GROUNDHOG DAY mixed with SIXTEEN CANDLES and a splash of DOCTOR WHO. A boy forever reincarnated as himself meets his soulmate for the 200th time, but can she solve the puzzle and break the curse to make herself his last?
*****
Martha Beckett's life...
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The band struck up "Come on Eileen"and the teams headed to their locker rooms for halftime. James' team had a comfortable fourteen point lead. He had made his only field goal attempt and all four of his free throws, adding nine assists, four steals, and two blocks – this, according to Martha's mental scorecard.
The announcer welcomed the pom-pom's to the floor and they trotted out in a line. Once they were in place, "Tootsie Roll" blasted from the speakers with a painful amount of treble. The pom-pom's spun and bent over in unison to the delight of the boys and pedophiles in the stands.
"Hey, you wanna walk?" Camisha asked Martha.
"Yes," she quickly replied.
"Calvin, buy me a candy bar," Camisha demanded.
His eyes stayed on the pom-pom's as he held a twenty dollar bill in the air. "Hook me up with a Milky Way."
Camisha rolled her eyes, grabbed the bill, and she and Martha stood to leave.
Back in the cafeteria, they found the end of the concessions line. "I had no idea he was... that good," Martha said.
"Oh yeah, Jimmy Quinn's a baller," Camisha agreed.
"He barely even mentioned he was on the team."
"Yeah, he's different like that. Like, most jocks make sure everybody knows they're on the team – even if they're not any good. It's probably because it's all they got. Not Jimmy, though. He could quit the team and still have twelve things he was good at. He mention how smart he is?"
"Well... no, but we're in chemistry together and yeah, he's smart."
"That ain't even it. I was in creative writing with him last year and he wrote this short story for the literary magazine." Camisha shook her head. "It was something."
"What? Was it really good?"
"Depends on who you ask. They scheduled a damn PTA meeting just to debate whether they should remove it from the magazine."
"Wow. Did it have like, sex or drugs in it?"
"Nope. Nothing like that. Basically, it was about how all white people are racist to some degree and need to own that. You know, like just because you're not a Klan member doesn't mean you deserve a medal."
"I didn't realize he was so righteous."
"Yeah, he's righteous. Sneaky righteous, though. Like, none of that shit I just said was actually in the story. The whole thing just takes place in a cafeteria over the course of a lunch period. But kids read it and started talking about it, then more kids read it and argued about what it meant and how it made them feel and all the conversations added up to this, like, grand effect or theory or whatever. But then the parents got ahold of it. I actually went to the PTA meeting. Hooo! So many angry white people."
