The Bucket List [ON HOLD]

The Bucket List - Part 2

          I fervently hoped someone else would claim the seat across from me to keep me sane for the rest of this semester. I can’t go through it with just Chance and Carmen, perhaps the craziest two people I know.

          I sighed in relief when the next person who came in was Ian. I was happy now – and there were really a lot of us, four out of the Seven in the same class. Must be a record.

          My jaw fell when Lacy dropped beside Ian, across from me. She smiled and I smiled back, my surprise reflected on her face.

          That makes five of us in the same history class. But it wasn’t over.

          Greg flung the door open seconds after the teacher had closed it in an attempt to start class. He had three bimbos in tow.

          “Sit,” he commanded imperiously, pointing to three empty seats beside our table. The bimbos obediently settled themselves in, and Greg came over. He scowled when he saw that the only person he could sit beside was Lacy, so he sat one seat away from her, leaving a space between the two. Lacy sent a scowl his way.

          Wow. Six out of the Seven.

          Just as we all figured this out, exchanging smirks, fist pumps and smiles, the door opened one last time. The teacher was nearly crying from exasperation, but no one noticed because not just the six of us, but the entire class, had their eyes trained on the girl standing in the doorway.

          Amber.

***

          She floated across the class and without any hesitation, sat between Lacy and Greg. It’s always something of a shock when Amber appears in your midst. Maybe it’s the sunshine-gold quality of her voluminous hair that seems to light up our circle, or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s Amber smiling at us. Either way, it’s a few seconds before we realize the teacher has started the lesson, handing out papers.

          Greg turned to her and gave her a kiss, right there with everyone still watching. Several girls swooned, but didn’t dare to scowl at Amber, who merely rolled her eyes.

          “Hello, Greg.”

          Greg did that chin thing that guys do, sending her his famous Greg-grin. I swear that’s what he calls it. His Greg-grin. A year ago he even tried to have it copyrighted.

          “Amber,” Lacy said, smiling. There was a chorus of greetings as Amber sat there, smiling at us.

          “Wow, all of us, huh?” she asked, looking around. As lame and insecure as it sounds to admit it, the us she used was still really special.

          “We have to make it good,” Chance said, leaning back beside me and crossing his arms behind his head of shaggy black hair.

          “Excuse me,” I said in a dignified voice. “Your elbow is in my face.”

          “I bet it’s the hottest elbow you’ve ever had in your face,” Chance winked at me. I huffed.

          “You are so full of it.”

          Chance didn’t bother with a response, but Greg laughed. Snapping his fingers, he made one of his bimbos write that line down, in case he ever wanted to use it. If Chance is full of it, then it’s a wonder that Greg hasn’t spontaneously combusted yet.

          “Ahem,” Amber cleared her throat pointedly. In an instant, we were all listening. “I was thinking,” she began, grinning. I knew that grin – she had some idea that probably involved trouble. But I wasn’t expecting her next words.

          “Let’s make a bucket list!”

          We stared blankly at her. Now, Amber is one of those powerful people who would appear witty telling a knock-knock joke about bananas and oranges, so no one said “no.”

          “What’s a bucket list?” Greg asked apprehensively.

          “It’s a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket, brainless,” Ian clarified.

          Greg frowned. “Why would anyone want to kick a bucket?”

          Carmen rolled her eyes. “It’s an expression, estupido. Kicking the bucket means you die.”

          Greg looked affronted. “Everyone is so mean to me today,” he complained.

          “You look very pretty today, Gregie,” Chance offered solemnly.

          Greg threw a pencil at him.

          “Guys,” Amber demanded, and just like that, all attention was on her again. “So?”

          “All right,” Greg shrugged.

          “Fine,” Lacy shot back.

          “I’m in,” was Chance’s cheerful contribution. Ian nodded.

          Not to be outdone by Ian, Carmen pulled out a piece of paper. “Let’s do it.”

          They all looked at me. I frowned. “Okay?”

          “Perfect!” Amber said with a smile. “Who wants to write one down first?”

          “I’ll go.” Of course it’s Chance.

          He took the paper from Carmen and scribbled something down, grinning. Amber took it from him and raised an arched eyebrow.

          “Go bungee jumping off the CN Tower?” she read in a peeved voice.

          Chance smiled. “Doesn’t get better than that.”

          Amber huffed. “I thought this would be serious.”

          “I was completely serious!”

          “I have one,” Ian said, reaching for it and grinning. He wrote down in his slanted, clear writing, Say ‘BOMB’ on a plane.

          After that, it pretty much got out of control. We were all reaching for it, laughing at the sheer idiocy of what we wrote down. It was clear no one took this seriously.

          We got to about a hundred before Amber snatched it away. “Perfect,” she said again, tucking the list into her purse. We all shrugged at each other. What had been the point of that? Whatever, it had been fun while it lasted.

          “So, hot tub at my house after school?” Amber asked sweetly. It was a tradition we had – first day back to school we celebrated in the Jacuzzi at Amber’s house. The weekend usually had some wild party.

          We all promised to be there, and Amber smiled in satisfaction again. We all turned to the teacher because he was threatening to separate us for the rest of the year, but I couldn’t get rid of an uneasy feeling. There was something unnatural about all of Amber’s smiles today. Like she was forcing them.

          And I couldn’t help but feel that I’d be seeing that bucket list again. Somehow I knew that I’d find out what this was all about today after school. And we were all in it.