The Summer of Cotton Candy (26 page)

“Why would he be afraid to?”

“I don’t know, but he’s been acting pretty weird lately. Just go talk to him, okay?”

She nodded. She had been trying hard to put Kurt from her mind, with little success. When her lunch break came she headed over to the History Zone, nervous, but resolute. If he had something to say to her, today was the day.

He was the Lone Ranger, just as he had been that first day they met. Her breath caught as he turned and looked at her. He rushed over and pulled her to the side where they could have a little more privacy.

“Don’t say anything, just let me get this off my chest first,” he said.

She nodded.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said, and you’re right. I do need to think about my future.”

“Kurt, you don’t need to say that just for me.”

“It isn’t just for you. It’s for me too. What you said makes a lot of sense. I can’t be a costumed character forever. I want to have a real life, and I want you to be part of it.”

“What are you saying?”

“I care for you, Candace.”

“You do?” she asked. It was the dumbest thing she could have said, but it was all she could get out around the lump in her throat.

“Yes, and I want to prove to you that I can be the man you need.”

“I’d like that,” she whispered.

He bent down and kissed her and it felt so good. She could have stayed like that forever, but he was the one who pulled away.

“I’ve signed up to take the high-school equivalency test, and I’m planning on starting community college next quarter. Nothing big, I’m just going to get my feet wet and see where it takes me.”

“I’m proud of you,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

“Will you consider giving us another chance?”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Great. I have to get back to work now. Maybe we can discuss it more tomorrow night, over dinner?”

Again she just nodded.

He kissed her quickly. “Gotta run.”

Strange day indeed!

When she went back to her cart, Josh looked relieved. “Everything cool?” he asked.

“I think we just got back together,” she said by way of answer.

He grinned. “That’s great! Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Now all you have to do is come back to work Scare. You should, it would be a lot of fun.”

“That’s not that far away,” she said.

“No. You should hurry. If you want one of the good monster jobs, then you have to sign up by —”

“Let me guess,” she said sarcastically. “March.”

Josh grinned at her. “No, this week.”

“Oh,” she said, shocked that for once she wasn’t late for something at The Zone. “Are you going to be working the Scare Zone?”

“That’s the sweetest part. I’m going to be a vampire in one of the mazes.”

“Cool.”

“You should totally sign up to be a vampire chick. They get the hottest costumes,” he said with a sly wink.

She felt herself blush. “I wouldn’t want to wear anything too revealing.”

He shrugged. “You could always be a mummy.”

“What’s the down side?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Their costumes are so hot and constricting that at least one faints every weekend.”

“Great. Any other options?”

He grinned. “Ask the recruiter and find out.”

“I think I just might,” she said, rising to the challenge. After all, it would only be about six weekends. And it would mean extra spending money. Where was the bad?

Josh smiled as though he could read her mind. “See you in three weeks, Cotton Candy.”

Yeah, but then maybe you’ll be calling me something else, like Candy Corn
, she thought.

The afternoon flew by, and when her final shift was almost done she thought she might cry. She gave Josh a big hug and made him promise to IM a lot. “And don’t forget, you’re taking my team out for pizza on Saturday.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know, you were so excited, I was just trying to encourage you. I had no idea your team was that close to winning or I never would have helped you.”

“There’s only so many lockers in the park. We would have won with or without your help.”

“Oh yeah. Prove it.”

“I might, but you’ll just have to wait until next summer.”

“You’re seriously planning on doing all of this again next summer?” a familiar voice asked.

Candace spun around to see Tamara. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I was going to miss your big finale, did you?”

“Thanks, Tam,” Candace said hugging her.

“Next summer?”

“I might,” Candace said. “We’ll see.”

“So, when exactly do you get off?”

Candace looked at the girl who was coming to relieve her. “In 3… 2… 1.”

“I’m here to relieve you,” the girl said with a smile.

“And you don’t know how relieved she is,” Tamara said.

Candace laughed. “Thanks.”

Tamara and Candace moved off.

“So, it’s your freedom day. Whatever you want to do, we’ll do,” Tamara said.

Candace thought for a moment. “You know, strange as it may seem, I want to go on some rides.”

“You know you’re crazy?”

“It’s been said.”

“Okay, as long as you know. Race you to the Glider!”

Tamara took off running with Candace close on her heels, trying to laugh and run at the same time. She’d spent the summer trying to leave this place — and now that she could, she wasn’t. Becca was right. She was a Zoner.

debbie viguié

1

Candace Thompson knew she was crazy. That was the only possible explanation for why, once again, she was sitting across the desk from Lloyd Peterson, hiring manager for The Zone theme park. A lot had changed since the day in June when she had been hired to operate a cotton candy machine. Still, sitting across from Lloyd, she felt self-conscious and a bit insecure.

“So,” he said, staring at her intently. “You think you can be a maze monster for Scare?”

She nodded. Scare was what they called the annual Halloween event at The Zone. Aside from putting frightening elements in traditional rides, during Scare there were a dozen mazes where monsters did their best to scare park guests as they wound their way through dark and creepy corridors.

“Then show me something scary,” he prompted.

It was eleven in the morning in a brightly lit office. What on earth did he expect of her? She wanted to say something smart. She wanted to say something funny. She realized with horror that she didn’t have anything to say.

“Come on, come on,” he said. “Be a monster; jump around, growl, or something.”

She got out of her seat and did the best growl she could. Unfortunately, she sounded less like a monster and more like a frightened Chihuahua.

“Threaten me!”

She got closer to him than she would have liked, jumped up and down, swung her arms, and then pounded her fist on his desk. She could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t impressed.

She growled again and yelled, “I’m going to get you!” She felt like the world’s biggest idiot. No one would be scared of a teenage girl, especially not one wearing a gray business suit and sensible shoes.

“Scream!” he ordered.

She threw back her head and screamed her loudest, shrillest scream. That, at least, was easy. It was a game her best friend, Tamara, and she had played when they were little. They had competitions to see who could scream louder or longer or higher.

She screamed for ten seconds and then sat back down in her chair. She expected Lloyd to laugh. She expected him to say something derisive. Instead he was looking at her thoughtfully.

“I have the perfect role for you to play,” he said. He wrote something on an orange slip of paper. “You’re going to be Candy in the Candy Craze maze.”

“Candy?” she asked questioningly. “Am I going to be dressed up like a giant Twix bar or something?”

He shook his head. “Nothing like that. You should be proud; it’s our latest maze. The lines for it will wrap halfway through the park.”

He handed her a stack of papers. “You can go fill these out. Then, on Saturday at nine a.m., report to the costume warehouse for your fitting and orientation. At that time you’ll also be able to pick up your badge, ID, and parking pass.”

“Saturday at nine,” she confirmed as she took the stack from him.

“There’s a table —”

“Out in the courtyard,” she finished for him.

Since she was a returning employee, there was slightly less paperwork this time. There was, however, an entire book of rules and policies regarding Scare. She had to sign several forms stating that she had received it, read it, understood it, and promised to abide by it. It seemed like the golden rule of Scare was thou shalt have no physical contact of any kind with players. Touching a player — a customer — was grounds for immediate firing.

Once she had finished filling out and signing all her paperwork, she returned it to Lloyd Peterson. Checking her watch, she discovered that she still had an hour before she had to meet Tamara for a late lunch. She decided to head into the theme park to see a few friends.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the park was that the Holiday Zone was closed and that temporary walls set up around the area prevented players from going inside or even getting a peak at what was going on.

The Holiday Zone was one of nine themed areas inside The Zone theme park. The theme of the Holiday Zone changed throughout the year to reflect different holidays. It was the day after Labor Day, so all the Fourth of July theming from summer was now being replaced with Halloween theming for fall. The transformation would take about ten days, and then the Holiday Zone would be open again for business.

Several key attractions throughout the rest of the park were also closed, getting their Scare overlay. The Muffin Mansion was one of them, she discovered when she went there looking for her friend Becca.

She knew that two of her other friends, Josh and Roger, had ended their summer jobs and weren’t there. Fortunately, both of them were going to be working Scare. They had managed to talk her into joining them. Spending time with them was one of the best perks of working the event. One of the other perks was that it paid slightly more than her summer job had.

Martha, her former supervisor, spent a lot of time off field in the employee-only areas. Candace wasn’t sure if Sue, one of her other friends, had already quit her summer job as janitor or not. That left Kurt, so Candace made her way to the History Zone.

Kurt was her boyfriend. The word boyfriend was still exciting and new to Candace. Kurt worked as a mascot, a costumed character. They had met the day she became a Zone referee and, after some rocky moments, had ended the summer as a couple.

She found him in the medieval area of the History Zone, dressed like Robin Hood.

“Hey, gorgeous!” he said when he saw her and gave her a quick kiss.

“Eeeww!” said a little boy holding an autograph book.

“She’s not Maid Marion,” the boy’s sister protested.

“She’s not?” Kurt asked, feigning surprise.

To Candace he said, “Away lady, for you are not my dearest love.”

Candace pretended to be crushed and put her hand to her forehead as though she might faint. The children laughed at that. “But I am! I am wearing this disguise to hide from the evil Prince John.”

“Robin will protect you!” the little girl said excitedly.

The little boy handed Candace his autograph book with great solemnity. She signed Maid Marion’s name, and he seemed immensely pleased.

After the children left, Kurt smiled at her. “Nice job.”

“Thank you. I’m practicing my acting skills for Scare.”

“You signed up?”

“Just now.”

“That’s great! What did you get?”

“Apparently I’m in the new maze. I’m playing Candy.”

Kurt looked startled, but before he could say anything, he was besieged by several more children wanting pictures and autographs. Soon a line formed. Candace glanced at her watch, and Kurt shrugged and gave her a smile. She waved good-bye and headed for the front of the park.

Twenty minutes later she was sitting with Tamara in their favorite ice-cream parlor.

“Want to split a turkey sandwich and a banana split?” Tamara asked.

“Split the split? You took the words right out of my mouth,” Candace said.

After the waitress took their order, they began discussing the fact that they had only a few hours of freedom left before school started up in the morning.