“Kurt? Fine you can have him. He’s not mine anyway,” Candace said, rolling her eyes.
“No, not Kurt, the other thing.”
Great, now I have something else she wants,
Candace thought. She shook her head. “What thing?”
“I don’t know what it is. It makes you seem so alive. It also keeps you from punching my lights out, I think.”
Candace didn’t know what to say. What was Lisa getting at?
“What do you call that?”
“Umm . . . God?” Candace asked, taking a shot in the dark.
“Really? Then that’s what I want.”
“Are you kidding?” Candace burst out. She winced. It sounded bad even to her.
“No. I’ve done a lot of mean things to you, more than you know, and yet you still try to be nice. I want to know what it’s like to be that kind of person.”
Candace was instantly concerned about what those other mean things she didn’t know about might be. She forced herself to take a deep breath, though, and focus on the rest of what Lisa had been saying. She glanced at her watch.
“I’ve got a break now. Why don’t we go talk?” she suggested.
Lisa nodded and then followed her off field. They found a bench and sat down.
“What do you want to know about God?” Candace asked, not sure how else to start.
“Everything.”
Candace laughed. “No one knows everything.”
“Well, tell me what you do know.”
“Well, I know that God loves us and wants what’s best for us. That’s why he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.”
She paused, waiting for Lisa to respond or ask a question or something. The other girl just stared at her. Candace couldn’t read her expression. She took a deep breath and plunged on.
Candace spent an hour talking. Lisa just listened. She didn’t ask questions or anything, and it made Candace nervous. Finally she wrapped it up, and since Lisa didn’t seem to have any questions, she asked one of her own.
“Would you like to maybe come to our youth group this week? I know you’ll have questions, and it’s a good place to start looking for answers.”
Lisa stared at her for a long minute before nodding. “That would be cool. Just tell me when and where.”
Candace gave her the time and directions. Deep down she realized she was actually surprised that Lisa had agreed to go. Somehow she hadn’t believed Lisa was totally serious about learning about God.
Guess I was about as wrong about her as I could be,
Candace thought.
“Thank you,” Lisa said, further surprising her. “I appreciate the invitation.”
Candace thought about offering her a ride, but couldn’t quite bring herself to do that. She still didn’t like Lisa, even if they did have an uneasy truce and the other girl was seeking God. Not very big of me, but nobody’s perfect.
“Can I ask you something?” Candace said.
“What?”
“I was surprised that you nominated me for the scholarship.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “I figured if you won, you’d be as far away from Kurt as you could get.”
Candace shook her head. She had half suspected that was the reason, but the truth just seemed sad.
Sweat was rolling down Candace’s back. They had graduated from Sue’s dining room table to the back patio. Sue, Corinne, and Pete were all sweating just as much as she was. Traci, though, looked cool and calm. She had been practicing at work on all her breaks like Candace had suggested, and now she was better than the rest of them. Each of them had five sets of stacking cups. They were trying to create representations of the pyramids of Giza with them.
Sue and Candace, who were evenly matched in speed, were each building one of the smaller pyramids. In the center, Pete, Corinne, and Traci worked together to construct the largest pyramid. Pete and Corinne constructed the bottom part and left Traci to build the top in a blur of flying hands and cups. They were aiming to finish all three pyramids simultaneously, but they were still a few seconds off.
“Break,” Sue croaked finally.
They all collapsed onto the grass. Sue’s younger brother and sister, who were acting as their audience, went inside and came back out with ice water for everyone. Candace drank hers down thirstily and then fell backward onto the grass.
“Anyone else need Tylenol?” Pete asked, fishing some out of his pocket.
“Yes,” Candace moaned. “I feel like my fingers are going to fall off.”
“Are you sure we can’t just leave it at the pyramids?” Corinne asked.
“We all agreed. Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge,” Sue reminded.
“It will be cooler that way,” Traci said.
“If we can still bend our fingers,” Pete commented.
“It will look awesome,” Candace said.
“Okay, let’s take a go at Stonehenge,” Corinne said.
With a groan, Candace and the others got up.
“We can do this,” Pete said. “Just remind me which part of Stonehenge I’m building.”
“I don’t even remember which part I’m building,” said Sue.
“Maybe we should work on the Eiffel Tower next,” Corinne suggested.
“Okay, next time somebody remember the diagram,” Candace said.
“What diagram?” Traci asked.
“I thought we made a diagram of this last time,” Candace said.
“We talked about making one, but we didn’t actually do it,” Sue said with a sigh.
“Well, then let’s make one this time so we’ll have it for next time,” Candace said.
“I’ve got a better idea, ditch Stonehenge and pick a new third thing,” Pete said.
“Like what?” Traci asked.
No one could think of anything else. Sue went inside and came back out with a large piece of construction paper and some markers. “Fine, but let’s diagram it out.”
Saturday morning, Tamara picked up Candace, and they drove to school where they met up with Mr. Bailey and the rest of the drama class in the auditorium. Mr. Bailey had brought donuts, and Candace eagerly scarfed one down, having overslept her alarm and missed breakfast.
“Okay everyone, today is the beginning of the end. Today we construct sets, which means the play is just around the corner. From here on out, we’ll be working harder, practicing longer, and getting used to our sets, props, costumes, and, ultimately, makeup.”
The guys in the class groaned at the mention of makeup, and the girls laughed.
“Thank you all for coming out this morning. Thank you also for those of you who have persuaded loved ones to be here.”
A couple of fathers nodded tiredly.
“All right, let’s get to work,” Mr. Bailey said, rubbing his hands together like a villain in some old melodrama.
Candace and Tamara set to work painting some of the walls for the prison backdrop. It was slow going, but they had an easier time of it than some of the others who were working on hinging walls together.
Josh and James showed up at nine a.m., as promised, and were instantly surrounded by admiring classmates of Candace and Tamara.
“My guy,” Tamara announced, laying a kiss on James.
Candace laughed at Tamara’s marking of her territory. She moved over and hugged Josh, fighting the sudden urge to kiss him on the cheek.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
“Not a problem, because you know we guys have nothing better to do on a Saturday than build stuff,” he teased.
“That’s why we girls will always need you.”
“Well, I guess that works.”
“So, what do you want us to do?” James asked.
“Set construction,” Mr. Bailey said as he walked up to them. “Glad to see you guys.”
“Give me a hammer,” Josh said.
“Give me a paintbrush,” James chimed in.
“How about I give you both hammers and then graduate you both to paintbrushes later?” Mr. Bailey suggested.
“That works,” Josh said.
They all moved toward the stage where several people were already busy hammering. They worked for three hours. Tamara frequently took a break to run over and give James a thank-you kiss. Candace couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. She had the feeling, though, that even if they had still been together, Kurt wouldn’t have offered to help out.
Candace finished the section she was working on and moved on to a new part of the wall. Next to her another girl was already busy with her paintbrush.
“Your boyfriend is awesome,” Kira said. “So cute and funny, and he’s willing to help. Where do I get one like that?”
“He’s not my boyfriend; we’re just good friends,” Candace said.
“Oh. Does he have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“So, he’s free?”
“I guess,” Candace said, becoming intensely uncomfortable with the questions. Kira was nice, but Candace didn’t want her hitting on Josh.
“So, what are you, an idiot?” Kira asked.
“Excuse me?” Candace asked.
“He likes you. You like him. What’s the problem?”
“I told you, we’re just friends.”
“Then you’re both idiots,” Kira snorted.
Before Candace could retort, Mr. Bailey clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Lunch break. Grab a hot dog and a soda,” he said, waving to a table at the back of the auditorium.
“Awesome, I haven’t had a Casper dog in a couple of years,” James said, jogging past Candace on his way to the table.
“Craft ser vices at its finest,” Josh joked as he walked up to Candace.
Kira elbowed Candace before taking off.
“What was that about?” Josh asked.
“Just horsing around,” Candace said vaguely.
A minute later, Josh, James, Tamara, and Candace had their food and a spot on the floor.
“So, when do we get to see this spectacle?” James asked.
“Two weeks,” Tamara said.
“Awesome, we’ll be here,” Josh said.
“Oh, no,” Candace protested.
“What?” Josh asked.
“I don’t need you to watch me make an idiot out of myself.”
“Come on, Candace, you’re going to be great. You already are,” Tamara said.
Candace rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t say that. I’m trying, though, and at least I feel like I am starting to understand Aldonza.”
“See, you’re light-years ahead of me. I don’t understand my character much at all,” Tamara said.
“You’ll figure it out,” Candace said. “It’s kinda cool when you start understanding who these people are and why they do the things they do.”
“Thinking of becoming a professional actress?” James asked.
“No! I don’t want people to come to this; I can’t imagine if this was my job.”
“You’re going to be great,” Josh said, giving her his most dazzling smile. “And you can’t stop me from coming.”
“Me either,” James chimed in. “Although to be fair, I’m going to be paying a lot more attention to Tamara than you. No offense.”
“None taken,” Candace said with a laugh.
Candace finally made it home, exhausted and paint streaked. It had been a grueling day, but all the major set work was done. The touch-up work could be done during class time by students waiting for their scenes. James and Josh had stuck in to the very end.
She walked into the kitchen, wanting to get a drink of water before hopping into the shower. Her parents looked up from the kitchen table, their faces serious. Fear pricked her spine.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Aunt Bess is sick,” her mom said.
Aunt Bess was her dad’s younger sister. She lived in Florida, and although they talked all the time on the phone, they rarely got to see her in person.
“What’s wrong with her?” Candace asked, fingers curling around the back of a kitchen chair.
“She’s going to have a hysterectomy,” her father said, his voice shaking slightly.
“Will she be okay?”
“She should be,” her mom said.
“When?”
“Friday,” her mom said.
“Good Friday?”
“Yes.”
“Dad and I are going to fly out for about ten days and help take care of the kids. Uncle Tom’s going to have his hands full with taking care of her.”
Candace’s cousins were six, eight, and nine years old. She had only met them a couple of times. She said a quick prayer for them. They had to be terrified by what was going on.
“We’ve talked about it, and we don’t want to take you out of school,” her dad said.
“So, I’m staying here?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry,” her mom said.
“It’ll be okay.”
“We hate the thought of leaving you alone for Easter,” her dad said.
“I know Tamara and her family are going to be out of town visiting her grandparents,” her mom said.
“It will be okay,” Candace said. “I’ll find something to do. I’m a lot more concerned about Aunt Bess.”
Her mom stood up and hugged her hard, which scared Candace a little bit. “Thank you,” she whispered, and her voice was shaking. Candace hugged her back.
Candace finally went upstairs, showered, and then settled into her room. She called Tamara and left a message for her. Then she called Josh and told him about her aunt.
“That’s terrible. I’ll be praying for her, for all of you,” he assured her.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’m just freaked out a bit. I’m not used to seeing my parents scared like that.”
“Understandable.”
It was after midnight when they finally hung up.
Sunday night, Candace and Tamara were a few minutes early to youth group and had staked out their favorite couch. “I’m not happy that you’re going to be alone on Easter,” Tamara said when Candace filled her in.
Candace shrugged. “It will be fine. I’m sure I can find something to do.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us to Dad’s family reunion?” Tamara asked.
Candace rolled her eyes. Three days trapped with Tamara’s extended family was not her idea of a good time. Nor Tamara’s for that matter. “I went to one of those like six years ago, remember?”
“How can I forget?” Tamara asked gloomily.
“You could bail and stay with me,” Candace suggested.
“Can’t. ‘Rents are firm about this one,” Tamara said.
People were trickling in. Jen came over and sat near them.
Suddenly Candace saw a familiar face come in the back. “She actually showed!” Candace said.
“Who?” Tamara asked.
“Lisa.”
“Lisa? The one we hate?” Tamara asked.
“Yes. I mean, no, we don’t hate her.”