Once I was signed in, mom bent down and gave me a kiss on my cheeks, and then she departed. Leaving me along. The air was filled with nervous chatter. Being true to my nature, I slowly backed myself into the nearest corner I could find and cast my eyes toward the gathering crowds. Now, I understand that popular media has painted the picture of events being something akin to mental fencing, with each person propping the others with catty remarks and teasing insults.

The following morning an hour or so before school was due to open. Two women, both wearing skirted business suits stood around the fountain. Both wore slightly amused looks on their faces as they peered toward the plastic fish that floated around the bottom of the fountain. The first one to speak was the tallest one she wore her strawberry blonde hair in a high bun.

“Really, plastic fish in the school’s fountain. I’ve seen it all know.” She said, shaking her head.

he minute I stepped into the hallway, I found myself surrounded by boys who like me had been drafted, volunteered or had been volunteered into dawning a dress for charity. Most of them tried to pass and most did pass. Many of them where being interviewed by the varies reports that where covering the event. Lana Lightcap of WBT had just finished interviewing somebody when she spotted me. She smiled and motioned for the cameraman to follow her as she approached me.

I had signed up for the “Vicksburg’s First Annual Womenless Beauty Pageant” because it was being held to provided relief for the Yazoo Delta, a diamonded shaped region of land that started in Greenville, Ms and ended in my own town The region was known for three things, dockside gambling, cotton, and the Blues. It was also covered in seven feet of water from point to point. The money raised from the pageant was to be used to provided relief from the flood water and help the people of that region recover.

You could almost cut the tension in the room with a butter knife. The last hour and a half had been the most intense, soul-crushing, mind-numbing one of my life. Once I had arrived, I had found myself surrounded by nurses and more than a few doctors. The doctors and nurses wasted no time in rushing me back to the exam rooms. And they wasted no time in drawing blood, X-Ray’s were ordered and they finally poked an IV tube in my arm. And they started me on drips. I don’t really know, once the IV was put in, everything became quite sluggish.

James took a deep breath as he reached under his covered and took hold of his phone. He then pressed a button and fell back down into the pillow. It was Saturday, and he wanted to sleep in. It was also his birthday, but he cared little about that. The only thing he wanted to do today was sleep and maybe level up his farm tools on ‘Magical Musical’ the latest title in a long series of farming slash slice of life games. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get a blue feather and propose to that cute rancher.

James was your average, not so average preteen. For one he lived in a foster home with a dozen of other tweens and teens. The home, was more like one big extended family, with the owners taking on the role of mother and father. While the supporting staff often acted as aunts and uncles. The older teens acted like big sisters and brothers to the younger ones and in some cases even mentored the younger ones.

The first period was oddly peaceful. Nobody really seemed to bother me much. The second period a few people made passing comments about what happened. Those comments passed over my head, the third period, was when I caught hell. Hell as in my whole world seemed to fall apart. I’d been feeling on edge all morning, and my fight with my sister on the way to school had been bothering me all day. But halfway through my history lesson, my head felt heavy and I felt very weak all of a sudden. I soldiered on though.

I could feel my heart beating like a jack-hammer as I followed closely behind Heather as she guided me through the front door and down the brick paved walkway. The bricks that paved the walkway cooled my feet. A large crowd had also gathered in front of our house, the cobblestone street seemed to be filled with costumed clad people who gathered around the tank that seemed a grander version of the tank used in the yearly “Hostage Exchange”.

Buck’s Tavern was a small bar located deep within the woods that surrounded Benton. To get to Buck’s one needed to travel down an old dirt road that was rutted with deep holes that often held water. And the building that was Buck’s was nothing more than an old wooden cabin. The roof was covered with moss. The glass in the window pane had long since turned to a dusty yellow. Spider webs decorated the corners.
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Sunday dawned cool and clear. An early frost covered the ground and brass bells of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church bellowed all through the town. Soon there voices were joined by All Saint’s Catholic church. Fr. Brown had insisted the service for that day be in the ‘High Church’ style. Cradle Episcopalians would know this style by the colorful nickname of ‘Smells and Bells’.

My schedule for the year had remained the same. And so, according to that schedule as soon as I dropped the paper off at the office, I was to report to my first period class. That being “Natural Science”. And as expected Mr. Henderson stood there in the classroom waiting for me. He wore a different suit this time, instead of the fading gray suit, he wore a dark charcoal suit. What remained of his gray, thinning hair had been brushed over the best he could to hide the big bald spot. The lingering smell of Old Spice aftershave, tobacco and coffee hung around him like a blinding fog.

The Marian Chapel attached to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church was dark, it was always kept dark. The chapel was a small square room, instead of rows of pews, chairs with kneelers provided a place for the faithful to sit during the rare times the room was used. The chapel was only used for Morning Prayer and evening prayer. And on certain feast-days chief among those was ‘All Saints Day’ a set aside by the church to honor the dead and pray for those souls trapped between Heaven and Hell.

Once we reached the car. We noticed another car pulling up into the parking lot. Once the other car was parked. The door opened and a woman with flaming red hair stepped out from the driver's side. And from the other side, a girl around my age did as well. The women with flaming red hair was the first to speak.

The gymnasium of Benton AG High was filled to the rafters with people. The noise of three hundred people, all shouting and cheering and hooting was deafening, factor in chants, calls, and cheers from the cheerleaders and the background music blaring from two speakers. And we’ll I could barely hear myself think. In the center of the gym, between the two basketball courts, there was a large plastic sheet, that was roughly the size of my bedroom floor. Sitting in the center of the sheet and in the center of the sheet, there was an old three-legged stool.

The Headmaster took a deep breath and peered toward me for a very long minute. Finally, he turned his attention toward Linda then he turned his attention toward Lily. After three minutes of silence, he pushed his seat back and stood up.

“What happens... Over the course of homecoming, does not reflect the values of the school. But I feel we should put that all behind us, don’t you all agree. I think I’ll let this matter rest.” He paused and walked over to nearby happen... he stood in front of the window, is back turned to us and his arms folded behind his back.

The minute I reached the office, the office secretary, greeted with a small smile. She was an older woman, her iron-gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun. Her outfit, a white button down blouse, tucked into the waistline of a black skirt was free of wrinkles and dust. White stockings and black dress shoes rounded out the outfit. And as she stood upon the old wooden desk, her hands folded upon the clean, highly polished surface. She fixed me with a look.

I blinked and blinked again, had Lily really just called my name out? Taking a deep breath I peered toward Ben, smiled and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. I then started to walk toward the stage. Where Lily stood, I was halfway there when I felt somebody reach over and pull me to the side. As I turned around to see who had graphed me and I was greeted with Linda peering at me.

The following day was really just your average day. Notes where taken in most of the classes, homework was handed in. The roll was taken, and the school's rumor mill started to turn more and more about who was doing what and who was seeing who and who was going to fight who after school. You know, your average southern day. Not that any of that concerned me, I had to keep my shoulders hunched over an open notebook and my nose buried in a textbook. The daily drama did not concern me... And the only time I ever tuned into the rumor mill was when I was the subject of the rumor.

Johannes Malt Shop was a Benton mainstay, located on a few doors down from “Ginger Evens Bakery” and only a quarter mile from the towns only supermarket in town “Sunflower: Food store” it the main hang out for the tweens and teens all year round. And to honesty, really everybody stopped here to get a quick snack. There hamburgers, where to die for, and their milkshakes were the best around. Thick and creamy.

I was guided into the bathroom of the gym and scrubbed clean. I had every inch of me scrubbed and scrubbed, I had my hair washed and rewashed. It took around two good, hot showers to clean every trace of slop from my hair, skin and personal area. The warm water felt so good too. My whole world became a vision of colors, as the smells from the shampoo, body wash and lotions filled the air. Once I was “Clean” I was ordered to dry off with a warm towel. Once I was dry, they ordered me to lotion up, something about making my skin shimmer. It was all very confusing.

The minute I stepped inside the tank, was the minute I heard a metallic click. I was now enclosed in this thing, trapped. Taking a deep breath I looked up and noticed a few drops of green slime starting to seep down from above me. Katie, the head cheerleader from Manchester Academy was grinning ear to ear as she walked over to the left side of the tank. Wrapping her fingers around the chain she peered at me and in a menacing tone of voice whisper to me.