Abigail

Chapter Eighteen

The school cafeteria was hardly recognizable with the tables and chairs replaced by dozens of teenagers jumping up and down wearing different Halloween costumes. There were orange and black streamers hanging from the tall ceiling, most of them still remaining, which was an accomplishment due to the immaturity of some of the students that went to Acorn Ridge. Orange and black balloons scattered the dance floor, a few of them floating around just below the ceiling.

"Tickets?" asked a blonde eighth grade girl sitting a table with three other student council members. Kendra, Trinity, and Rachel each handed over their tickets and were allowed to enter the dance. There wasn't a whole lot of room to move around, seeing as how the cafeteria usually could hold one grade at a time for lunches. Now since there were ninety five percent of the school's population with three different grades, the cafeteria was packed full.

"Where should we go?" asked Kendra.

"What?" replied Rachel, who was standing five inches away.

"WHERE SHOULD WE GO?" repeated Kendra.

"WHAT?"

Kendra waved her hand. "Never mind."

The three of them began to weave their way in and out of the many groups of dancers, trying to find a less-crowded area. After about fifteen minutes, they made their way to the other side of the cafeteria without any luck. There were still more students pouring through the cafeteria doors every few minutes.

"It's really crowded here," Rachel said. They were farther away from the music, so they could actually talk without screaming at the top of their lungs.

"I know right?" squealed Trinity. "It's so exciting!"

"Look who's here," Rachel said, gesturing to a new group of people that just entered. It was Michelle's squad. Michelle stood at the front of the group wearing a tight cheetah costume complete with spotted cat ears placed carefully on top of her flawless wavy blonde hair, as to not mess it up. Millie was up front beside her, wearing a matching outfit, except hers was blue cheetah print. Silvia and Ashlee were standing close behind them wearing purple and pink cheetah outfits, followed by three more members of Michelle's posse.

"Make way!" shouted Michelle. "Future Halloween Queen is in the building!"

"Honestly," mumbled Trinity.

"Who did you vote for?" Rachel asked.

"Millie of course," she said automatically. "It's Michelle I don't like."

Kendra turned back to the four matching cheetahs who found a place in a corner of the cafeteria to make fun of people. "I have a feeling that there is no longer a Millie. Just four stuck-up Michelles."

"Maybe she'll turn around eventually," Rachel said. "Michelle will probably kick her out of her posse if she doesn't win Halloween Queen. I'm still not sure why Millie's running and not Michelle."

Trinity rolled her eyes. "Isn't is obvious? Michelle only runs for stuff if it's a guaranteed win. Remember, she's still in seventh grade like us, which means she would already have a disadvantage toward winning Halloween Queen. The two eighth graders that are also running are popular too, and probably the whole eighth grade class will vote for them. Michelle must have her doubts or else her name would be all over those ballots."

Kendra thought this over and suddenly a horrible thought occurred to her. What if it was all just a set up? What if Michelle was only just pretending to be friends with Millie to make her look like a fool when she doesn't win Halloween Queen?

But that's ridiculous, she thought to herself. Millie is cool. If Michelle wanted to do a horrible thing like that, she would probably pick someone on the bottom of the coolness ladder.

As if on cue, Loner Lynn Clarkson appeared from behind Trinity. She looked pretty miserable wearing some strange costume involving a hot pink wig that was slightly disheveled on one side of her head. Her large glasses were smeared with something white that Kendra assumed to be frosting from the cupcakes at the refreshment table. For a few seconds, she felt bad for Lynn, but then remembered that Lynn came to this dance of her own free will, so if she was miserable, it was her own fault.

Kendra joined the other three hundred screaming students in jumping up and down to one of the pop songs that was currently playing. The three friends talked, danced, and laughed while singing along to their favorite songs. All too soon, it was almost eleven, which meant it was time to announce the winner of the Halloween Queen. This was going to take place in the auditorium since it was bigger, so Kendra and her friends followed the herd of students next door.

"Let's find three seats together before they're all taken," Trinity said over the loud chatter. Luckily, they were able to get seats in the fourth row. Michelle and her posse were sitting in the row in front of them, but Millie was missing. Kendra figured that all four candidates had to be backstage for the big announcement.

When they were all filed in their seats, Mrs. Clearwater, the principal, stepped on stage with a microphone. "Good evening, students. I hope you all had a wonderful time at the dance."

A loud cheering sensation erupted and Mrs. Clearwater had to tap her microphone a few times to get everyone to settle down. "Now, it is tradition to announce the winner of Halloween Queen at exactly eleven o'clock, which we are seconds away from. So, without further ado, I announce to you, the winner of this year's Halloween Queen..."

There was a pause for effect, and Kendra could tell everyone was holding their breath as to not make a sound.

"Millie Anderson!"

There was another eruption of cheering, this one louder than the rest. Michelle and her posse were screaming the loudest, that Kendra wondered if she would ever hear out of her left ear again. Cheetah Millie stepped out on stage with Josh wearing a big smile. She accepted her crown from Mrs. Clearwater and waved out to her friends. Kendra, Trinity, and Rachel clapped politely but did not join in on the rambunctious screaming and cheering.

Just as Millie and Josh were almost to the other side of the stage, there was a terrible noise. Kendra looked above Millie just in time to see one of the stage lights falling straight down. A few people started screaming and at the last second, Josh grabbed Millie and dived just as the falling light hit the ground. The stage was filled with a cloud of dust and nobody could see what was going on. Michelle was still screaming and Silvia and Ashlee started crying. Kendra was too stunned to take in what just happened.

When the cloud of dust settled, they looked up to see that Josh and Millie landed just barely out of the way. The heavy stage light fell right onto Millie's left leg and she couldn't move. Dozens of teachers and chaperones ran out from backstage and crowded around the fallen light. They all worked together to pull the light off of Millie's leg. Millie still was laying on the ground. There was a sudden hush in the auditorium as the teachers inspected Millie's leg. After a minute, Mr. Smith announced to Mrs. Clearwater, "It's broken. She will need to go to the hospital."

"Oh my goodness," Trinity whispered. She was the first of the three of them to speak. Kendra felt as if her throat closed up and she couldn't swallow. Why had that light fallen all of a sudden? She had never heard of such a thing happen.

Mr. Smith and a few other teachers helped Millie walk backstage and out into the hallway where they would await an ambulance. Mrs. Clearwater joined the other teachers around the broken stage light. She held up a frayed end of the cord and whispered to the other teachers. Everyone in the first few rows could hear her. "It looks like it's been cut."

"Who would have done such a thing?" another teacher whispered back, but Mrs. Clearwater was no longer looking at the light.