CHaPTeR TWo - STRaNGe HaPPeNiNGS aT THe CeMeTeRY
Third Street Cemetery, eleven fifty-five p.m.
"So who didn't show?" Spinelli asked from her perch on a bench near the headstones of the Third family. She could make out four shapes approaching her; one short and sort of stocky; one tall and gangly; one tall and well-built; and the last tall and skinny. By seeing the shapes, she could guess that joining her were T.J., Gretchen, Vince, and Lawson.
"Mikey and Gus," T.J. replied.
"They got scared," Lawson laughed. "Like you're going to in just a few minutes, Spin-scaredy-cat!" He cackled.
"Why you - " Spinelli started, but T.J. stepped in between her and Lawson.
"Let's not add another person to the cemetery tonight, eh, Spinelli? Kill him later. While he's asleep." He winked at her. She scowled.
"Let's just get this show on the road," Spinelli replied, standing up and heading over to the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third. "What time is it?"
"Eleven fifty-eight. Almost time for your debut, Spin-scaredy," Lawson told her meanly. She scowled again and stood behind the grave, ready to step up onto it at the stroke of midnight.
"I bet you a dollar she chickens out," Vince whispered behind his hand to Gretchen. Gretchen rolled her eyes.
"Have faith," Gretchen replied, turning her eyes on Spinelli.
Eleven fifty-nine. All eyes were on Lawson's light-up watch, following the second hand past the six, the nine, the ten, the eleven…
The seconds were ticking off Spinelli's fate - whether or not she'd be deemed cowardly or courageous for the rest of her life - and finally the second hand struck the twelve, as far away the Town Clock Tower began sounding. All eyes shifted to Spinelli as she took a deep breath and stood up on to the grave -
- and time seemed to stand still, as she stood there for an entire moment, bathed in the light of the moonlight. Lawson looked upset that his superstition had been proved false - and worse yet that Spinelli wasn't drier than a desert - meaning she was still fully functional and able to kick the snot out of him.
Without warning, the clouds rolled in from all directions, greedily gobbling up the moon and its light. A blanket of darkness fell upon the cemetery, leaving Spinelli standing alone on a grave on a full-moon Friday the 13th.
As soon as the clouds had killed the moon, thunder began to growl angrily from above. Before anyone could do a thing, a crack of lighting fell on the ground behind the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third, and Spinelli could feel its electric current run through the ground, through the stone, and continuing into her…
…in a split second, she saw not her own life, but Thaddeus T. Third the Third's life pass before her eyes, and knew instantly that Lawson's superstition was true. And as her head began to spin, she distantly heard a man's scratchy voice in her mind…
"Why have you come? Do you not know what will become of you because of this, foolish one?"
Spinelli wanted to cry out, to say she hadn't known, but she felt herself to weak to move.
"Why do you strive always to be so strong, young one? Must you always insist that you can take care of yourself? You must know deep down that you will not always be able to be so strong. So, in order to teach you how to depend on others, I'm going to make you into the thing you fear the most - a girl."
Spinelli knew, as she heard the voice, that her worst nightmare was about to come true for the second time. In her mind, she heard herself screaming "no" over and over again, but she made no sound.
Another crack of lightning sliced the air, and Ashley Spinelli lost her balance at the same instant that T.J. Detweiler saw her fall. Making a superhuman lunge, he caught her gently in his arms. She seemed half-conscious, although she looked up at him with pleading dark brown eyes.
"Spinelli! Spinelli! Are you okay?" he asked her softly. She smiled up at him, a smile much too large and bright for a girl like her.
"Hey, Spinelli, what was it like?" Vince asked from behind T.J.
Spinelli parted her lips, eyes almost completely closed. "It was… scandalous."
And Ashley Spinelli fell unconscious in T.J. Detweiler's arms, as T.J., Gretchen Grundler, Vince La Salle, and Irwin Lawson exchanged horrified glances. They were all thinking the same thing.
Did she just say "scandalous"?
Third Street Cemetery, eleven fifty-five p.m.
"So who didn't show?" Spinelli asked from her perch on a bench near the headstones of the Third family. She could make out four shapes approaching her; one short and sort of stocky; one tall and gangly; one tall and well-built; and the last tall and skinny. By seeing the shapes, she could guess that joining her were T.J., Gretchen, Vince, and Lawson.
"Mikey and Gus," T.J. replied.
"They got scared," Lawson laughed. "Like you're going to in just a few minutes, Spin-scaredy-cat!" He cackled.
"Why you - " Spinelli started, but T.J. stepped in between her and Lawson.
"Let's not add another person to the cemetery tonight, eh, Spinelli? Kill him later. While he's asleep." He winked at her. She scowled.
"Let's just get this show on the road," Spinelli replied, standing up and heading over to the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third. "What time is it?"
"Eleven fifty-eight. Almost time for your debut, Spin-scaredy," Lawson told her meanly. She scowled again and stood behind the grave, ready to step up onto it at the stroke of midnight.
"I bet you a dollar she chickens out," Vince whispered behind his hand to Gretchen. Gretchen rolled her eyes.
"Have faith," Gretchen replied, turning her eyes on Spinelli.
Eleven fifty-nine. All eyes were on Lawson's light-up watch, following the second hand past the six, the nine, the ten, the eleven…
The seconds were ticking off Spinelli's fate - whether or not she'd be deemed cowardly or courageous for the rest of her life - and finally the second hand struck the twelve, as far away the Town Clock Tower began sounding. All eyes shifted to Spinelli as she took a deep breath and stood up on to the grave -
- and time seemed to stand still, as she stood there for an entire moment, bathed in the light of the moonlight. Lawson looked upset that his superstition had been proved false - and worse yet that Spinelli wasn't drier than a desert - meaning she was still fully functional and able to kick the snot out of him.
Without warning, the clouds rolled in from all directions, greedily gobbling up the moon and its light. A blanket of darkness fell upon the cemetery, leaving Spinelli standing alone on a grave on a full-moon Friday the 13th.
As soon as the clouds had killed the moon, thunder began to growl angrily from above. Before anyone could do a thing, a crack of lighting fell on the ground behind the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third, and Spinelli could feel its electric current run through the ground, through the stone, and continuing into her…
…in a split second, she saw not her own life, but Thaddeus T. Third the Third's life pass before her eyes, and knew instantly that Lawson's superstition was true. And as her head began to spin, she distantly heard a man's scratchy voice in her mind…
"Why have you come? Do you not know what will become of you because of this, foolish one?"
Spinelli wanted to cry out, to say she hadn't known, but she felt herself to weak to move.
"Why do you strive always to be so strong, young one? Must you always insist that you can take care of yourself? You must know deep down that you will not always be able to be so strong. So, in order to teach you how to depend on others, I'm going to make you into the thing you fear the most - a girl."
Spinelli knew, as she heard the voice, that her worst nightmare was about to come true for the second time. In her mind, she heard herself screaming "no" over and over again, but she made no sound.
Another crack of lightning sliced the air, and Ashley Spinelli lost her balance at the same instant that T.J. Detweiler saw her fall. Making a superhuman lunge, he caught her gently in his arms. She seemed half-conscious, although she looked up at him with pleading dark brown eyes.
"Spinelli! Spinelli! Are you okay?" he asked her softly. She smiled up at him, a smile much too large and bright for a girl like her.
"Hey, Spinelli, what was it like?" Vince asked from behind T.J.
Spinelli parted her lips, eyes almost completely closed. "It was… scandalous."
And Ashley Spinelli fell unconscious in T.J. Detweiler's arms, as T.J., Gretchen Grundler, Vince La Salle, and Irwin Lawson exchanged horrified glances. They were all thinking the same thing.
Did she just say "scandalous"?