I text Mandy, “where r u?” No reply. If she doesn’t show up in the next ten minutes, I’ve got to find a ride home or I’m grounded. I start looking for a familiar face to ask when I see Alex’s car pull back into the lot. I see Alex walk around and open the door for Mandy to let her out. She waves to him and runs over to me.
Her eyes are shining, “He asked me out!”
“And you said—no?” I tease.
“No, we’re going out later this week,” She says.
I grab her hand and drag her to the parking lot. “You can tell me all about it on the ride home. We have to leave now to make it home by curfew. I don’t want to start a new school year grounded.”
“He’s so nice! He really listened to me,” Mandy explains, “When he looks at me, I feel like he’s looking into my soul. He’s going to take me out for dinner and a movie! He wants me to try-out for the cheering squad too. Alex said he would come take me to the tryouts. If I make the team, we could hang out together after practice. Aren’t Susie and the other girls nice? Megan, we could try-out together!”
“No thanks, with my allergies I’d just be miserable, but I would come and watch you at the games. Besides, the practices would interfere with my writing for the school TV show.”
“I told you we’re going to have our best year ever!” Mandy looks at me with excitement sparkling in her eyes.
Mandy had no idea how wrong she was.
***
The next day, Seth’s mom calls to speak to my parents and invite Carrie and me on the trip to Busch Gardens. My mom gives her Carrie’s number.
It looks like the trip with Seth is on. I’m so psyched. Seth and I text each other, excited about our last chance to see each other before school starts. They’re going to pick Carrie and me up at my house by eight-thirty in the morning. We’ll get to the park right after it opens.
I head over to Mandy’s to help her decide what she should wear for her date with Alex.
***
Mandy picks out a casual cotton summer dress with neon pink piping along the hem, neckline, and arms, and subtle light pink stripes running throughout the dress. With her new figure, it’s form-fitting but high enough that no cleavage is showing. Modest, yet sexy. It’s perfect.
She picks out some white platform sandals. The white shows off her tan and the pink accentuates the highlights in her hair. We decide on a mineral powder foundation and light pink lip-gloss. Mandy is going to wear her shoulder length hair down and bring a hair tie just in case it’s breezy. I’m so happy for her. She looks beautiful.
“If Alex doesn’t fall in love with you, he’s a fool,” I say. “Where are you going to dinner?”
“I think Frenchy’s on the beach.”
“I always feel like I’m on vacation when I go there,” Frenchy’s is a real popular seafood café on the beach. They have the best grouper sandwiches. I love their homemade key lime pie too.
“Alex says we’re leaving early enough so we can eat and then walk along the beach. We’ll hit a late movie after that.”
“Sounds perfect for a first date,” I say. I want to give her a warning about Alex’s reputation, but I hold back. Mandy knows right from wrong. Besides, I would be upset if she were warning me about Seth. I know when to say no. The difference is Seth would never pressure me into having sex. He was raised, like me, to wait until marriage. The way Seth makes me feel I know it would be wonderful to just give in and go with our feelings. The temptation to go all the way is there. Sometimes I get dizzy just from hugging and smelling him.
I hope Alex is interested enough in Mandy to respect her. Mandy and I break out the nail polish and we give ourselves manicures.
We hear the front door unlock and then slam shut. Farrah must be home from work. She’s a nurse at a local plastic surgery center. Working there she can get discounts on her botox, facial peels, and occasional nips and tucks. She loves her job. “Hey girls, clean up your mess okay? And run a vacuum, would ya? Mandy, honey, I picked you up some yogurts, fruit, and Healthy Choice dinners. I have to jump in the shower and get ready for my date. He’s taking me to that wine tasting thing in Tampa. You can reach me on my cell,” she says then laughs, “Don’t wait up.”
“I better get going,” I say. “my mom wants me to be home for dinner, wanna come?”
“No. Alex might call. I’m going to wait at home.” Mandy drives me home. We say good-bye.
***
The next day, Mandy and I don’t have time to get together. Her Mom has off so they go to the salon together to get their tans touched up. My mom makes me baby-sit Max so she can run some errands without him.
I end up reading a book and texting Seth about what rides we want to hit when we get to the park tomorrow. Max manages to get peanut butter everywhere when I let him make his own sandwich for lunch. I spend about an hour wiping it off the floors, the fridge, the counters, the TV remote, and the couch. It’s even all over his clothes. He must have wiped his hands on his shirt and his shorts. Young boys are so disgusting. Carrie calls and we talk about what to wear for tomorrow. The day ends up flying by quickly.
That night I think about Mandy on her date. I hope she’s having fun. It turns out the weather is beautiful for tonight and will be nice for tomorrow too.
***
I wake up in the morning right before the alarm goes off. In about a half an hour I get to see Seth. I go in the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. I know my mom and dad are going to want a cup as soon as they get up.
Dad’s an early bird but Mom’s not. They both want to meet Seth’s parents before we head off. I take a quick shower and get dressed fast. As I’m putting on my sneaks, I hear the doorbell ring. My dad goes to the door and answers it. It’s Carrie.
“Hey care bear,” I say.
“Please don’t call me that,” She groans. Her cabin kids at camp gave Carrie that nickname.
“Okay, I thought you liked it,” I say.
“Only at camp and only from ten-year-olds, then it’s cute,” Carrie answers.
“Okay. I’m sure Robby will think up something to call you by the end of today,” I joke.
“What’s Seth’s nickname for you?” Carrie asks with a smile on her face.
“The love of his life or Megs, depending on his mood,” I joke.
The doorbell rings again. We hear Robby yelling, “Special delivery for Megan Laughlin, special delivery for Megan Laughlin. One over-sized package with postage due.” My dad walks in the room sipping coffee from a mug. He looks at me and says, “That’s not Seth is it?”
“No.” I laugh, “That’s his goof-ball friend Robby.”
Carrie opens the door. As Robby comes in, he picks up Carrie and twirls her around, “Hey Superwoman.”
Seth comes in, “Cut it out. Put her down,” He says to Robby.
Seth walks up to my dad and introduces himself, “Mr. Laughlin I’m Seth Wilson.” His parents enter as he reaches out to shake my Dad’s hand. “This is my mom, Dorothy; my dad, Walter; and my little brother, Sammy.”
My dad does a comic aside to me saying, “I’m relieved. For a minute I thought Robby was Seth.” Everybody laughs.
Robby says, “Hey, what’s so funny about that?”
My mom comes in the room carrying a sleepy Max. After a minute of small talk we’re on our way.
***
Our goal today is to ride each roller coaster at least once and our favorites twice. Robby wants us to go on the flume ride so we can all get wet. We do rock-paper-scissors to find out whose ride we go on first. Of course, Robby wins. After handing Mrs. Wilson our cell phones, we go on the flume first, and we all get soaked.
Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson take Sam to go on his rides. They agree to let the four of us go on our own as long as we stick together. We’re supposed to check in with them for a late lunch. Until then, we head out to do our round of roller coasters. When we get to the sky ride, Robby and Carrie go in their own separate gondola. Seth and I are alone for the firs
t time since camp. Luckily, the ride stops when we’re about halfway across.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I say grabbing Seth’s hand. He comes over and sits on my side putting his arm around my shoulders.
“Me too, Megs.”
He leans in and I feel his hand cradling my head as he draws me in for a kiss. His lips are warm and silky. I want so much more. We slowly part knowing we are on dangerous ground. We smile at each other and I think Seth knows exactly how important he is to me.
“I’ve talked to my parents and they’re going to let me come down with Robby for your homecoming dance, and then you can come up for mine.”
“That would be great! Then you can meet some of my friends like Mandy.”
“And I can warn off the competition,” Seth smiles at me.
We look down at the elephants and the passing people. So far, I’ve only seen two angels at the park, one good and one bad, neither of them close enough that I could do anything. The good angel had a human form, but the bad one didn’t. I wonder why. I’ve only seen one in human form and that one only for a quick second at the mall.
“After that, we have Thanksgiving break and Christmas. I checked and both our church youth groups are going on the ski trip,” Seth says.
“Wow, you’ve really got this all planned out,” I say totally amazed.
We hear a loud Tarzan yell coming from Robby’s gondola, “Me-Tarzan, you-Jane!” He starts hooting like a monkey at Carrie. Carrie’s turning red. I can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment or because she’s laughing so hard.
“I don’t know how she puts up with him,” I say.
“He’s got her eating out of the palm of his hand,” Seth says.
“Yeah, literally,” we both laugh. The ride starts up again and I give Seth a hug, inhaling the scent of his hair and his shirt. He smells and feels so good.
When we get off the ride, Carrie and Robby are waiting for us. Carrie says, “My face is hurting from laughing so much. You have to stop Robby.” She play hits him.
“Let’s go get some ice cream and see the hippo’s,” Robby suggests, adding seriously, “There’s nothing funny about swimming hippos.” We all laugh.
We go on one more rollercoaster and then it’s time to catch up with the Wilsons for lunch. We head over to the Desert Grill where I get a coffee and a chicken Caesar Salad. Robby and Seth get these humongous corn beef sandwiches. Carrie chooses a turkey sandwich. We watch a stage show of Irish dancers and singers.
As we leave, Robby does a spot on imitation of the Irish dance and has us rolling in the aisles. After lunch, we head over to the Egyptian exhibit. Robby runs into the gift shop, comes out, and hands a gift box to Carrie, “I bought this for you because I think it matches the sparkling blue of your eyes. When you wear it, I know you’ll only be thinking of me.”
Carrie opens the box. Nestled inside is a necklace of an iridescent blue beetle bug encased in clear acrylic.
“How did you know I always wanted one of these? It matches my eyes perfectly,” she jokes as she pulls back her hair for Robby to put the necklace on. “I’ll treasure it always,” she playfully bats her eyelashes at him.
We head for the next coaster on our list. The day passes too quickly. Seth and I hold hands and hug each other while waiting in line for the rides. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed waiting in line so much in my whole life.
On the way home we stop at a fast food place for a quick dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are really great and Sammy’s okay too. Robby keeps everyone in stitches the whole way home. What a great way to end the summer.
When the Wilsons let Carrie and I out, I only have time to give Seth a quick public hug goodbye. I can’t believe how fast the day went. I didn’t even bother to look for angels most of the day or on the ride home.
The next morning comes too early. I’m happy to go to church since it’s my first service back since camp. Carrie’s there too. I really didn’t know her that well before camp, but after yesterday I can tell we’re going to become good friends. There is not an angel in sight. In a way, I’m kind of disappointed. I was hoping one would show up that I could talk to or come to for advice. I’ m not comfortable talking to Pastor Bill about it, yet.
Carrie comes up to me after the service and says, “Wasn’t yesterday fun? I really do like Robby.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” I joke.
“Do you think he likes me?” Carrie asks.
“Carrie, I don’t think Robby would have asked for you to come along or bought you that stunning necklace if he didn’t. Didn’t Robby tell you that he and Seth are planning on driving down to take us to homecoming?”
“He is? He didn’t say anything.” Carrie waves to some of the younger kids who are running by on their way to the playground.
“I think his humor covers up a little insecurity. Maybe he’s afraid you’d say no or say something like, ‘you don’t feel that way about him.’”
“But I do! He’s so cute and funny. How could anybody not like him?”
I nod agreeing with her, “Well he is kinda high energy. I think he would wear a lot of people out.”
“Not me.”
“Maybe next time you should tell him.” I see my dad motioning for me to walk to the car out in the parking lot.
“I can do that.” Carrie gives me a quick hug as we say goodbye.
***
Later I call Seth. We talk about yesterday and make plans for when he and Robby come for homecoming. They’ll both be sixteen so they can take turns driving. “You know Robby hasn’t even asked Carrie to go.”
“You’re kidding. He must have chickened out. He was supposed to ask her on the sky ride.” Seth shrugs.
“I guess he was too busy acting like Tarzan,” I say, “Tell him not to be afraid to ask. She’ll say yes. Carrie’s absolutely crazy about him.”
“Or just plain crazy,” Seth says.
“They kind of balance each other out. She can keep up with him physically and she enjoys sitting back watching him be the center of attention.”
We end our call with a promise to text each other later.
I call Mandy to find out how her date went with Alex. After four rings, I am dumped into voicemail. My guess is she’s on the phone with Alex. I know she’ll call me as soon as she gets a chance. Her date must have gone well or she would have called me right away. Only one more day off. School starts mid-week.
***
Later that afternoon Carrie calls me, “Guess what?”
“What?”
“Robby asked me to homecoming!”
“And you said—”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
“Really,” we both laugh.
“He was so nervous when he asked, it was so cute!” Carrie says. “He asked me if I’m still wearing my bug necklace. I told him of course I am, until he replaces it with a vegetable or a mineral,” we laugh and I almost snort coffee out my nose.
Carrie and I discuss whether we will end up in any of the same classes. Last year we didn’t. That’s one reason we didn’t know each other well until camp. The only time we saw each other was at church. Because we’re teenagers, we often would be assigned to help the adults with different sets of the younger kids, so we never had a chance to say more than hi.
I’m kind of a geek so I take all the IB science and math classes I can, along with drama and television production. Carrie leans more towards the easier classes, P.E., and she plays on the volleyball and softball teams. We don’t have much in common academically. Oh well, there’s always lunch. We agree to meet up at lunch tomorrow.
***
Mandy finally calls me back after dinner.
“Hey, how’d your date go?” I ask.
“Oh, Megan, Alex is so wonderful! It was the most romantic night of my life. Dinner was perfect. We went for a walk along the beach and watched the sunset. He kissed me just as the sun winked out. He was such a gentleman. Alex even opened the car door for me
, and walked me up to the door after the movie. He even asked to meet my mom when he picked me up, but she was out on a date. Afterwards he called me just to tell me what a great time he had. The things people were saying about him are just so wrong. We talked for hours and he explained everything to me. That girl from last year, her dad made them break it off. Alex didn‘t drop her. Her dad transferred her out of the school to keep them apart. Alex was heartbroken.”
Mandy keeps talking and I just listen, “I’m going to try out for the squad and Alex is going to stay for try outs and cheer me on. That way we can spend even more time together. He says he’s never felt this way for a girl before. He thinks I might be the one for him. I’m so happy! I feel like I’m Cinderella in a fairytale and he’s the prince. Now I know how you feel about Seth.”
“I’m glad you’re so happy Mandy. He did seem like a nice guy at the bonfire, not at all like his reputation. Do you want to get together tomorrow, a last hoorah before school starts?” I ask.
“I can’t. Susie and Alex are coming over to help with some cheering moves to help me make the team. Shawn and Susie are starting to date, so the four of us will probably head out for something to eat after. Farrah’s excited I’m trying out for the team. She promised me a new designer purse if I make it. I’ll see you at school, okay?”
“Okay, see you then,” I’m happy for Mandy, but part of me is disappointed. I’m sure she’ll make the squad, but that means less time for us. We’ve always been the M&Ms, but now I fear this could be the beginning of us growing apart.
CHAPTER 5 - BACK TO SCHOOL
The first day is such a mad house. My dad drops me off at the front of the school. I give him a quick kiss goodbye. The windows are tinted so no one can see. Nobody cares anyway. Once in the building you can smell all the new clothes, books, and the excitement of the new year. Anything is possible this first golden hour. The pecking order hasn’t been decided. There is still time for some kids to move up the social strata. Outcasts haven’t been targeted yet. Even if you know you’re low on the social order of things, there’s still hope that others are lower. By your clothes you can advertise which unspoken sorority or fraternity you’d like to belong to. Jocks, cheerleaders, designer clothes (rich kids and wanna-bes), surfers, skateboarders, Goth, funky drama, druggies, rappers, band (carrying instruments), eggheads, take your pick.