He twisted his head almost completely around, noting that the three rear rows of the room were now in semidarkness as a result of Strickland’s action. As he watched, the next three rows fell beneath the dark cloud.
But now there was definitely a wisp of smoke slinking downward from the matchbook.
“Come on, come on,” Marty whispered. “Burn, you sucker, burn.”
A couple boys near him had already discovered what was going on. They watched in awe and amusement as the smoke grew more violent, a half circle of red crawling up the edge of the matchbook cover toward the double row of matches.
With a snap, Strickland released the next-to-last set of blinds.
“Poof!”
Just as the last strip of bright sunlight disappeared from the classroom, a mini-explosion of flame from the matchbook started a chain reaction. Smoke curling around the ceiling detector immediately triggered the sirens and sprinkler system. Panic, or something very close to it, followed.
“Fire!” somebody yelled. “Let’s get outa here!”
“Stop! Wait!” Mr. Strickland’s voice shouted above the din. “We must file out in an orderly fashion!”
He raced toward the front of the classroom as fast as he could, arms raised above his head. But heavier shoulders and faster, more muscular bodies rushed past, sending him spinning sideways against the wall.
“Wait!” he shouted again, just as a sprinkler valve went into action directly above his head, dousing him with cold water. The rest of his words were indistinguishable.
Marty, more prepared for the confusion than anyone else, was halfway down the hall by that time. As soon as the alarm sounded and the rain began to fall, he leaped to his feet and grabbed the skateboard belonging to Weeze.
“Let me bo
rrow this,” he shouted back over his shoulder at the bewildered student. “I’ll bring it back tomorrow.” Less than a minute later, he was skateboarding down the front steps of the high school, gliding in a wide arc onto the main drag of wide sidewalk bounding Town Square. Glancing nervously to his right, he passed the Hill Valley Bank’s time and temperature board just as it changed from 3:57 to 3:58. A man making a transaction at the Versateller leaped to avoid the oncoming figure, tripping himself and falling backwards in the process. Then it was Marty’s turn to gasp, a car bearing down on him so rapidly he had to pirouette like a ballerina to maintain his balance. For a half block after that, he raced out of control, his arms flailing and body tipping to 45-degree angles until he slowly managed to right himself.
Just ahead, the YMCA building beckoned. Leaning forward to gain even more speed, Marty pivoted at the steps, grabbed the skateboard and ran into the building.
His group, known as the Pinheads, was already set up. Nearby, Jennifer also waited, nervously checking her watch. As he raced onto the stage, she let out a noisy sigh of relief and Marty winked at her.
A fat man, also glancing meaningfully at his watch, stared intently at Marty.
“Are you ready?” he asked coldly.
Marty nodded. His guitar, amp and microphone were already set up for him. Sitting quickly, Marty took a deep breath and tuned up in the shortest amount of time possible. Then, grasping the microphone, he looked toward the dance committee and spoke with a voice that rang with confidence. “All right,” he said. “We’re the Pinheads, and we’re gonna rock ‘n’ roll!”
The band kicked into a hot number, Marty’s fingers dancing across the strings and frets in a complicated lead line. Keyboard, bass and drums followed, embellished his thematic figures, hit the rhythm harder, preparing for the transition into Marty’s first variation.
“Fine,” a metallic voice called out. “That’s enough. Thank you.”
Marty could hardly believe his ears. In fact, he continued to play even as the rest of the Pinhead sound dribbled off into confused silence.
“Thank you,” the fat man repeated. “May we hear the next group, please?”
Marty came down off the stage in a daze. Had he gone through an afternoon of hell for this?
“What happened?” he asked Jennifer.
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “You sounded great. Maybe they’re looking for something else. Something more like Lawrence Welk.”
Ten minutes later, as they walked home, he was still in a state of shock. Jennifer put her hand on his ann. “Marty,” she said comfortingly. “One rejection isn’t the end of the world. You’re good and you’ll succeed one day.”
“I don’t know,” he murmured. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for music.”
“Sure you are,” she persisted. “You’re really good and so are the rest of the guys. The audition tape you made is really great.”
She handed him the cassette he had lent her a few days before. “Promise me you’ll send it to the record company before you decide to quit.”