Malka
TeflonPixie@aol.com

Part Three

As she and Rory reached their table, Lane saw that Tristan was already seated behind it in a painful-looking metal chair. Boxes of wrapped assorted candies were layed out in front of him. There were no price tags on anything, of course. Lane wondered if they were going to be accepting credit cards from the parents. Lane snuck a glance at Rory and saw that she was trying carefully to mask her annoyance and disgust at the sight of Tristan.

Tristan was right in the middle of a sale. "Do you take credit cards?" The customer, a carefully-coifed woman in her mid-thirties, asked. Lane bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Afraid not, m'am," Tristan answered, smiling. Obviously he was capable of being charming when he chose to be.

The woman smiled back. "I'll just write you a check, then. Who should I make it out to?"

As the two of them finished up the transaction, Lane and Rory occupied the remaining two chairs at the table and waited, smiling politely.

"Have a pleasant day, Mrs. Johansen!" Tristan called after her, smiling brightly.

Rory rolled her eyes. Tristan immediately turned to Rory. "So, Mary--"

"So Lane, I forget," Rory cut in quickly, focusing all her attention on her best friend. "What was that thing I was supposed to choose before?"

Lane's eyebrows furrowed. "Um...hmm...this morning?"

"Yup," Rory answered, eyes darting ever-so-quickly to Tristan, obviously trying hard to ignore him.

"Oh!" Lane brightened. "Paul or John. Choose."

"The apostles?" Tristan interjected doubtfully.

"The Beatles," Lane corrected in exasperation. "As in, the greatest band of all time? Rory?" She turned back to her friend.

"I think...John." Rory looked thoughtful. She nodded once. "Yeah. Definitely."

After a minute or two of their game, Tristan's eyes began to glaze over. He finally announced that he was taking a break and headed over to a friend's table. Rory smiled contently.

A couple approached the girls' table. The woman smiled coolly at them. "Do you have anything free of fat and sugar?"

"I have half a carrot in my backpack," Rory offered.

The woman looked at her somewhat strangely. Just as Rory was about to list their chocolate selection, Tristan returned.

"Mom, Dad," he said, sounding completely surprised. He smiled somewhat uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"

Rory and Lane exchanged a quick look.

"We came by to check out the sale," his father sniffed. "Naturally." He peered down at Rory and Lane. "Your little friends are certainly....charming." He smiled tightly.

Tristan glanced at Rory, which she pretended not to notice. "Well, can I...sell you something then?"

"Actually, we really must be going anyway," Mrs. Du Gray shook her head. "There's really not much of a selection this year. We'll just make out a check later for the poor chimps."

"Chihuahuas," Lane corrected.

"Chimps," Rory said quickly.

"All right, then," Tristan said stiffly to his parents. "See you...at home, I--guess."

Rory wondered at the hesitation in his voice. The Du Grays walked off, and Tristan turned to Rory. "What did you say to them?" he demanded.

"I-I offered them a carrot?" Rory said cautiously. She wondered at the barely-concealed anger in Tristan's voice. "What?"

He stared hard at her, as if actually trying to debate if she were telling the truth. Then the cold look dissappeared and he delivered his trademark smirk once again, control regained. "You know, the idea here is to actually sell the candy, not scare the customers away. Unless, of course, you had something else in mind." He leaned toward Rory suggestively. "I know this little place behind the school--"

"As I seem to recall, you were the ones who chased your parents away, not us," Rory interrupted.

Tristin froze for just a second, then gave her a very strange smile. "Have fun, Mary." He nodded at Lane. "Mary's friend." He started to walk away.

"Wait--where are you going?" she demanded. Despite her dislike of him--no, because of it, she wasn't going to let him get out of working like everyone else had to. "You have to help us. It's mandatory."

"Not for me," he answered lightly. As he passed the edge of their table, he "accidentally" brushed it too hard. Rory and Lane watched in horror as the entire table tipped forward, spilling carefully-packaged candy everywhere. "Wow," Tristan observed. "That's gonna be a bitch to clean up." With that, he sauntered away.

Thoughts? Comments? Hate mail? :)

~malka