She found her way back to her locker and opened it. She was surprised to find it was no longer dirty. In fact, it looked brand new. Penny had probably alerted a custodian and asked for it to be cleaned while she was in class.
Misti retrieved her lunch pail, the book for English, and her math packet. No other class had given homework tonight.
“You ready?” Penny appeared next to her.
Penny was not a horrible driver, but Misti found herself gripping the sides of her seats a few times as they rolled through some stop signs in front of cars that were going a lot faster than they should have been.
“What do you mean, you don’t know how to drive?” Penny asked. She had to shout to be heard over the music that she had blasting. The car was an older model but Penny had made it her own. It smelled like strawberries and she had put on seat covers with a red pattern. The car was just as clean as her room, with the exception of their bags tumbling around the back seat.
“Didn’t really have to know in the city. Besides, we never had a car.”
“Oh, right! That makes sense. I’m sorry. That was probably insensitive of me.”
Misti forgave her. In fact, Misti had always wanted to learn to drive. Most of her classmates knew how to. But they didn’t have a car when she turned sixteen, and her mother had not driven in years herself.
They arrived home in one piece and found themselves alone in the house. Misti followed Penny up the steps of the drive. They hung their jackets and bags on the hooks, removed their shoes, and walked to the kitchen. Penny had begun explaining yearbook terms to Misti.
“When I say ‘spread’ I actually mean two pages, but yearbook calls it ‘the spread’. We also have the mugshots, which are just everyone’s picture. But it’s hilarious because we call them that. Right now we’re finishing up the fall spreads and then we’ll be moving on to the mugs. Those are always the easiest.” Penny pulled down a snack from the pantry and began eating and continued talking. Misti let her. She knew what is was like to be lonely and want to speak.
After they had each had a snack, they headed up to their rooms. Misti sat on her bed and worked on the packet. It seemed to be pretty basic algebra. She was about halfway through when there was a tap on her door. Misti waited for it to open before realizing the person was waiting for her response.
“Come in!” She had never had that control before. It was pretty exciting.
Aunt Mary entered. She was dressed in slacks and a silky blouse with flowers all over it. Her hair was done up and she wore stockings.
“How was your first day?” she asked, coming to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Good. Pretty easy. Penny really helped me, made sure I got to all of my classes.”
Aunt Mary smiled. “I see you have homework.”
“Yeah, not much,” Misti said, showing her the packet. “Personal finance.”
“Well, lucky for you, I deal with these sorts of things all day, everyday. So if you need any help, you let me know. Lord knows I can’t do what Penny is taking.” Aunt Mary stood. “Better get dinner started. Spaghetti tonight!”
Aunt Mary shut the door behind her. Privacy. Again. Misti didn’t know how to handle that.
Dinner followed the same routine as the night before. Uncle Bill also asked about their days and Penny complained about Mr. Miller and told them about almost being done with yearbook. Misti just said she had a good day and that her teachers seemed okay.
After dinner, the girls did the dishes and made their lunches. Misti went upstairs after dinner and took another shower. Penny did not leave another outfit for her this time but Misti had paid attention to what the girls were wearing and managed to put together what she thought would be acceptable. She got into bed and read more of the book for English.
“Lights out, girls!” Aunt Mary called up the stairs right at 10.
Misti could get used to this life.
Five
The Game
The week flew by. Misti was able to participate more fully in her classes. By Friday, she could find her classes without having to ask or circle back. She got her first creative writing assignment and finished her monster in the lake charcoal drawing, which Mr. Wilson described as inspired and hung up with other student work.
She was drawing random circles in her book when she felt as if she was being watched. She looked up and found a boy staring at her from across the Art room. When she looked at him, he looked away. He was still working on his charcoal piece. He wore dark jeans and a plain T-shirt. Misti would classify him as cute. When the bell rang, she hurried out the door to avoid meeting him.
Misti opened her locker and froze. Everything in it had been moved from where she had set it. Her lunch pail, which she always set on the bottom, was hanging from the hook, slightly open. Her books that she kept in a stack in order of her classes were all piled on the bottom of the locker on top of her jacket, which usually hung where the lunch pail was now. Misti’s eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. She must not have shut her locker and now some jerk was messing with the new girl. As she rearranged her things, she remembered what Penny had said on the first day: that she had the haunted locker.
Someone was trying to convince her that the locker was haunted. Trying to scare her. She looked around, but the halls were relatively empty. No one was obviously watching her, hoping for a reaction. Tears? Fear? She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. And after what she had been through, it would take more than a few moved items to give her the creeps.
“See you next week!” She closed the door firmly and twisted the lock a few times, ensuring it was shut. She picked up her bag full of her weekend assignments and went to meet Penny at the car, looking back only once to scan the hall for a suspect. No one was left.
Misti was sitting at the island, searching the internet and eating a snack, when Penny came thundering down the stairs.
“Here!” Penny slid a blue shirt across the island to her and went to the counter. “You’ll need a school shirt tonight. You have to wear school colors to show your support.” She picked up an apple.
“Uh,” Misti said, holding up the shirt. It had a tiger on it and in yellow font said ‘Blackwood High’. “I don’t know if football games are really my thing.”
“Oh, come on! You told me you’ve never even been to one. How can you know if they’re your thing or not?”
That was one of the more solid arguments that Penny had given over the past few days. And Misti reminded herself that she was trying to be a new person.
The game was packed. There were parents and students and small children running around. The air was cold; Misti was glad Aunt Mary had tossed her a pair of gloves and headband for her ears. Penny had redone her hair and applied a bit more makeup than usual. They had picked up Chloe and they both had cameras. They were covering the game; a girl named Angela was supposed to, but she backed out last minute and this was the third most important game of the season so it needed to be covered.
Misti trailed behind the two girls and regretted coming. The mountain air had a bite to it and the crowd made her uncomfortable. The three made their way down the old wooden bleachers to sit with a growing crowd of teenagers. In the front of the group were eight skinny boys. They had no shirts on but they were painted in blue and yellow, the school colors. They each had a letter on their chests and stomachs; when they stood in the correct order they spelled out “GO TIGERS.” Most of the time, they could not find the “O” and the “T” kept sitting down. The cheerleaders down below were yelling and waving up at the stands.