The Spring of Candy Apples (A Sweet Seasons Novel) (11 page)

“Every year these crosses still amaze me and make me feel so small,” Josh said.

“They’re wonderful . . . and terrible all at the same time,” Candace replied.

“Makes most other things seem unimportant, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really does,” she said. After a moment, she added, “I’ll see you later. I’ve got some things to take care of.”

Candace knew what she had to do, but she wasn’t sure where to start looking for Lisa. Fortunately, she didn’t have to search very long. She found her at the second food cart she came across.

“What is it?” Lisa snapped when Candace stopped in front of her.

“We need to talk,” Candace said.

Lisa’s eyes narrowed and she set her jaw. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. This feud thing is stupid. No guy is worth us sniping at each other like this. I never meant to steal Kurt from you. I don’t think I did. Regardless, I’m sorry that you were hurt. I wish we could put it behind us and be — ”

“What, friends?”

“I was thinking more non-enemies,” Candace corrected.

“I can live with that,” Lisa said after a minute.

“Truce?” Candace asked, extending her hand.

“Truce,” Lisa agreed, shaking on it.

“See you,” Candace said, turning to go.

“That’s it?” Lisa called after her.

“Isn’t that enough?” Candace asked.

Lisa smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Candace returned to the Candy Counter and spent the next hour up to her elbows in apples. When it was close to the end of her shift, Traci appeared and took a seat next to her.

“Hi, I’m on break. I thought we could chat,” Traci said.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’m terrible at cup stacking, and I don’t think I’m going to get better fast enough to help our chances in the talent show. I think the team should cut me loose.”

“What? We can’t do that,” Candace said, taken completely by surprise.

“Sure you can, it’d be easy.”

“Not an option. You are our team member. Besides, everyone is supposed to participate in the talent contest.”

“There are a couple of people, singers mostly, who are doing solo acts. I can do something like that, and I’ll be covered as far as participation goes.”

Candace stared at Traci. She was right about one thing, Traci wasn’t good with stacking cups. Not that any of them except Corinne were much better. Still, without Traci they could move through the training a lot faster.

“No,” Candace said. “We got into this together, and we’re going to make it through together. If you really want to quit, I can’t force you to be on our team, but if you do, have the courage to admit why you’re doing it.”

“What do you mean?” Traci asked, face pale.

“If you quit, you’re doing it for you, because it’s too hard and you’re scared. You’re not doing it for the team. Actually the opposite is going to happen. If you walk away and we only have four people to do this, we have no chance of winning. We need five in order to make the pyramids work. There’s no time to start training with someone new even if someone could be persuaded to join us.

“You’re not only going to be hurting us, though, you’re also going to be hurting yourself. If you run away when life gets hard, then you’ll be running for the rest of your life.” Candace could tell Traci was upset and angry, but she felt like she needed to hear the truth.

“It’s just a stupid talent show,” Traci muttered.

Candace smiled and shook her head. “If there’s one thing that I’ve learned at The Zone, it’s that there are no stupid, meaningless activities. Each thing we do is an opportunity to better ourselves, push ourselves to be more, and to have courage. They don’t do things like the summer Scavenger Hunt and the Talent Show as idle amusements. They put these things on to give us a chance to come together in a spirit of fellowship and competition and to push ourselves to be more than we thought possible.”

Traci began to cry, and Candace wrapped her arms around her. “It’s going to be okay. We can get through this together. If you want, you and I can start practicing on breaks and stuff.”

Traci nodded but didn’t say anything. A slight sound caused Candace to turn her head. She saw Gary, standing silently, just inside the door of the kitchen. He turned and walked outside.

Finally Traci pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “You’re off the clock,” she noted.

“No big,” Candace said.

Traci laughed. “No, it’s very big. Thank you. No one’s ever explained things to me quite that way before.”

Candace shrugged. “I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time to help.”

“Me too. I’ll start bringing my cups and practicing on breaks tomorrow.”

“Great. Maybe soon we’ll be able to teach Corinne a trick or two,” Candace said.

“I’d like that. Now go home.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Candace left the store and found Gary waiting outside for her.

“You did a good thing in there,” he said.

“How long were you standing there?” she asked.

“I got most of it.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself. I wouldn’t want people gossiping about this.”

“Of course,” he said.

“So, what brings you on field?” Candace asked, changing the subject.

“You.”

“Me what?”

“I wanted to watch you at work, get more of a feel for you as a person.”

“As a person?” she asked, ignoring for the moment the part where he’d wanted to watch her work.

“Yeah. You see, the legends about you are pretty intense. I just wanted to see what kind of person manages to attract so much attention.”

“I don’t try to, honest. And if you’ve heard the one about me being trapped inside the park overnight and chased by a psycho killer, well, it’s not true. I was trapped overnight in the park, but there was no psycho killer. I was chased by a saboteur through a maze at Halloween, though.”

He laughed. “You know, I knew about you before I met you the other day.”

“How?”

“Let’s just say the urban legends made their way to Florida and Zone World.”

Candace groaned. “And here I hoped that if I got the scholarship and went to Florida Coast I could be a little more anonymous.”

“Fat chance of that.”

“Of getting the scholarship?”

“Remaining anonymous.”

“So, why are you being stalker-like?” she asked.

“I told friends in Florida that I met the famous Candy, and they refused to believe me until I got a picture of us together.”

“You’re joking,” she said, stopping abruptly.

“Yes.”

“That’s a relief,” she said as she started walking again. “So, what’s the real reason?”

“As the newly returned former scholarship winner, they’ve asked me to weigh in with my opinion on the top five candidates for this year.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Do they always do that?”

“No, this year is kind of special. After all, you’re practically a celebrity. If it was a popularity contest, you’d win hands down. They wanted someone from outside who didn’t know any of the five candidates personally to make a suggestion.”

“So, whoever you pick gets the scholarship?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that. My opinion does matter, but it’s not the only factor.”

“So, how do I stack up?” she asked.

“Pretty well. Afraid I can’t say more than that.”

“I understand,” she sighed.

“Hey, before you head home, you want to ride The Spiral?”

“With the guy who created it? Totally!”

A minute later they were waiting to board the ride.

“So, how did you come up with the idea?” she asked.

“I played football with my dad and brothers when I was a kid, and my dad always drilled into us the importance of a perfect spiral throw. He could make balls do things you wouldn’t believe. Then I got a summer job working here and was one of the first people to ride Rim Shot, the one where you feel what it would be like to be a basketball. I thought it was cool, but I was disappointed that there weren’t any football-themed rides, especially since John Hanson was a quarterback. I heard about the competition and, voila!, I had my ride.”

“That’s amazing.”

Even more amazing was actually getting to talk to the guy who came up with the ride and then screaming hysterically with him on the ride. When they got off, Candace was so dizzy she was staggering. They exited the ride and then stopped for one final look at it.

“Awesome,” she said.

“Thanks. Well, I’ll see you around, Candace.”

“See you,” she answered.

She headed for the Locker Room, grabbed her things, and made her way to the parking lot. On the way she checked messages. She had one from Tamara, but all she could make out was a high-pitched squealing sound. For a moment she thought it was some horrible kind of static until she realized it was actually Tamara making that sound.

“What on earth?”

She called Tamara.

“Hello?”

“I can’t understand the message you left on my cell phone,” Candace said.

Tamara started shrieking in her ear, and the only thing Candace could make out was “You’ll never believe it!”

11

“Calm down, Tam, I can’t understand you,” Candace urged.

“I won a Zone anniversary prize! I never win anything, but I went through the turnstile, and I won!”

“Congratulations. What did you win?”

“I don’t know yet, I’m waiting to hear.”

“Tamara, where are you?” Candace asked.

“In the Hall of Fame.”

Candace turned around and headed back for the Home Stretch. Once she reached the Hall of Fame, she went inside and found Tamara sitting in a chair with a customer ser vice ref.

Tamara leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Candace. “Guess what I won?”

“You know now?”

“Yes! I won dinner for a group at Boone’s.”

Boone’s was the exclusive, members-only restaurant on top of the fort in the History Zone.

”I actually won something! I never win anything!”

“Congratulations, Tam! What are you going to do with it?”

“I’ve been thinking maybe a party for my parents for their anniversary.”

“That would rock,” Candace said. “As long as I’m invited, of course,” she joked.

Tamara rolled her eyes. “Of course you are!”

“Seriously, that’s awesome.”

“I’ve got a party to plan. You’ll help me, right?”

“Totally.”

Tamara finished up her paperwork, and they left. “So, what were you doing here anyway?” Candace asked.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot!” Tamara said, grabbing her by the shoulders. “I was coming to surprise you. We’re going out to dinner to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“I got my acceptance letter to UCLA!”

Candace squealed and hugged her. “Awesome! Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“So, where are we going to dinner?”

“I was thinking of Aphrodite’s.”

“Rock on.”

“Hey, you know what Mr. Bailey said today about us needing as many people on Saturday to help build sets as we can get?”

“Yeah.”

“I was thinking we should ask Josh and James.”

“Tam, that’s a brilliant idea.”

“Thought you’d like it. I’ll ask James; you ask Josh.”

“I could go ask him now. I think he’s still working.”

“Cool, go do that, and I’ll get us a table at the restaurant.”

Candace dashed over to the Splash Zone. She found Josh outside the Kowabunga ride. “Josh, I have something to ask you.”

“I already told you, you’re just going to have to wait until the contest like everybody else. Our talent is a secret.”

“It’s not that.”

“Oh, then fire away.”

“Josh, would you come help my drama class on Saturday? We’re building sets and could use all the hands we can get.”

He looked at her and smiled. “Is Tamara asking James?”

“That’s the plan,” Candace admitted. “There’ll be free lunch.”

“Yes, what an enticement,” he said teasingly.

“So, help a girl out?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I can’t very well refuse, can I?”

“No.”

“Fair enough. We’ll be there at nine.”

“Thank you!”

She waved and ran toward the History Zone. She arrived just in time to be seated. “Josh is on board.”

“Awesome. What’s the use of knowing big, strong guys if you can’t manipulate them into doing hard labor for you?”

Tamara laughed.

“Good point.”

As soon as they were seated, Candace spotted a couple at a table across the room. “Tamara, look!”

“Who’s Sue eating with?” Tamara asked, twisting around to look.

“That’s Checkmark.”

“Who?” Tamara asked.

“Mark, you know, your pity date from a couple months ago.”

“Mark! How on earth did he meet Sue?”

“He works here now at the Kowabunga ride.”

“What? When did that happen?”

Candace bit her lip. “It’s been a few weeks, I think.”

“Okay, clearly I’m behind on all the news. What else haven’t you been telling me?”

“Nothing, I don’t think.”

“Uh-huh. That’s what you say now.”

Tamara looked back at the couple. “I think he’s holding her hand,” she noted.

“Good for them,” Candace said. “They’re both really nice. I hope it works out for them.”

She tried really hard not to think about her last experience in the restaurant, when she had just started dating Kurt. She said a silent prayer that it would work out better for Sue and Mark than it had for them.

The next afternoon Candace walked out of the Candy Counter and headed toward the Cantina. Her stomach rumbled angrily, reminding her that it had been too long since she had last eaten.

“Candace, wait up!”

She turned, wondering who had called out to her. She stiffened as she saw Lisa coming her way, waving her arm.

Candace braced herself as Lisa walked toward her. The truce had been in effect for a few days, but Candace was skeptical about Lisa’s intentions to maintain it. The other girl stopped in front of her and just stared for a minute. It was creepy, and Candace was about to say something, anything, to break the silence when Lisa did.

“I want what you have.”