The Spring of Candy Apples (A Sweet Seasons Novel) (7 page)

“You’re welcome,” he said.

It was weird, but there was a moment when she could swear he understood everything that she had been thinking. She smiled.

“Okay, go make your calls, and I’ll make my calls.”

“We should celebrate,” she said.

“I’m all for that. Unfortunately not tonight. I’m practicing with my team.”

Candace sighed. “Foiled by the talent show.”

“Just get used to saying that,” he teased. “How about Friday?”

“My Friday is yours,” she said.

“Awesome, I’m going to hold you to that.”

6

Candace, Sue, Pete, Traci, and Corinne were gathered around Sue’s dining table. Josh’s constant goading about the talent show had taken its toll, and Candace had pushed for practice for their team. It was their first practice, and she had fully expected it to go badly . . . just not as badly as it was actually going.

On the table they had five sets of stacking cups. They each stood at their own station as Corinne tried to show them for the fiftieth time how to stack them quickly into simple pyramids. Even Sue was getting frustrated and looked like she was about two seconds from exploding.

“Okay, forget all the other cups, just take three cups,” Corinne said. “Put two of them upside down touching each other and balance the third one on top.”

Each of them did as instructed. For once they all balanced, and Candace lifted her hands away nervously from her little pyramid. “Victory!” she joked.

“Good,” Corinne said. “Now take hold of the top cup and push it down and to the right until it stacks on top of the right base cup.”

Pete, Sue, and Candace succeeded. Traci’s cups ended up on the floor. She flopped down beside them. “I give,” she wailed.

“We’ve made progress,” Candace said, trying to be optimistic.

“I think we should pick a different talent,” Corinne sighed.

“We don’t have any other talent; we’ve established that,” Pete said.

Sue burst out laughing. “We’re in serious trouble.”

Candace sat down next to Traci. “At least we each managed a pyramid. That’s progress.”

“We’re going to need a whole lot more than that to keep from getting laughed off the stage,” Pete said.

“Is it too late to reconsider the acting thing?” Sue asked. “I know Candace has been rehearsing to be in
Man of La Mancha.
Maybe we could all act out a scene or sing a song or something.”

“Who are you playing?” Pete asked.

“Aldonza.”

“The lead, that’s cool,” Traci said.

“It’s scary,” Candace admitted.

“Why?” Corinne asked.

“I don’t want to make a fool of myself on stage in front of thousands of people, some of whom I know.”

“I’m confused. Are we talking about
Man of La Mancha
or the talent show?” Sue quipped.

“Yes,” Candace said. “They both freak me out.”

“I don’t get that,” Traci said.

“You don’t get stage fright?” Pete asked.

“No, I get that generally, but I don’t get Candace. I mean, you’re constantly in the limelight in some way. Aren’t you used to it?”

Candace laughed. “Believe it or not, I was never anywhere near a light, lime or otherwise, until I started working at The Zone. The last year has been crazy. I’m not sure how I keep ending up on stages or front and center, but it sure isn’t getting any easier.”

“I’d love to be in your shoes,” Corinne said wistfully.

“Seriously?” Candace asked.

The other girl nodded.

A couple months before, Candace would have offered to switch places with her. Now, though, things were changing. Just because she was scared stiff to be in the spotlight, didn’t mean she was ready to give it up. Even that scared her, but it had to be progress. She’d had enough people lecture her about not hiding in the shadows, she had started to think there was something to it.

Maybe Josh was right. Maybe she would win the scholarship. It would certainly track with the way her life had been going. Florida Coast seemed like a world away from her life and her comfort zone. But everything that had happened to her in the last year had been pushing her from that comfort zone. She was beginning to think that God was trying to tell her something.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Sue said.

Candace smiled. “I think with a little more practice we could win this thing.”

“You’re crazy,” Traci said, staring at her.

“It’s been said before, and it might even be true,” Candace answered. “But I think we’ve got all the skill we need, we just need to put a little determination behind it.”

She jumped to her feet, and reluctantly Traci followed suit. They all reassembled around the table and prepared to try again.

Three hours later they called it a night. Candace’s fingers were cramped up, and her back was killing her, but by the end they had each managed to make a large pyramid and break it down. Even Traci had started to feel optimistic.

Candace made it home and then staggered upstairs and fell lengthwise on her bed. She was exhausted, but she was feeling good. It was amazing how much they had gotten accomplished.

She flipped over and grabbed Mr. Huggles. She wondered how the other teams were doing. She realized she didn’t even know what half of her friends were doing for their talent. Josh was still being mysterious. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Martha what her team was doing. Becca, Roger, Gib, and the rest of the crew of the Muffin Mansion were doing the whole
Lord of the Dance
thing. She could just picture Becca, hyped up on sugar, her feet a blur as she moved across the stage. That was going to be something to see.

She thought about Kurt and wondered what he was doing for the talent show. She didn’t even know if he was teamed up with some of his mascot friends. Then again, for all she knew, he might be teamed up with Lisa. She growled under her breath and fought back tears. She knew she and Kurt were wrong for each other. Why did it still hurt to think about him? Why did it make her angry when she thought of him dating someone else?

I need some sort of closure,
she thought.
Josh was right. Then again, he usually
is.

She crawled back off the bed and changed into her pajamas. Then she climbed under the covers and started to pray.
God, help me make the right choices. There are so many paths I can take, and I’m not sure what to do. Help me to be able to let go of Kurt. Help me not to be angry with him or jealous. God, help me to find the man you created for me.

She drifted off to sleep and dreamed about stacking cups that reached toward the heavens.

The next day Candace’s victory with the stacking cups faded into the background as she faced total failure at capturing Aldonza’s sense of anger at Don Quixote. She sat on the edge of the stage, legs dangling as Mr. Bailey tried to explain it to her.

“Look, she’s a peasant; worse, she’s a prostitute. She is nothing. She has nothing, no self-respect, nada. Along comes this guy who refuses to acknowledge the reality of her situation and then has the gall to declare that she is a lady of standing and virtue, the likes of which she has never seen let alone could ever be.”

“And that makes her mad?”

“Yes, because it only makes her feel the shame of who she is that much more deeply. He thinks of her as this amazing creature, and he expects her to behave like a lady. It just makes the reality of her life that much worse.”

The light slowly began to dawn. Candace thought about Josh and how he seemed to have a higher opinion of her and her abilities than she did. It was flattering, but also frightening. Sometimes she felt like a fake around him and was terrified of letting him down, of proving him wrong. She didn’t want to disappoint him.

Don Quixote, for all his good intentions, made Aldonza feel terrible because she wasn’t what he thought she should be.

“You’re getting it,” Mr. Bailey said. “I can see it in your eyes.”

She nodded slowly.

“Good. Now focus on that. Bring that frustration and guilt and humiliation to bear on Don Quixote. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have to be in so much pain.”

“I am so angry, I almost hate him,” she muttered.

“Exactly. But then, at the end, it is his faith in you that gives you the strength to become the woman he always thought you were. And you, in turn, restore his faith in his dream.”

“That’s beautiful.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Okay.”

Mr. Bailey stepped back and clapped his hands together. “Okay, people, let’s go again from the beginning of the scene.”

Candace hopped to her feet and took her place. From the floor of the auditorium Tamara flashed her an encouraging smile.

“And, action!”

Candace was still running the lines in her head when she made it to work. She put her purse in a locker in the Locker Room and then exited toward the park.

She hadn’t gone more than a few steps when she ran into Martha, walking with a guy a couple years older than Candace.

“Candace, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Martha said.

The stranger was a tall, shy-looking guy with glasses, a Zone T-shirt, and a quirky grin.

“Candace this is Gary. He’s a former scholarship winner. Gary, Candace is one of our finalists.”

They shook hands. “Congratulations,” Gary said.

“And to you. Wow. So, what’s it like winning?”

“It’s awesome!”

“Talk, ask questions, Candace,” Martha said, leaving with a little wave.

“So you go to Florida Coast?” Candace asked after Martha left.

“I did. I just took my last final a couple days ago.”

“Wow, so what are you going to do now?”

Gary grinned. “You’re looking at the newest Game Master.”

“That’s amazing!

“I’m totally stoked. It’s amazing. Four years ago I was you. I remember how excited and freaked out I was. I wasn’t even sure that this was what I wanted to do with my life.”

“What happened?”

“Simple. I rode the ride I designed. It was such a rush, I can’t even tell you. It was at the end of my Freshman year. After I got off the Spiral, l I knew that I wanted to make rides for a living.”

“You created that? They put it up not that long ago!”

“I know,” he said proudly. “I was here for the opening. They build your ride at the Florida park, and if it does well, it has a chance of coming here.”

Candace was amazed. The Spiral was one of the coolest roller coasters in the park. “Your ride rocks!”

“Thanks! Just wait until you see your ride in real life.”

“That’s if I win,” Candace said, wishing more than anything that she did. She closed her eyes for just a minute and imagined what it would be like to ride the Balloon Races. That alone would be worth the fight with Tamara when Candace told her she was for sure going to Florida Coast instead of UCLA.

“I think you’re going to win,” he said.

“Based on what?” Candace asked.

“You have that look to you.”

“Okay, you lost me. What look would that be?”

“You look like a Zoner, like someone who could spend the rest of her life working and playing in the parks. The other four don’t. Sure, they like it here and they’re all interested in design, but they’d be just as happy working for Cedar Parks or Disney or any other theme park. The one guy just wants to be an architect, he’s not even really interested in theme-park design.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then I take it you’re a Zoner?”

“From the first day I walked down the Home Stretch,” Gary affirmed. “That was one of the best moments of my life.”

“That’s cool.”

Gary nodded. “Look, I’m going to be around now. If you have any questions about the program or Florida Coast, just look me up. We scholarship winners tend to look out for one another.”

“Thanks,” she said, giving him an impromptu hug.

“No problem.”

“Glad to see you’re moving on,” a catty voice said.

Candace pulled away just in time to see Lisa saunter by. She stuck her tongue out at Lisa’s back as she passed.

“What was that all about?” Gary asked.

“Trust me, you really, really don’t want to know,” Candace said with a sigh.

“Actually, I do,” he said.

Candace laughed. “Well, at least you admit it. That’s my ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.”

“Messy.”

“Yeah. Somehow I expected her to be nicer, or at least ignore me, now that he and I broke up.”

“Some people just can’t leave well enough alone. She’s probably jealous of you.”

“Jealous?”

“Get used to it. Going to Florida Coast on a Zone scholarship is an amazing thing. Unfortunately, you’ll have classmates that will drive you crazy because of it.”

“Bummer.”

Gary shrugged. “You know what they say, ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ ”

“I could go for a little less strong,” Candace sighed.

“You’ll do fine, Candace.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“You should think so too. Have a little more faith in yourself. From what Martha tells me, you’re a real star. You just don’t know it yet.”

“I’m really starting to think God’s trying to tell me something,” Candace said to herself.

“I don’t doubt it.”

7

After work, Candace went looking for Becca. She discovered that most of the crew of the Muffin Mansion were rehearsing in the Party Zone. She made her way over there and saw a group of referees on the stage lined up in a straight row. In front of them, Becca paced back and forth, hands clasped behind her back, as she gave orders.

“The key to this dance is timing. Listen to the music, watch each other. If you’re out of step even by a moment, the entire performance loses its impact. Now, let’s take it again from the top.”

She moved over to a CD player, and a moment later the finale music from Lord of the Dance was pouring out of its tiny speakers with surprising force. Becca raised her arms like she was a music conductor, paused for a moment, and then let them fall.

The dancers burst into movement, their feet striking the ground rhythmically and with deep thuds. Candace watched amazed as they bounced and kicked and moved seemingly as one. When it was over, she couldn’t help but applaud.