Part 6 (2/2)
There was a collective moan from several. ”Oh right, yeah!” ”No way” ”Sore losers, that's all.”
”But we won!” said a chubby gal on the ”losing” side.
”You're right!” said Easley.
Another moan, and some pretty hot protests.
”And you're right!” he told the moaners, which cheered only half of them. ”Listen. If the experience was yours and you enjoyed it, then you won. There's no winning or losing here, no right or wrong. There's just the game and what you make of it.”
A cute blond with wire-rimmed gla.s.ses hopped in the air and squeaked, ”I won!”
A few of her teammates-all from the ”losing” side-tried to match her enthusiasm. ”We won.” ”Yeah, right, we won.”
”We all won,” the tall guy finally conceded.
”Until next time,” said the muscular guy, and several of his teammates agreed with him.
Easley called out, ”Hey, this is the new girl. Let's make her welcome.” He asked Elisha, ”What name would you like?”
Elisha was confused by the question. ”What name? Oh. I guess, Sally”
”Everybody, this is Sally”
Girls and boys came forward, shaking her hand. ”Hi, Sally” ”Hi, Sally” ”Hi, Sally”
”Hi. Hi. Hi.”
The cute blond with the wire-rimmed gla.s.ses stepped up with springs in her feet. ”Hi. Are you the new girl in room 4?”
”Yes.”
”Cool! We're roommates, did you know that?”
Elisha smiled. ”So you're Alice! Mrs. Meeks was telling me about you.”
The girl laughed. ”I was Alice yesterday. I'm Marcy today”
”Oh ... okay. Marcy”
”I'm from Maine. I've always wanted to be from there. I hear it's pretty. Who are you today? Are you somebody?”
”I ... I guess I'm just myself.”
”Whoa! I'm not ready for that one yet.”
Then two sizable jocks stepped up, the big, muscular guy and a good-looking, surfer type.
”Hey,” said Muscles, looking her over and enjoying it, ”the name's Alex. I'm glad you could be here to see us win.”
”We all won,” said the surfer.
Alex glared at him. ”Brett, who said you could stand here?”
Brett came right back, with fight in his eyes, ”I stand where I want.”
Alex only smiled as if amused. ”We'll see.”
Brett pointed his finger in Alex's face. ”Next time.”
”Next time,” Alex agreed.
Brett extended his hand. ”It's nice to meet you, Sally” With a quick nod toward Alex he added, ”Be careful.” Then, with a parting dagger-eye at Alex, he left.
Alex confided, ”He's got a few problems-being a loser's one of them. Hey, if there's anything you need, you know who to call.”
Mr. Easley came near, wearing that perpetually kind smile. ”You're going to have a great time here. Don't worry about anything. We're all friends.”
Really? thought Elisha. Two roosters about to spur each other, and- ”Come on, Sally,” said Marcy-for-today, ”let's go get our room set up just the way we want it, like our own little world.”
-and one sweet person who's afraid to be herself, Elisha finished her thought.
”Are you Sally for today, or are you always Sally?”
”I'm. . .” So how do I answer this one? ”Well, I'm Sally for now. How about that?”
”Cool.”
Weird, Elisha thought. Here I am, playing a role, but so is everybody else! Dear Lord, I'm going to need your help with this one.
Chapter 5: ”What's yours is Mine”.
little before noon, the Dartmoor Hotel had an unexpected visitor, a balding, middle-aged man carrying a briefcase and wearing a suit and tie. He came through the front door, paused to look around the lobby, and then walked slowly to the reception desk where the little man with the thin, black hair and round head was still sitting, reading his newspaper. ”Good morning,” said the visitor.
”All the rooms are full,” said the man behind the desk.
The visitor was disappointed. ”You sure? I've come a long way, and this place is nice and close to where I have to do my business.”
”Sorry. You might try up the street. The Sullivan or the Royal Arms.”
The visitor looked around one more time. ”So, what do you do here? You rent rooms by the week, the month? You got apartments up there?” Without warning, he pressed the b.u.t.ton for the elevator.
”Hey! You can't go up there!”
The door to the old elevator slid open. ”I might be interested in an apartment. Why don't you show me one?”
<script>