Chapter 7- Crazy Cereal

Chapter 7- Crazy Cereal

                William didn’t need to be told anything to realize that at some point his father was going to propose to his live in girlfriend.  He could see what was going on and decided to get to work on a painting that he could give to them as a wedding present.

                But as he stared at the empty easel, all he could focus on was the wedding march playing over and over in his head.

                “Stop it.” He said aloud, thankful that with Kristine no longer in the house he could talk to himself and not feel crazy for doing it.

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                Velma hadn’t even reached the house yet when she saw her mother emerge with Fred. Hoping that if she just ignored her and didn’t look directly at her she could make it into the house, Velma just went on.  ‘Please don’t let the school have called. PLEASE don’t let the school have called.’ She thought frantically.

                “Velma Dinkly Imaga!” Kiley’s voice rang through the yard, echoing off the house front.

                Slowly Velma turned to face her mother, spotting Daphne sitting on the lawn doing her homework. ‘Seriously. With the nicest desks money can buy abundant in that house and she’s doing her homework out here? No coincidence. Disgusting.’  But the moment was past, and her mother was in a towering rage in front of her.

                “Where on EARTH have you been young lady,” Kiley was so relieved to see her daughter safe she could have cried despite her very visible anger. “The school called-AGAIN. Do you want to be sent to a boarding school?”

                Kiley paused realizing her posture might suggest something else to her daughter. Behind her, Daphne coughed as quietly as she could. Seeing as now was not the time, Kiley lowered her voice and her hands.

                “You’re grounded. No TV. No friends over. You don’t leave the house. Get in the house.” Kiley mentally jotted down to ask Craig about sending her oldest off to a school she couldn’t escape from later. It was a miracle she hadn’t turned up pregnant or in jail, and it was becoming too much to take care of her. She had other children to think of too.

                As her mother turned to shoo Daphne into the house, Velma hung her head in fury. Being grounded now meant no prom for her. And worse, her mother’s eternal threat about boarding school might actually come to fruition now that there was money enough to send her off. It just wasn’t her fault! School was boring and there weren’t any new guys that had held her fancy lately.

                The very worst was that Simsey Shore started a whole new season that night. How could she miss such a crucial episode? Her mother just didn’t understand.

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                Heather had planned on a nice quiet time studying the chess board for the evening. She was used to quiet. Her mother had often been gone and it had been just her in their endless string of dingy beige one bedroom apartments. She had been slightly amused, slightly, when William had turned on the stereo and belted out lyrics of his own creation over the actual song.

                But when Velma had sat heavily in the seat across from her and moved a pawn then stared pointedly at Heather she had been almost as annoyed as she was floored.  Velma and Daphne were the popular girls in school. Velma more so with the boys, but Daphne was adored by almost everyone, teachers included. Neither of them had ever so much as spared a second glance for William or herself.

                In fact, Heather had once gotten into a fight with a boy Velma had been talking to. She had heard them calling William a freak and had just dove in. She gave him a black eye, a bloody lip, and hurt pride. He had tattled, and gotten her suspended.

                “My mom is such a bitch,” Velma started, seeing Heather give in and join the game. “I mean, seriously? Boarding school? Pshaw. What a load.”

                William belted out his lyrics louder, trying to drown out Velma’s whining.

                “We play football in the U-S…AAAAA! Yeeeah-ee-yeah oh yeah-ee-yeah! There’s a football in the U-S…AAAAA!”

                The corner of Heather’s mouth twitched as she recognized what William was trying to do.

                Velma, however, was undeterred. “I mean, everyone skips school once in a while. It’s healthy! And my tan was not, hence why I went to the pool instead.” She paused a moment hoping to see a spark of interest on Heathers face. Not seeing it she went for another tack. “They have a new lifeguard. So hot! He asked for my number, so hopefully I’ll hear from him soon. I wouldn’t mind taking him to the beach!”

                Every teen in Pipersville knew what happened on the beach. There was nothing else to do there, unless you liked fishing, and even the adults avoided fishing there. They knew what happened on the beach.

“The tailbacks runnin' and I'm feelin' like we shoulda kicked.

Too much pressure for my hometeam.

That's when the coach called in my favorite dude and the football game was ooooon.

And the football game was OOOOO-oooon!

And the football game was Ooooo-OOOOO-oooon!

So I put my HANDS up! They’re calling my play! I think it’s gonna be oKAY. I’m screaming out really loud. My team’s gonna make me PrOOOOOOUD.

So I hold my SIGN UP! The camera’s on me! My momma’s gonna see it now!

Yeah-ee-yeah-eeyeah-eeyeah! We play football in the USA!

Yeah-ee-yeah-eeyeah-eeyeah! I love football in the USA!“

            William sang at the top of his voice. He planned on approaching the PR division for his Dad’s team with his lyrics. He thought it might make a fun commercial.

                Heather was making faces at Velma she couldn’t see. William could though.

                Velma plowed on oblivious to the diversions of the other two.

                “He’s got White hair, green streaks and orange tips. So different from the other guys in town.”

                Heather was trying so hard not to laugh at William she looked almost angry. It took a lot of self-control not to launch herself across the chess set and pound some sense into that girl.

                William decided his mocking hand should be the one singing the lyrics so Velma didn’t catch on.

“Feel like jumping up and down. (up and down!)

Got my fan friends all around. (all around!)

Same things grip me every time (every tii-iime!)

The quarterback snaps the ball and I feel alrIIII-iii-iight!”

                “They played this song over at the Brightmore the other night. I had gone with Pierce. Oscar and Daphne were over in a corner so I don’t think she even heard it, but-“

William abruptly stopped his singing and reached over to turn the stereo off. Maybe he’d find another song to manipulate the lyrics to. One that didn’t have disturbing visions of Velma cozied up at a dance club with her latest fling. Velma was still going on with her story, though William and Heather had had quite enough of it.

                “-The song is pretty decent, when you get the lyrics right of course. It was top of the charts forever-“

                William noticed Heathers visible tensing. His dad didn’t know about her reputation as a fighter, and she had been working really hard to control her temper in exchange for food and a roof.

                Heather took a knight off the board in a very exaggerated manner. Velma didn’t even notice the anger in her face.

                Heather was nearing her breaking point and William could tell. He decided that he’d better salvage the situation and save Heather for once. Usually it was Heather who was saving William.

                “I’m sorry,” William interrupted. “I didn’t quite catch that last bit. It sounded like you didn’t get that I was purposely jacking up the lyrics.”

                Velma finally stopped rattling and looked up at William in surprise.

               Heather was doing her best to stay in the background. She had stood up for him enough over the years. It was good to see him finally asserting himself, even if only over something trivial.

                William turned to walk off as Velma continued to sit silently.

                “I didn’t realize you were doing it on purpose,” Velma finally said quietly. “I thought you didn’t know the words. I would have offered to teach them to you.”

                Heather snorted. Thankfully she managed to turn it into a pretty convincing cough.

                Heather waited to see what William would say to that. William was incredibly smart; most people just didn’t know it. They saw him as odd, hyper, different. Someone to keep a thumb on.

                William turned the stereo back on as the girls stood up, their game finished.

               

                Velma stood contemplating the son of her mother’s boyfriend. She wasn’t looking to offend anyone. She’d just never heard anyone do that to a song before. It was a little weird.

                Heather watched him silently, too. She had always taken on the role of protector to him. But he had just shown that he could take care of himself as well. Maybe her time was over. Perhaps she should move on, let him discover how to be himself, and assert who he felt he was.

                Seemingly out of nowhere a bowl of cereal appeared in William’s outstretched hand.

                “The middle eastern tray dance! Show them your skills!” came a voice only William could hear, Lily Pad stood just in front of him.

                Velma merely saw the food and was reminded that she should probably eat. The pool’s concession stand was heavy on the fried stuff, and she had to watch her figure in that bikini.

                Heather was still contemplating William and her future.

                William turned abruptly, causing the contents of the bowl to slosh about threateningly.

                “Let’s dance,” he said to Heather. “I’ve got some new moves and I want to show you how well I’ve progressed in my version of the Middle Eastern Tray Dance. I almost never spill now!

                Heather walked over to him obediently, thinking maybe he did indeed still need her protecting when Velma piped up.

                “Middle Eastern Tray Dance,” she intoned. Her eyes were nearly glazed in her befuddlement. “What is that? And why are you holding a bowl of cereal?”

                Heather could take no more and jumped in; beginning to dance so William would join her.

                “It was a skill in medieval times in the middle east to be able to balance and carry many things at once. Some women would dance while balancing a full tea tray, boiling water and all. It was quite a feat and could be considered a highly desirable skill. William obviously knows it’s dangerous to use boiling water. So he has a bowl of cereal instead. Now he’s dancing and not spilling the cereal.” Heather’s last words dripped with derision. She had been holding back for far too long with this nitwit. If she didn’t back off soon, Heather would end up starting a fight.

                William smiled appreciatively at Heather. He knew what it was costing her to merely put her bite into her words.

                Velma watched the pair for a moment, torn between amusement and disdain for the crazy cereal dance.

                As William dipped low and turned to show he could do it smoothly, Heather told him some joke she’d heard in Physics class that morning.

                Velma merely wished she had a camera to get a pic of these two. She could sell it to the local rag soooooooo easily.

                However, other important matters intervened. She liked being thin, but she liked eating too. And here was William wasting a bowl of cereal for a trick. She was going to go eat.

                “I’ll just leave ya’ll to it,” Velma said.

                Heather wrinkled her nose and gave a grimace that passed as a smile to the vapid Velma.

                “Why did you have to do that in front of her?” Heathers tone was sharp. Not as sharp as when she enlightened Velma, but it had an edge she rarely used when she spoke to William.

                “I didn’t intend to,” William answered. “Lily Pad had the idea and had already handed me the full bowl. I didn’t want to hurt Lily Pad’s feelings. She’s only trying to help.”

                Heather didn’t respond right away. She had heard Lily Pad blamed quite often for William’s social faux pas through the years; not that she believed Lily Pad existed as anything other than a stuffed doll.

                William decided to pursue the matter no longer. Pleased that he hadn’t spilled a bit of the cereal from the bowl he was carrying. It was still a something he found fun, medieval or not.

                Heather heard the clock in the hall chime. There was school tomorrow, and she had a Calculus exam.

                “Alright, Will,” Heather spoke at last.

                “Let’s go on to bed,” she told William gently. “And William?”

                William paused when she used his full name.

                “Please quit pretending like Lily Pad is real. You’re a little old for such play, and it really makes people uncomfortable. Including me.”

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Sunshyne's note to Shakespeare-

So… dancing with the cereal bowl was a glitch. I just loved it too much not to use it. It really fed into his insane personality. The lyrics William sang should fit fairly nicely to Miley Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A. I love twisting lyrics to fit my needs. >:D

Middle Eastern Tray Dancing is real. It’s considered a form of belly dancing now a days. I first found out about it in the most absurd way. *covers eyes and whispers * Americas Next Top Model. I remembered it and used it. I feel so dirty now.