Last Chance (16 page)

April grabbed both of the boys around the shoulders and added the obvious. “Now all we have to do is convince her to give that charm to one of you.”

Matthew looked to a calendar that was hanging on the wall and said, “We have one more week to do it.”

April looked at the calendar and said, “I let this place get the best of me. All the freedom, all the options, I just let it get to me. No more. We’re not here to make friends. We’re not here to win the big game. We’re not here to join the community. We’re here to get that charm from Amanda Curry, and that is what we’re going to do.”

The Chances headed to bed on the night of the Eastview Fall Fling and knew that a lot of work was still ahead, but they also knew that the attribute charm was within reach. Visions of Amanda Curry filled the thoughts of Matthew Chance on this night. He wanted to know what she was thinking and he wanted to know why he felt so strongly about her. Connor may have taken her to the dance, but he wasn’t the one who protected her. If only Matthew knew what was to come.

Chapter 12

mirror mirror

“Matthew. Matthew, wake up!”

Matthew rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock in his bedroom. “Come on Mom, we were up until three a.m. Let me sleep until nine.”

April pulled the cover from Matthew’s bed and explained her rude sleep interruption. “Amanda Curry is waiting for you in our living room. She wants to take you to the morning parade downtown.”

Matthew sat up in the bed and said, “I’m sure she asked for Connor, not me.”

April rummaged through Matthew’s clothes and corrected him. “No, she specifically asked for you. Now get dressed and get out there.” She threw Matthew a T-shirt and a fairly clean pair of jeans. “I’ll keep her busy while you get ready.” Connor rolled over in his bed, oblivious to Matthew’s actions.

“It’s very nice to see you again, Amanda.” Ms. Chance offered the young girl a drink and something for breakfast, but Amanda turned down both. April sat on the couch beside the lovely cheerleader and noticed the square charm on a chain around her neck.

Amanda observed the strange look and asked, “Is there something wrong, Ms. Chance?”

April averted her eyes and replied, “Oh no, I was just noticing the lovely necklace around your neck.” April’s voice had cracked while making the comment.

Amanda grasped the charm with her hand and said, “Yeah, this necklace has been in my family for years. I’ve had my eyes on it since I was a little girl and my mother finally gave it to me as a present for my sixteenth birthday.”

April regrouped and complimented her young guest. “It’s just lovely. You should be proud to wear it. I would think you would only give that up to someone very special.”

Amanda replied, “They would have to be very special.”

Matthew emerged from his room and saw his mother and Amanda chatting it up. Amanda heard him walk up and said, “So, are you ready to go?”

Matthew asked, “Where exactly do you want to go?”

Amanda explained that the town always threw a fall parade on the Saturday after one of the early football games and today was that day. Amanda said that she felt bad about what had happened last night, so she wanted to show Matthew that the entire town wasn’t as bad as a few football players. “We really need to get going; it starts in about ten minutes.”

Matthew looked back to his bedroom and asked, “What about Connor? I can get him up and he can go with us.”

Amanda stood up from the couch, confused. “I figured he would barely be able to move after what Trey did to him last night, much less be able to stand up and watch a parade.”

Matthew realized that Amanda was right. If Connor hadn’t been wearing the Hathmec, he would be laid up for days. “Oh yeah, you’re right; he needs his rest.”

Amanda replied, “OK then. I have my parent’s truck, so I can drive us.”

Matthew and Amanda jumped into Mr. Curry’s black pickup truck with rolling wave designs on the door. It was a perfect morning for a parade. No rain, no fog, and no football players were around to ruin it. You could smell the fall dew on the ground and see hazy footprints in the grass in the early morning hour.

April woke up Connor and argued with him about going to the parade. “You should be in the hospital after the beating you took last night. You have to lay low for a few days.”

Connor was upset that Matthew had left with Amanda. “She went to the dance with
me
. I should be going to the parade with her.”

She replied, “Matthew has it covered. I saw the attribute charm.”

Connor pulled the fake charm that Walter had sent with them from his backpack and asked, “Did it look like this?”

April held the fake charm in her hand, studied it, and replied, “Exactly like this.”

Connor asked, “What do we do now?”

“You’re gonna stay here and I’m heading to the parade. I can keep an eye on Matthew.” April grabbed her bag and made her way out the door. Connor fumed for a few minutes and headed back to his room.

“Wow, I didn’t realize there were this many people in Travis.” Matthew took in the crowds that lined the streets of downtown. He watched the local churches and community groups pull their floats of papier-m
â
ch
é
down the street. He also saw a stream of fire trucks, old cars, and school bands parading down the middle of the road.

Matthew asked, “Who are the people on that float?”

Amanda told him that those lovely ladies were the winners of the fall beauty pageant. “They’re the winners in the sixteen-to-eighteen-year-old division. See, Beth was a runner-up.”

Matthew looked to the lovely blonde and confidently announced, “Well, I don’t see how they could have a beauty pageant without the prettiest girl in Travis.” Amanda’s cheeks turned red, but before she could respond, Matthew added, “Of course, you’re a nice person, so you probably don’t compete in all of them—just to give other girls a chance to win.”

Amanda shook her head no and said, “Please, I am not the prettiest girl in town. I’m also not nice enough to let other people win.”

Matthew and Amanda made their way around downtown for most of the morning and talked about school, family, and getting out of Travis. “I can’t wait to graduate. I’m gonna get into college, somewhere out of state, like Florida.”

Matthew wondered why she was so determined to leave Travis. “You’ll be leaving your family and your friends; doesn’t that bother you?”

Amanda explained that most of her friends would end up marrying someone way too soon after school, get stuck in a dead-end job, and the highlight of their year would be the local football games and parades. “I want more. I can be someone important.” Matthew agreed that doing something important was a good goal, but he was also starting to figure out how important family could be.

“Don’t get me wrong; I love my parents and my little brother. I mean, he can be a real pain in the butt, but I still love him.” She went on to explain that just because she wanted to get out of Travis, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss her family. “I’m sure you can understand what I mean; it’s the same as how you would feel leaving your mom and brother.”

Matthew replied, “I don’t think the dynamic at my house is quite the same as yours.”

Amanda grabbed Matthew’s hand and pulled him toward the sidewalk. “Let’s test the theory then.”

Matthew, puzzled by the request, asked, “How do you propose we do that?”

She replied, “Come over to my house tonight around five and eat dinner with me and my family. We’re having homemade spaghetti and my mom’s a great cook.”

Amanda gave Matthew the directions to her house and asked if he wanted to go to a movie after dinner. She pointed to the movie complex located downtown and explained that she had wanted to see this movie for weeks. Matthew tried to hold back the huge grin that had already flooded his face, but he was unsuccessful. This would be a great opportunity to find out more about Amanda.

Downtown Travis was beginning to clear out as the parade ended. The town’s main street emptied and the normal flow of traffic started to fill the streets. April had followed Matthew and Amanda for most of the morning, only stopping to admire the canopied shops along the parade route. It was the typical eighties small southern town. There was a library on the corner and a video rental place at the end of the block. April could smell the detergent being used at the local coin-op laundry, and she loved the mural on the exposed brick wall of the downtown electronics store.

She walked up behind the two kids as they passed the local pharmacy and asked, “Did you enjoy the parade?”

Amanda turned to see Matthew’s mom and replied, “Yes, ma’am, it was even better than last year’s.”

Matthew told April that he was invited to Amanda’s to eat with her family. She replied, “That sounds great. I’ll be helping Connor tonight anyway. His face still hurts and he’s all swollen, so I may have to fix soft food for a few days.”

She glanced over to the library and noticed a familiar face in the crowd. Matthew could tell that his mother had lost her train of thought and tried to pull her back to the conversation. “Mom is something wrong?”

She hesitated for a moment and said, “That man standing by the library.”

Matthew looked and saw the man. “Is that Keith Kellington?”

Amanda asked, “Who’s Keith Kellington?”

Matthew played it cool. “He’s just a guy that we know from Georgia. I’m sure that’s not him though; just someone who looks like him.” Matthew took Amanda by the hand and pulled her over to the side. “Why don’t you head on home and let your mom and dad know that I’ll be coming to dinner tonight. Since Mom’s here, she can give me a ride back home.”

April heard what Matthew had said and added, “We should get back and check on Connor.” Amanda agreed and told April good-bye. She also checked one last time with Matthew to make sure he was coming to dinner.

He replied, “Absolutely! I’ll be there around five.”

Amanda walked off toward her truck, which was parked behind the line of downtown stores. Matthew and April watched to see what the man by the library did next. “He’s going to the parking lot.”

April and Matthew made their way around the backside of the pharmacy and saw the man make his way toward Amanda’s truck. April told Matthew to stay behind the wall and left to cut off the man.

She waved her arms around and yelled to the man, “Excuse me! Excuse me!”

The man stopped his forward movement and turned to April. Obviously frustrated, the man asked her, “Yes, what do you want?”

April kept a good distance and said, “I’m sorry to bother you sir, but I just know that we’ve met before.” April wanted to distract the man and determine his name. She described a man that she had met a few years ago in Georgia that helped her with her groceries.

“You were so nice to me and I never got the chance to properly thank you for your help.”

He replied, “I believe you are mistaken, ma’am. I’ve never been to Georgia.”

April continued the charade. “Of course you have, Steve. Don’t you remember the Quick Stop on Highway 70?” Amanda’s truck pulled out of the parking lot and the man threw down a piece of paper in disgust.

He moved within inches of April and said, “Look, lady, my name is not Steve, it’s Keith, and I’ve never met you before.”

Matthew kept a close eye on what was happening and prepared himself to jump in if the man made any threatening moves toward his mother. He saw the man walk away, and April made her way back to the wall behind the pharmacy. “What happened? Do you know who it is?”

April shook her head. “Yeah, it’s Keith Kellington.”

Matthew walked around in a circle and asked, “Has he followed us into the past?”

Matthew paced around and April grabbed him by the arm. “This isn’t the Keith Kellington that we met back home. I think this is the Keith Kellington from 1984, who doesn’t have a clue we exist.”

Matthew held his Hathmec and said, “Wow, he looks the same two hundred years later. This thing really works.”

April gave the signal to head back to the car. “Let’s get home and check on Connor. You’ve got a date to get ready for.”

Matthew asked, “What do you think Keith’s doin’ here?” April assumed that he must be a part of Evan’s team that took the charm from Amanda.

Matthew got into the car and reasoned, “Something must have changed; we still have six days before the charm’s taken.”

April started the car and said, “Maybe she didn’t go to this parade the first time.”

“What should we do?”

April replied, “We just have to be careful.”

Matthew and his mother returned to their home to find that Connor had been busy. He had placed the remaining contents of the gadget bag on the living room floor. “What are you doing? I told you not to mess with that stuff until I had a chance to go through it.”

Connor, a smug look on his face answered, “Since Matthew’s busy with my girl, I thought I would go ahead and see what other goodies Walter sent with us.”

April picked up what looked like a roll of duct tape and questioned its use. Connor took the roll of tape and peeled a small piece from it and placed it on the couch.

Matthew looked at the tape, unimpressed, and asked, “So that’s it?” Connor sat down on the couch and placed his hand on the tape.

“Where did he go?” asked April. She and Matthew could no longer see Connor, but they could hear him.

“It’s called camotape. I blend in to the couch as long as I touch the tape.” Connor removed his hand from the tape and he reappeared.

Matthew took the roll and expressed his excitement. “This could really come in handy.”

April looked at the piece on the couch. “I don’t know; it seems a little weird to me.”

Matthew noticed a pair of sunglasses lying on the coffee table and put them on. He could no longer see anything in front of him, only his bedroom. Connor jumped up and ran into the bedroom. “Can you see me?”

Matthew replied, “Yeah, I can see and hear you.” Connor came back into the living room and removed the glasses from Matthew’s face.

“They’re called mirror glasses. All you have to do is look at something, like the clock in our room, and tap the lens.”