Chapter Two
Unfortunately for Matt, a series of unfortunate events separated him from the glorious event that was Lunch. These included, but were not limited to, him creating a puddle of drool as he slept in Algebra (much to the neighboring girls’ disdain), him not knowing the answer to a presumably ‘simple’ question when he was abruptly awoken from that slumber, and there was no way in hell that Matt could not forget his humiliation in gym when he could not catch or hit a single baseball.
Needless to say, this was not one of Matt’s better first day of school.
After waiting in line for much longer than he would of have liked, Matt finally stood in the cafeteria, tray full of food in hand. He observed the gabbing teenage filled cafeteria with great interest, looking for even a single place to sit.
It was jam packed.
With a sigh, Matt prepared himself for the physical wonder of holding the tray with one hand, while eating his three dollar meal (which in his opinion, was one dollar too many), with the other. But then, someone clapped him on the back. Hard.
He turned to see the grinning face of Kevin. “Good to see ya man.”
“What are you doing here?”
Kevin patted his stomach proud. “A guy’s gotta eat.”
“You told me you had first lunch, though.”
“Who said I didn’t?”
“You lied to me?”
“Unless I lied to you knowing that you would believe the lie, even if it was the truth in the first place.”
For a moment, Matt just stared at Kevin. “That’s from Pirates, isn’t it?”
Kevin clapped Matt on the shoulder again, trying to change the subject as soon as he possibly could. “Follow me. If people don’t start talking to her, Anna starts turning her mashed potatoes into cute little bunnies.”
“You are not serious...”
“Dreadfully so. Now hurry, before we get a pack of mashed potato bunnies to force down a random victim’s throat.”
Kevin led Matt to a girl who just seemed to reek of cute innocence; the type that makes you feel like you’re kicking a puppy when you get mad at her. Her curly blonde hair twirled down to her neckline, and her almost puffy cheeks didn’t make Matt convince her ‘naïve’ girl appearance.
“Matt, allow me to introduce you to the crazy chicks of crazy chicks, Anna.”
The girl practically leaped over the cafeteria table to give Matt a hug…a hug which almost caused him to drop his tray. “Hey Matt! Nice to meet ya-Hey! Who’s the crazy chick?” She looked at Kevin, very crossed with him. Kevin only snickered.
In an instant, Anna was behind Matt, pushing him into an empty seat. “Sit!”
“Okay…” he agreed, not wanting the hyper girl to get even more activity into her system. Kevin casually sat next to Matt, as if Anna’s behavior was a daily occurrence, and Anna hopped to her previous seat.
“So what are you doing here Matt?”, she asked cheerfully.
“I would think it would be eating…”
“Not that!”, she giggled. “I mean, why you moved.”
“How do you know I’m not a freshman?”
“Because”, Kevin interjected, “you’re not nearly as clueless.”
“Hey!” Anna and Kevin chuckled.
“So Matt”, Anna remarked as she put her elbows on the table, “why did you move?”
Matt twirled his fork through his potatoes. “My dad found a job here.”
Kevin snapped his fingers, disappointed. “It’s always because the parent found a better job!”
“What were you expecting?”
“It would be cool if there was a family on the run or something. Now that would be a welcomed change of pace!”
“It is kinda weird my dad agreed to move here though…”
“The rumors ya mean”, Kevin decided.
“Yeah. About all those wandering spirits that people randomly see —“
“And how they’re always nutty?” Anna interjected.
“Exactly. It’s kind of odd my Dad decided to come to the district where it happens the most.”
Kevin just shrugged. “Since when will we ever understand parents?”
Matt raised his carton of milk. “Precisely.”
And for no reason that Matt would ever be able to comprehend, Anna clapped her hands like a little school girl. “Lets go to the movies!”
“Uh….”
“What’s the matter Matt?” Kevin snickered.
“Well we just, uh, met and all, and my Dad gets mad when I do stuff without him knowing…”
Kevin cracked his knuckles. “Matt, it’s like this; either you go to the movies with us willingly, or we ambush you on your way to the station, tie you up in very uncomfortable ropes, and drag you to the theater ourselves!” He paused, allowing the words to sink. “Now, what’s it going to be?”
Matt then decided that he wanted to go to the movies.
* * * * *
Five hours later, around precisely four: thirty three, Matt was pretty positive that Anna was lost.
“We’re lost.”
“We are not lost! I just have no bloody idea where we are…”
“Anna, why did we have to go to Paladium? We could have just gone to Grande – it’s a whole lot closer than Paladium.”
Anna was shocked at Kevin’s knowledge of distances. “How do you know its closer? You practically flunked Geometry last year!”
“Because my feet don’t feel like I ran the Boston Marathon by the time I get to Grande.”
“Aw, stop ya whining you big baby! You just have to trust my women’s senses!”
“Are those the same senses that made you get lost everyday for the first month of our Freshman year?” Of course, it would turn out that at that very moment, they would turn a corner and lo and behold, Paladium Cinema loomed before them like a great God of Light. Matt secretly blamed the rows of streetlights for the divine effect. “Damn. Where can I get a pair of those women’s senses you were talking about?” Anna giggled.
Anna grabbed Matt’s hands, knowing that he’d probably be slowed down by their unusual antics. “C’mon Mattie! Its time to see a movie!” Anna dragged Matt into the theater, while Kevin, with his hands in his jacket pockets, casually walked behind them, humming some rock tune.
And when they passed, a man exited from an alleyway, muttering something about an operation into his cell phone.
* * * * *
Two hours later, Matt was dead.
“I am dead! I’m dead! Dead, dead, dead, dead! I’m so screwed!”
Kevin leaned over to Anna as they descended the cinema stairs. “How long is he going to be like this?”
“You tell me.”
Kevin decided to lean onto Matt’s shoulders. “Ah, cheer up man! I know a shortcut to your place! We’ll just go through one of the old construction sites.”
“You don’t mean one of those that were halted because of too many weird stuff that would happen?”
“Precisely!”
“Kevin!” Anna protested. “Why do we have to go through a spooky place like that?”
“It’s fast.”
“But I don’t wanna get eaten by some horrible ghost!”
“Oh, stop your worrying! It’s just a bunch of good for nothing rumors.”
Expecting some support, she quickly turned to Matt. “Matt, surely you’re afraid of the rumors of the scary ghosts? Right?”
“Actually, the only thing I am scared of right now is my dad. The sooner I get home, the better.”
“What!”
Kevin grabbed Anna’s wrist, and dragged the petrified young lady off to the short cut. “C’mon Anna, no time for games.”
“I can’t believe this…”
* * * * *
Matt lowered his head as he went under a low wooden arch. Kevin followed suit, while Anna would dive every few feet, run behind some sort of cover, look in every direction for a few seconds, walk a little bit uneasily, and repeat the process. It was needless to say that she was petrified.
Irritated, Kevin turned to face the girl. “Come on Anna! This is ridiculous! There are no such things as ghost, goblins, ghouls, monsters, or anything else that goes bump in the night!”
“I know, but…”
“I wouldn’t know about that…”
Kevin turned to face Matt. “You’re not helping man!”
“That wasn’t me…”
“Yeah. Right.”
“Read my lips. It. Was. NOT. Me!”
“Uh…Houston? Do we have a problem?”
“Let’s just keep moving…”
Suddenly, Matt’s cell phone started to ring. “What the hell?”
“Aw man, it’s probably your Dad. Nothing to worry about…well, minus that big ass grounding you’re due for…”
Matt didn’t move. “He doesn’t know my cell. I got it the day before we moved…”
Kevin’s face went pale. You could say Anna’s face went albino.
Suddenly, a man holding a cell phone in his left hand, and a massive blade in his right, walked out of an alley way. Oddly enough, a paper bag was over his head, with the one ripped hole radiating red.
“Kevin,” Matt stammered, “are you sure there weren’t any ghosts around here?”
