History of the Trap: May Shadows Part 4

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different is relationship with Morgan is, we also meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E. students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time.  As May starts up, a grizzly murder is discovered.  Mr. Franks, the substitute math teacher is found dead in a janitorial closet. The murder remains unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide t oschedule more activities for the students to become involved, including a dance Friday.  Lance sees a golden opportunity to try to ask Ginny to go to the dance with him.

4

I saw Ginny many times each day, often at meals or at some of the night time activities with Artie's gang.  But my only real chance to see her without the rest was in Mr. Eurich's class.  His Social Studies class was part of the reduced daily schedule we had, Monday through Friday.  She sat in the desk next to me, and it would be our one occasion to have private conversations.  She was greatly stressed about how her sister, Mary, was doing.  She missed the rest of her family and worried about how her father was.  Apparently he was having some kind of problems that she was helping him try to get through.  She wasn't very specific about what it was.

Our classroom was pretty much composed of the same students that it was on the day the storm began.  Arnold Romer was missing...we didn't know if got fried or escaped, or had just wandered to another part of the school.  There were also a dozen or so new to the classroom, reassigned from other places.  The new students included Arletta Mierkey and Lisa Carlton, whom I think wanted to be nearer her friend Sue Boschman.

It was a brief study session, writing answers to questions about The Great War, and Mr. Eurich, normally an attentive teacher, was in a bit of a fog.  That happened more and more often.  The event had changed more than just the students.  We tended to forget that it wasn't just us that lost things.  Mr. Eurich had a wife and children of his own that he must have missed tremendously. 

"Ginny, I...ah..." I tried to begin.

"Yeah, Lance? What is it?  Are you feeling all right?"  She looked at me if I was ill or upset, and she was a nurse trying to diagnose what was wrong.

"No, I'm fine.  Really, I...ah...just wanted to...ask you something."  I was sweating, and at the same time, my mouth was so dry I could hardly speak. 

"Shoot!" she said.

Shoot?  Well, that was a word she used.  It reminded him briefly that there were no firearms at the school.  Not even among the staff.  That was a great relief...didn't need to worry about that.  "Well, you may know, if you've seen the scheduling, and the posters, or heard others talking, you know, that there is something coming up soon."

"What?"  She thought for a minute, her face scrunched up, her button nose wrinkling, her lip curled slightly.  "Do you mean the dance?  Is that what you're talking about?"

I was momentarily relieved.  At least I wouldn't have to get that part out.  "Yes!  That's right! The dance!  Are you thinking about going?  Would you like to go with...."

She interrupted.  "Oh, yeah, I'm going!  I mean, like, what else is there to do?  I mean, really!  And I heard that Lynne Sweeney is going with Randy Fitch!  What is that all about?  I mean, really!  Why make this thing a date?  Why not just go with your friends and have fun?  I certainly want to tie myself to one person!"

I slumped.  Not what I was hoping to hear.  Speaking of shoot, I was shot out of the door before I could even get the words out of mouth.  She looked at me slyly, as if she had just thought of a wonderful secret.  "You know what?  I do know somebody's whose going to be there that I'm dying to see on the dance floor!"

My heart skipped a beat.  The way she was looking at me, it had to be..."Artie!" she exclaimed. "He can't use his parents as an excuse to come!  He'll have to come!  Boy!  I can't wait to see him cut a rug!"

She put her hand gently on my arm.  "Oh, and you, my good buddy.  Can't forget me, please?  You HAVE to save a dance with me, okay?  Please?  Pretty please?  It would really hurt my feelings if you didn't dance with me at least once.  Please?"

I swallowed hard.  "Sure.  Of course.  I will might it a priority to fit you into my busy dance card."

She squeezed my arm, and then turned to her own thoughts.

It was beginning to slowly dawn on me that she might be more into Artie then she was me.  Damn.