Awakening

Chapter Seven

"Feet On The Floor"

Sunday

"You really do know everything, don't you?" Tino asked Tish in bewilderment as they rounded a corner, approaching Carver's house.

"Not yet." Tish grinned. "But it's my goal!"

"Remind me never to buy an encyclopedia. You've got twice the information and I can actually make sense out of most of what you say."

"Um, thanks. I think."

"I don't think that came out quite how I meant." Tino sighed.

"Don't worry about it. Buy you a Chug-A-Freeze later?"

"I'd like that." The two of them turned into Carver's driveway to see Lor standing at the door, pacing back and forth. "Eeek!" Tino squealed, taken back to the unsavory dream he had the night before.

"What's wrong?" Tish asked, puzzled by Tino's yelp.

"N-nothing. It's nothing. I just, uh…that protein stuff Mom made this morning repeated on me, that's all."

"Yuck!"

"You don't know the half of it!" Tino stuck his tongue out for effect.

Lor's ears pricked up at the noise. "Where have you two been? You're like ten minutes late?"

"Oh, ummmm…." Tino reached deep inside himself to come up with a plausible excuse. "Breakfast got off to a late start this morning. You see, my mom cooked up this strange stuff, and we had to wait for Tish, because Mom promised she could come."

"Why?" Lor asked. "No offense, Tino, but eating at your house is like cruel and unusual punishment.

Tish covered seamlessly. "It was about the ochre I was asking about last night."

"Again with that ogre stuff?"

"Ochre!" Tish yelled, trying to enunciate it for Lor.

"I still don't get it."

"Where's Carver?" Tino wisely changed the subject before Tish began to hyperventilate with frustration.

"Still inside. When I rang the bell before, he said he'd only be a minute. That was like, five minutes ago."

"Don't tell me he's still writing his paper!" Tino whined.

"I don't know, but if he doesn't open this door soon, I say we leave him." As if on cue, the front door opened, and Carver appeared. "Sorry guys, just had to put the finishing touches on my paper. It's all set now." He stepped outside and Began putting on his shoes.

"Whoa!" Lor's eyes went wide. "Are those the new Addidas? Those would be great in a soccer game! Let me see!"

"Back off, vixen!" Carver quickly slipped his shoes on before Lor could snatch one. "I've seen what you can do to a soccer shoe!"

"Dude, I wasn't going to actually wear them!"

"That's right you weren't! Buy your own pair!"

"Okay," Tino tried to take charge. "We've all discussed it, and we felt it would only be fair if we let you pick what we're doing today, Carver, since we were nagging you about that paper."

Lor grimaced. "Um, hello? I don't remember being told about this!"

"You weren't? Oh, right! You weren't. It was at breakfast when Mom, Tish, and I were talking."

"So what? I remind you of your Mom or something?" asked Lor.

"No! Look, forget that part, okay? What do you think, Lor? Is it okay if Carver decides?"

Lor scowled, then turned to Carver. "The first time you try to take us to a shoe sale or exhibit, you're eating those Addidas!"

"All right. Well, I suggested the beach yesterday, but I don't know if I want to now. You kind of have to be in the mood for that."

"Yeah, and I don't really want to go back home and get a swimsuit. What else?" Lor pressed.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just go to the mall or something."

"Hey!" Tino smiled. "We could go back to Funville and Tish and I could give you two a rematch."

"No way!" Lor exclaimed. "Tish is back on my team now."

"Aw c'mon Lor!" Tino argued. "For once in my life, I felt what it was like to win!"

"And I hope you remember it forever." Lor smiled, ruffling Tino's hair. "Because you're not going to experience it again."

"Think we can take them?" Carver asked Tino.

"Not on your life!" Tino sighed. "And you really need to be in the mood to lose a game of pool to the Lor/Tish dream team." The two girls high-fived each other, driving Tino's point home.

"So what, then? I'm running out of ideas, Tino."

"Yeah, so were we. That's why we let you decide."

"We could go volunteer." Tish offered. Lor looked at her as if she had just grown a third head and begun speaking in Klingon. "Or not."

"Wait!" Carver leaped up. "I've got an idea. Quick, somebody blindfold Lor."

"Already I don't like where this is going." Lor recoiled.

"Sorry, but you're too good a shot. We can't let you see anything or it could influence your decision."

"See what?"

"You'll see."

"You're talking about blindfolding me!"

Carver ran inside, returning a moment later with a roll of tape, a piece of paper, a bandanna, a dart, and a magic marker. "Okay, here's how it goes. We each suggest something to do for the day, then we write them down on this paper. We put them in a circle cut evenly four ways, and Lor throws a dart at it. Whichever one it lands on, we do. Tish, you make the circle, you've got the steadiest hands and penmanship."

"Why do I have to be blindfolded?" Lor asked.

"So you don't know what you're aiming at." Carver explained. "We don't want any influence going into this."

"Okay, but let's hurry before your parents think we're playing some weird kind of prison game or something."

"Circle's ready." Called Tish.

"Man, Tish, how did you do that?" Tino wondered. Indeed, Tish's circle was flawless cut into four equal pieces, all done without even a ruler to guide her.

"Years of practice." Tish smiled. "Okay, guess we should write the choices in. I'm going with the mall." Tish began writing down her suggestion in one of the spaces while carver tied the bandanna over Lor's eyes. "What about you, Tino?"

"Funville."

Tish wrote in Tino's choice as Carver finished his work on Lor and stepped back to admire his masterpiece. "Yeah." Carver grinned. "Definitely an improvement."

"Shut up!" Lor snapped at him.

"Lor, you're up." Tish called.

"Tesla Park."

"And I'm going with roller skating." Carver added.

Tish quickly wrote in the last two choices. "Okay, so where do we hang this?" the girl asked.

"There's a fence out back." Carver suggested, moving towards the backyard. Tish quickly followed, while Tino took Lor by the arm and began guiding her.

"Watch the sprinkler head!" Tino shouted, "grabbing hold of Lor as she began to trip.

"I'm going to hurt him." Lor mused darkly as Tino steadied her.

"Hey, relax, smooth walking from here on out."

"Easy for you to say." The girl mumbled as Tino continued to guide her to the fence.

"Okay." Carver smiled as Tish held the paper up to the fence and Carver began taping it. "Now we're in business." Both of them stepped away. Carver took the dart and placed it in Lor's hand. Tino turned Lor so that she was aiming directly for the paper. "All right, Lor, choose our destiny."

"Isn't destiny a strong word for something so innocuous as our Sunday?" Tish asked.

"Whatever." Lor sighed, drawing her arm back. In one swing, she let the dart go at high speed.  The shaft flew straight and true, easily finding its mark. Tino couldn't help but feel a new respect for every time Lor had said "I can do this blindfolded." When it was over, Tino, Carver, and Tish stood looking at the paper, mouths agape.

"So what are we doing?" Lor wanted to know.

"It's not possible!" Carver said in disbelief.

"Even for Lor." Tish whispered.

"Lor," Tino said cautiously, "did you, at some point, sell your soul to the devil in exchange for some kind of sports abilities?"

"What happened?" Lor demanded. "Come on you guys, this isn't funny?"

"Nothing." Carver said. "Cautiously approaching the dart as if it would burst into flames, he pulled it out of the exact center of Tish's circle. "Try it again. We'll tell you after."

"Fine." She huffed, snatching the dart and hurling it towards the paper again. This time, the desired result was achieved. "Happy? So what are we doing?"

"Roller skating." Tish sighed. "I'd better be sure to get a first aid kit along with my skates."

"I can go for that." Lor grinned, ripping the bandana off her face. "Now will someone tell me what was wrong with my first throw?"

"There's no way you'll believe us." Tino laughed.

"What happened?!"

Tish ripped the target off the fence and handed it to Lor. "You got it dead center!" exclaimed Tish. "Do you have any idea what the odds are? Too bad you're not old enough to buy a lottery ticket."

"Dude, this is incredible! It's like some kind of omen or something!"

"An omen of what?" Tino wondered.

"Hopefully a halfway decent grade on that Algebra test we have on Wednesday. Because divine intervention is about the only way I'm going to pass that."

"I know this probably sounds crazy," Tish put her sarcastic voice into overdrive, "but you could try, oh, studying for it!"

"Yeah. We could also spend our day waiting for Tino to sink a 3 point basket, but life is just too short, Tish."

"Hey!" Tino quipped. "I resent that!"

"Or represent it, anyway." Tish giggled.

"Oh, sure, just pick on poor, defenseless Tino." He sighed. "So I'm helpless at sports!"

"Aw, c'mon, Tino." Carver encouraged him. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Yeah, it's no fun if you do it for us!" Lor chided.

"Okay." Tino threw up his hands. "Me down, you kicking."

"All right, ease up on him." Smirked Carver. "We've had our fun. Okay, what if we all get our skates and meet down at the boardwalk by the snack shack in half an hour?"

"I'll be there!" Tino said.

"Ditto!" Tish called.

"Count me in!" accepted Lor.

"Seeya in thirty then!" Carver waved, then ran into his house to get his gear together. The remaining three looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Carver's lead, taking off in the directions of their own homes.

Tino arrived on his front porch in less than ten minutes, he ran inside and headed for the garage, where everything he needed for skating lay in wait. "Oh, hey, Tino here. I just came back to get my things together, but you probably already know that. This should be an interesting day. I just wish that Tish had only been kidding about that first aid kit. The last time we all went skating, we practically had to carry her back home. We stopped a few houses from her and had to prop her up so her parents wouldn't know she was as trashed as she was. I mean, she wasn't seriously injured or anything, don't get me wrong. But we didn't want her mom or dad all concerned over a few mishaps. I mean, it's not Tish's fault that concrete is stronger than skin, is it? Anyway, I'm going to keep a closer eye on her today. Hopefully she's managed to get a little better since last time. Or at least developed tougher skin. Maybe I'd better bring that box of gauze Mom keeps in the medicine chest, just in case. . .better to be safe than sorry. Okay, so, um, skating trip. Yeah. This should be interesting. Listen, we have to take a break here. You come back next time and we'll see how things go, okay? I mean it! You'd better come back! I've got enough abandonment issues to begin with! Okay? Seeya soon!"

Another chapter finished. This one had kind of a "back to basics" feel, I thought. Maybe it doesn't carry quite the same weight as the sixth chapter, but too much depth would make the whole project too obtuse, I think. I'm definitely going somewhere, and I like to think that everyone will be pleased with how things turn out. As always, leave me a review folks. Special thanks to the regulars who find the time to leave feedback.

Up to this point, this story has been written strongly under the influence of the Coldplay albums Parachutes and A Rush Of Blood To The Head, as well as "Weird Al" Yankovic's latest album, Poodle Hat. Those of you looking for a little mood setting may wish to check those discs out. I thank both groups for the oomph they give me while penning this work.

As always, drop me e-mail or an IM if you have the chance. I always enjoy meeting new people, especially fans! Seeya next time people!

Lord Malachite

5/21/03

6:04 PM, EST

E-mail: ranger_writer@yahoo.com

AIM: Asukaphile26