For Always Read Free Page A

old days, and what they did to celebrate their days of tricks and treats.
    Maria thought this year, our first in high school, was the perfect one to revive a crazy, but fun tradition, and get it back on the map. She knew if she succeeded, she’d go down as a legend!
    For the two weeks leading up to Halloween, Maria operated at full throttle, getting both participants and supplies. With her unrelenting visions and promises of how we would be worshiped, she managed to convince me, and five school friends, we had to give it a shot.
    We were going “Bombing.”
    The objective: to cover each other in a foamy sticky mess of eggs and shaving cream. Once our classmates arrived we set out fully armed with: two dozen eggs and three Barbasol cans each, regular, not menthol. Menthol would burn if it got in our eyes.
    We ran home from the bus and quickly changed into layers of our oldest, grungiest clothes. After throwing on a pair of jeans, I swept my dirty blond hair off my shoulders up into a ponytail. Maria wore a baseball cap to protect hers.
    We barely cleared the porch steps before the fun began. Fragile white orbs flew through the air like ping pong balls landing with a thump and a splat, sometimes on the hard concrete, sometimes on the back of someone’s head. The shaving cream - white confetti - decorated us and the landscape.
    A pack of fluffy white ghosts, we headed down the blocks of our neighborhood, leaving a white, slug-like trail behind us. One of the girls in the group, Beth, asked Maria if she knew where Jordan lived.
    “Sure,” Maria said and led the way.
    “He’s got a girlfriend,” I said tapping my foot and rolling my eyes impatiently realizing Beth liked him.
    “I’m sure they broke up by now.” Maria chimed in.
    I didn’t answer. I hoped they did break up but not so Beth could go out with him.
    Maria was brazen, not at all intimidated. She walked right up to his house and rang the doorbell. When his mother answered, Maria spoke to her like they were old friends.
    Once she returned to us, Maria barely had a chance to open her mouth before Beth interrupted, “Is he home?”
    She reminded me of a circus dog waiting anxiously to jump through a flaming hoop to get its prize. The reward: Jordan. Beth kept fidgeting with her hands and giggling for no reason. I found this particularly annoying. When she laughed, she sounded phony and nasal, almost like an annoying car alarm. A feeling of anger bubbled up inside me.
    “He should be home in about fifteen minutes.” Maria informed us. “He stayed for a meeting with the school newspaper.”
    Jordan wrote for the newspaper? I had no idea. I’d have to be sure to read his column. Just one more thing to admire. I wondered what other things I’d yet to learn about him, and if I’d have the opportunity to find out.
    “Let’s go. I don’t feel like waiting here,” I said in a huff.
    “I want to wait, let’s wait,” Beth whined.
    I wanted to drag her away. I looked at her long skinny body. I didn’t like it. She was too thin, unlike me, who sat on the other side of the scale. I noticed for the first time her thick long eye lashes and wondered if Jordan would notice them too. I heard guys like girls with long eye lashes.
    I kept sizing myself up to Beth. Although I’d rather stick knives in my eyeballs than admit it, I admired the way the sun rays reflected copper highlights from her shiny auburn hair, unlike the dull frizzy mess I had to contend with. And her chestnut eyes perfectly matched with her hair and olive skin tone.
    Again I found fault with my boring brown eyes and pale skin. I often thought God tossed aside his plan for me and stuck me with whatever parts he had left over. I could have been gorgeous with light colored eyes. Or if my hair and skin tone were darker. But I had to live with what I was given, and be grateful for it, even if I didn’t agree.
    I saw something out of the corner of my eye. My heartbeat changed. It picked up pace,