CHAPTER 10 – Right Back At Ya!
Connie cruised into school ten minutes earlier than usual. She headed straight for the EH Weekly office, but there was nothing new in the response box yet. She wasn't worried though, for there hadn't really been time for anyone to respond since the afternoon before. By the end of the day, she was sure to have more notes.
She killed some time in the bathroom, fixing her hair and making sure her outfit is in place, then she wandered to her locker, got her books together and started down the hall. She was so busy placing a notebook in her bag that she didn't see Julie coming towards her and collided with her. "Hey Connie,"
"Julie! What's the hurry? Where are you going?"
"To the EH Weekly office, to submit this." Julie said, showing a piece of paper to Connie.
"Julie Gaffney! That's a personal ad!" Connie exclaimed.
"Shh! I know!" Julie said, blushing.
"You're running a personal ad?" Connie smiled with disbelief.
"Yeah, I mean, everyone's doing it, so why shouldn't I? And besides, the guys already mistook me for that Sporty Brunette, so I thought, why don't I make it real?" she said.
"Good point. Want me to come with you?" Connie asked.
"No, I'll be okay." Said Julie.
"Alright. Good luck. Later."
* * *
"With all the switches going on around here, I wonder why you haven't tried to switch too." Russ told Adam at noon.
"Why, you want me to?" Adam asked.
"No, but I was just wondering since I've asked you to buy me a lot of things now." Russ said, taking a bite of the doughnut he ordered Adam to buy for him that morning.
"Actually, Russ, it's no big deal. I mean, this only happens once in a blue moon, so I'm cool about it," said Adam.
Russ' eyebrows shot up and turned to Jesse. "Can we ask for an extension of this master-servant thing?"
Jesse shrugged. "That's fine with me."
"What's fine with you?" Averman, Goldberg, Portman, Fulton, Dwayne, and Ken came to their table.
"Russ wanted to ask for an extension of this master-servant stuff." Adam informed them.
"Yeah, because Cake Eater here is willing to spend for him whenever he want him to." Jesse said.
"No way! Nobody is going to ask for an extension or you'll be dead!" Portman barked.
"Alright! It was just a suggestion!" Russ said.
"Hey Runt! I mean… Boss, here's your lunch." Riley came with a lunch tray full of goodies in his arms.
"Thanks." Ken said, "Put it right here." He pointed in front of him.
"Rick, how about some service here, Dude?" Fulton said.
"Yeah, man! Get me some of those too!" Goldberg pointed to Ken's tray.
"Me too, but more Chili Casserole." Dwayne said.
"Do I look like a waiter? Get them yourselves!" Riley snapped.
Julie, Connie and Luis approached their table and sat down.
"Hey Riley! These are my friends," Ken pointed to the Ducks, "So you have to do whatever they order you to do. Understand?"
"Sounds familiar?" jeered Averman. The whole table snickered.
Riley's jaw tightened and left the Ducks.
"Rick, wait a second!" called Luis. Riley turned. "Will you give this to Tamara? Thanks." He tossed yet another sealed letter to Riley.
* * *
"Can I get you something for lunch? Do you want me to clean out your gym locker?" Charlie asked Guy.
"No" Guy tried to hide a smile. He was actually having fun watching Charlie following him like a dog.
"How about if I find you a date for the Valentine's Dance?" he asked eagerly.
"No, you've kind of done enough in that department." Guy replied.
Charlie scuffed the floor with his shoe. "Isn't there anything you want me to do? I mean, you did switch with Julie to be my master and all. And I do want to make it up to you – for what happened. Practically the whole morning's gone by already."
"I know," Guy said. "I thought of something that I should have you do. I'm pretty sure I'm going to repay the favor you did me, and it has something to do with Violet."
"Huh?" Charlie asked. "You want me to ask Violet to the Dance? No, I can't. I've already asked Linda."
"Whoever said anything about asking her to the dance? You are going to ask her to go out on a date with you this afternoon after our hockey practice." Guy said.
"What? NO!" Charlie said, shaking his head.
"Oh YES!" Guy said, nodding his head. "And you have to ask her right about now."
"I will not ask her for a date!"
* * *
"Ahem…" Charlie cleared his throat. He and Guy went back to the lunchroom. Guy went directly to the Ducks table, leaving Charlie to go approach Violet. "Excuse me, Violet, can we talk for a minute?"
"What's Charlie doing in Violet's table?" Connie asked as Guy took a seat beside her.
"He's not going to ask her to the Dance, is he?" Ken said.
"No, I know he's already going with Linda." Julie said.
"Don't tell me he's asking her for a date!" Averman said. Guy smiled.
Goldberg let out a laugh. "Ha! That's rich!"
"Uh, Violet… Listen, I… uh…" Charlie stammered. He just can't get himself to ask Violet. He can't stomach it. In the corner of his eye, he saw the Ducks watching him intently. He took a deep breath. "Violet, would you go on a date with me this afternoon after my hockey practice?" Charlie asked, his voice almost in a whisper – so no one can hear him – and full of regret.
Violet gasped and squealed. "Charlie Conway, asking me to go out on a date with him this afternoon?!" she shrieked. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Her screams silenced the whole crowd and Charlie felt all eyes were turned at him. Please let the floor crack open and swallow me up right now! He prayed, feeling his ears burning.
After a few minutes of silence, the entire Ducks table broke into cheers and laughter. "Whoo-hoo!"
"Yay! Way to go, Spazway!"
"You go, Charlie!"
"Yeah! Loverboy!"
The whole lunchroom started to join in and erupted into applause. Some people were standing on their chairs, some are stomping their feet.
Charlie tried to smile, took a bow and headed back to their table.
"I never thought you could do such a thing, Charlie!" Jesse said, still laughing his heart out along with the others. Portman held on to Luis for support and Fulton was clutching his stomach. Dwayne fell off his chair onto the floor.
Charlie scowled at them. "Shut up! I don't think you're funny."
The Ducks doubled over with laughter.
* * *
"Hey, Connie! I need to ask you a favor." Edward called Connie when he saw her coming out of the lunchroom.
Connie turned, still laughing a little. "Hey Edward. What can I do for you?"
"I need your help on stacking these on the third floor classrooms." He held out a stack of school newspaper, hot off the press.
"Didn't we just have our newspaper for the week?" Connie asked.
"This is the Special Personals edition. We got so many of them these days so we decided to run a special edition. Better get one for yourself now, they might be gone after a few hours."
Connie nodded, staring at the copies of the paper in her arms. "Okay."
"Thanks a bunch, Connie!" he said before he ducked inside a classroom.
