Last Chance (15 page)

“Wow, I wish I woulda put on my tux.” April spun to see a tall man wearing a police officer’s uniform coming toward her. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I was admirin’ your dress there and just wanted to come over and introduce myself.”

April reached her hand out to the young officer and said, “My name is April, April Chance.”

The officer grabbed a small cheese and cracker from the table and asked, “You must be new to town cause I know just about everybody who lives here and I can’t say that I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet an April Chance.”

April was mystified by the officer’s southern twang and ease of conversation. She was glad that someone had taken the time to talk to her. There was something about this man that seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. April explained to the young police officer that she and her sons had just moved to Travis and she was looking to make a permanent home for her family.

“Well, my name’s Danny Charles, or Officer Charles, if I ever pull you over for speedin’.” He explained that he was asked to cover the local school dances, just to make sure there were no fights or altercations among the students.

“So April, is your husband here too or did he leave it up to you to cover the whole dance?”

April responded, “Oh, I’m not married. It’s just me and the boys.”

The young officer asked April if she would like to get some air. “It’s kinda stuffy in here, maybe we could talk outside.” April agreed and the two went out the side door of the gym.

Connor found Matthew and asked, “Did you see where Mom went?”

Matthew responded, “Not really. I’ve been a little more focused on the dance floor.”

“What do you mean?”

Matthew pointed to the floor and said, “Haven’t you noticed that no one on the floor is dancing like April showed us last night? They’re barely moving out there.”

Connor pointed to Amanda and Beth, who were talking by the punch table, and said, “I’m a little more worried about our dates. I’m running out of things to talk about. They keep talking about some music video with a zombie in it. Sounds like the zombie dances around and turns into a big cat or something stupid like that. I have no idea what they’re talking about.”

The boys backed away from the dance floor as one of the songs they had practiced dancing to with April came over the speakers. Amanda and Beth ran up to them and grabbed each of their hands. “We love this song; you have to dance with us.” Connor and Matthew looked at each other in terror as their dates dragged them to the center of the gymnasium floor.

The boys looked at the streamers tied to the crossbeams of the gym and the posters on the walls of all the popular music acts of the time. The beat was pounding, the rhythm of the music was intoxicating, and as Amanda and Beth looked to the boys to make the first move, it just began to flow through them.

Matthew and Connor gyrated to the music, arms thrashed, quick starts and stops, just as their mom had shown them. Both boys had their eyes closed as they prayed that they weren’t making fools of themselves. They took a peek at their dates and realized that they were both laughing, but not necessarily at them.

Amanda grabbed Connor’s hands and they began to move around the gym. “Wow, Trey would never let loose like that. You guys know how to have fun.”

Beth grabbed Matthew’s hands and said, “You guys look ridiculous, but at least you’re trying. Here, put your hands on my waist.”

The boys and their dates danced around to the next three songs and had a great time doing it. It wasn’t the most impressive dancing in the world, but it got the job done. Matthew glanced over to his brother and Amanda as they jumped up and down on a number one tune. After one exaggerated jump, he noticed something pop out of the top of Amanda’s shirt. It was a square charm, yellow in color, hanging on a small gold chain.

The music died down and Connor led his date toward the front door of the gym. Matthew began to follow, but Beth grabbed his hand. “Come on, I need a drink.” Matthew reluctantly followed his date back to the punch table.

“That is so much fun. I can’t believe you and your brother don’t mind looking like complete idiots out there just so we can have a good time.”

Matthew responded, “Anything to help you have a good time.”

Beth looked to the punchbowl and asked, “So, do you have something to spike the punch with? That’ll really get the dance going.”

Matthew pulled his pockets out and replied, “No, must have left it in my other pants.”

The gym was packed with kids and the music was so loud that you could barely hear the thud of feet that slammed onto the basketball court. The DJ had started the strobe light and it covered the entire dance floor. Matthew listened as Beth went on and on about the difficulties of her hairdo. “Can you believe it takes my mom an hour every night to roll my hair?”

Matthew shrugged. “That must be a lot of rollers?”

Beth agreed and was about to explain her issues with cheerleading when she saw Cassie Jenkins running toward the punch table. She asked, “I wonder what the supergenius is up to?”

Cassie called out to Matthew, “Matthew, I need your help! Matthew!”

Matthew and Beth made their way toward her. Matthew asked, “What’s wrong?”

Cassie stopped and caught her breath; she wasn’t used to running. “You have to come with me. Jack and your brother are getting beaten up in the parking lot.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Those idiots are back at it. Go on with her. I’ll try to find Officer Charles.”

Matthew raced out of the gym with Cassie on his tail. As they exited the door, Matthew could hear Cassie asking, “So you came to the dance with her?”

Matthew responded, “Not now; we’ll talk about it later.” He rounded the far end of the building and there at the front row of parking spaces was Connor lying on the pavement. Trey reared back and kicked him in the stomach. Connor twitched in pain and rolled to his side.

Jack was pinned down by one of the football team’s defensive linemen, and Amanda was held by another. Matthew arrived at the lot and called out to the pack, “One, two, three…seven guys to take down my brother. You must really be proud of yourselves.”

Amanda tried to pull away from the large senior lineman and yelled to Matthew, “Just go get some help. I think Connor’s really hurt.”

Trey pointed his finger at his former girlfriend. “You shut up! This is your fault!” Trey walked over to Amanda and put his hand on her shoulder and said, “This wimp tries to steal my spot on the team, and then you reward him by coming to this dance with him.” Connor tried to get up from the ground, but Trey moved back over and kicked him in the face.

“That’s enough!” yelled Matthew.

Trey looked to Matthew, beer bottle in his left hand, and said, “I have to admit, your brother can sure take a beating.”

Matthew saw a small object lying on the ground close to one of the cars in the parking lot. It was the snap ring he had given to Connor. Matthew looked to Jack and the boy that held him to the ground and said, “Why don’t you let him up?” He looked to the boy holding Amanda and said, “You can go ahead and let her go, too.” He walked within two feet of Trey and said, “I’m gonna take on all seven of you.”

Trey laughed and taunted Matthew, “What are you gonna do? You’re a little punk compared to your brother. I could kick your ass with one hand tied behind my back, blindfolded, and hopping on one leg.”

Matthew reached down to his watch and pressed the second button from the top. He took another step toward Trey and said, “Come on, second string; let’s see what you got.”

At that, Trey Wilson dropped his bottle of beer and took his first swing at Matthew. Matthew raised his hand toward the star quarterback and proceeded to toss him ten feet back into a parked car. The windshield cracked from the force of the hit and Trey was knocked for a loop.

Austin and Rick made their move toward Matthew. He was trying to move Cassie away from the danger area. Austin got a shot in on Matthew’s side, but Matthew was able to block the next punch headed toward his face. Austin was thrown fifteen feet into the air and landed flat on his back. You could hear the air leave his chest on impact.

Rick grabbed Matthew around the waist and threw him toward the parked cars. At that, the boys who were holding Amanda and Jack let them go and joined Rick. Amanda tried to jump onto one of the boys’ backs, but he threw her to the ground.

The act of striking any young woman would have made Matthew Chance mad, but to do it to Amanda Curry was unacceptable. Rick shouted, “All right boy, now we’re really gonna stomp your ass.” All three boys jumped onto Matthew and began to throw punches. Amanda and Cassie screamed for help, but it wasn’t needed. Matthew had picked up the snap ring that Connor dropped earlier and he had it positioned at the three boys over top of him.

“You had enough, wimp?” Matthew turned over with the ring in hand and snapped his fingers into it. All three boys were tossed like sacks of garbage at the dump and slammed into the side of the gym. The final two football players who were there made their way toward Matthew, but they stopped at the sound of an approaching voice.

“You boys stop right there! What’s goin on here?” Beth had arrived with both Officer Charles and April. The two players who hadn’t tangled with Matthew ran off into the darkness of the parking lot. Trey Wilson came to.

“What’s goin’ on here, Mr. Wilson?” the officer asked Trey. “You causin’ problems for these three boys?”

Officer Charles looked around the area and saw four more of the largest football players on the team lying on the ground. He looked to Matthew and asked, “You took on seven players from the football team and you’re the one still standing?”

Matthew placed the snap ring back into his pocket and said, “We just got lucky, officer. They’ve been drinking, so we must have been too quick for them.”

Officer Charles called for some backup and a couple of police cars drove up into the lot. “Y’all can head back to the dance. We’ll take care of these boys.” Officer Charles walked over to April, who was tending to Connor, and said, “I’m sorry our discussion had to be abruptly ended like this Ms. April.” Officer Charles extended his hand. April extended her hand, expecting a shake, but Officer Charles kissed it instead.

“Maybe we can continue our talk over dinner some night.”

April held Connor, who was still hurt and bleeding from the altercation, and said, “I better get him home and clean him up.” She smiled at Officer Charles. “It was nice meeting you.” The family started toward the car, but Amanda blocked Matthew’s path.

“How did you do that? That was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.”

Matthew looked to the gorgeous blonde and said, “I told you. I just got lucky.”

Amanda shook her head. “You just took on and took out half of the seniors on the football team.”

Cassie and Jack walked up behind Amanda and added, “Yeah, Matthew, I haven’t even seen anything like that in the world of professional wrestling.”

Matthew cleared his throat and replied, “Look, the important thing is that everyone’s OK. I couldn’t let them hurt any of you.”

“Come on, Matthew, we need to go!” yelled April.

Matthew turned to Jack, Cassie, and Amanda and said, “I’ll see you all on Monday. Just go back and enjoy the rest of the dance and tell Beth that I’m sorry for running out on her.” Matthew headed to his mother’s car and they sped off.

Beth found Amanda as she made her way back to the gym and asked, “Did Matthew leave?”

Amanda told Beth that he apologized for running out on her and asked, “Did you have a good time with Matthew?” Beth shook her head yes, but then went on to say that both Connor and Matthew seem a little too weird for her.

Amanda grinned and thought,
I need to find out more about those two brothers—especially Matthew!

Cassie and Jack were walking well behind Amanda and Beth and discussed what they had just witnessed. “Can you believe how he tossed those guys? I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s half their size and threw them around like they were dolls.”

Cassie pondered some other items. “Can you believe he came here with Beth Perry? What does she have that I don’t?”

Jack replied, “Besides a rocking body, curly hair, and some very short skirts, not much at all. And I think you are missing the point here. There is no way Matthew Chance could have done what he did without some help.”

Cassie shrugged her shoulders and asked, “What kind of help?”

Jack replied, “I don’t know, but I think something alien is going on here.”

Cassie laughed, and said, “I think you’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies.”

Back at the Chance residence, Matthew and April were helping Connor into the house. “I’m already feeling better, guys. I can walk on my own.”

April opened the front door and asked, “Will there be a day that you don’t get beat up at that school?”

Connor looked to Matthew and said, “After the beating that Matthew put on those guys, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about them anymore.”

April grabbed Matthew by the arm and looked at his watch. “You used this to stop those boys, didn’t you?”

Connor replied, “Yeah, he used that and the snap rings that Walter sent with us.”

April dropped Matthew’s hand and said, “You used one of the things in the backpack that I told you not to mess with?”

Matthew began walking to his bedroom and replied, “We had to do something. We can’t keep letting these guys push us around, and I certainly couldn’t let anything happen to Amanda or our friends.”

April walked into the kitchen and grabbed a drink. “This is all my fault. I haven’t been doing what I should have been.” April took off her sparkled heels and threw them into her room. “I am such a fool, worrying about new dresses and dances for you boys. We have been here a week already and we don’t even know if this girl has the attribute charm.”

Matthew came back out of his room, “That’s not entirely true.”

Connor asked, “Which part?”

Matthew explained that he saw the charm on Amanda’s neck while they were dancing. “She’s wearing it.”