The Fall of Candy Corn (14 page)

Candace nodded. She headed for the cart storage area to pick up her cart, hoping to find Martha running things over there. She was in luck. Martha looked like it had already been a rough time, and Scare hadn't even started for the evening.

“Hey, Candace. Cart five's all ready for you. You're a few minutes early though.”

“I was hoping to talk to you for a second.”

“Shoot,” the older woman said.

“I wanted to help with Sugar Shock.”

“Ha ha. Very funny. Did Gib put you up to this?”

“No,” Candace said, surprised at Martha's reaction. “I saw the flyer and I want to help.”

Martha stared at her hard for a moment, and then a glimmer of what looked like relief showed in her eyes. “Really?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“You know it's during the day on Halloween, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you'll still work Scare?”

“Yes.”

“If you do this, there's no changing your mind. No ‘I'm sorry, Martha, I just can't handle it.' No backing out or calling in sick or quitting.”

“No, of course not,” Candace said. Martha was starting to scare her.

“Bless you!” Martha cried, suddenly throwing her arms around Candace.

“Okay, Martha, now you're really scaring me,” Candace said.

The older woman pulled away and wiped her eyes on the back of her hands. “You have no idea how hard it is to get help running that event,” she said.

“I don't get what the big deal is,” Candace admitted.

“It's probably better that way,” Martha said.

Candace was about to ask her what she meant by that when Martha's radio squawked to life. “Thank you,” Martha said before reaching for it.

Candace nodded and moved toward cart five. This was her second night back on the cart, and in many ways it was like she had never left. Martha's reaction made Candace wonder if volunteering had been a bad idea, especially given all the homework her teachers were assigning. It would probably look really good on her college applications though. Also, she felt bad that no one wanted to help with the kids' event. It seemed like it would be fun.

The cart headed for the History Zone, which was just fine by Candace. She was hoping she'd get a chance to talk to Kurt. The next few weeks were going to be hectic, and there wasn't going to be much chance to see each other.

The cart parked outside the castle. Josh waved to her a few minutes later when he walked inside. Finally Candace saw several umpires head into the area, and she waved to Kurt. He broke off from the group and jogged over.

“Kiss break,” he declared before kissing her.

“I like kiss break,” she said. “I think I need more of them.”

“Tell me about it,” he said. “Things are getting crazy. I have a ton of homework for school.”

“Me too. I was hoping, though, we could do something early next week.”

“Unless you want to meet me on campus for dinner, I'm not sure when or how,” he said.

“I could meet you on campus.”

“You'd do that?” he asked.

“Of course. Just tell me when and where.”

“Cool. Tuesday at five?”

“Works for me.”

“Great, I'll text you and tell you where to meet me,” he said.

“Hey, Kurt, hurry up!” one of the other guys shouted.

“That's my cue,” Kurt said, giving her another quick kiss before running off.

Tuesday at five, Candace checked the text Kurt had sent her cell just to make sure she was in the right place. She was on the bench facing the main doors of Davis Hall, and it didn't seem like there could be any mistaking the location. The campus was a little rundown, and the buildings were cramped together, but there were some lovely green lawn areas and old trees that offered shade.

The doors to Davis Hall opened, and people came streaming out. They ranged in age from sixteen to sixty from the looks of it. She spotted Kurt as he made his way for her.

“Hi!” Kurt said, as she stood up. “Let's go get some food.”

“Sounds good.”

She fell into step beside him.

“How was class?”

“Brutal. It's hard to pay attention to the lecturer. He speaks really softly and laughs at jokes only he gets.”

“At least he laughs,” Candace said, thinking about her monotone history professor.

“I've got to write a paper for his class, and I have no idea how I'm going to pull that off.”

“How long does it have to be?” Candace asked.

“Five pages.”

That didn't sound too bad. “What's it on?” she asked.

“The American Revolution.”

“What about it?”

“Anything about it.”

“Well, that shouldn't be too bad. You know all kinds of stuff about that time period,” she said, still not sure why he thought the assignment was going to be hard.

“It's awful. How am I supposed to figure out what to write about? I mean, they write books on the topic. How am I supposed to write something meaningful in five pages?”

“Maybe it doesn't have to be meaningful,” Candace suggested. “Or maybe you could just pick one thing to write about like a specific battle or one person. You could write about Benjamin Franklin. Of course, I'm not sure that you could use an interview with him in the History Zone as a resource,” she joked.

“It's not funny,” Kurt said, sounding grumpy.

“Sorry,” Candace said. “I was just trying to cheer you up.”

“You want to cheer me up? Say you'll write the paper for me.”

“Now who's joking?” Candace asked with a laugh.

Kurt didn't smile. He couldn't possibly be serious, could he?

“So, where are we eating?” she asked quickly.

“Campus cafeteria.”

“That should be fun.”

“Wow! If you think that's fun, you need to get out more often.”

“It will be fun,” Candace protested. “We're together. And besides, who knows if we'll have any time for dates until November.”

He put his arm around her shoulders, and it made her feel good. They were almost to the cafeteria when Candace spotted a familiar figure.

“Hey, Sue!”

“Oh, hi!” the other girl said, looking startled.

“What are you doing here?”

“I'm going to school here,” Sue said.

That seemed odd. Over the summer Sue had said she was getting ready to start Cal State.

“So, not Cal State then?” Candace asked.

Sue shook her head. “This is cheaper. Plus I can get my prerequisites out of the way.”

“Oh. So, how are things?”

“Busy,” Sue admitted. “I'm running to class.”

“And we're running to the cafeteria,” Kurt said, grabbing Candace's hand and tugging.

“Well, see you at The Zone,” Candace said, as Kurt pulled her forward.

“Okay!” Sue called over her shoulder.

They made it into the cafeteria, which was large but crowded. Candace snagged a table while Kurt got the food. He returned a few minutes later with hamburgers and sodas.

“It's a good thing you're not a picky date,” he quipped.

“I am picky. I picked you,” she said, pleased with herself.

He smiled and reached for her hand. “That's why you're the best. So, what's going on with you?”

“Oh, school's been hectic. My drama class has been cool. The teacher mostly speaks in movie quotes.”

“That's funny.”

“It is, actually.”

She smiled at him. She wanted to tell him about her meeting with Mr. Anderson, but she hesitated. She realized she was too embarrassed to repeat what he had said about her . . . at least to Kurt. She had been the one to push Kurt to go to community college; she wasn't ready to admit that her guidance counselor had challenged her drive to attend college herself.

“So, are you liking college?” she asked instead.

He shrugged. “It's school. I've never been fond of school.”

She looked down at her plate. “I'm sorry if I forced you to do something you didn't want to do,” she said.

“You were just trying to look out for me,” he said.

“Still, I'm sorry.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

They ate the rest of the meal in silence. Everything Candace wanted to talk about — school, Lisa playing her in the maze, college — all seemed fraught with potential disaster. She was crazy about Kurt, but sometimes talking to him didn't go as well as she would hope. She guessed that, just like any relationship, it took time to work it all out.

When they had finished, she walked with him toward his next class. “I almost forgot,” he said, breaking the silence, “my roommates and I are throwing a Halloween party the Wednesday before Halloween. That way it won't interfere with Scare stuff. Do you want to come?”

“I'd love to,” she said, blushing. It would be their first official event they went to as a couple. “What should I wear?”

“It's a costume party, so come in costume.”

“What costume are you going to wear?” she asked.

“I haven't decided yet.”

She was on the verge of suggesting that they try and coordinate costumes when he glanced at his watch. “Gotta run,” he said, pecking her on the cheek before disappearing into the building.

She sighed. As dates went it wasn't great, but it would have to do until the party.

When she got home her dad looked at her. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. It's just hard juggling everything, you know? School, work, church, friends, boyfriend. How am I supposed to find time for everything?”

“You learn how to prioritize,” he said. He looked at her more closely. “Is this really about you being too busy or did something upset you?”

“I wish I could spend more time with Kurt,” she admitted.

“Ah, most girls wish for more time to spend with their boyfriends,” he said with a smile.

She sat down on the couch. “Yeah, but it's weird. Even when we do spend time together it doesn't feel like quality time.”

“How do you mean?”

“Tonight, I met him for dinner at the community college, and we ate in the cafeteria in between his classes.”

“Sounds good so far.”

“But all we really did was eat. We hardly talked at all.”

“Is that normal for the two of you?”

“It seems so,” she said. “I mean we talked a little more over the summer, but it was all the ‘tell me about your family' and ‘what's your favorite color?' stuff.”

“And you wish you could talk about more with him?”

“Yes.”

He cleared his throat, and she turned to look at him. “At the risk of being accused of not wanting you to date, may I make a suggestion?”

“Yes,” she said, curiosity rushing through her.

“I think maybe Kurt isn't the guy for you.”

She blinked several times. “What makes you say that?”

“You're obviously not fulfilled by the relationship. There's nothing really wrong, and yet you're not deliriously happy when you come home from a date with him.”

He wasn't wrong, and there was no use trying to deny that. “What do I do?” she asked.

“As I see it, you have two choices. You can spend more time hoping that something magical happens between you, which is less likely the more time passes, or you can break up with him.”

“I don't like the sound of either of those,” she admitted.

“That's the problem with life. It rarely gives you neat decisions wrapped up in shiny paper with a bow on top. Most of the important decisions in life are messy.”

She nodded.

“Just, think about what I said.”

“Okay, thanks, Daddy,” she said.

“You're welcome.”

She stood up and gave him a quick hug before heading up to her room. It was too much to think about for the moment. She knew she was acting like a coward, but she just needed some more time to make up her mind.