So many colors. Too many. It was impossible to see... if one could even call it seeing. Could the dead see? Did they have eyes? If not, then where was all of THIS coming from? The reds... the blues... a million different shades of colors he had never seen before. Everywhere... everything. Even the air, sometimes. It was almost impossible to know where he was. He was trying to leave when he got distracted by a rainbow... motion amidst the stillness. Was it her? No, it was only some child. Her colors looked happy, which was ironic considering where she was. Where were her parents? Was she lost like him? He moved closer... he liked to think of it as walking, but the very idea was absurd. So bright. So happy. He reached out... another absurdity, considering he had no arms. He passed through her colors and watched them change. Fear. She stopped moving, and then ran away. Was she screaming? He couldn't tell. Everything was silent, but if he listened very closely he could hear things. People. Thoughts. Whispers. He followed the rainbow... maybe she knew the way out. Wait... over there... two dark rectangles. Stone had such a gray color here. It seemed to glow. A glowing gray. Or was that a trick of his mind? No matter. He recognized this place... these stones. Little rectangles stood on end. Was this were he was? It was where he was supposed to be, no doubt... but was it the place he was earlier? He could find his way back out... out to the long dark strip where the colors moved very fast. If this was the place He moved close to the stone on the left. He imagined himself kneeling down, but he just floated very low. Funny... he didn't feel like he was floating. Gravity was different here. Just like light. He had to concentrate to read the darker shadows carved into the stone. Yes. Yes, this was the place. He read the stone again: FRANKLIN WAID.

---

Lori Zaslow stepped onto the bus and made her way to her normal seat. Third row from the back. On the left. Right next to Beth. Sometimes some nerd freshman would take their seat, but Beth always made them feel stupid and they left. Today, the seat was empty. Beth wasn't even there.

"Hey, Lori..." said Julie, who was sitting across the aisle. "Ya hear what happened ta Beth?"

"No. What?"

Julie moved over and plopped down in the seat next to Lori.

"Her mom found the Ouija board and freaked. I mean like... MAJOR freakage. She took Beth to see that Jericho guy, you know... that weird guy?"

"He was on TV yesterday."

"And I think he freaked, too."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I talked to Beth... she had to sneak and use the phone so she was whisperin' and all... but it must have been bad. Then... get this... HER mom calls MY mom and tries to...like... squeal on me, ya know? But my mom was cool and didn't care. I think she called YOUR mom, too, but your mom just cussed her out or something."

"I knew mom was good for something."

"Anyway, Beth's mom is keeping her home from school. Somethin' about cleansing demons and stuff."

"For how long?"

Julie shrugged.

"Hey, d'ya hear that new Duran Duran song? That guy is.... like... SOOO cute..."

"Yeah, but he sings like crap."

"Like, who CARES what he sings like..."

For the next twenty minutes Lori listened to her friend carry on about absolutely nothing. Lori thought about Beth. Who knew her mom would take a little game so seriously? But then, people call them 'fanatics' for a reason.

The bus ride was mercifully short, and they arrived at Cedar High just a few minutes after Julie began giving her opinions on 'Why Rap Music Sucks.' Ordinarily, Lori would have argued the point... but with Beth gone and Jericho's words still echoing in Lori's mind, she was more than glad when she and Julie parted.

Lori trudged down the hallway towards her first period class, oblivious to the dozens of other teenagers she shared the hallway with. It was Monday, and Lori absolutely hated Mondays. There was something almost criminal about giving someone two days of freedom only to send them right back to the drudgery that was high school.

First period was biology... which was a form of torture in itself. On the very first day of class, Mr. Kennings got the bright idea of seating everyone in alphabetical order. That put Lori all the way in the back... right between Fat Patty Zammer and the bare wall. Of the two, Lori preferred the wall. With all her own friends seated out of earshot and well beyond safe note-passing range, Lori was left with nothing to do but ignore Patty Zammer's deep, raspy breathing and try to fake interest in such compelling subjects as the reproductive systems of frogs.

After that was homeroom. Lori had no idea what genius placed home-room right between first and second periods, but whoever it was desperately in need of a good beating. But then, who ever said that school was supposed to make sense? Lori arrived at Mrs. Sanderson's classroom early. She sat down in her assigned seat and waited for her friends to arrive. Julie would be late like she always was. Beth wasn't there...

The chair beside her creaked as someone sat down in it. He was a tall, awkward-looking boy... more tall and awkward than most teenagers. Paul was an athlete, but not one of the talented ones. He gave just enough effort to stay on the football team and claim all the perks that went with it. Perks that included half the girls in the school. Despite a face full of pimples and a mouth full of braces, Paul had no problem catching the interest of any girl at Cedar High. KEEPING that interest was another matter. Until Friday he had been Lori's boyfriend for a record-setting three week stretch. He didn't take the beak-up well, and at times he seemed to forget that they had broken up at all. Like now... Not only was Paul not assigned to Lori's homeroom class, but HIS homeroom was on the other side of the school.

"Hey, Lori."

"Go away, Paul" said Lori. "I don't want to talk to you. What are you even doing in here?"

"I came to see you."

<<slut>>

"What? What'd you call me?"

"I didn't say nothin'"

"Yes you DID! Get away from me!"

"Wait, wait, wait! I... I just wanted to ask you out again! I had fun last time... didn't you?"

<<slut.>>

Lori just looked at him. She had been looking at him the whole time, and she knew he didn't say what she thought he did. Was it her imagination?

"Go away, Paul."

"I'll let you think about it. Hey, did you hear what happened to Beth?"

"You don't even KNOW Beth, Paul."

"I don't have too. Mr. Holmes talked about it in my first period class."

"Mr. Holmes, the MATH teacher? Stop lying."

"No, really. He goes to the same church as Beth's mom, and he spent all first period telling us about how Ouija boards and role-playing games are evil. Geez, what a weirdo."

"Paul, YOU are a weirdo."

<<bitch.>>

"So you wanna go out again?"

"Paul, I just said-"

"WHAT are you doing in here, young man!" screeched Mrs. Sanderson, the homeroom teacher. "This isn't your classroom!"

"Oh!" Paul jumped up. "I was just giving Lori the math assignment from Mr. Holmes class. So she could give it to Beth. Right Lori?"

"Uhhh... y-yeah. He was just... you know..."

"Well run along now, you're going to be late for your homeroom!"

"Okay! Bye Lori!"

Paul ran from the room just as the bell sounded to mark the beginning of homeroom. Mrs. Sanderson looked down at Lori.

"You be careful around that boy," she said.

"Huh?"

<<That's a bad seed if I ever saw one. >>

"I've just seen him in Mr. Mitchell's office more times than I'd like."

There was a loud *click* from the speaker on the wall, and a second later the daily announcements began. Principal Mitchell read the list of unimportant events in his standard monotone, while Mrs. Sanderson walked back to her desk.

"It's only homeroom and the day is already shot to hell," Lori sighed. "Only six more classes to go..."

 

[To Be Continued]