by RB Schalin
Chapter 3
The following morning I met up with Mike and Tom at the bus stop. I didn’t tell them about the ride or the phone call with Brooke the previous day. It was my secret, a wonderful secret that was mine, and mine alone. For the first time during all the years of our friendship I had something I did not want or intend to share with my best friends.
‘You look too happy this morning John. What’s wrong?’ asked Mike.
‘Nothing, I just feel good today, went to bed early last night, had a good breakfast, you know.’
Tom looked closely at me. ‘What’s up, buddy? Mike is right, there is something up with you today. You kind of glow, your eyes are shining and your cheeks are pink. Something is different.’
‘Fuck off, I am all right! Seriously, nothing has happened.’
The first class that morning was math. I hated math. I did not get the X’s or the Y’s and why they all ended up to equal Z’s. Mike on the other hand was a magician, he had it all figured out. He usually studied with me before exams, but at the end of last semester he had thrown up his arms in the air exclaiming.
‘I give up! Teaching you math, is like teaching Stalin morals. Like you, he had heard about it, but didn’t grasp the concept.’
During the first break we walked over to the soda machine and as Mike was inserting money, I felt two hands cover my eyes, and a husky voice whispers in my ear. ‘Guess who?’
Although I knew exactly who it was, I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.
‘Brooke’, I said after a few seconds.
‘I saw you standing here and you looked so sweet I just had to come up and say hi.’
‘Well, hi yourself. My name is Tom, and my other friend here is Mike, nice to meet you Brooke.’
She was the same height as Tom, and slightly taller than Mike. She looked at them for a second and I saw something change in her eyes. They went darker, and then closed slightly, she had an almost feline expression, like a cat watching a mouse.
‘Nice to meet you boys, but if you don’t mind, I would like to talk to John alone for a second. Mind if I borrow him?’
‘Actually, we’ve got nothing special to do, so we can tag along, can’t we Mike?’ said Tom.
Brooke looked at him for a few seconds without speaking, and then said, ‘I wasn’t really asking, Tom.’
With those words she put her arm under mine, and led me away from my friends.
We walked across the yard, arm in arm and as her skin touched mine it felt like little sparks between us. I breathed in deeply, her hair smellt of shampoo, and there was a fruity aroma from her body lotion. When she leaned her head against my shoulder, I felt paranoid because I can see other students watching us, some Seniors in a group whispered between them and looked at us. Brook stopped at a bench under a tree, and we sat down.
‘Sorry for taking you away from your friends, but I just couldn’t wait until this afternoon to see you,’ she said.
‘It’s OK.’ I managed to say but I felt a bit uncomfortable out there in the open with her. I had never been this close to a girl before.
We sit in silence for a while; there were birds twittering, and the sounds of some students playing basketball.
Brooke looked at me with her green eyes. The color was amazing close up, just like grass.
‘Have you ever had a girlfriend, John?’ she asked and smiled.
I look down at the ground, and then I whisper, ‘No.’
She took my hands in hers, and gently squeezed them. ‘Well you have one now. I liked you from the moment I saw you yesterday. I wasn’t lost I just wanted to speak to you, so after school I followed you. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘I’m glad you did, Brook.’
She stood and pulled me up.
‘Let’s get you back to your friends before they send out an APB for you.’
She laughed her bubbly laugh, and we walked back across the yard hand in hand.
During lunch Tom and Mike began their interrogation.
‘Come on John, tell us, what did she want?’ Said Mike.
I grinned at him and said, ‘I guess I have a girlfriend.’
‘About time that happened, I was seriously worried about you.’
‘Who’s talking? You’re not exactly Rudolf Valentino. All you’ve got are your girly sites on the internet,’ said Tom and I laughed.
‘You guys laugh away, I am just glad John finally is going to get some.’
I hadn’t thought about that. I had never kissed a girl, well, I did kiss Jenny Lawrence in third grade, but I didn’t think that would pass as experience. Brooke said she was my girlfriend now, but maybe she is prudish and doesn’t like kissing on the first date. I would find out later, I thought.
‘Did you guys ask your parents if it was OK to spend the night in the mountains? Mine are fine with it’ said Tom.
‘I’m good.’ added Mike.
‘Mine are cool with it.’
‘Come to think about it, you might not want to go now that you have a girlfriend. I mean, what are Mike and I compared to that beauty? Just a couple of simple friends,’ said Tom with a sad face.
‘Come on guys, of course I am going with you. No girl can keep me away from my buddies.’
We finished lunch and walked along the corridor to our next class.
‘Tom, since you are the only one with some kind of experience with dates. Where do you think I should take Brooke?’
‘She has a car which makes things much easier. Maybe invite her for a burger at Jimmy’s.’
Jimmy’s was the favorite burger joint among us kids. Great burgers, and there were video games and pinball machines. Jimmy’s has been around since the fifties, all our parents used to go there when they were young.
‘Jimmy’s sounds good. Maybe afterwards I could take her for a walk around town. Brook is new around here so maybe she wants to see the sights.’
‘What sights, there is nothing interesting in this town?’ said Mike as we entered the classroom.
