The sky was clear and the moon illuminated the reservoir like a giant spotlight. Sam Patton had his arm around Viola Specks. He pulled her closer, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Rey, Christy, Annette, and Mike looked at one another and smiled delighted. Annette raised her drink, and said, “I want to give a toast to the best setter in the ninth grade. We won. We rock.” The Pemota volleyball team was 10-3 since Viola had rejoined.
Viola was drinking soda, as she thought alcohol was disgusting, and Rey had his new favorite drink: iced tea. Rey no longer drank Looza Avocado. When Jocelyn heard how things had ended at Pemota High, she sent Rey a bottle of iced tea with a note that said, “Thank you. From me and Spring.”
“You know what, guys?” Sam said. “It’s a pretty cool thing that happened here. And I think we’re all gonna look back on ninth grade with good memories.”
Rey nodded. “Hell yeah.”
“Huxley sat alone at lunch yesterday,” Viola said.
“Joe doesn’t even talk to him anymore,” Christy said.
“Alexa’s legacy will be that she had a heart attack at her daughter’s grave. How’s that for poetic justice,” Annette said. “You won’t believe what happened with my parents. They were buying like chandeliers and stuff. So finally they told me my great aunt had won the Florida lottery and given them a million dollars in her will.” Annette rolled her eyes. “So I said, ‘Was her name, Alexa Bartlett?”
The five of them laughed.
“And we got in a big fight. And then I made them explain it to me. And they said, that two police officers came and talked to them when I was in fifth grade.”
“That’s what my Mom said too,” Rey said.
“Yeah, but your Mom was honest about it. My parents wouldn’t admit that they knew a woman named Alexa Bartlett. I was like it’s been four years since fifth grade, weren’t you worried about me? It’s not like they need the money that badly. They said they thought what Alexa was doing was something important. Something good.”
“It sure wasn’t,” Mike said.
“So I said that I know what I need to be happy. We’re still feuding.”
“My Mom still refuses to sell the Star Sapphire,” Rey said. “She thinks with all that money I won’t have the drive to do anything with my life. I decided not to tell her about the lottery.”
“What lottery?” Sam Patton asked.
“You didn’t hear what we’re going to do?” Christy asked.
Sam shook his head.
Christy explained. The idea that Brianna came up with is for each student to keep an avocado on their window sill and when it festers, take the core out, and then replace the avocado. Then they were going to carve numbers into the avocado cores. So it’ll be like the Powerball, Christy said. Students would choose the numbers however they wanted. And whoever won would get a share of Alexa’s money.
Rey reached into his backpack and pulled out Spring’s Gold
Avocado. “Mr. Chandon said I should give it to you, Viola.”
Mr. Chandon and Miss Calida got married a few weeks ago. Mr. Chandon gave a toast and said that he and Miss Calida had learned about respecting each other’s differences the hard way. He’d sat with Rey at lunch yesterday, and said he thought Viola should get the Gold Avocado, as she had had the most difficult year.
“Speech. Speech,” Annette said, as Rey handed it to her.
Viola chuckled. “Yeah, right.”
“Seriously,” Rey said.
“Yeah,” Christy said.
Annette said, “Tell us about you.”
Viola took a breath and sighed. “This year wasn’t easy for me so far and my father didn’t get money from Alexa.” She paused. “When I was in the house with the turret getting tattooed by Huxley, I kept thinking that all I wanted was to get along with my father. I didn’t care about the tattoo. I didn’t think a boy would ever like me. Now that me and Sam are going out, my father is treating me different. And we’re seeing a therapist together.” She stared at the Gold Avocado. “I hate high school. But after what Spring did I started thinking about things. I got back on the volleyball team. And I’m trying to get good grades so I can go to a good college. When I was little, a group of girls tried to fight me on the playground. My father said he wanted to know who they were and then he spoke to my teacher about it. I felt like he really cared about me. And that was all that mattered to me. So this year, when it seemed like he didn’t, I really didn’t care what happened to me. Now I care again. And caring is something that I want to spend my life doing. Caring about myself. Even if people around me don’t.”
The four of them gave a light applause. It had been an eventful couple months. Everyone in the ninth grade, except those in Ms. Parker’s C period class, was told the conspiracy had been a hoax and that Alexa Bartlett was a nut. Most knew it was being covered up, but chatter about it gradually died down. Ten of the police officers on the force resigned, and the administration at Pemota High was told they could finish the year and then resign too.
Alexa was laid to rest in the home with the turret, the final image of Spring’s journey having come to fruition. The lemon trees were left cut down and lying on the grass as a reminder of Alexa’s failed ideology. They had a closed casket funeral at Father Muncie’s Roman Catholic Church which brought with it numerous politicians -- all told Alexa had died of a heart attack. Marv Core was a pro at shepherding a cover up.
Fynn went through a time when he didn’t speak much to anyone, but after his third quarter report card was a drastic improvement, he seemed to climb out of his funk. James Owen’s was “dj-ing” on the weekends at a club called Sky Bar and still hung out with Huron Anderson. Huron came up to Rey in the hallway one day and said, “You changed things, man. It’s cool.”
Some wondered if students who became Alexa’s archetypes would be psychic, as Annette, Brianna, and Inez had been. When Blair Carlyle made Dean’s list she told people she wasn’t seeing things and whatever had happened at Pemota High with Spring and Alexa was over. Many believed Spring was still watching over them from some place better though. One night, Christy and Brianna did the Ouija Board hoping to contact Spring, but the indicator didn’t move.
Brianna quit her job at Lots for Littles and got a job going door to door for Environmental Friends. She told Christy that it was a welcome change and felt good to help other people. She brought her boyfriend, Ron, home several weekends, and they told George and Radelle they were in love and might get married. One weekend, the Lane family went to see Ryan O’toole’s movie at the Pemota Film Festival. Ryan won second place, and much of the ninth grade had seen his movie.
Rey raised his drink. “Here’s to Spring Stone.”
“May she rest in peace,” Annette added.
Viola raised her Coke. “To tenth grade being even cooler.”
They all nodded. Rey took a sip of iced tea. Everyone sat in silence for a few moments. Rey thought of the Ponderosa Pines all around them, each possessing a new annual ring, each tree different than the others, like human spirits, soaring with hope – a miniature revolution inside each and every one.
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