Last Dance at the Frosty Queen by Richard Uhlig

Author:Richard Uhlig [Uhlig, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89172-4
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2008-12-09T05:00:00+00:00

10

In Spanish class, Barry updates me on the latest rumors, which have grown to astonishing proportions. My favorite? I was having a steamy affair with Mrs. Stiles, and when she wouldn't leave her husband for me I killed her and torched the factory to exact my heartbroken revenge.

My persona is now that of a notorious murder suspect and thus I'm suddenly popular. At lunch, I'm invited by the quarterback of the football team, Kenneth Ray Schneider, to sit at the jocks’ table. I graciously decline and instead sit with the shop rats and stoners, who each high-five me and call me “bro” when I'm barraged with questions. I lower my voice to a hammy whisper and tell my rapt listeners that if I breathe a word of “what I know,” I could be arrested on the spot. This takes my reputation to even greater mythical heights. Geraldine, thrilled to play the devoted girlfriend of a celebrity, hangs on me and vigorously shields me from questions like she's my nervous lawyer. “The FBI simply won't allow him to speak,” she says.

At noon, Principal Swedeson orders all seniors to the cafeteria to watch Barry's video report of the fire on the Wichita news. But the TV news only shows about ten seconds of the video, none of which features Barry's play-by-play reporting. In fact, all you can see of him is a brief shot of the back of his head. Red-faced and humiliated, Barry charges out.

“Way to go, Geraldo!” someone shouts after him.

Between fourth and fifth hours, Ginger Murphy, a very blond cheerleader, saunters up to my locker to inform me she's no longer going steady with her fullback boyfriend. By sixth hour, Barry climbs aboard my popularity train. In class, he tells everyone that, as my best friend, he's concerned about all the stress I'm under: “Give him space. He's their star witness and he's under tremendous emotional strain.”

During forensics class, Mrs. Kaye reads “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and tugs on her right earring twice—a signal for me to meet her in the auditorium dressing rooms during study hall. I don't.

May 7, 1988, the day Arty Flood became, oh so briefly, the most popular person at Harker City High School.

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