Racetrack

Once again, I picked up Shox from her house and we drove off, talking and laughing every second of the way. When we got to old Irving Hall, we ran off to the front row and sat down next to each other. Jack came on stage after all the music finished playing.

"Carryin' da banner!" he cried out. Everyone cheered and stood up. Spot and Davey then entered the stage, each going to a different side of Jack. "So," Jack said, as everyone quieted down. "We've made it all da way heah, and as we continue, it's just gonna get tougher." Nervous glances were exchanged all over the auditorium. "But dat's okay," said Cowboy reassuringly. "'Cuz we'll just get tougher wid it!" Everyone cheered again, but Jack also quieted them again. "But, we also gotta listen to my pal Dave heah, who says, stop soakin' da scabs!"

"Well, what ah we supposed ta do ta da bums, kiss 'em?" I snorted. Everyone laughed, and Jack put that retarded grin on his face again.

"'Ey," Spot growled. "Any scab I see I soak 'em. Period." Everyone yelled yeah and went nuts.

"No, no," Davey said nervously. "That's what they want us to do. If we get into violence, then it's just playing into their hands!"

"Hey," barked Spot. "They're gonna be playing with my hands. 'Cuz it ain't what they say, it's what we say. And nobody's gonna listen to us unless we make 'em, right?" Everyone agreed.

Jack stepped forward. "You got no brains!" he shouted. "We startin' ta fight eachuddah, dat's just what da big shots wanna see! If we fight eachuddah, den weah not'in', if we don't stick tagedda, den weah not'in', and if we can't even trust eachuddah, den weah not'in'!"

"Yeah," I sighed, "Weah wid you, Jack."

"So," Jack breathed, "Whadda you say, Spot?"

Spot hesitated but then smirked and his head bobbed up and down on his neck as he said, "I say, that what you say, is what I say." Everyone cheered as the two boys spit-shook. As they stepped off the stage, the music started playing again (Quick little note from Shox: Here is where it begins to be the worst night of my entire life.) and Medda stepped onto the stage. I gasped. I loved Medda! She began to sing High Times, Hard Times and since everyone (except Shox) knew the lyrics, we all sang along. I screamed and cheered and waved my hat around in the air. Then Medda came into the aisle and I couldn't help myself. I got up and danced with her. After about ten minutes of dancing with Medda, I strolled back to my seat and something was wrong…

"Where's Shox?" I asked Mush and Bumlets, who had expressions on their faces that said "Uh-oh…".

Mush bit his lip and said, "She saw you dancing with Medda and just ran away."

"Yeah," Said Brooklyn, who was also Shox's friend and Mush's girlfriend. "It looked like she was crying too."

"Yeah," said Bumlets. "And when she ran off, she had said something about you not paying attention to her. At all." Enough was said there. I ran off, my heart thumping. I caught a glimpse of dark brown hair with blonde highlights. I ran faster and finally she turned around. I stopped abruptly, and she glared. This is worse than the second day I saw her, I thought.

"Creep," she muttered, and turned away again.

"Shox, wait," I said as I tried to grab her hand. She pulled away and turned around.

"Why should I wait?" she asked with fire in her blue eyes.

"Shox, listen to me…"

"No, you listen to me."

"I didn't mean to…"

"Maybe you should think before you do something then. Now get back to Medda, and let me go."

"Go…" I choked. "What do you mean go?"

"Go. Out of this place. I can't stand it anymore, and I can just tell that I'm not wanted here anyway. Now move over, and say goodbye to the only Shox you'll ever have, 'cuz when I get on that plane back to St. Louis, I am never coming back."

I tried to talk. I couldn't. In my mind, I asked myself, Why did you dance with Medda? Will Shox really leave? Will she really never come back? I figured all these answers were bad ones. I opened my mouth, no words came out still. I just followed her out the door trying to speak. She was grabbing the handle to the door, when she turned around.

"You still here?" she asked. I decided it was time to let her go, and I stopped. I had lost her, and it was my own fault. She turned the handle and went out the door. I felt like crying. I loved her, and now she was leaving. If only I had thought before I went crazy over Medda…