grace laughed.
“Spill it! What’s his name?”

Allie burst out laughing
as I went to open my mouth but couldn’t form an answer.

“His name is Troy and he
likes Kati too!” Allie giggled. She was enjoying putting me on the
spot.

“Well, well,” answered
G.G. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Tell me all about him.” Grandma
Grace had a sparkle in her eyes. “And we’ll get to you next so
don’t think you’re getting off that easily.” She continued lightly
as she winked at Allie.

The next hour flew by as
Allie and I re-lived the last week at school, except of course the
picture incident. It was an unspoken agreement that this was not
information to be shared with adults. I recounted every
conversation and interaction I had had with Troy for G.G. to
contemplate and dissect.

We only stopped talking
when the phone rang interrupting our chatter. It was Mom telling us
to get home before the pizza got cold.

“Thanks for everything
G.G.” I gave her a big hug and promised to tell her all about the
dance tomorrow evening. I gathered up our things and headed for the
front door.

Allie quickly hugged
Grandma Grace again without saying a word.

G.G. looked down at Allie,
“I want to hear all the details…” Grandma Graced winked at her,
“both of you!”

Allie nodded her head,
“I’d like that.” She smiled softly as her fingers touched her
locket.

G.G. nodded her head and
whatever unspoken understanding existed between the two of them, it
seemed to bring out happiness in Allie that I hadn’t seen
before.

“Well, look at you two,”
said Mom as we entered the kitchen. “G.G. has worked her magic
again. You both look absolutely gorgeous.”

Mom turned toward the
stairway and called Eric down for some pizza. He bounded down the
stairs two at a time and into the room before he remembered that
Allie was here too.

Eric froze when he saw
Allie standing by the table. All he had on was the bottom half of
his uniform and no shirt. Eric tilted his head slightly, as he took
a more careful look at Allie.

In an instant, Allie
turned beet red.

I quickly realized that I
wasn’t the only one who grew up this summer. Between standing
nearly six foot tall, a summer of football camp and daily
practices, had given Eric a more manly body than the typical ninth
grader.

“Eric!” I exclaimed
grabbing one of his clean t-shirts out of the laundry basket
sitting on the counter and tossing it at him. “Sorry,” I shrugged
to Allie. “This is what you get to look forward to with brothers,”
I continued with an eye roll.

“Um, ya” Allie said taking
her seat at the table and being extra careful not to look in Eric’s
direction. She mumbled under her breath, “Brothers.”

“Whatever,” replied Eric,
pretending to ruffle my carefully styled hair. “You love me and you
know it.”

“Kids,” Mom interrupted.
“Eat up. It’s time to go.”

I looked up at the clock
and back at Allie. It was ten minutes before seven. Suddenly, the
fantasy of going to the dance had become very real.

The car ride to school was
not nearly as long as the bus ride which would normally be a good
thing but as we pulled up to the front of the school, I realized
that it was not nearly long enough. The butterflies in my stomach
were beginning to flutter at full force.

Mom turned the car engine
off, “Let’s get you girls all signed in.”

We walked down the
sidewalk to the front door. All the hallways had been blocked off
so students couldn’t wonder in the hallways.

Eric quickly joined some
of his friends by the door. He was lucky that he didn’t have to
have Mom sign him in.

I quickly saw a table with
Mr. Anders sitting at it. I figured it was the sign in
table.

I wondered if some of the
seventh and eighth graders would try to sneak in without having
their parents sign in. My question was answered almost immediately
as the principal walked by grasping an eighth grader in each of her
hands.

“Let’s go to my office and
give your parents a call,” said Ms. Kelly with a smile on her
face.

“Good evening girls,” said
Mr. Anders. He smiled at Allie and me, and then pointed for the
place where Mom signed in. “You girls look very nice
tonight.”

Allie and I both said
thank you very quietly.

“See you at 10 o’clock
girls,” said Mom as she turned to walk out of the building. “Have
fun!”

I nodded at my mom and
then turned to Allie, “Ready?”

“No.” replied Allie
quickly.

“Me either.” I gulped with
a smile. “Let’s go.”

I’m not quite sure what I
expected, but it seemed each grade level was grouped in the
different parts of the gym except for the eleventh and twelfth
graders; they were all together at the end opposite to the DJ and
the giant music speakers. I could see quite a few of the seventh
graders gathering on the far side of the floor.

The music had already
started, but no one ventured out on the floor.

Allie bumped into my
shoulder and nodded her head toward the doorway. Oliver, Dan, and
Jacob were making their way through the students crowded together
near the entrance.

Oliver reached inside his
shirt and pulled out his multi-colored hat and red sunglasses; and
quickly put them on. He looked our way with his mischievous ‘Oliver
grin’.

“Mr. Jackson,” said a firm
voice from behind him. The voice took his hat and sunglasses
quickly from his head.

“Hey!” Oliver turned his
head quickly to see who had taken his hat and
sunglasses.

“These will be at the
front desk waiting for your mother when she checks you out at the
end of the dance tonight,” Ms. Kelly looked down upon Oliver with
her principal look. “Do you have any problems with that Mr.
Jackson?”

“No ma’am,” answered
Oliver.

“I didn’t think so,” said
Ms. Kelly as she walked away. She had Oliver’s number and he knew
it.