The rest of the lunch period went in a fairly normal fashion, until Ophelia, overwhelmed by the excessive heat of the crowded lunchroom, fainted. Everyone crowded around, eager to know what the latest cause of excitement was. Ms. Gibson and Charise elbowed their way to the center of the crowd.

“Back up! Give her some room!” Ms. Gibson shouted at the crowd.

“Go back to your tables. If you crowd around, it’ll just make it worse,” Charise snapped.

Ms. Gibson looked worriedly over at Charise. “I can help her out, but I think she should go home and rest. Are her parents home?”

Charise shook her head. “They’re both at work, an hour away. The only other person on her emergency contacts list who has a vehicle is Cy. I can call her and have her bring Ophelia home.”

Ms. Gibson nodded. “Good idea.”



No more than ten minutes had passed before Cy burst through the cafeteria doors and over to where Ophelia sat, looking pale and shaky. “Good thing you’re here,” Charise gasped out gratefully. “Ophelia gave us a real scare.”

Cy leaned over and gently squeezed Ophelia’s hands. “Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?” she asked softly.

“I… I think I can walk,” Ophelia said slowly. Cy helped her to rise. Ophelia clutched at Cy’s arm for balance for a few seconds. “Yeah, I think I can walk.” They slowly walked towards the cafeteria door. Cy spotted Mae and Julia sitting near the door.


“Hey, Mae,” Cy said, as warmly as possible, given the circumstances. Julia’s eyes narrowed. This is the monster who made Mae all upset! she thought, clutching her glass of water tightly. Mae bowed her head, not wishing to look in Ophelia’s direction.

“Are you feeling okay?” Cy asked, concerned, feeling Mae’s forehead briefly for a fever. Mae turned her head away from the touch of the warm hand.


Julia took a sharp breath. She’d had enough. Her hand clenched even tighter around the glass of water. “Don’t touch her!” she snapped, leaping up and splashing the water in the direction of Ophelia and Cy. Cy’s reflexes were good, and she dodged the water, getting only a few small splashes. Ophelia, however, was still a little light-headed and ended up with her face drenched. She stared at Julia, eyes wide with shock, her mind no longer fuzzy.


Julia stammered, “I… I’m sorry. But it’s your fault, just standing there like that.” She turned her attention to Cy. “It’s because of you that Mae is like this now, isn’t it? That’s right, it’s your fault!” Much to her astonishment, Mae whipped around and slapped her. Julia rubbed her cheek and snapped, “What’s this? You can respond after all!”

Cy whispered to Ophelia, “Your friends are very energetic today. Let’s get out of here.”

They hurried out of the cafeteria. Mae, naturally, felt bad about slapping Julia. “Look… just stay out of my business, okay?”

“No way. I won’t stop,” Julia snapped.

“You don’t understand anything.”

“I do understand!”




Ophelia and Cy were out in the parking lot when Cy’s cell phone began ringing. “Hold on,” Cy muttered, reaching into her pocket. She flipped the phone open and answered it. “Hello, Cy’s Taxidermy-- you snuff ‘em, we stuff ‘em.” She paused for a moment. “Yeah. Hold on.” She turned to Ophelia. “It’s S,” she whispered. Ophelia raised an eyebrow, startled; S hardly ever called Cy, even though they were friends. “Yeah, okay,” Cy continued, turning her attention back to the phone. “What, now? Yeah, I think that’s possible. Well, Lia fainted earlier, and we were just about to get into the car to bring her home. Well, I’ll ask.” She turned her attention back to Ophelia. “Hey, Lia, do you want to stop and visit S?” Ophelia nodded. Cy went back to the phone conversation, “Yeah, she’s up to it. We’ll be there as soon as possible. But I think Lia might want something cool to eat or drink, like a milkshake or sundae. Want me to pick you up anything? Yeah, okay. See you soon.” Cy shut the phone and returned it to her pocket.

“What was that about?” Ophelia asked.

“The fundraiser. S was telling me about it. He wants to do a few little surprise things, and he needs my help and probably yours too,” Cy explained.

Ophelia smirked a little. “Does it have to do with Charise?”

“Good guess,” Cy responded with a nod.




S looked over the sheet music once more. When Charise had called him about the fundraiser, asking for help, she hadn’t realized that it was going to do more than just provide another entertainer. This was his chance to try to win her over again. He read over the lyrics again, unsure of whether to laugh or cry. The song was a sappy, overplayed piece of bubblegum pop, and yet it expressed his thoughts about the situation perfectly.

“Cy and Ophelia are going to laugh at me when they find out I want them to help with this,” he muttered. “I mean, this is not my kind of music. But it is a song lots of people know. And I’m sure that with my efforts, combined with that of Cy and Ophelia, we’ll sound a lot better and more genuine than the original performers. That, I can guarantee.”

He sighed and turned his attention back to the piano and began playing the song, waiting for Cy and Ophelia to arrive.