My Share of Sand (A Calabasas Fable)...Slightly Revised Edition

13-I Want It All

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Wednesday, September 13

There's probably not a more disappointing experience in life than suddenly waking up after you've dozed off in a seated position: at a desk, or in an easy chair watching TV, for example. You go immediately from the mundanity of your life to Dreamland for a quick visit that's so relaxing and pleasurable, but once your body realizes that it just made an egregious mistake and you snap out of it, not only do you have to adjust back to reality, you're still tired.

Colinda kept falling asleep at the kitchen table before school. She'd had a bad case of insomnia the night before. The fondest wish of her young life, spending time alone with Templynn Treat, was going to come true in a few hours. She was elated. She was nervous. She was eager. She was a little scared. Maybe it would be the start of a new chapter of her life. Maybe she would embarrass herself. Most likely it would be pleasant and quickly forgotten by all. But her mind had raced all night thinking about Templynn, and at best she maybe tied about three hours of REM sleep together.

"You okay, Coco?"

Her dad waking her up not only prevented her from falling face-first into the scrambled eggs, it reminded her of something important...

She hadn't told her parents about the Templynn study date!

She hurriedly informed them: "I forgot to tell you about this. I meeting with my partner for our World History assignment after school today at the library."

"What time?", asked Mom.

"Five o'clock."

"Sorry," Dad gravely informed her. "You have to cancel. We have Family Meeting today."

"Brad," Geneva said, "it's for schoolwork. The Family Constitution allows for the children to miss the Family Meeting if it's curriculum-related."

Yes, the Quarles bunch has a Family Constitution.

"How are you getting to the library?" Brad asked Colinda.

"I was gonna take my bike."

"That's it! We give her a ride there and have the meeting on the way there!" You could practically see the glimmering lightbulb above Brad's head. "Monique, what do you think?"

"Sounds good to me." Anything that would be humiliating for Colinda, Monique was on-board for.

"Who's your classmate?" asked Mom.

"Templynn Treat."

Mom recognized the name. "Karlie Banks-Treat's daughter. They went to the university scholarship banquet last year."

With a devilish grin, Monique began "Yeah, Coco is..." Before she could finish, Colinda gave her a wrathful staredown, a look rarely seen outside of stone carvings of Aztec gods. Monique backtracked a little. "Coco, they've gone to school together for a while."

"Her mom owns Slide-In," Brad thought out loud as he tried to remember who Colinda was talking about. "Richest woman in California."

"Actually, we're meeting at the Slide-In first, then going to the library to pick up the books, then back to her place. She said her mom could give me a ride home."

"Why not just stay at the library and study there?" Geneva wondered.

Colinda shook her head. "I don't know."