Meet Rosalind Savage: Basketball Champs! 4. Knocked Out

“I wonder what he was doing there,” Alicia bit her lip.

“Come on,” Natalie frowned. “He’s the one with that expensive brand new car.”

We were sitting at one of the table on the pool side, sipping our Cokes. I had told my friends about the sedan thing and by hearing it, they both were puzzled.

“But can a guy like Billy drive so fast, like a psycho?” I said, frowning.

“You are right,” Natalie nodded. “He doesn’t seem like driving a vehicle that fast, I mean, we all know him since we were in kindergarten.”

“True said,” I said, “But anything is possible.”

“Hmm,” Alicia looked at Ronald who was sitting three tables ahead of us with Jason and those three guys whom I had seen while taking the car key from Jason. “That guy is pretty cool.”

“Talking about Santiago?” I asked.

“Yep,” she grinned. “He knows that I had beat Gretchen of NY. He has got knowledge of other sports and not only basketball.”

“I see,” I said.

“Hey, guys, look,” Natalie, who was eying everyone near the pool and food court, sat straight now. “Bill is coming.”

We all turned at the direction of him. There he was, carrying a brown packet in his left hand and a key in his other.

“I guess he had gone to bring that package from the car,” I muttered.

“Let’s see where he heads to,” Natalie said, still staring at him.

Bill moved towards a crowd of juniors who were standing near the Chicken Pie’s table and chatting and laughing. He went and stood near another guy who was wearing a black suit. The guy in black suit was facing towards the table so we couldn’t see his face. Bill handed the package and as well as the key to him and then went in the gym.

“Seems like the car is not his,” Alicia said turning at me.

“But who is that guy in black suit?” I asked. “I can’t see his face.”

“Let’s find out,” Natalie smiled.

“Okay, Natalie, you are in,” I said playfully.

“Anytime,” she laughed and stood up.

Natalie went near the Chicken Pie table and took a plate from a side and pretended to take a pie on her plate. Then she turned to face the crowd and stared at the guy’s direction for a minute and hurried towards us.

“What did you see?” Alicia asked excitedly.

“Norman Santiago,” she sighed as she sat on her chair and placed the plate on the table.

“You mean Ronald’s brother?” I asked, cutting a piece of pie and putting it in my mouth.

“Yeah,” she answered. “He has still got the packet with him.”

“No wonder it’s his brother’s car,” Alicia shrugged. “Ronald is pretty rich because of his basketball career.”

“And pretty famous, too,” Natalie said.

I turned once to look at Norman. He was now standing facing us, his eyes searching for something. Or someone?

I scanned the lawn for any expression on others faces and finally found it. Ronald Santiago was nodding at his brother while Jason and the others were talking among themselves. That means they were up to something.

As Ronald nodded for the fourth time, Norman started moving towards the office building. I couldn’t see him in the dark.

“Girls,” I called, “I think I should go on work, now.”

“What kind of work?” Natalie was perplexed.

“Following him,” I stood up at once.

“Oh boy,” Alicia looked worried. “What on earth made you think to follow him?”

“Something about Bill and these two brothers is making me sick,” I frowned. “I wanna know what they are up to.”

“Go on,” Natalie said.

I left my friends at the table and hurried towards the office building which was almost dark except a dim light which was still on in our college secretary, Andy Carter’s cabin.

What was she doing at this time in her cabin? I wondered why she had to come at the time of prom to work in here. Or was it Norman whom we just saw going towards office? I moved slowly, without making a noise and reached at the secretary’s cabin door.

I pushed the door and it just opened. Someone was inside. But who? I wanted to check that out. I peeped inside and found something moving near the Xerox machine in the corner. From the dim light I could make out that it was none other than Norman Santiago.

“Norman!” I yelled.

He jumped out of fear and turned to me.

“What are you doing here at this time?” I said curtly.

His face whitened with fear and he was hiding something behind his back.

“I was just…” he coughed. “I was just keeping these papers for Andy.”

 “What kind of paper?” I inquired.

“Just these,” he took his hands out of his back and placed two/three pages in front of me.

“Since when is Andy interested in keeping blank pages in her office?” I eyed those blank sheets and asked him.

“Hmm,” he said nervously, “she wanted them for some other work of hers.”

I scanned the room and found the main light switch till then. As soon as I turned the tube light on, the room went bright.

“Are you sure you were here just for placing some blank sheets?”

“Absolutely,” he gave me a nod.

“If you say so,” I started to move forward. “Hand me those you are hiding in that Xerox machine.”

He looked upset and really nervous now and started to take out all the pages he had xeroxed and kept in that machine.

I looked at all those pages. They were the game plans of the NCs. Some one stole all those and now this Norman guy was xeroxing them to help his big brother, Ronald.

“So,” I stared at him curtly. “This is what you and your brother are up to, huh?”

“I’m so sorry, Rosalind,” he cried. “I didn’t realize that you will catch me so soon.”

“But I did catch you,” I said, putting all those pages in my handbag. “Now, I want you to sit here and talk with me about this.”

He obeyed like a child and sat on the chair next to the working table. I took my seat in another chair, beside him.

“Why were you doing this thing?” I asked.

“It’s because the NCs are more powerful and intelligent than the NLs.” He put his arms across his chest.

“But your brother is a good player, isn’t he?” I asked. “Then why did he tell you to steal these?”

“Honestly, I didn’t steal these,” he said dolefully. “I never knew that these were the game plans unless Ronald told me what it is. I didn’t steal these, Rosalind.”

“Then who did?”

“Michael Fox,” he answered. “That guy is real tough. He’s a team mate of Ronald, a pretty close friend of his. It was his plan. He stole all their game plans and handed it to me and warned me not to show it to anyone.”

“Not even your brother?”

“He knew already,” his face fell. “I never expected him to cheat or something.”

“How did this Michael guy steal these papers from the NCs?” I asked.

“I told you before that he’s a tough guy. He has a good friend called Richard Bentinck in NC. NC captain had appointed Richard to keep all the important papers with him which he used to keep in the locker of every stadium their team went to. Michael knew that Richard will be in NL Stadium for late night practice the day he stole the plan. He bribed the janitor of the stadium for bringing them to him. The janitor had permission to enter the player’s locker room for cleaning. He also had extra keys to all the lockers as he is an inside man. So, he unlocked his locker and brought them to Michael.”

“Who told you to Xerox these papers?”

“Ronald,” he said angrily. “He told me one fine day that he needs them to be xeroxed as these are the original copies. He and Michael were scared because the NCs might find out of their missing plans.” 

“But Richard never found that out,” I sighed. “It was in his locker, but.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “He was too busy with the game that he forgot thinking about these sheets.”

“But why didn’t you go to some local Xerox store rather than xeroxing from college secretary’s office?”

“I had been to one store,” he looked at the floor. “The shopkeeper caught what it was as he was a NC supporter. I somehow escaped by paying him some really good money and telling him to keep his mouth shut.”

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “So you have also started to give bribes, huh?”

“I didn’t have another option,” he gave me a dark look. “When I told Ronald about it, he scolded me for my stupidity and told me to get his work done from college office and I could only do it without anyone’s presence. So, I had to choose the prom night.”

“Oh, I see,” I frowned. “A pretty cool plan.”

“Can I leave now?” he begged.

“Not so fast, Norman,” I stood up.

“What now?” he looked irritated.

“Is that new black sedan yours?”

“It’s Ronald’s.” he calmed down a bit. “But we drive it alternate days.”

“Who was driving it on Tuesday?”

“It would be me,” he snorted. “But what’s it to you?”

“I guess you were in a hurry to get away from that store near Pretzel’s. You almost crashed Natalie,” I snapped.

“Oh sorry,” he stood up now. “Yes, you are right. I was hurrying home from that store. I was scared after what I have done. Now, let me go.”

“Sure, sure,” I grinned and made way for him to move out of the cabin. But for a second I thought that the NL police department must know about this and so I should call the police and hand these papers as well as these guys.

“Norman?” I called him again, dialing Dad’s friend, Chief Ben Farrow’s number.

“What?” he turned back.

“I have no other option except calling the cops to handle this thing,” I said broodingly.

“No, please, don’t,” he looked horrified.

“Look,” I said. “I can’t help it. Stealing game plans from the opponent team and using the same to beat them in the finals in a crime.”

“Why don’t you understand?” he yelled in anger. “I didn’t steal them. But Michael did.”

“But why don’t you understand that you were also involved in this,” I said curtly and hit the ‘call’ button. “You can’t escape.”

He sat on the steps of main office building and put his hands on his face.

“Hello? Chief Farrow speaking.” A hoarse voice said.

“Chief, this is Rosalind Savage, here.”

“Oh, Rosalind, how is you Dad?” he asked cheerfully.

“He’s fine.” I said politely. “Chief, I need your help right now.”

“What’s wrong?” he sounded worried.

“Please come at NL College as fast as you can.” I said. “I have caught a thief who was trying to Xerox the stolen game plan of the Nashville Champs. He just revealed the whole incident to me. We have more people who are involved in this.”

“Oh my god!” he said worriedly. “Don’t worry, Rosalind. I will be there in a few minutes.” We hung up.

I sat next to Norman on the step.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said.

“I know,” he muttered. “I’m feeling sorry about it now.”

“The cops will take care of this in a few minutes,” I said, looking at the lights coming from the gym and the pool side.

I saw two figures heading towards us from the pool side. From the twenty feet distance between us, I could make out that they were none other than Natalie and Alicia.

“What happened?” Natalie asked, as they came near us and saw me sitting with Norman who was still putting his hands on his face.

“We were worried about you, Rose,” Alicia said, staring at me. “You didn’t show up even in ten minutes. So, we had to come looking for you.”

I told them what was the matter and as soon as I finished saying the incident, we saw four people coming towards us.

“Hello, everyone,” Officer Farrow smiled at us. Three constables were with him.

“Officer Farrow,” I stood up from the steps. “This is Norman Santiago, younger brother of Ronald Santiago, the basketball captain of North Land team.” I pointed to Norman who was now sitting up straight. “He was xeroxing the game plan of Nashville Champs from our college secretary’s office.” I took out those sheets from my handbag and handed it to him.

He looked at it once and gave it to one of his constable. I then told him the incident in short.

 “Young man, please follow us into the police van. We need to ask you some questions in the department.”  He said to Norman.

Norman stood up at once and then Officer Ben turned to me.

“Rosalind,” he said, “Will you please show us where we can get his brother?”

“Sure,” I smiled and we all headed towards the pool.

“You, young man,” he said to Norman, “I want you to come with us. Once we arrest your big bro, we will take both of you in police station.”

One we were at the pool side, the crowds saw us entering with cops and they all looked perplexed. I pointed at Ronald, who was now standing near the pool and sipping his drink. Jason was standing near the food court with some guys. Ronald didn’t see us as he was standing facing his back at us.

“Hello, Captain,” Chief Ben tapped at his shoulder.

Ronald turned back at once and he was puzzled to see Chief Ben and those three constables. His eyes flickered from Chief Ben to us and they got stuck at his brother, who looked pale and fearful.

His face whitened to see his brother in that condition.

“What’s wrong?” he asked pretending as if nothing happened.

“You are going to find that out once you are in police station,” Officer Ben grinned.

“Oh no!” he looked at his brother and gripped his shoulder. “You got caught. Oh no!”

“Yes,” he whispered.

I looked around us and saw a huge crowd was gathering around us to see what was going on. Jason was right next to me in a minute.

“What happened?” he asked.

I hushed him. “You will see,” I replied.

People were whispering things around us.

“What did you do, Santiago?” someone yelled from the crowd.

“Quiet, everyone.” Officer Ben raised both his hands. “I will tell you what’s wrong. This guy stole the Nashville Champ’s game plan and insisted his little brother to Xerox them which he obeyed and got caught in your college secretary’s office by Miss Rosalind Savage.”

As soon as my name was said, everyone turned to me. Ronald glowered at me.

“Oh my god!” I heard Linda, shrieking from the crowd.

“I didn’t steal,” Ronald cried. “It’s Michael Fox, our teammate.”

“Loser!” someone screamed in anger from the crowd and then one by one, everyone started yelling things at Ronald.

“We were huge fans of you,” Peter cried. “But you showed us your other side. Hate you, Santiago.”

“Hate you, Santiago, hate you,” Jason gave him a dark look.

“What’s going on here?” our principal, Mr. Mark, pushed some students and came in the middle of the crowd. “What are you here for, Chief Farrow?” he turned at Chief.

“See for yourself,” he smiled and gestured at a constable. The constable at once caught Ronald’s collar and pulled him at Norman’s side.

“I still don’t understand what’s wrong,” Mr. Mark bit his lip. “Please explain, Chief.”

Chief Farrow told him the whole incident in short.

“Oh Jesus!” Mr. Mark turned wide-eyed. “I never thought that these two will be up for something illegal.”

“We are taking them to the police station,” Chief Farrow said.

“Sure, sure,” he nodded. “You should. No objection at all and thank you.”

“If you wanna thank, then don’t thank me. Thank her,” he looked at me. “Without her, we couldn’t even catch them. She was the one to find out that these guys were up to stealing.”

“Oh,” Mr. Mark stared at me and grinned. “Thank you so much, Rosalind.”

“You are welcome, sir,” I smiled.

After a few more fiery comments from the gathered crowd, Chief Farrow took them along with him in the police van.

After they went, Mr. Mark settled everyone back to the prom. People came and congratulated me for my work.

“That was very brave of you,” Bill said. “I never knew that it was those papers in the packet.”

"I know that, Bill", I smiled, "I'm happy to help".

"I'll have something to eat", he said, "I'll see you soon".

He scurried off through the crowd of students. Once he was gone, Natalie and Alicia came running to me. 

"That was really shocking", said Natalie, "I mean who knew Santiago would be up to something like that".

"I know", I answered, "Both the brothers had planned it well".

"Girls", Alicia said, "I'm starving. Please can we-"

Before she could finish her sentence, someone grabbed me and pushed me at a side. I fell and hit my head hard against a table.

"Oh my gosh!" Natalie cried.

I heard screams and whispers around me. Everyone seemed to be shocked and scared.

I sat up slowly and felt throbbing pain in my skull. Alicia and Natalie were gathered at my side as well the other students.

"What just hap happened?" I asked, placing a lock of hair behind my ear.

"If I didn't push you out, this would have broke your head", Jason said sternly.

I spun around to find Jason standing with a brick in his hand. 

"What is that?" I asked, staring at a piece of white paper which was tied with the brick.

"See for yourself", he handed it to me.

It was a small, square-shaped paper. On it, in small but bold letters something was printed. 

Better stay away. Or else, you are gonna be out of this planet.

I read it out loud to my friends. 

"This is really dangerous, Rosalind", Natalie said in a tensed voice.

"I think you should not think about this", Jason insisted.

"Once I'm in the game, I play to win, Jason", I smirked.

 

Meet Rosalind Savage: Basketball Champs! 3. Sedan Again

“Ouch!” I cried as Natalie put the pin on my hair and tied it in a ponytail.

“It’s over, Rosalind,” she grinned. “You look so beautiful.”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing my beige colored gown which had sparkling stones all over it. It matched with my brunette hair. My mascara and lipstick which was put by Alicia was perfect. Natalie just now did my hair. I was, no doubt, looking pretty.

“Hey, girls,” Alicia, who just stepped out of my bathroom called. “How am I looking?”

We started at her for a minute. She was wearing a light blue back-less gown with beads which matched her blonde hair and blue eyes. She did all her make-ups herself.

“You are amazing,” I cried.

“Really, amazing,” Natalie remarked while adjusting her dress.

She had on her wine-red gown with laces and satin. It went perfect with her honey colored hair.

“You are fantastic.” I smiled.

“Yep, definitely, you are,” Alicia grinned.

We had bought all these dresses last evening from Mardi gras, a renowned brand of girl’s dresses. All three of us had difficulty in choosing the appropriate dress for us. Finally, the retailer owner, Mrs. Ashley Armand, a woman in her thirties, chose our dresses herself. Now we are praising her for her right choices.

“Girls?” Jason’s voice floated up the stairs.

“Yeah?” I called back.

“Can you come down here, Rosalind?”

“Sure,” I said and went downstairs slowly, reminding myself not to ruin my dress.

“Oh my gosh!” Jason exclaimed. “You are beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I blushed.

He was standing down the stairs wearing a black suit and a tuxedo that matched my dress. His newly bought black boots were shining.

“You too, look handsome, bro.”

“Don’t embarrass me, Madame,” he chuckled. “Anyways, some one’s there to see you.”

“Who?”

“Go on in the living room.”

I entered the living room and found Bill who was sitting on the couch. He stood up as he saw me.

“You are dashing.” He smiled.

“Oh,” I felt my cheeks turning pink. “Thanks.”

He was wearing a white shirt and a black waist coat. His black jeans were torn in a stylish way at his both knees. That was the style now-a-days, wearing torn jeans.

“You too don’t look so shabby yourself,” I grinned.

“Thank you,” he said nervously. “I just wanted to ask…”

“Go on,” I assured him.

“I just wanted to ask whether you wanna come with me to the prom.” He said it so fast as if telling a learned poem in a competition. It took me a minute to realize what he meant to say.

“Oh, umm,” I hesitated. “You know what, I’m heading to the prom with Nat and Alicia and Jason.”

“Oh,” his face fell. “I…I thought to take you with me for a dance.”

“Dance?” I laughed. “I don’t know to dance, man. I won’t dance tonight. I’m just going to taste the good food and drinks. That’s all.”

“Well,” Jason interrupted. “We are getting late.”

“Here I come,” I called as Nat and Alicia came downstairs.

“Okay, then,” Bill shrugged. “Meet you at the prom.”

“Sorry,” I said apologetically.

“It’s okay,” he tried to smile and headed out.

“I can’t believe that you rejected him,” Natalie frowned from the doorway.

“Hey, I won’t dance, remember?” I reminded her. “So, I don’t wanna ruin a guy’s prom night. He will be sucked up without dancing.”

“She is right,” Alicia grinned.

“Let us get going then,” Jason declared and we all hurried towards the driveway to get into our white hybrid which I and Jason drive turn by turn.

Nat and Alicia sat in the backseat while Jason sat on wheels and I sat beside him.

We reached college in five minutes. Cars were parked in every available spot along the street. Students dressed up in their most beautiful dresses were chatting and giggling and hurrying towards the entrance. We could hear the lively rock music drifting onto the night.

Jason parked the car into an empty parking space near the play ground, adjacent to our college. We all climbed out of the car and started moving towards the gate. A counter was made on the right side of the gate for buying tickets and on the left, Mrs. Robertson stood, holding the velvet file and ticking off the names who had already entered. The line at the counter was huge. But it was speeding up as everyone wanted to get in as soon as possible.

“Gosh!” Natalie shrieked as we walked through the parking lot.

“What’s wrong?” I stopped as well as Alicia and Jason stopped.

“Look at that,” her face turned white as she pointed to a car which was parked near the gate.

“It’s the black sedan,” Alicia said with shock in her voice.

“What’s so spooky about a black car?” snorted Jason.

“Jason, please,” I scowled at him.

“It is the same car.” Alicia added.

“Yeah,” Natalie gulped. “The same one that almost knocked me down the road near Pretzel’s.”

“I guess the driver is a student of our college,” I muttered eying the sedan.

“What are you girls talking about?” Jason asked, looking confused.

I told him the incident of afternoon in short.

“Hmm,” he eyed the sedan for a minute. “That sedan is a brand new. An ad had come in the SUPER CARS magazine last month.”

Jason knows cars more than anyone else. He had subscribed for SUPER CARS magazine, the most popular car magazine among teens since past five years.

“It’s expensive, too,” he was filled with excitement. “I wonder which rich guy’s vehicle is that.”

“Listen, everyone,” I said, “We should go inside and enjoy the party. Nat, you please don’t think about this for a moment. It will make you more horrible and fearful.”

Natalie nodded and Alicia sighed.

I, Natalie and Alicia went to Mrs. Robertson while Jason lined at the counter to buy our tickets.

“Hello, girls,” Mrs. Robertson smiled at us. She was wearing a decent yellow gown. “You three look beautiful.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Robertson,” we said together.

“Even you look great,” Alicia commented.

“Oh, dear,” she adjusted her gown. “Thank you.”

She ticked off our names and we went in and stood near the poster saying: PROM THAT WAY->

The arrow was pointed towards the gym. We had to wait for Jason another five minutes and then we all headed towards the gym. As we walked further, the music got louder. The pool party was also going well. Students sat on those tables and munched food and some danced along the music. The food court was decorated really well with balloons and glittery stars and hearts made of cardboard.

“Hey, Jess,” someone called my brother.

We all turned and found a tall guy of about Jason’s age holding a glass of smoothie in his hand and smiling at him. He came near Jason and they shook hands. He was the same guy whom I watched on TV the other night. He was Ronald Santiago, the NL basketball team captain.

“You are late, man,” he said.

“Sorry,” Jason apologized.

“So, who are these gorgeous angels with you, huh?” he asked playfully, eying us.

Jason chuckled. “Girls, I would like to introduce you to Ronald Santiago, NL basketball team captain.”

Alicia perked up at the sound of basketball. I knew she was kind of sporty and loves any kind of sport.

“I have watched your game with the NCs. You were amazing,” she grinned.

“Oh, thanks, young lady,” he smiled. “And you are?”

“Alicia Doyle,” she shook her hand.

“Doyle?” he looked puzzled. “Are you the one to beat Gretchen Lewis in skating?” 

“Yep,” she was excited. “That would be me.”

“Excellent,” he gave a low chuckle.

Alicia had gone for a skating tournament at NY last month and she beat their most famous player, Gretchen Lewis in the game and had won. She was pretty famous in North Land for her achievement.

I and Natalie was listening the conversation when Ronald looked at us.

“Who are you girls?” he asked.

“I'm Rosalind Savage.” I said politely.

“Oh, I see,” he smiled. “Jason’s little sister, huh?”

“Yep,” I returned the smile.

Then he turned to Natalie.

“I’m Natalie Matthews,” she grinned.

“The Matthews, huh?” he thought for a moment and stared at her. “I guess it’s your doggie, Butterscotch, who always enter in my aunt’s backyard.”

“Uh huh!” she turned pink. “Sorry about it. Butterscotch is really annoying.”

Natalie had a pet Doberman named Butterscotch who is very annoying and mischievous. We always heard from Natalie that it used to enter at their neighbor, Mrs. Parkinson’s backyard and destroy her flower pots. We never knew that she was Ronald’s aunt or something.

“You girls go on in,” Jason declared. “I would like to enjoy tonight with my buddies.”

“Sure, sure,” I answered. He really wanted to spend time with his friends and we wanted to go in and see what’s going inside the gym.

“Hey,” Ronald called. “It was good to meet you all.”

“It was good to meet you, too,” Alicia smiled.

We all turned towards the gym. As we entered, we could hear loud jazz music bursting from those huge boom boxes placed aside the room. The dance floor was at a side where the couples were dancing and laughing and giggling.

The DJ was just next to the dance floor.

“Hey, girls,” Linda came forward, moving through the crowd.

“Hi, Linda,” Natalie smiled.

She had on her gold-colored gown with glass beads on it. It was back-less like Alicia’s. Her hands were covered by silk golden gloves. She did look like a royal princess. Her dark brown hair was extraordinarily curly and was tied back with a band.

“Hey, did you perm your hair?” Alicia asked looking at her hair.

“Yes, of course,” Linda giggled. “Meg’s parlor does the best hair.”

“Cool!” I said. “Where is Peter?”

“Somewhere in the crowd.” She laughed.

“Okay,” Natalie said, staring at the dance floor. “I just can’t wait to step on that dance floor.”

“Go on,” Linda laughed. “I will have to go and find Bill.”

“Bill?” I was perplexed.

“Yeah,” she glanced at me once. “He told me that you have turned him down because you didn’t want to dance. So, I told him that I may be of some help to him.”

“Okay,” I smiled. “Good to know that. At least, he found someone and didn’t get upset.”

“Now, if you will excuse me,” she turned towards the crowd to find Bill.

“I will find someone soon and go to dance,” Natalie was excited.

“Sure,” I smiled. “You should go.”

“I too wanna go,” Alicia said. “Can you give me my camera so that I can click some pictures tonight?”

I opened my handbag and searched for Alicia’s camera which she had given me before coming here as she didn’t bring any purse or handbag.

But I couldn’t find her camera inside. That’s when I remembered that I had kept it in the car’s dashboard.

“Oops!” I apologized. “I had kept it in car. I will have to go and get it.”

“Okay,” she said. “We will be here.”

I didn’t have the car key. So, I had to go to Jason, who was now sitting with Ronald and three more guys in the food court, already sipping his cold coffee.

“Keep the key with you when you are done,” he said.

I moved through the crowd and went outside finally. As I walked towards our car, I looked at the sedan once. It was there still. I then unlocked our car and took out Alicia’s camera from the dashboard and locked it again.

That’s when I saw someone walking up to the sedan. Something about his appearance said that I knew him. He opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat. I couldn’t see his face from so far.

I headed towards the college gate again and while going, I looked at the driver.

It was Bill, Bill Clinton.

Meet Rosalind Savage: Basketball Champs! 2. Creepy Rider

I woke up by the call of Bill Clinton, our very good friend and a classmate. He ranged to say that I was called in college to help the students with the prom arrangements. When I kept the phone aside, my clock read: 6 am. Bill told to come as soon as possible as so many works were pending.

I dragged myself out of bed and went for a shower.

“Jason!” I said as I entered in the kitchen in my jeans and T-shirt.

He was on the kitchen table. A glass of milk and a plate of half-eaten toast sat in front of him. He was yawning and there were dark circles under his eyes.

“Good morning,” he called.

“What are you doing here at this time of morning?” I asked, pretty surprisingly.

“I didn’t sleep last night,” he yawned again. “The game was pretty interesting and kept me away from sleep.”

“Good,” I walked towards the fridge to get myself some milk. “Who won?”

“The NL, of course,” he answered, biting his toast.

“Santiago has got talents, then,” I took a milk carton out.

“Why are you awake now?” he asked staring at me for a minute, “All ready to go somewhere.”

“Yep,” I sipped the milk directly from the carton, “I have to go to college for decorations. Bill called.”

“I see,” he said without looking at me, “I have to go and sleep now, I guess.”

“Okay,” I smiled and finished my milk. “I will be late today.”

“Fine then,” he got up, pushing aside the vacant plate and glass. “I will have to go at Ronald’s place to see him and congratulating him.”

“Okay,” I walked towards the door. “I will see you later, then.”

The college gate was decorated with various colored balloons and ribbons. A sparkling board which read: NL PROM NIGHT was placed at the top of the balloon-gate.

All the juniors as well as seniors were moving around the college, busy with their pending works. The gym was on the last building of college. There was a swimming pool on the way to gym. The pool-side was decorated with flowers and balloons. Small tables and many chairs were placed to create a pool-party look. Boom boxes were brought and kept there, too.

As I was walking towards the gym, I got a text from Bill:

I am @ the gym. Have heaps of work to do today.

Finally, I entered through the gym door. The inside was too, decorated with balloons and ribbons. There were many students inside, working by fitting ribbons and balloons in empty places.

I scanned the room and found Bill at a side, working in this laptop.

“Hey,” I called. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Rosalind,” He looked at me and then looked behind me. “Where are the others?”

“Natalie and Alicia must be sleeping now,” I said.

“Oh,” he looked again at the laptop screen.

“What are you doing?”

“I am putting all the songs in a serial order,” he smiled, without looking at me. “I need your playlist.”

“There you go,” I handed him my iPod from my jeans pocket. I never forget to carry my iPod anywhere.

“Thanks,” he took it and connected it to his laptop.

“Hey,” someone called.

I looked back to find Linda Hayman, one of our classmate who always talked about brands.

“Hi, Linda,” I smiled.

“Did you get your dress yet?”

“Nope,” I answered. “I am gonna go today with Natalie and Alicia.”

“Oh,” she grinned. “I have already bought my dress from The Garland’s. Peter is only left now. Dad told him that he will get him a tux today from Amino. I am so excited about this prom.”

“Yep,” I said. “Everyone is pretty much excited.”

“I gotta go and fix my hair at the Meg’s Parlor,” she ran her fingers through her blonde hair. “See you tomorrow.”

She flew like a rocket outside. Peter and Linda Hayman are identical twins. They are pretty rich and are brand factories.

 “I’m done with this music thing,” Bill gave my iPod back.

“You are gonna play those songs tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yep, of course,” he answered, shutting down his laptop.

“Now,” I said, “Tell me what I have to do.”

“Well,” he put the laptop in his backpack. “You have to put all the names of guests in the main guest list. We can’t let anyone from outside enter. So, this is done.”

“Where do I get the list?”

“Just go to Mrs. Robertson,” he answered. “She will be very happy if you help her out. She has got other things to do and told me if anyone could do it. I suggested your name and she was ready to hand you the lists.”

“Okay,” I turned towards the door. “I will catch you later, then.”

I came out of the gym and headed towards the main office building. On my way, I saw other students arranging chairs and tables all over the lawn. Many tables were joined together to place the food. I entered the office building, and walked towards the reception where Mrs. Elizabeth Robertson, the receptionist, was sitting, frowning at the computer.

“Hello, Mrs. Robertson,” I smiled.

“Oh, hello, dear,” she looked up at me.

“Bill said that you need me.”

“Yes, dear,” she pulled out a notebook from under a pile of papers and handed it to me. “This is the rough list. All you have to do is to put these names in the main list which I will be handling at the gate tomorrow evening.”

“Okay,” I answered, looking at the notebook. “Where is the main list?”

“Oh, just wait a minute,” she opened a drawer and took out a velvet covered file from it. “Here, take care of this.”

“Sure, sure,” I assured her and took it from her.

As I was about to move out towards the library, she called.

“Rosalind?”

“Yes?” I turned back.

“Don’t lose it, dear,” I could see her tensed expression. “We don’t have another copy of that list.”

“Its fine, Mrs. Robertson,” I assured her again. “I won’t lose it.”

She returned a polite smile and let me go.

I went in the library which was vacant except for the college janitor who was cleaning the book shelves. She didn’t seem to notice me when I entered as she was too busy in cleaning. I took a seat at the corner and started doing my job. There were thousands of names in the list. The whole junior and senior sections as well as teachers and staffs and some of the prominent people were in it.

I was writing the three hundredth name, when I remembered about Natalie and Alicia. I almost forgot about them. I should call them. I took out my cell phone from my jeans pocket and put it in General mode. I had kept it in silent mode so that it won’t destruct me from my work. I found fifteen miss calls and ten text messages. Wow! The time in my phone read 9.30. All those miss calls and messages were from Natalie and Alicia. I ranged Natalie at once.

“Where are you? I have been calling you since three hours but you didn’t receive them nor replied to my texts.” She yelled on phone.

“Hey, Nat, calm down. Bill ranged me up at 6 in the morning and said that I am called at college for help. Then Mrs. Robertson gave me heaps of work. I will be late.”

“Hold on. I am coming to you along with Alicia. She is with me now.” She said and hung up.

After half-an hour, they both came and helped me with my work by dictating the names and when I was too tired to write more, Alicia, who had a really nice handwriting, started filling in the names in my place.

We were done by afternoon and then we handed those lists to Mrs. Robertson who was very happy with me and offered us her home-made fish fries which she had brought for lunch. We refused politely and headed out of college.

“I’m starving,” I complained, hearing my stomach growl.

“Me, too,” Alicia grinned.

“Let’s go to Pretzel’s,” Natalie declared as we sat cozily in her red convertible.

“Mr. Joy will be pleased to see us again,” Natalie laughed as we sat sipping our cappuccinos.

“Definitely,” I agreed. “Last night Jason bought food for us from here.”

“You both are addicted to this place, aren’t you?” Alicia asked, cleaning her cappuccino mustache with a tissue.

“Yep,” I answered. “Great man is this Mr. Joy.”

“Hello, girls,” Mr. Rick Joy, the short, bald man came out of the back of the counter and stood near our table.

“It’s good to see you Mr. Joy,” Alicia smiled.

“It’s good to see you, too, girls,” he grinned.

His last name matched with his character. He was a joyous person. We have never seen him upset.

“Tomorrow you have a prom, am I right?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Joy,” Natalie answered. “Are you placing a stall of your famous Olive Pasta tomorrow night at college?”

“No, dears,” his face fell. “I didn’t get a chance to meet your principal and talk about it. There’s always a next time, after all. So, maybe next year I can put one up.”

“Oh,” Alicia said. “We have heard that they are getting food for us from Waldorf Astoria.”

“What?” his face lit up in surprise. “Waldorf Astoria? That’s pretty expensive. But I think you all have to buy tickets for the prom so that they can pay them the rest of the money.”

“Hope so,” I sighed. “Can we get your Olive Pasta?”

“Oh,” he hurried towards the kitchen. “Of course, you can.”

We finished eating our pastas and came out of the Pretzel’s when a black sedan wheezed by us, almost knocking Natalie, who was at the side of the road.

“Hey, you jerk,” Natalie yelled in anger. “I could have been killed.”

But the sedan was far from our reach. It took a left turn and vanished in the alley.

“That was weird,” I muttered.

“Yeah,” Alicia nodded. “Whoever was driving it, is a psycho.”

“It went into that alley. I guess that’s because the driver doesn’t wanna get caught by the cops. There are cameras installed in the signals.” I said.

“Right,” Natalie said, still staring at the alley.

“Now let’s get out of here before that psycho comes and kills us,” Alicia bit her lips.

As I was about to get in the car, the sedan came out of nowhere and raced at top speed towards the way it had come from.

“Oh my gosh!” Natalie, who was in the driver’s seat, was white in fear.

“That car’s really creepy,” Alicia chimed from back seat.

“Very interesting,” I muttered.

“We should get going now,” Natalie started the engine. “We have to go for shopping at 5 today evening.”

“Yeah, I almost forgot about that,” said Alicia. “Be ready, Rosalind.”

“Yep,” I folded my hands. “I will. But first, I will have to take a nap as I’m up since 6 am.”

 “No problem,” Natalie smiled.

“I know that you are still thinking about that devil rider,” Alicia laughed.

“Yep,” I answered, frowning. “You are right. Something makes me feel weird about it.”

“Enough,” Natalie pulled in front of my home. “I don’t wanna think about that devil anymore. You look exhausted, Rosalind. You must sleep a little to make you energized. We will see you at 5 then.”

I bid goodbye to them and found the house locked. Jason was already at Ronald’s place. Thankfully, I always carry an extra house key with me and so I could unlock the door and enter.

I went in the bathroom to refresh myself and then went straight on bed and went off to sleep soon.