Chapter Four: No. 89

The following day at recess, a crowd gathered on the basketball court to watch the drawing. A throng of overeager females anxiously glanced over their tickets, trying to memorize their numbers in case they were called.

Lucy stalked the playground trying to find the currently missing-in-action Trent Boyett, worried recess would be over before she'd be able to draw a winner. She wanted the outcome to be so spectacular that it would encourage the girls to enter the raffle again next week.

The idea had come to her in a dream, where in she was sitting on a pile of money in the middle of the Bahamas somewhere, that she should make this a weekly venture. As long as she had Trent Boyett under her thumb, she might as well use it to her advantage.

Ducking over to check the interior of a tube slide, she found Trent Boyett curled up inside, cowering from her. "There you are!" she shouted. "We're about to pick the winner!"

Trent scooted away. "Lucy, I don't think I can do this. I've never kissed a girl before and well…I uh…"

"Trent Boyett, you get out here or else I'll do something so horrible you'll NEVER be able to kiss a girl, understand?" Trent closed his eyes and nodded, allowing Lucy to grab his shirt and yank him out from inside the tube.

Trent swallowed and reluctantly followed Lucy back to the court. As soon as the girls noticed his presence, they began wildly talking and giggling like a bunch of squawking hens. Charlie Brown and the other fifth grade boys sat perched on the jungle gym, which they considered to be a safe and reasonable distance from looking "too involved", to watch the entire debacle unfold.

Lucy grabbed the cardboard box she had been placing the numbers in and shook it to garner the crowd's attention. "Hear ye, hear ye!" she shouted. "Today, one of you lucky ladies will be a winner. The rest of you however, will still be losers, and for that I am sorry."

Linus shook his head and looked at Charlie Brown. "I still question how exactly it is I am related to her."

"One of you…," Lucy continued. "will have the opportunity to kiss…," she slung her arm around Trent. "…our very own, Trent Boyett."

Patty shrieked. "She said it! She said the name!"

Lucy cocked her head. "All I said was Trent Boyett…"

This time, several other girls let out a shrill scream. "She said it again!"

"Oh brother," Trent groaned.

"So without further adieu, I will draw a single number from this box and read it aloud. Would the girl who wins please step forward to claim her prize?"

Unanimous chests rose and inhaled sharply as Lucy's hand dived into the slot and began rummaging around through the paper numbers. She grimaced as she observed the faces of the distressed girls. She had to draw this out, this sweet torture. "Who will it be, who will it be," she chanted. "The wheel of fortune spins and spins…"

Trent swallowed. "Pick somebody already Lucy, hurry up!" he cried after a few more minutes of agony passed by.

"Got one!" she announced, clutching a piece of paper in her hand and removing it from the box. "And the lucky winner is…"

The silence from the crowd was thick, and even the boys on the jungle gym leaned in to hear the announcement.

"Number eighty nine! Who has number eighty nine?"

The girls were furiously sifting through their tickets until a little chirp announced, "ME!"

As though Moses had parted the Red Sea, the crowd divided around Sally Brown, who was jumping up and down and crying, "It's me! It's me! I won! I won!"

Linus fell off the jungle gym down into the sand with a loud "UGH!", and Charlie leapt down to help him. "Charlie Brown..," he said wearily. "I thought they said your sister won the raffle…"

Charlie nodded. "They did, Linus!"

Lucy clapped her hands. "Well Sally, step up here and claim your prize!"

Patty threw her pile of tickets down on the pavement. "That was cheap! All that money for nothin'."

Violet nodded. "What a waste…"

Lucy put her hands up. "Now, now, girls. Don't be poor sports. There's always next week's drawing!"

"NEXT WEEK'S?!" Sally, Patty, Violet, and Trent said in unison.

"That's right!" Lucy replied happily. "Next week we'll choose another winner. So save those nickels!"

Sally smoothed down her dress and licked her lips, about to approach Trent Boyett to claim her kiss. "I'm ready," she called out.

DING-DING-DONG went the bell designating the end of recess and Trent sighed with relief.

"RATS!" Lucy spat, watching the crowd begin to disperse. "Okay everyone, just relax now, Sally will get to claim her prize on Monday morning, same place, right here! Be there or be square!"

Trent scooted off unnoticed and Sally stomped her foot. "Just my luck!" she sighed.

Lucy picked up the raffle box and began walking back towards the classrooms with Sally. "Don't worry, come Monday morning, you'll be the luckiest girl in school! Just think, you'll have all weekend to prepare the perfect kiss."

Sally smiled. "You're right, I will!"

"You don't want to make a fool out of yourself in front of everyone, right? Consider this a blessing in disguise," Lucy reassured her.

"I want this to be the best kiss ever!" Sally said, looking at Lucy. "But I could sure use some practice…"

Lucy smirked. "I think I know the perfect candidate."

TO BE CONTINUED