29. In which the Craig signs on the dotted line

Confused as all hell, but excited to see what each new day will bring. Life just might be shaping up.

Hillary had let him leave that evening without telling him what the deal was with her newfound perspective. He had shared a pizza with Hillary and Ryan and then ambled home, all the while pondering how this change in attitude could affect their relationship. Sunday passed without little more than a few movies with his little sister and homework, and Monday rolled around much more quickly than he would have liked.

On Monday morning he wandered into school and found Spinner, Jimmy, and Marco all clustered around a piece of paper attached to the wall. He wondered idly what on earth could have captured their apt attention as he moved in behind them.

"Battle of the Bands. Top prize 1000 dollars." He read aloud, and the three boys jumped a mile.

"Damn, Manning. Do you need bells around your neck or something?" Jimmy asked, and Craig responded with a smile. Spinner pointed to the paper and then wrapped an arm around Craig's shoulder. Together the four boys began to move towards the office.

"We're going to take that money, dude. It's practically in our pockets." Spinner told him, opening the door and pushing him into the secretary's desk. On the top of the desk was a list of bands that had entered. The list was short, but Spinner, Marco, and Jimmy had already printed and signed their names under the heading of DOWNTOWN SASQUATCH. All that was missing was Craig's signature. Marco retrieved a pen and pressed it into Craig's hand, and he looked at the other guys, panicked.

"Guys, we don't even have a song to play yet!" he cried, and Marco shook his head.

"We'll worry about that later. Sign now." He ordered, patting Craig on the back a little. The boy complied immediately, scrawling something illegible on the line indicated and dropping the pen onto the table. He stood upright and sighed with sudden satisfaction.

The four boys emptied the office then, pouring out back into the hallway. They paused a moment as the bell rang, signaling three minutes until the start of classes. They shared a glance.

"Practice, after school. Joey's garage." Craig told them, and they all nodded but looked at him strangely. He was wondering if he had something on his face when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and nearly tackled him to the ground. He let out a cry, then turned to see Hillary beaming up at him. His heart jumped into his throat as he stood there with his arm around her shoulders. She gave him a final squeeze before pushing between Spinner and Marco and rejoining Emma on their way to their lockers.

"Morning!" she called back, waving a little as the two disappeared around the corner. The three other boys stared at Craig for a moment before scattering as the late bell rang. Girls could be so weird.