me, excuse me,” but couldn’t make herself heard over the noisy crowd. Finally, by leaving the steps and climbing over empty seats, she made her way to the upper deck of the stadium. That, too, was crowded, and no one seemed to know where the nearest phone was located.
Alex pushed and shoved her way through the long lines gathered at the refreshment stands, unable to get close enough to any vendor to ask for directions to a phone. Her name being repeated over the loudspeaker was maddening.
“I know, I know,” she muttered, “I hear you…I’m trying, I’m trying!”
Finally, a uniformed security guard pointed in response to her question, and she raced around a corner and grabbed the receiver off a black wall phone hidden in an alcove.
“This is Alex Edgar,” she cried into the mouthpiece. “I have a phone call?”
A woman’s voice said, “Right. Hold on.”
Expecting momentarily to hear Julie’s voice, Alex’s jaw dropped when instead, a deep, unfamiliar voice said in a dull monotone, without so much as a hello, “Hear me well, Alexandria. Are you listening?”
Stupified, Alex stared at the stone wall in front of her. “What?”
“Hear me well. Take me seriously, Alexandria, or you will regret it.”
No one called her Alexandria. No one. “Who is this?”
“Do not dispute the wisdom of the ages. Skepticism is dangerous. Heed me well.”
There was a click, and the dial tone sounded in Alex’s ear.
Slowly, Alex replaced the receiver. Weird. Who…?
She turned away from the phone and walked back around the corner. The crowd had thinned. She could hear the last faint notes of the band’s halftime show fading away. The game would be resuming. Time to get back to her seat. Time to watch the rest of the game…
If she could put the bizarre phone call out of her mind.
Alex moved slowly, thoughtfully, lost in a fog of confusion. She hadn’t recognized the voice. But it could have been disguised. Hadn’t it sounded a little like the voice at the radio station, the voice that had requested Who’s Sorry Now for Julie? She couldn’t be sure. She’d been so surprised to hear a voice that wasn’t Julie’s that she hadn’t been paying enough attention to what the voice did sound like. She had focused only on the words.
Who was it that she wasn’t taking seriously?
Alex had a terrible time concentrating on the game. She kept hearing the deep, flat voice ordering her to “hear me well.”
Where had it come from?
Salem won the game, but Marty and Kyle were given no playing time. They warmed the bench throughout the game.
Alex knew Marty would be disappointed. But he seemed to be taking it well when they met outside the stadium after the game.
“I hate not being in on a win,” Bennett said crankily. “I could have played…”
“Stark,” Marty said amiably, “do you have any idea how weird that looks, a guy on crutches complaining because he didn’t get to play?”
“I meant, if it hadn’t been for my knees, I could have played,” Bennett said sullenly. “Maybe next week…” his voice was wistful.
“Sure. Now, can we just go eat? Sitting on the bench for a couple of hours sure works up an appetite.”
No one noticed that Alex was preoccupied. She walked along with the others as they left the stadium for the parking lot, but her mind was elsewhere. Should she tell them about the phone call? Yeah…no…maybe…
What brought Alex back to reality was the surprising but indisputable fact that Jenny was flirting with Bennett.
Flirting? Jenny?
Bennett had, until recently, been dating a gorgeous, red-haired Omega Phi. She’d dropped him like a hot potato the minute he’d taken to crutches. If he wasn’t going to be a football hero, she was no longer interested.
Her loss.
Jenny would never be that shallow.
At Alex’s insistence, they tried Burgers Etc., a diner not far from school, after the game. But they couldn’t even get into the parking lot.
“I don’t see why you
Alex pushed and shoved her way through the long lines gathered at the refreshment stands, unable to get close enough to any vendor to ask for directions to a phone. Her name being repeated over the loudspeaker was maddening.
“I know, I know,” she muttered, “I hear you…I’m trying, I’m trying!”
Finally, a uniformed security guard pointed in response to her question, and she raced around a corner and grabbed the receiver off a black wall phone hidden in an alcove.
“This is Alex Edgar,” she cried into the mouthpiece. “I have a phone call?”
A woman’s voice said, “Right. Hold on.”
Expecting momentarily to hear Julie’s voice, Alex’s jaw dropped when instead, a deep, unfamiliar voice said in a dull monotone, without so much as a hello, “Hear me well, Alexandria. Are you listening?”
Stupified, Alex stared at the stone wall in front of her. “What?”
“Hear me well. Take me seriously, Alexandria, or you will regret it.”
No one called her Alexandria. No one. “Who is this?”
“Do not dispute the wisdom of the ages. Skepticism is dangerous. Heed me well.”
There was a click, and the dial tone sounded in Alex’s ear.
Slowly, Alex replaced the receiver. Weird. Who…?
She turned away from the phone and walked back around the corner. The crowd had thinned. She could hear the last faint notes of the band’s halftime show fading away. The game would be resuming. Time to get back to her seat. Time to watch the rest of the game…
If she could put the bizarre phone call out of her mind.
Alex moved slowly, thoughtfully, lost in a fog of confusion. She hadn’t recognized the voice. But it could have been disguised. Hadn’t it sounded a little like the voice at the radio station, the voice that had requested Who’s Sorry Now for Julie? She couldn’t be sure. She’d been so surprised to hear a voice that wasn’t Julie’s that she hadn’t been paying enough attention to what the voice did sound like. She had focused only on the words.
Who was it that she wasn’t taking seriously?
Alex had a terrible time concentrating on the game. She kept hearing the deep, flat voice ordering her to “hear me well.”
Where had it come from?
Salem won the game, but Marty and Kyle were given no playing time. They warmed the bench throughout the game.
Alex knew Marty would be disappointed. But he seemed to be taking it well when they met outside the stadium after the game.
“I hate not being in on a win,” Bennett said crankily. “I could have played…”
“Stark,” Marty said amiably, “do you have any idea how weird that looks, a guy on crutches complaining because he didn’t get to play?”
“I meant, if it hadn’t been for my knees, I could have played,” Bennett said sullenly. “Maybe next week…” his voice was wistful.
“Sure. Now, can we just go eat? Sitting on the bench for a couple of hours sure works up an appetite.”
No one noticed that Alex was preoccupied. She walked along with the others as they left the stadium for the parking lot, but her mind was elsewhere. Should she tell them about the phone call? Yeah…no…maybe…
What brought Alex back to reality was the surprising but indisputable fact that Jenny was flirting with Bennett.
Flirting? Jenny?
Bennett had, until recently, been dating a gorgeous, red-haired Omega Phi. She’d dropped him like a hot potato the minute he’d taken to crutches. If he wasn’t going to be a football hero, she was no longer interested.
Her loss.
Jenny would never be that shallow.
At Alex’s insistence, they tried Burgers Etc., a diner not far from school, after the game. But they couldn’t even get into the parking lot.
“I don’t see why you
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