Talisman (9 page)

Stunned had now been replaced with
uncomfortable
.

“Thanks for taking my mind off the
mine
.”  Katie was doing what a true best friend was supposed to — build you up.  I shook my head and laughed off her assessment.  “Katie, if I was
all that
, guys would be hanging all over me.”

“You really don’t see it, do you? 
Ugh!
  You’re
so
delusional.”  Katie threw her arms up in the air, suggesting she was surrendering to what she considered to be “utter insanity”.  “I stand by my original assessment.  You’re intimidating.  Deep down, they’re too scared to approach you.  Maybe it’s because they think you’re
too good
and it makes them realize how crappy they are —
I don’t know
.  You come across as pretty tough sometimes… Maybe they think you’ll
kick their asses?
” she proposed with a devilish laugh.

This
conversation was becoming unbearable at an alarming rate.  “Change of subject…
Please?
” I begged.

“Fine
…
Intimidator
.”  Katie threw her arms up to halt my apparent discomfort.  “Have you talked to Mike yet?”

“I sure did.”  I really didn’t particularly care for this topic either.

“So, did you two
lovers
hammer out all the details?”  Katie couldn’t contain her amusement.

“Oh, trust me.  H
e
hammered away
,” I grumbled.

Katie
giggled, feeling my sarcasm.

“Can you
PLEASE keep the ‘Mike-cracks’ to a minimum?” I pleaded.  “I know it would be impossible for you to shut up completely.”

Katie
draped her arm around my shoulder.  “Understood,” she agreed and gave me a firm hug.  “Oh!” Katie exclaimed as her eyes lit up.  “I do have some gossip about the
M-I-N-E
.”

I wouldn’t have to ask her to spill it.  She
looked like a balloon bursting to
“pop”.

“The company that’s meeting with Mr. Riverside today is out of New York, but they have offices all over the world
…
Xcavare Enterprises
,” Katie revealed.  “Have you heard of them?”

“No.  Do they mine coal?”
I asked curiously.

“They mine
everything
,” Katie replied.  “Graphite, gold, silver, lithium…Anything they can turn a profit on…Even
gemstones
.”

“Where did you hear this?” I quizzed.

“I overheard Coach Hayes telling some of the teachers.  He was trying to be secretive, but you can hear that loud mouth of his from the next flippin’ county.  His brother works at the Mercer County Airport in Bluefield.  He filled him in on
who
was due to arrive today, according to their flight log.  He also told him about three SUV’s from one of the car dealers in Bluefield that were dropped off at the airport last night.  Xcavare Enterprises reserved them for a couple of weeks.”

“But how does he know
what
they mine?” I posed.

“Oh, I don’t know if
he knows
what they mine or not,
but I do
.  They’re always featured in my mom and dad’s trade magazines.  Some of the finest gemstones come from their mines.  They’re truly spectacular.  The gemstone side of their corporation is merely a fraction of their overall operation.  Like I said, they mine everything, all over the world.”

“
Impressive
.  Maybe you don’t need to go off to college after all?  It sounds to me like you’re ready to run the shop all by yourself,” I joked.

“Not
hardly
,” Katie groused.  “But hey — that’s good news, right?  They’re in the
mining
business.”

She made a pretty good point.  “I gu
ess I’m not as worried as I was…but I’m still going over there at 3 o’clock,” I insisted.

“Suit yourself, but I don’t think there’s any need
to stress about it,” Katie replied, equally as adamant.  “You need to focus on more important things — like what colors you’ll chose for your
wedding
.” Katie quickly jumped up and ran off as the lunch bell blared through the cafeteria, leaving me with the
“whip”
of her latest zinger.  I heard her giggling all the way to the door.

“Don’t be surprised if I mistake your face for the basketball hoop next period,” I
called out as I lagged behind her.

As I strolled across campus towards the gym, I had to admit I felt a
little
more at ease.  I just hoped everything at the mine stayed the same, no matter who ended up buying it.  Daddy was the best foreman there.  He couldn’t lose his job or even get demoted.  He loved his shift and his crew.  Surely Samuel’s job would be safe, too.

Crap
…
Now I’m even more worried than before!

I
popped into the girls’ locker room to change.  Kara Leighton and Rebecca Caldwell were in there whining about playing basketball, as usual.  They felt their physical education would be better served by practicing their cheerleading moves during class.  Most of the time Coach Hayes let them.  Probably so he could ogle them while they worked on their high-kicks and shook their asses.

“Shiloh, do you
really
feel like playing basketball today?” Rebecca questioned as she combed her wavy brown hair back into a ponytail.

“I don’t mind,” I answered as I tightened my shoelaces.

“Come on, Shi,” Kara coaxed in a sticky-sweet voice.  “Technically we aren’t getting that much aerobic activity from standing around waiting to shoot a stupid orange ball through a hoop.”  Kara flashed me a smile, attempting to charm me into agreeing with her.

I
shook my head and gave my locker a firm slam.  I wasn’t in the mood to be manipulated by our school’s most deceptively demanding diva and one of her sappy-sweet requests.  She unfailingly got away with murder within the confines of our school and attempted every chance she got at the Sterling Drive-In.  Hell, I got suckered into cleaning up a huge mess Coach Hayes’ heathen son had made out in one of the bays that “she” was supposed to be covering just last night.  Apparently he thought it was the perfect canvas for his “artwork”.  Nothing like staying late because you have to hose spilt strawberry milkshakes off the parking lot and scrubbing greasy food from the menu boards when the other server splits early, faking “cramps”.  And how the little monster got ketchup and mustard on the floodlights twenty-feet in the air was beyond me!

I bounced towards the door of the locker room. 
“That act won’t work on me, Kara.  Save it for Coach Hayes.”  I stopped short of exiting and looked back at her.  “He’s the idiot with the penis,” I replied as I pointed in the direction of the gym and returned her sassy smirk.

Coach Hayes was
tooting his little silver whistle as I emerged from the locker room, warning us that we had about a minute left to fall into line.  He wasn’t one of my favorite teachers, not by a long shot, and I detested the way he was always bellowing out my last name “WALLACE” like a drill sergeant.  Trust me, it let me know his feelings were mutual.  No matter where we were, be it at school, at the Drive In, or anywhere around our small-town, Coach Hayes never failed when it came to being a royal prick or pushing my buttons.  And he was vain too.  Kind of like one of those guys who think they’re still the star athlete in high school that all the guys idolized and all the gals longed for in their dreams.
Needless to say, the less-than-perfectly-fit high school coach was far from a spring chicken.  I watched him while he eyed his MVP college football ring, rotating it back and forth so the diamonds could bask under the gymnasium lights.  I didn’t know which sight was more nauseating: his ritualistic gloating routine or him struggling to adjust the waist of his pants over that bulging pot-belly of his.  Tough choice.

Suddenly, a
basketball hit my butt. I whirled around without delay.  It was Katie.

“Shi, I’ve called over to you
THREE TIMES
already. 
Ugh!
  Are you still stressing about
‘it’?
” Katie demanded.

“
No
,” I groaned.  “I was just watching Coach Hayes.  You’d think he’d won a daggone Super Bowl the way he’s always fiddling with that ring.  I think I hate that thing almost as much as his whistle.”

“Yeah,” Katie giggled.  “About that…He,
umm
, didn’t earn it.”

“What?” I half-gasped.

Katie leaned closer.  “Dad made it for him a few years ago.  And you know how old Ron is…He wanted to have the year engraved on it, as a surprise, and since Coach Hayes never mentioned it specifically, Dad contacted Salem College to get it.  That’s when he found out that our ‘illustrious’ coach was kicked off the team during his Sophmore year…for
steroid use
.”

“That explains a lot,” I giggled over the blare of the coach’s — correction — the con artist’s whistle. 
MVP — My ass!

I rang out my ear.  “I think I still hate that thing
more
,” I affirmed.

“I bet he blows
it at Mrs. Hayes at home…to get her to um,
perform
,” Katie commented, twitching her brow.

I gagged. 
“That’s
so
sick…Now how am I supposed to get
that
mental image out of my head?”

“What can I say? 
It’ll take your mind off the mine,” Katie giggled.  She pointed over to the right side of the gymnasium.  “Hey, why are the mats down?” she questioned.

I was wondering that myself.  “I don’t kn
ow, but I’m sure we’ll find out.”

Coach Hayes blew his
noisy little peacekeeper one more time to summon the class.  Everyone immediately gathered around in our usual half-circle formation.

“Zip it people and listen up!
” Coach Hayes barked.  “Guys, today we’re going to be wrestling on this side of the gym,” he said with an enthusiastic point toward the mats.  Several of the girls let out a few sighs, expressing their discontent.  “Don’t worry, ladies.  You’ll be on the other side shootin’ hoops.  You can’t participate with the fellas on this one.”

Coach Hayes blew his whistle again, which
sparked another disturbing visual image, courteously implanted by my BFF.  Trying to put a lid on my giggles was impossible.  Katie knew exactly
what
I was snickering about, which prompted a few chuckles of her own.

Coach Hayes found no amusement in our behavior whatsoever.
  Straightaway, he blew the damn thing again.  That made it
even worse
.

“Wallace!  Stowell!”
Coach Hayes growled.  “What’s so funny that you two have to interrupt my class?”

We both lowered our heads, still t
rying to contain our laughter.  “
Nothing
,” we sang in unison.

“
WALLACE! 
Do you have a problem with the activities for today?” Coach Hayes charged, his voice reeking with disgust.

“
No problem, Coach,” I insisted, “but it seems a little
sexist
,” I added brazenly, still miffed about the blind-eye he’d turned to his little monster’s creative antics last night.  I thought a little provoking was in order.

“G
uys won’t
be wrestling girls in
MY GYM!
  Guys are stronger, a fact of nature…and I’m not havin’ anyone runnin’ to the office sayin’, ‘this one grabbed me
here
’, or ‘that one grabbed me
there
’!”

“That’s
not what I meant, Coach.  Why can’t us girls…wrestle other girls?  You know, there are
female
wrestlers,” I rebutted.

S
everal of the guys let out a few chuckles. 
“NO!”
Coach Hayes snapped.  “Yeah right!  Female wrestling…It’s an
embarrassment
to the sport!”  He gave his irritating silver whistle one long, commanding blow and then strutted off like he’d just one a flippin’ coin toss.

I stood there, arms crossed and eyes rolling at his chauvinistic remark. 
I should’ve hosed off more than just the parking lot last night!

“
Guys, head on over to the mats and ladies, line up and start shootin’,” Coach Hayes yelled and directed me to the other side of the gym with a flippant wave.  “If it’s not too much of an
inconvenience?
”

Humph…Touchy
.

Gym served as a decent distractio
n.  For the next forty minutes, Katie and I stood around in-between shots and watched the guys wrestle.  Mike Riverside pinned every one of his matched opponents.  Katie even commented on his impressive strength and dexterity.  I told her that I’d overheard Chloe talking to Charlotte about how Mike
loved
to watch wrestling on TV.  He had even taken her to a Strong-Man fighting competition in Beckley last week.  Though I had to admit, I couldn’t resist fantasizing a little about getting on the mat with him myself —
and kicking his butt!
  I still didn’t think he was right for Chloe, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she ended up getting hurt.  Even though we didn’t see eye-to-eye on pretty much everything, I was still protective of her — especially from jerks like Mike Riverside.