From: "M. Cogburn" Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 22:20:08 -0600 Subject: Portraits Of The Past, Part 2 Chapter Two As Sam walked away from Jessica, he realized that he had no idea where Jason's locker was, what the combination was or Jason's schedule. He approached the hall that was opposite from the library. He just hoped that he was going the right direction. Al lagged behind him; openly gazing at each attractive girl he saw with a simple grin. He arrived at the hallway as a muscular teenager grabbed him placing him in a headlock tousling his hair. "Hey!" "Had to do it, buddy. You did it to me Saturday night when you were fubared." Sam recognized the term that youngsters had made in the eighties. It was a term that used just a little profane language for being drunk; but as he put it, fried up beyond all recognition. He looked at the teen before him. He had thin lips, a straight nose, warm blue eyes, brown bushy eyebrows and long brown hair pulled into a neat ponytail. He tipped his head back to the doors as he asked, "Hey, what was that all about? You kissed Margaret?" His eyebrows rose with interest. "Oh, that, yeah . . . well . . ." Sam stammered glancing back down the hall. "You can tell me later. We'll be late for class and you know how Mr. Lawrence hates seniors being late." "Okay. I need to go to my locker." Sam said as he searched the hallway for Al. He found him standing in the middle of the foyer gazing licentiously at a group of girls. "Al!" He hollered only to remember he shouldn't have called out to the hologram. Fortunately, the group of girls that Al stood by glanced his way and giggled only to have a young lady with auburn hair respond with a small wave. "Hey Jason. Billy." Al took a double take at the young lady. It must be a coincidence. He ambled over to Sam with a grin. "Her name must be Alexandria or something." Billy nudged him. "Come on, lets go." Sam walked just a step behind Billy as they moved through the crowded hallway. He led him straight to Jason's locker -- a canary yellow locker with the number 158 printed on it. Sam stood before it skeptically. He rested his hand on the combination lock and closed his eyes hoping that the numbers would magically appear. He knew he wasn't that lucky. "You know after this weekend, I was surprised when I knew my own name this morning." "Oh, Sam . . ." Al began as he shook his head at his friends lame excuse not knowing of their conversation earlier. "You could have come up with something better than that. I know I could have." "I know what you mean. It took me a while to remember my own." Billy glanced at a young woman who wore a tight mini-skirt only to turn back to Sam. "Can't remember your locker combination, can you?" Sam nodded his head affirmatively but replied, "No." "Here." Sam stepped away from the locker and watched Billy as he turned the dial to the appropriate numbers: 3 - 24 - 36. "I got your combination when I got mine. I got it in case you forgot. You were flat-out drunk Saturday night." The locker opened and Sam stepped back in front of the opened alcove. Books were in order of his classes. A schedule was above the books. Sam felt relieved when he saw it. It read: 1. Chemistry 104 Lawrence 2. Trigonometry 220 Dancer 3. Astrology 127 Howard Lunch 4. Government 204 Dailerman 5. Drama Ch. Hall Stacey 6. Choir Ch. Hall Hollands Football Practice "Boy, that isn't the normal schedule for a normal high school quarterback." Al remarked as he viewed the schedule over Sam's shoulder. Sam nodded as he reached in to grab the Chemistry and Trigonometry books and Jason's notebook. He shut the door then looked back at Billy. "Okay, Billy. Let's go." "Well, Sam, you look like your in good hands. Do good in school." He jeered then opened the Imaging Chamber Door to leave. The door rose behind him displaying a rectangular spectrum of. He stepped back into the light and waved. Sam heard the Imaging Chamber Door close as he headed toward Chemistry. The rumor about what happened between Jason Hughes and Margaret Dawson spread like wild fire. Discussions about how and why it happened were being held during the lunch hour in small groups. Margaret walked through the hall heading toward the lunchroom. She hugged her books to her chest and walked with her head down. She didn't want to see the faces of her classmates. She just wanted this day to end. She felt humiliated and used. Taking a deep breathe, she opened the door to the lunchroom and went inside. She licked her lips and glanced around the large room. Several people looked up at her with mixed expressions. Some looks were of pity while others looked at her as if she was the butt of some cosmic joke. She went to the snackbar line and waited patiently as the line moved forward. She ordered a burrito and a coke, paid for it, then took her lunch to the court yard that was adjacent to the cafeteria. The court yard was for the students that wanted to eat their lunches outside. She went to one of the many benches and sat wanting some black hole to suck her into it's emptiness. She sighed and started to eat. "Why so glum?" Margaret looked up into the eyes of a person she had considered a friend from the moment she met him. Before her stood, Jon-Bob Walters, the one person who had helped her cope with many of the problems that came into her life. His eyes were filled with concern and when he saw her posture and then the look in her eyes, he sat beside her. "Okay, tell me about it." "You haven't heard?" She asked amazed. "About what?" What happened? Did someone hammer on you about what happened with Bobby?" Margaret closed her eyes at the mention of her deceased boyfriend's name and shook her head. "No, Jon-Bob. This morning when I came in through the front doors, I dropped my library books. Jason saw me drop them and came to help me with them. He kissed me in front of everybody, Jon." She paused somewhat hurt, "that's when I realized it was some kind of joke." Her chin started to quiver and her eyes were again filling with tears. "Jessica told me I was a victim of a dare." "Oh, honey, come here." Jon-Bob pulled her into his embrace. He knew how much she cared for Jason Hughes. Every conversation that they had, somehow Jason's name popped up. Now this. He sighed and held onto her giving her support. She pushed away from him. "Jon, I think that I'm the butt of some cosmic joke. After everything that has happened, I just . . ." She ran her hand over her hair. "God . . . I just don't know if I can handle this." "Hey, now. Stop talking like that. That's why I'm here." He smiled showing white teeth. "You know I'm your knight in shining armor, don't you?" He raised his eyebrows as he peered at her. That comment made her smile. She wiped at the moisture that was threatening to flow over. "Yeah, I know." She leaned over and gave Jon-Bob a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Jon-Bob. You're a good friend." "Yeah. A good friend." Jon-Bob ran his hand through his brown hair and watched as she tried to finish her lunch. From the moment he met Margaret he had fallen for her. But it wasn't her looks he had fallen for, although she was quite lovely. It was her good heart. They had known each other for over a year and a half and he had kept his feelings hidden from her. He just wanted her to be happy. "Listen, I've got to get. Sorry that I can't stay to talk more, but if you need to talk, call me. Do you hear?" He raised her chin up toward him so she would look directly in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. "I will, I promise, Jon." Jon winked at her then gathered his belongings once more. As he walked away, he folded three of his fingers in toward his palm leaving his thumb and pinkie out, then raised his hand to his head then pointed to her. With a smile, he was gone. During the rest of the day, Sam continued being late to classes. He apologized and took notes that Jason would need to pass the upcoming tests. He was mentally exhausted by the time fifth period rolled around. Between contemplating on Margaret's death, being asked questions that he could answer immediately and in depth, and trying to figure out all of his friend's names, he was depleted of energy. Where was Al? Sam wondered how his friend could leave him with so little to go with when dealing with the leaps. He had tried to find Margaret, but it was no use -- she was probably dodging him. He wondered how he was going to talk to her about this morning when he bumped into someone coming out of a room. Books flew and scattered across the floor. He heard a definite sigh. "Damn . . . why don't you watch where you're going?" A feminine voice questioned harshly. Sam looked up to see Margaret standing before him. "Margaret . . ." Her shoulders dropped as she realized who she had snapped at. Without another word, she stooped down to pick up her scattered books. She didn't want to talk to him. As she reached for one book, Sam grabbed the book from the floor and held it out to her. Her gaze locked with his for a moment, until she dropped her gaze to her book only to take it from his hand. Sam could tell that she resented him. He watched as her jaw muscles clenched with annoyance as she ground her teeth together. "Margaret, I want to apologize . . ." Margaret swallowed hard, gazed into his eyes and stood with the book. "Look, Jason, it's no big deal." Her words were crisp and enunciated. "A dare is a dare. The joke is over. I'm over it." She clasped the books to her chest and tried to walk away but Sam quickly stood and grabbed her arm. "Well, if that's true, I'm glad." She stared at his hand as it seemed to burn her skin, then followed it up to meet his gaze yet again. It seemed to melt her making her turn to putty and that made her even more angry. "It's not true but that doesn't matter any more does it?" "I think so. Margaret, please hear me out." Animosity registered in her eyes as she yanked herself free from his grasp. "Jason, you may be the big hot shot on campus, and girls might throw themselves at your feet, but I will not stand here and hear some lame excuse that you've made up off the top of your head. I have more important things to do." She sauntered away leaving him to think about what she said. Yet, halfway down the hall, she turned and came back to him. "You know, when I saw you that night at the group session, you became my friend. You helped me to feel good about myself. You and I have been getting together a couple nights a week to help each other sort out our feelings. I trusted you." She faked a small laugh. "Now, you embarrass, humiliate and use me in front of the whole school just because of a damn dare? I thought that you were different -- I thought you were above all this popularity crap then you do this. Now, I just don't know anymore." This time she turned on her heel and walked away. "Margaret . . ." Sam's shoulders dropped as she walked away. Maybe he shouldn't have taken the dare. He wasn't sure now but it was too late do to anything about it. It was in the past. He shook his head and headed toward the choir hall where his next class was. As he walked, he thought about what she had said. He frowned. Group sessions? Helping her to feel good about herself--what had she meant about that? Death. It seemed to connect but he didn't want to deduce anything without Al's input from Ziggy. He'd have Al check on it. He stepped in the door just as the tardy bell rang. Everyone glanced at him with a grin. He was unsure about what was happening until he saw Margaret take her seat at the far side of the room. He ran his hand through his hair then went to the empty desk that was beside Margaret's. He sighed and grimaced when he saw Jessica in the desk to his right. "Oh boy." He sighed as he looked up at the teacher, Mrs. Stacey. Mrs. Stacey was a young attractive teacher with brown eyes and black hair. Mrs. Stacey glanced around the room. Instantly, she could tell that something was up and that it dealt with Jason, Margaret and possibly Jessica. Her eyebrow rose delicately as she studied the class. Whatever the problem, she just wanted the class to concentrate on their work. "All right, today, we are going to cover another part of Grease II. Remember, you picked this production to put on for the school and you also choose the players by a secret ballot. So, here we go. Characters are as follows:" She walked up to the board and unveiled the characters and the people chosen to play them. It read: Stephanie -- Margaret Michael -- Jason Paulette -- Jessica Johnnie -- Billy Rhonda -- Ashley Goose -- James Sharon -- Melissa Louis -- Tom Delores -- Melani Frenchy -- Taylor "We read parts and went over some songs the last time, so now we're ready to go over some of the production after the bowling song. Open your book to page fifteen and those in the scene go to the stage. Spend the next twenty minutes reading the scene then we'll act out the parts." Sam watched as the group slowly one-by-one got up and went to the stage. "Jason, come on. We can't wait all day." Mrs. Stacey stated. Sam closed his eyes and made a sound of a hurt puppy dog. "What's wrong Sam?" Al asked as he popped in beside Sam only for him to jump. "Where is your book?" Mrs. Stacey asked as she glanced at him as he stood. "At home." Sam responded knowing that it wasn't in Jason's locker. Maybe since he didn't bring it, he wouldn't get to participate. Mrs. Stacey sighed as she glanced around the room. "Jacob, could Jason use your book today?" The boy nodded and handed the book over graciously. Al moved toward the teacher's desk to view Sam's performance and get a better look at Mrs. Stacey. "Well, at least you have a book this time to look at." The scene reminded him of when Sam had to read the book during dress rehearsal in one leap. In that leap however, Sam had leapt into an understudy to the lead part in The Man of La Mancha. He had kept a drunken star from literally breaking his leg. Al shook his head slowly as he remembered what he told Sam about Don Quixote. "He loved pure and chased from afar." Sam had looked at him with a mixed expression. Yet, Don Quixote suited Sam's character. After twenty minutes were up, Mrs. Stacey stood and addressed the group. "Now, you've had a chance to read the part. Now, I actually want to see you act. Yes, this is a grade." She anticipated the question they would ask. "Jacob, since you gave your book up, you may be the older man that comes in. Now, T-Birds and Pink Ladies, there is a lot of attitude in all your parts so play it up good. Jason, remember Michael is Australian -- okay?" She smiled broadly. "Action." Sam began. He stood offstage and slowly began to walk toward the stage. "Always be courteous when asking for a game. Hi, want a game? Howdy fellows, lets bowl some balls. Bowling anyone?" He practiced in his best Australian accent. "Another well deserved victory, huh, Johnnie?" One T-Bird, Tom, asked happily on stage. "Yeah, but where's the trophy?" Billy asked looking at the group of women before him expectantly. "Right here, Johnnie" Jessica seductively moved to him and planted a kiss on Billy -- one that both had to step back to catch their breaths. "Oh kissies." Ashley responded as she read her part of Rhonda in the play. "That's for best average . . ." Billy began. "Huh-hummm . . ." Jessica licked her lips. "But what about the trophy for best score?" Billy asked as he grabbed Margaret's arm. "God." She screwed up her face in annoyance as she yanked her arm away from him. "Touchy." "What about the trophy for best score, Stephanie?" James asked with somewhat of a Yankee accent. "I ain't no one's trophy, Goose." Margaret retorted. "Ooohhh." They warned together. "She ain't no one's trophy." Billy mimicked. "So that's the way it's gonna be now -- huh, Ms. Independent?" "Yeah, independent." Margaret straightened her back. "I kiss who I want, when I want." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Be my guest." Billy motioned at the door as Jacob walked in moving slowly and grinned at them. A burst of laughter came from the boys as they taunted Margaret to kiss the 'older man'. She started toward the door where Jacob was acting as if he is hanging up his coat. Sam came in the door supposedly not knowing what was about to happen. He looked to the guys to say something when Margaret met him, grabbed the back of his neck with her cupped hand and pulled him to her for a kiss. It wasn't anything like the kiss they shared this morning. It was more enticing as it deepened into a French kiss that lasted longer than planned. Margaret quickly pulled away from him and turned around to the group whose mouths gaped open. She began to blush as she spread her arms wide as if it was no big deal then looked back at Billy. "Lets eat." "I vote for pizza." Melani read her part as a little girl. Jessica looked at Melani roughly and with a crack in her voice said, "You vote for bed. It's past ten o'clock and why don't you just go home and leave me alone." Jessica followed the rest of the girls out leaving Melani behind. "Bed stinks." She called out. "Hi, is it too late to join the game?" Sam asked as he met up with Billy. Still shocked by the passion in her kiss, he couldn't forget the desire he felt for her. He wanted to go to her and kiss her again. "You want something?" James asked annoyed. "Food." Billy stated and began walking off stage. The other three boys imitated him accordingly then followed him off the stage leaving Melani and Sam on stage. "Cut." Mrs. Stacey said loudly. The group reassembled on the stage. "That was great. We need to work on it some, but it was really good. For the rest of the hour, lets just finish reading the play then tomorrow we'll start at the beginning and get it ready." Mrs. Stacey grinned approvingly then went to her desk. Sam sat down on the stage after he handed Jacob his book back. He sat quietly on the edge of the stage. Al moved himself from the desk to where Sam sat looking out across the room. "Wow! That was some kiss." Sam nodded then glanced up at Al. "Have you got anything new?" Sam asked quietly through clinched teeth. "Well, for the past six years, she's been surrounded by death." That caught Sam's attention. He looked at Al quickly wondering what he could be talking about. Al preceded to answer the unasked question in Sam's eyes. "Ziggy found this in the newspaper archive at Swaldon. In 1990, her youngest brother, John, died from a severe case of pneumonia. Doctors said if they could have caught it earlier, he might've had a fighting chance; then in 1991, her other brother, Harris, died in an automobile accident that involved a drunk driver. In 1993, her last grandparent died, old age; then in 1994, her mother died when she went overseas to get more information on a recent newspaper article -- the airplane crashed. In 1995, her father died in a freak auto accident while on duty. He was de . . de . ." The handlink jammed and protested loudly as Al hit it on its side. "De . . decapitated. Although they knew who it was, she had to go down and identify him, Sam. Then two months ago, her first boyfriend died in an automobile accident -- a head on collision with a semi." Sam looked away from Al, closed his eyes and shook his head sympathetically. "Oh man." He opened his eyes to look at her with compassion. He felt the same sensation he felt earlier as his eyes swept over her body. She was sitting quietly reading the manual to the production. Sensing eyes on her, she smiled as she looked up. She scanned the room, then finally her eyes came to rest on him. A frown replaced her smile as she sadly sighed. Sam dropped his gaze and looked down at his feet. A thought crossed his mind and he quickly glanced up at Al. "Check to see if Margaret has done any counseling of any kind -- group sessions -- that type of thing." Al quickly ran the idea into Ziggy's handlink. It blinked back at him coherently. "Yes, she has." Sam nodded. "What kind of group sessions?" "It covered death and the grieving process. Makes sense, huh?" Suddenly, Al looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, okay . . . Ziggy was able to confirm that Margaret and Jason were both at the meeting. Jason was present because his twin brother died four months ago. They meet every Monday night at six p.m." As Sam nodded, the bell rang to end the class period and the students quickly went to their seats, got their books and exited the room. Before Margaret could slip away, Sam cornered her. "Can we please talk?" "There's nothing to talk about." She stated matter-of-factly and tried to move around him but he wouldn't let her. He stopped her by extending his arm out toward the wall and resting his body weight on it. "I want to apologize for Jessica and her friends. They can be real jerks. As for the kiss . . ." Sam looked to Al for support. "Hey, don't look at me. You got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out." Al said as he continued to pry more data from Ziggy. Sam closed his eyes and hoped for the best -- always an optimist. "As for the kiss," he went with his gut instinct, "I . . .well . . . I meant it." He was beginning to find it difficult to be this close to her without her being in his arms. He was close enough to smell her perfume. He inhaled it's fragrance and took another step toward her. He looked at her, a growing passion began to overwhelm him. Margaret rolled her eyes and looked at him in awe. A slow grin played on her lips. "Oh, come on, Jason, you can do better than that." If only it could be that, she thought miserably. If that was the case, he could have gone ahead and kissed me again. Like now. "Well, what about you?" Sam countered. "That was one dozy you gave me a few minutes ago." Sam's eyebrow arched liking how he affected her by turning the blame. "Well, that's the difference in a real acting kiss and a dare one." She glanced around her trying to look for a way out of the situation she was in. "You know the difference?" Al asked amused as he glanced at her. Sam quickly thought of a different angle. "You haven't seen me kiss someone for no apparent reason, have you?" She thoughtfully gnawed at the inside of her cheek. "No." She finally admitted. "Well, there you go." Margaret regarded Sam carefully as she deliberated on the conversation and his actions. "But that doesn't mean that you wouldn't start now." Unexpectantly, she ducked under his arm and walked hurriedly toward the door. "Aw, come on Margaret." Sam grabbed his books from his desk and started after her. "I think you know me better than that." He followed her to the choir room then grabbed her arm. "I think you know me better than . . ." He began again. "Do I?" She jerked her arm free and started toward the door, but wasn't aware that it swung open only to hit her squarely in the face. She stumbled backward then passed out as pain overwhelmed her. Al winced and kneeled down beside her. He looked at the handlink as information began to blink at him. "Other than being bruised, she's fine. She'll wake with an awful headache, though." "Oh, did I do that?" A feminine voice asked coyly. In the doorway stood Jessica with a smirk on her face only to turn to a frown when she saw Margaret starting to come around. Margaret's hand went to her forehead and it lingered there before she opened her eyes to blink against the light that was above her. She looked to her left and saw Jason trying to calmly talk to her; asking if she was okay. She looked forward and saw Jessica with an evil smile. She then looked to her right only to see an older attractive man dressed in a green suit. He glanced at Jessica and said, "She did that on purpose." Sam glanced at Jessica then back to Margaret noticing the dagger look pass between the two of them. "Are you okay?" Sam asked again. "Yeah, just dizzy, that's all." She glanced at the older man then shook her head thinking that she was seeing things. Sam helped her up from her position and stabled her as she stood. She yanked her arm away from him, not wanting his support. If things had been different, she would have accepted support from him -- but after this morning -- she just couldn't accept his help. "I'm fine." She stared at Jessica with her jaw set tight as she recalled what the older man had said. She snatched the door open wide and went inside. She was still smoldering when she sat on the risers to begin the class. Sam followed her inside and went to her wanting to talk to her but didn't. He wanted her to calm down before they talked again. He sat down beside her and he wondered how he was ever going to talk to her about what happened. Margaret glared at him as he sat down beside her then her gaze went to the man in the green outfit. He looked familiar but she didn't know where to place him in her memory. She knew that he was younger the last time she had seen him though. He had short brown hair, bushy eyebrows, deep brown eyes, a cute nose, and a fit, muscular body for someone his age -- he was definitely fit. All-in-all, he was definitely handsome -- except for the clothes. They were a little too loud but the more she looked at him, the more they looked good on him. Class soon began. As they worked on the production's songs, she kept watching him. She had first thought he was Mrs. Holland's observer for the school, but he proved her wrong when he mimicked Mrs. Hollands actions and danced as they sang. She quickly noticed that no one else seemed to notice him except for herself. She tried to come up with some explanation why no one else could see him. Maybe, it's a hallucination from being hit by the door. That explanation seemed logical enough to her. When class ended an hour later, she walked toward him intending to talk to him -- even if she made a fool out of herself talking to thin air. Yet, she became speechless when he said, "Excuse me, darling," and walked right through her. A tingling sensation shot through her body and her breathing quickened. She stood there for a moment gathering her wits about her. She mentally calmed herself down by taking two deep breaths and letting them out slowly, then quickly walked out of the choir room determined to leave Jason and her hallucination there.