chapter 02

Monday morning. Another day at Summit High. The chronically overcrowded school was filled with emotion. A sound bite on a local station summarized Susan Stedham's life in fifteen seconds. But the next morning as the word spread through the faculty and student body, a cloud of stunned disbelief settled over the school. This 16-year old with a bright future would never walk on campus again. Why did this happen? Susan revealed her true self to few people. She had few close friends. No one had any real answers. Several students gathered around the flag pole at school that morning to mourn her death but life went on.
Melissa didn't know Susan Stedham that well, but she knew Kamden, Susan's closest friend. Melissa saw Kamden in the hall before first period.
"Kamden, you're here. I didn't expect to see you here. Are you OK?"
"I don't know. I'm just really numb. Just thought I needed to be here. For Susan, I mean." Kamden said.
"What happened?" Melissa asked.
Kamden glared back at her in anger. "What happened? She's dead." Kamden's eyes moistened.
"I just mean..." Melissa tried to be more cooth. "Was there another car involved?"
"I don't know." Kamden replied.
"Did you talk to her before the accident?"
"I did. She sounded fine. Normal. Just Susan," Kamden said, looking away. "I've got to go. I don't think I can stick around here today. I didn't get much sleep last night."

When Clipper walked inside the school, he did his usual routine. The locker combination had a certain unofficial security code: 24-15-32 and then a swift kick to the bottom left hand corner. It took him two weeks in September to perfect it. As he opened his locker, the usual cascade of personal and scholastic treasures came into view. In the spirit of Julie Andrews, these were a few of his favorite things. He had neither the time nor the interest to organize the four notebooks, six text books, candy wrappers, CD cases, the disc man, his NIV Study Bible, baseball caps, test papers, tooth picks, fifteen pens (all borrowed from Justin), 12 Jason Kidd rookie cards, super glue, three student organizers, scissors, two pairs of tennis shoes, and three pairs of athletic socks that added a unique ambiance to locker 154. Like an experienced mechanic, he began to reassemble the heap of relics in the two cubic foot museum.
Kandi's heart raced as she walked through the halls of Summit. It had already been a long day. She had been up since 4:30 am, which gave her enough time to try on almost every item in her closet. It's bad enough to have to move for the first time in your life during your junior year, she thought, but in the middle of the spring semester! She clutched her transcript and new schedule. On top of everything else the student body was focused on the death of this girl Susan. Most just looked beyond her arrival focusing on the tragedy.

Down the hall, Lester and Troy were weaving their way through the student body. "The car was in two pieces!" Lester exclaimed "Our neighbor's a metro officer and he said that from the looks of it, the car was going over 100!"
"She must have been smashed," Troy said blandly.
"Are you kidding? Susan Stedham? No way," Lester said
"Did lose control?"
"Who do you think I am? The police commish?"
"Hope not," Troy said.
Tad came from behind, "Hey, did you here what happened to Susan Stedham?"
"No actually we both woke up with rocks in our ears. Of course we did." Troy said smiling.
"You seem really choked up about it," Tad said sarcastically.
"We weren't close. Barely knew her. I try to stay away from girls on the debate team."
"You were sure having some Kodak moments at the Christmas party." Tad said to Troy, smiling.
"Who, Me?" Troy asked.
"Yes, you," Tad answered.
Troy pointed to himself, "Drunk."
"Likewise," Lester smirked.
"You guys weren't that bad off. You introduced me to her, Lester!. And I can't believe you, Troy. You were hanging all over her. She even went with you for a drive."
"No recollection, your honor."
Lester shook his head and said under his breath, "What a waste."
Troy distanced himself from the topic. He was disinterested in any thought that alluded to the fragile nature of life. That would never happen to me, he thought.
Kandi nervously smiled as she passed the trio.
As she came into Tad's sight, his eyes widened. The other two turned and were equally smitten. Tad timidly waved, like an overwhelmed two-year-old who spotted Goofy at Disneyland. "Check it out!"
"Must be a new student."
"You're really quick, Tad."
"Bet she's a narc."
"A narc?" Tad and Troy chimed.
"You know. A cop." Lester whispered.
"Yeah, I know what a narc is, I am just floored by your ?made-for-TV' imagination." Troy chuckled.

At the end of third period, Kandi stopped by her locker. While she attempted to open the locker for the sixth time, Justin came over.
"Hey! Trouble with the locker?"
"It feels like it's jammed," Kandi replied at the peek of frustration.
"I think these lockers were born to jam. They should've replaced them after the Civil War, but, you know, with reconstruction and all."
She smiled nervously and looked away.
"The trick is finding the sweet spot," Justin said as he probed the locker like a bomb specialist.
"The sweet spot?" Kandi asked.
"Like people, every locker is vulnerable. The secret is finding it's weakness. Try entering your combination again," He said. "You're new here, aren't you?"
She nodded her head as she twirled the dial.
"I'm Justin," he said as he stuck out his hand in a business-like manner. She just keep twirling. Justin dropped his hand.
"Now don't lift the handle yet," Justin said as he focused himself. "The bottom looks off balance."
"It does?"
"Yep," Justin pointed to his face. "Trained eyes."
Wham! He punched the locker which burst open. Kandi jumped back and then laughed.
"I have a brown belt," Justin said in a serious tone.
"Really?"
"Sure," he said as he pointed to his leather belt.
She laughed again, politely.
An eternal silence filled the air as they awkwardly looked at each other and smiled
"I'm Justin."
"I know, you said that."
"Oh... Right."
More silence.
"Do you have a name?" Justin asked inquisitively.
"Uh yeah. As a matter of fact, I do. I'm Kandi."
"Nice to meet you."
"Where're you from?"
"Amarillo, Texas."
"Is that anywhere near Houston?" Justin asked.
"Uh...Nope."
"I was just wondering because our youth group went to Houston. But Texas is a big state. The biggest."
"Next to Alaska." Kandi added.
"Right. Next to Alaska. I was about to say that."
Justin thought, I've never bombed on first impressions as bad as this. It's a day that will live in infamy. ?Texas is a big state, huh.' Major duh. "Have you found a church yet?" Justin said while thinking, May Day! May Day! Geek factor is rising by the second!
"Church? No. I -," She stopped to calculate her response. "I'm Catholic and I think that you just go to the temple... I mean the cathedral that's closest to you."
At that moment, Clipper walked up and slapped Justin on the back. "Justin! Whusup? This is the big day!"
"What?"
"The try out?" Clipper said.
"Oh yeah. See you then," Justin replied trying to shoo him away for the moment.
"I practiced my free throw and my jump shot all weekend. I even hit 12 in a row. Can you believe it?" Clipper said.
"That's great. I'll see you at practice."
"Tupper wants the three J.V. players who are up for the spot there about 30 minutes early," Clipper continued.
"Great. Then I'll see you when I--"
Clipper looked over at Kandi. "Hi! I'm Clipper. What's your name?"
"Kandi."
"Nice to meet you, Kandi. You're new here aren't you?"
Kandi thought, If somebody says that again, I'm going to scream.
"Hey Justin, I need to ask you something. Can we talk for a second?" Clipper inquired.
"We are talking." Justin said.
"I mean-" He cut a glance toward Kandi.
Kandi looked around and said, "I'd better find the music building."
"It's outside," Clipper replied.
"I thought it might be," Kandi exhaled and rolled her eyes.
"See you, Kandi," Justin said with a smile.
Kandi, genuinely amused by the whole encounter, replied, "Nice to meet you,"
As she blended into the mass of students scurrying to beat the bell, Justin called out, "Remember. Hit the locker on the bottom left hand corner."
"Gotcha," Kandi called back with one thumb up.
"Let me know if you need anything," Justin offered as she disappeared.
"Thanks."
"Hey!" Clipper said coolly, "I can feel vibes. This is good."
Justin growled at Clipper, "What is it, Clipper? What's so desperately important that you-"
"Reebok or Nike?"
"What!?"
"Reebok or Nike?" Clipper repeated.
"Wear what you brought," Justin said.
"I brought both."
"Good grief, Clipper! Is that the all-important question you had to ask me? That was really rude! This is her first day at school and you practically kicked her out of the conversation," Justin said with a twinge of exasperation in his voice.
"I just want to fit in to the scheme of the team and first impressions are--"
"I came within an inch of inviting her to my house for the Bible Study next week."
"Ouch," Clipper said as his face tensed, "I guess I blew it."
"No big deal," Justin surrendered, half smiling. "Her locker's a tough one. She'll be back."