Guitar Solo of the Gods Chapter 18

    The next period was my science class. Mr. Bean took our whole class outside to sit beneath a large, shady tree white he pointed out invisible constellations to us.
    “If you were to sit in this same location in the middle of the night, the constellation Aquilla would be visible just above that treetop over there. Can anybody tell me what this constellation is named after?”
    “Somebody named Aquilla?”
    “Aquilla the Gorilla?”
    “Aquilla the Hun?”
    Mr. Bean frowned upon the joke answers. “This isn’t Hollywood Squares,” he reminded us. “Who knows the answer?”
    Judging by the looks my classmates were giving each other, I doubted whether anyone would have admitted it if they did. They’d rather let Mr. Bean do all the talking. After all, he gets paid to do this sort of thing. We don’t.
    “Anyone who gives me the right answer can leave early,” offered Mr. Bean. “Any takers?”
    Aside from making mental notes to study up on astronomy, nobody stirred. Even I didn’t know, and I’m a space cadet.
    Mr. Bean held up a diagram of what it looked like. It had seven stars that were connected in the shape of a stick-figure man, minus the left leg and head. I tried to think, what figure in Greek mythology had his left leg and head cut off?
    Just then a folded piece of paper landed on the grass next to me. It was too small for anyone else to notice it, and when I looked up into the tree to see where it came from, I saw Casey Winslow, A. J. Stewart, and Doobie Brother hanging in the brances! They held a finger up to their lips to keep me quiet, so I unfolded the paper and read it.

AQUILLA WAS THE EAGLE OF ZEUS.
C.W.

    I looked up at Mr. Bean with a wicked grin on my face, then raised my hand. “Crystal? Do you know it?”
    “The eagle of Zeus?”
    “Correct! Aquilla was indeed the eagle of Zeus. Well, I guess you’re the only one who gets to leave class early, Crystal.”
    I stood up and brushed myself off. The other kids were green with envy. At least, I thought it was envy. They may have been green to begin with. I picked up my science book, took the hallway pass Mr. Bean handed me, and went back into the building.
    The halls were deserted, so I spent about five minutes just wandering around with nothing to do. Like any school, there are certain rules against this kind of behavior, but since I had a hallway pass I was in the clear.
    Casey, A. J., and Doobie Brother came inside a few minutes later. I took it to mean Mr. Bean had discovered them hanging in the tree. They were laughing hilariously about whatever transpired out there. I almost wished I had stuck around to see it.
    “There you are,” I heard a voice say. It was Jeremy Christopher. “I’ve been looking all over for you guys.”
    The four of them started talking about something called Operation Day-Glo in mysterious, conspiratorial tones. I couldn’t risk getting caught eavesdropping again, so I kept my distance. The only clue I did hear was “lunch time.”
    I leaned over a water faucet when the four of them walked by, hoping they wouldn’t notice me. Fortunately, none of them did. I was just about to walk away when I heard a booming adult voice and the pitter patter of untied basketball sneakers running down the corridor. A teacher had busted them!
    “Get back here this instant!” yelled the teacher. “Winslow!” It was too late; they had already ducked around a corner. I decided that it would be a good idea to find somewhere other than the hallway to be, so I slipped into the computer lab.
    There were mostly juniors and sophomores there that period, but anybody with free time could stop in and get extra credit. I took a seat near the back, right behind good ol’ Jessica Cartwright and two of her friends. They were working and didn’t notice me.
    Allan Matthews was sitting across the room and waved when he saw me. There was an empty terminal right next to him, but I was too shy to get up in front of the class to sit there. I turned my computer on and waited for the MS-DOS prompt screen.
    Jeremy Christopher strolled in a few minutes later and sat down next to Allan. They started talking about something exciting. Operation Day-Glo, perhaps? I had a strange feeling it had something to do with Gina Kenickie. Both of them were laughing their heads off.
    In front of me, Lisa Ryker was having trouble with her computer. Holly Wyler and Jessica did their best to help.

LISA:	One more syntax error and I'm throwing this sucker out the window!
JESSICA:	Take your time with it. It'll come to you.
LISA:	I'm getting sick of this. It's boring me to tears.
JESSICA:	I kinda like it. Computers are fun.
LISA:	Fun! Yeah, right.
JESSICA:	I said I'll help you. Where are you having problems?
LISA:	Seeing how I'm ever going to need this when I get out of school. I'm going to be a dolphin trainer. I don't need to know anything about computers.
JESSICA:	Well, maybe you could train a dolphin to use a computer. Did you ever think of that?
LISA:	Train a dolphin to use a computer? To do what? Figure out its income tax? Tabulate the amount of fish it eats?
JESSICA:	Train him to communicate. They do have bigger brains than we do.
LISA:	Better yet, let the dolphin teach me to use computers!
HOLLY:	Knock it off, you two! I can't hear those guys talk.
JESSICA:	Who wants to?
LISA:	You do! They're probably talking about you!
HOLLY:	Squee-gee!
JESSICA:	Shut up! They'll hear you!
HOLLY:	Squee-gee!
JESSICA:	Shut up!
LISA:	So what did he say to you in chemistry class today? It looked pretty serious.
JESSICA:	Nothing. He was just asking me for my electrolyte tables.
LISA:	How romantic!
HOLLY:	Squee-gee! Squee-gee!
JESSICA:	Shut up, you idiot!
LISA:	Don't you like him? He is tall. Kinda cute, too.
JESSICA:	What does height have to do with anything?
HOLLY:	I hear he wears camouflaged underwear. A real macho man!
JESSICA:	I only like him as a friend.
LISA:	What about Jeremy? You liked him before, didn't you?
JESSICA:	Maybe in junior high, I did. Shut up!
LISA:	Ooh! I must've hit a nerve that time.
HOLLY:	Nasty, nasty.
JESSICA:	Knock it off, you guys. I get enough of this from Sylvia.
LISA:	She wasn't here three years ago. She probably doesn't know about your little "romance." Didn't you tell her?
JESSICA:	It's not something I like to brag about. Shut up about it already, will you?
LISA:	Sorry!
HOLLY:	I'm glad Katz didn't come today. We hardly ever get a chance to hear you talk, Jess.
LISA:	That's for sure. You shouldn't let her intimidate you like that. Stand up to her!
HOLLY:	Tell her off!
LISA:	She only pushes you around because you still hang out with Sylvia. Kick her ass, Jessica! You can do it!
JESSICA:	Will you two shut up? I'm trying to work!
LISA:	Aw, come on, Jess. We're only teasing you. Lighten up!
JESSICA:	Did it ever occur to you that I might like not talking
HOLLY:	Huh?
JESSICA:	I like it when Katz ignores me. It means I don't have to talk to her. That's fine by me.
HOLLY:	But you hardly ever talk to us, either! You're our friend, Jessica. We want to know how you feel about things.
LISA:	Yeah, we care about you, Jessie. Don't keep things bottled up inside all the time.
JESSICA:	You care about me? Then prove it! Stop talking about this! I hate talk like this!
LISA:	Take it easy!
HOLLY:	Cool your jets! People are looking!
JESSICA:	Just leave me alone, will you? That's all I want. Just leave me alone!
HOLLY:	Okay, okay.
LISA:	Have it your way.
HOLLY:	Geez!

    None of them said a word after that. Jessica went back to work on her computer and began making mistakes left and right. Finally, she got up and stormed out of the room without saying a word.     Everybody watched her go, especially when she knocked a pile of books off Simon Chadwick’s desk on her way out. A flash of red crossed his chubby face.
    Jeremy and Allan made faces at me for the rest of the period, then met me in the hallway when it was over.
    “Jeremy, this is Crystal.”
    “We’ve met. How’s my favorite spy?”
    “Pardon?”
    “Jeremy here has arranged for a solution to your bully problem. He calls it Operation Day-Glo.”
    “What’s that?”
    Jeremy smiled. “Let’s just say that by the time this day is over, you’re going to see so much splattered color you’ll think Cyndi Lauper stepped on a land mine.”
    “Huh?”
    “You’ll see. Be in the lobby near the cafeteria at lunch time. That’s all I can tell you.”
    “Okay,” I said. Jeremy and Allan took off down the hall. I noticed Jessica was standing at her lock nearby, so I went over to say “Hi.”
    “Hi, Crystal.”
    “Want me to save you a seat at lunch today?”
    “Sure.” A tired smile forced its way to her face. “I’d like that.”
    “Okay then. I’ll see you in the cafeteria.”
    “See ya.”
    “Bye.”
    Jessica put her books in her locker and closed it shut, then hurried off down the hallway. There was something very odd about that girl. Then again, there was something very odd about everybody in this whole school.

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