Randall made his way over to where Rusty, Gemini, and Ariel were sitting. He handed them each a glass of tart cranberry juice.

"I must say, it's getting hotter by the minute. I wouldn't hold back to say that it's getting closet to 100º out here," Randall commented, waving a fan he'd bought during a cross-continent trip of Asia.

"I know, man. I'm just glad that the ceremony is over and the carnival can begin!" Rusty shouted.

"Yeah! The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the Miss Midway Contest," Gemini said, casting an evil glance over at Amber across the room.

"Oh, come on, Gemini! There's that chance that you could be voted Miss Midway," Rusty said confidently. He wasn't about to let Amber win before the contest had even started.

"I really don't see how, Rusty," Ariel put in pessimisticly. She didn't want Gemini to have the spotlight right then. "Amber has won for years. I don't think the track record is going to break now."

"Thanks for your support!" Gemini replied sarcastically, taking a sip of the juice and laying back lazily in her seat.

"Well, I must go now," Randall said, getting up from his chair. "There are so many things I have to take care of. I'll see you guys later on at the carnival, right?"

"Of course!" Rusty answered, smiling at Gemini.

Randall walked outside. He had to shade his eyes, for the large, pulsing sun was bright and glowing. Several pink clouds danced around the sun like the halo around an angel. Birds were settling down into their nests in the trees in the front courtyard of the school. The green grass by the sidewalk on which he was standing was short-cropped and excruciatingly perfect. The evening was a beautiful one.

Randall smiled as he strolled down the sidewalk. He stopped when he got to Jax's, a favorite teen hangout. He walked inside and sat down on a stool at the bar. It wasn't a real bar, though, for most of the people who came through were under 21. Randall quietly ordered a club soda. He didn't want anything heavy, for he had a lot on his mind.

As soon as his drink was ready, he began sipping slowly at it. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed. "Watch out, Midway Prep. This summer carnival is going to be one you'll never forget."

Carrie smirked at the unconscious and very injured Jessica. She'd been wanting to do that for weeks, for months even. Jessica had been the center of attention for quite some time now, and Carrie hated to be taken out of the spotlight.

Melanie, another one of the cheerleaders who had been teasing Jessica, ran over to the site. "What did you do, Carrie?!" she screamed, her eyes looking at Carrie horrificly.

"Do? Why, whatever do you mean, Melanie?" Carrie answered sweetly, smiling.

Melanie looked Carrie straight in the eye. "Don't play dumb, Carrie. I know you have something to do with this. I'm going to tell Coach Riley." Melanie turned around to run.

Carrie quickly grabbed Melanie's arm. "You are going to do no such thing, Melanie Harris. Listen to me, Jessica is just fine. She just may have gotten the wind knocked out of her."

"And you say you have nothing to do with this!" Melanie exclaimed, running to find Coach Riley.

Carrie looked anxiously at Jessica. "If Coach Riley finds out that I caused this, I'll never be head cheerleader. No, I can't let that happen!"

Melanie soon came back with Coach Riley. Coach took one look at Jessica and her eyes flew open. "Oh my God! What happened here?"

"I-I don't know, Coach Riley. I found her like this," Carrie said with mock concern. "Is she dead?"

Coach Riley felt for a pulse. "No, she's not dead, but she's unconscious, and that's bad enough. Melanie, go call 9-1-1. Carrie, you stay here with me and help me revive her."

Coach Riley caught a glimpse of the rock lying on the ground. "What is that doing there?" she wondered. "That wasn't here before."

Coach Riley went and picked up the rock. She turned around and looked straight at Carrie. "Do you know why this rock is here, Carrie?"

Carrie went pale with fright.

Ariel broke off from Rusty & Gemini and walked outside to plot her next move. She, too, squinted in the bright setting sun. She headed down to the Lakeshore Park to walk and think.

"How can I break those two up? As soon as I think I'm beginning to get Rusty to come to me, Miss Gemini shows up and ruins everything. That girl pops up everywhere. She's supposed to be in France, but decided not to go. She was supposed to visit relatives in Los Angeles, but decided not to go. But it's not Gemini's decision to ruin my life!" she cried bitterly.

Ariel went on talking to herself for a long time, when suddenly she looked up. She wasn't in Lakeshore Park anymore. It looked as if she were in the dark, expansive woods that separated the park and the lake. The mysterious woods frightened Ariel.

She wandered through the woods, trying to find a way out, but it was beginning to get dark, and the woods were becoming darker than ever. "God, please help me. I don't want to be here. If only I could..." Suddenly an owl's scream interrupted her hectic thoughts. Ariel almost screamed.

Ariel saw a clearing in the woods ahead. She ran with all her might to get there. She found herself on a part of the lake she had never seen before.

Ariel wandered around for a while before spying a small, rotting cabin nearby. The logs had never been painted, and it looked imposing and evil. Ariel never would've supposed that someone lived there, until she saw a small sliver of smoke coming out of the top.

"Oh! Maybe I can ask for help to get out of here. The people can't be half as horrible as that house or these woods," she said softly, walking towards the cabin.

Ariel walked up onto the doorstep, and raised her hand to knock. Before she even began rapping, a voice, strangely unmuffled from the door, called out clearly and lowly.

"Come in, Ariel."

Ariel was frozen with shock and fright.

Randall finished off his club soda. Jax, the 21-year-old owner, noticed that Randall was deep in thought. He walked over and sat down next to Randall.

"Randall. Randall! RANDALL!" Jax shouted before finally getting through.

Randall's head snapped towards Jax's. "Oh, Jax. I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"Not yet. Is there something on your mind? Something you wanna talk about?"

Randall shook his head as his gaze drifted off into the window behind Jax. He was plotting his moves against the students of Midway Prep.

Jax wasn't convinced. "Look, dude. I know something is up. It helps if you talk about it."

Randall looked back at Jax. "Jax, it's OK. I'm fine! I'm just trying to remember if I brought everything home," he lied.

Jax looked at Randall a long time before replying. "OK, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I won't push. But you know I'm here to talk to if you ever do need anyone to talk to. Until then," he finished, "you need to get up out of that stool because you're taking up space just sitting there and not ordering."

Randall laughed and said goodbye. He walked out and down the sidewalk, this time heading back Midway Prep. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. "Why didn't I think of this before?! I said before the Miss Midway Contest would be a perfect place to execute my plans, but I totally forgot! Everyone's going to be grouped together, which means that it'll be easier to get the info on the people I need. This is perfect!" he said gaily, running now and throwing his hands in the air.

He stopped when he came near the school, and an evil smile appeared on his face. "After this, no one will be able to stop me from getting what I want!"

The ambulance finally arrived to pick up Jessica, so Coach Riley didn't have time to hear Carrie's answer. Suddenly, two girls, one with long brown hair and clear blue eyes, and the other with pony-tailed light brown hair and brown eyes, showed up.

"Meredith!" Carrie shouted at the girl with the long brown hair. "Kate!" she exclaimed at the girl with the brown eyes. "What are you two doing here?"

Meredith smiled smugly at Carrie. "Didn't expect us back so soon? Well, we said our trip wasn't that long. Now we're back, and to find this!"

"What happened?" Kate broke in, looking very concerned at the ambulance that had picked up Jessica.

Before Carrie could answer, Melanie began. "We found Jessica unconscious over here. I don't know how it happened, but Coach Riley told me it probably had something to do with a rock. Oh, I feel so rotten!"

"Why?" Kate inquired.

Melanie decided to make a clean breast of it. "This morning, Carrie began teasing Jessica. We thought it was just a joke, so Chantal and I began doing it too. I never should have. It was wrong and I see that now."

"Oh please, Melanie. You know that Jessica deserved it just as much as I do," Carrie interrupted disgustedly.

"Carrie, shut up! I wouldn't be surprised if you were responsible for this," Meredith snapped, grabbing Kate's hand, who grabbed Melanie's hand, and ran towards her mom's car.

"What's wrong, girls?" Meredith's mom asked.

Meredith bit her lip. "Mom, Jessica was seriously injured. We have to get to the hospital to see if she's going to be OK."

Meredith's mom needed to hear no more. She put the pedal to the metal.

"Wh...What if Jessica doesn't make it?" Melanie wondered very softly, almost so that it was inaudible.

The girls looked at each other, worry marked over all of their faces. They knew that it was a very real possiblity.

Ariel was speechless for a moment. This was very unexpected.

"Why the shocked look, Ariel? Please come in. I've been expecting you," the voice from inside coaxed.

Ariel quickly recovered her powers of speech. "No, that's OK. I must have gotten lost. Thanks anyways. Bye!" she said, wanting to run away, but couldn't.

"Come in, Ariel," the voice said again.

Ariel found herself slipping into what seemed like a dream. She opened the door and was amazed at what she saw. The voice that had seemed so young and rich and full belonged to a short, gray-haired, plump woman with beady and piercing black eyes and spindly hands.

"Wh...Who are you?" Ariel asked quietly, her eyes drinking in the sights of the house: the dark brown cat in the corner looking at her with suspicious golden eyes, the old stove eminating with strange smells, and the small bed that stood out from the rest because it was so neat and tidy.

"Just call me Enya. I'm here to help you," Enya said.

"How? I don't believe anyone can help me now."

"Ah, ye of little hope. Don't worry, Ariel. I can help you. I can help you get the red-haired boy."

Ariel was amazed. She lost her shyness. "How did you know about Rusty? How did you know about my feelings for him?"

"I have my ways. Sit down, child, and I'll tell you how you can get the Rusty boy," Enya said, gesturing at an old chair next to hers.

Ariel sat down while Enya went to a black cupboard that hung on a nail in a corner of the one-room house. She pulled out a black bag with a drawstring at the top. She sat down and handed the bag to Ariel.

"Take this, child," she said, smiling, revealing a perfect set of pearly white teeth. Somehow, though, something seemed oddly strange about those teeth to Ariel.

"What do I do with it?" Ariel inquired, opening the bag to look in. Inside of the bag, there was a beautiful ring with a shimmering ruby set in it, there was a beautiful golden necklace with a crimson pendant on the end of it, and there were three red stones that almost seemed to glow to Ariel. Ariel thought it strange that all of the objects had red in them.

"Why don't you give that ring to the Rusty boy. I'm sure that he will enjoy it. It may...change the way he feels about you," Enya replied mysteriously.

Ariel felt hope. "I believe I will do that. Thank you so much, Enya. I've got to go now and get to work to win Rusty over. Thank you!" she called, running out of the door.

Enya laughed. "Oh, child. That was only the beginning..."