Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker

by Kristina Springer

  No, it’s not that.

  Do you have a third eye in the middle of your forehead? A long fluffy tail?

  I smile at the screen.

  Ha! No, my parents had the tail removed when I was a baby.

  Then meet me. This weekend.

  The smile flees and panic sets back in. This weekend? Is he kidding?

  Er …

  Tell you what, you know that old fashioned movie theater downtown? The one with the fancy dome ceiling and heavy red velvet curtains that cover the screen right before the show?

  Yeah …

  They’re showing the original Superman on Saturday at 4 p.m. I’m going to be there.

  If you want to, take the seat next to me, and we can make fun of the bad special effects together.

  And if I don’t?

  No worries. I’ll assume you got a close look at me and took off. I won’t message you or bother you again.

  But you don’t bother me!

  Ah man, this is so, so bad.

  Then Saturday at 4 it is! Gotta go. See you Saturday. Bye.

  Wait …

  But he’s already gone. That’s that. We have a date.

  13

  Drew hasn’t written me again, and I’m completely freaking out. I thought maybe I could reason with him, convince him we didn’t need to meet and could just continue with our Twitter relationship. Or maybe tell him I have to spend the weekend with my sick grandma. Impromptu trip to the lake. Anything. But he’s not responding. He’s forcing me into a corner. Meet him, or no more chatting. We gave him a ride home from hockey practice yesterday, and I swear, I was dying the entire time. He and Luke joked around, talking about something that happened in gym class, and I spent the ride staring out the car window, feeling like my face was on fire. He has absolutely no interest in me, Cici, Luke Reno’s little sister, sitting two feet away from him in the back seat.

  And Aggie knows something is up because I was acting super weird all day. But I couldn’t tell her at school and risk a meltdown. I asked her to meet me alone for coffee after school. I have to convince her it’s time for her to take over and meet up with Drew.

  I’m sitting at our usual table in Beanies, practicing my deep breathing until Aggie gets here. Inhale slowly through the nose, exhale loudly out my mouth. And repeat. I catch an older boy giving me a look over his laptop.

  “What?” I snap. “It’s called breathing. I’m trying to calm down.”

  He raises his eyebrows. “Doesn’t look like it’s working.”

  I shake my head. “Whatever,” I mumble. I close my eyes and take another slow breath. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I’m not the one who has to see a movie with Drew on Saturday. Though, if things were different and I could go as myself, I’d love to.

  “Hey, Cici,” Aggie says.

  My eyes pop open and I see her slip into the chair at our table. “Hey, Ag.”

  “So I talked to my mom again about trying out for volleyball next week,” Aggie says. “It took some doing but I convinced her to let me try out. I had to promise it wouldn’t interfere with schoolwork or family time, AKA, babysitting Henry.”

  “Really? That’s great! I’ll go with you to tryouts and cheer you on from the sidelines,” I offer.

  “You will? That would be great. I think you’ll keep me calm.”

  “Of course I will. If things start to go badly, I’ll pull the fire alarm to disrupt the whole tryout. That way you’ll get a second chance.” I add.

  “Wow, that’s super nice of you. And not at all illegal,” she teases.

  “No problem at all. What’s a tiny misdemeanor for a friend?” I need Aggie in a good mood for what I’m about to tell her.

  “So were you working on homework?” Her eyes gloss over my books sitting on the table.

  “Um, no, not really. I was pretty much just waiting for you, so that we could, you know, talk.”

  “Yeah, you’ve been acting strange all day. So spill.” Aggie slips her jacket off her shoulders and onto her chair, shaking her long blond hair. I catch that same boy who was giving me grief about my breathing checking out Aggie.

  “Well …” I pause, biting my bottom lip, “… how do I say this?”

  The bell hanging over the door to the café rings, and a mom with two small children head for the counter.

  Aggie tilts her head and furrows her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

  I nervously tie a stray straw wrapper into knot after knot. “You sorta have a date on Saturday … with Drew.”

  Aggie shrinks back from me and her mouth falls open as she registers what I just said. “What? No! No way. I told you I’m not ready!” She swings her hand out to the right, sending a container of sugar substitutes flying. We both turn to see the yellow packets flutter to the ground. Before either one of us can bend over to pick them up, the teenage boy has collected them all and is handing them back to Aggie.

  “Here you go,” he says, giving her an awkward smile.

  She nods at him. “Thanks.”

  We both watch him take his seat, and then Aggie turns her attention back on me. She leans in and says in a hushed voice, “You know I sound like a huge idiot each time I’m near him.”

  “But you knew that I was only talking with him online to hook him for you and that you were eventually going to take over and talk to him face-to-face,” I tell her.

  “Yeah, when I was comfortable.” She points to her face, which is now the color of a blushing tomato. “Do I look comfortable?”

  Her eyes look kinda wild, and I feel bad for her. “Well, it’s sort of a now or never situation.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Drew said I, well, you, need to meet him this Saturday or he’s done talking to me … us. For good.” I bite my lip. I hate the idea of never getting to chat online with Drew again.

  Aggie shakes her head, staring hard at the table. “I just don’t think I can do it. Maybe we should forget the whole thing. Maybe I’m not ready to date. Maybe in a couple of years …”

  A couple of years? But Drew is here now.

  “It’s not like you’d have to date date,” I say quickly. “It’s just a movie. He wants to put a face to the words, know who he’s been chatting with. You can always stall him and say your parents won’t let you date or something, if you want to take things slow. I can keep talking to him online. I don’t mind.” Really, I don’t.

  “How would I even know what to talk about?” Aggie finally asks.

  I’m suddenly filled with a rush of relief. This is going to work, and Drew isn’t going anywhere. “That’s the beauty of going to a movie,” I say hurriedly. “You don’t have to talk. And I can prep you with a couple of things to say just in case you do chat a little. And I can go to the movie too, sit way far in the back, and if you get stuck, you just excuse yourself to go the bathroom and come and ask me whatever it is.”

  “You really think he won’t be disappointed that it’s me?”

  She’s got to be kidding, I think. “No, not at all. Does this mean you’ll do it?”

  Aggie gives me a forced half-smile. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

  14

  I’m in the very back row of the movie theater in an aisle seat, completely in the dark. My hair is in a tight braid and tucked under a baseball cap. I hope this will mask my identity. Drew is sitting about fifteen rows ahead of me, calmly chomping away on a small popcorn. How is he so relaxed? I’m completely freaking out back here and I’m not even on their date! Aggie’s waiting just outside of the theater for the movie to start. She wants to talk to Drew as little as possible and thought this would cut down on the chatting. Which is kind of perfect. She’ll seem aloof and he will probably be even more intrigued. But what if she bails at the last moment? Maybe I need to go out there and give her a little shove.

  The movie begins and Drew strains his neck, looking around to see if his date is coming. I hunch down low in my seat, not wanting him to see me. The theater is pretty full, so I think
I’m safe. Aggie enters the theater and stumbles a few feet from me, but catches herself before she falls. She shoots me a panicked look and I give her a thumbs-up. I can see her put one hand on her chest and take in a deep breath.

  Ah! This is it!

  Aggie approaches Drew and plops down in the seat next to him, sending his phone flying off the arm rest. He quickly retrieves it and even though I can only see the side of his face, I can see a look of surprise and then a smile of recognition. That’s a good sign.

  Aggie shifts uncomfortably in the seat, and Drew offers her some popcorn. She takes a handful and then focuses on the screen. Drew returns his gaze to the movie, but I can see him sneaking sideways glances at Aggie. He’s totally into her, I can tell.

  I settle back, trying to feign some interest in the last days of Krypton playing out across the screen in front of me, but it’s impossible. I can’t take my eyes off the back of Aggie and Drew’s heads, watching for signs that they’re getting along. They’re both just watching the movie. This really was the perfect way to meet Drew. It’s impossible to have a real conversation since everyone around you will sssh you if you try to talk. But just on the off chance he did get chatty, I wrote a list of topics on the palm of Aggie’s hand with a black sharpie.

  Oh wait, Drew’s leaning in toward Aggie and whispering. What’s he saying? Aggie’s head falls back. She’s laughing. Maybe he made a joke. I wonder what it was. I hope Aggie remembers so she can tell me. Now she’s whispering something back to him. I told her to try not to say much of anything, let him do any talking, and just nod every so often. But she looks like she’s not stumbling over her words or anything from the look on Drew’s face.

  Now Drew’s laughing too. He’s covering his mouth, trying not to be too loud. Whatever she said must have been really funny. It’s a good thing that they’re getting along like this. Really good. Yep. It’s awesome.

  So … why am I filled with a horrific amount of jealousy right now?

  I want to be up there sitting with Drew, hearing his jokes, and eating his popcorn. But that’s impossible. Aggie has dibs on Drew. She’s the one who has had a crush on him for forever. True, she doesn’t know him like I do since we’ve been talking so much. But she’ll get to know him. Now that they’ve broken the ice, she can ease into taking over the relationship. I’m happy for her. Really. She’s my best friend.

  Deep breath, inhale through the nose, exhale out the mouth. Okay, I can handle this. I need to just relax, sit back, and try to enjoy the movie. Soon it’ll be over and I can get out of here and not have to watch Aggie and Drew together.

  The movie is nearing the end and I sneak out of the theater before the lights come up. Aggie and I agreed that when the movie ended she’d say a quick good-bye to Drew and then meet me in the ladies room. I pace the sticky bathroom tile floor, occasionally slapping on the hand dryers for noise. After what seems like an eternity, but is probably more like fifteen minutes, Aggie rushes in.

  The first thing I notice is, Aggie really is very pretty. She curled her hair today and she has on a touch of eye makeup and pink lip gloss. He cheeks are a little red too, probably from all of the excitement. How could Drew not fall for her? It’d be impossible. I plaster the biggest smile I can muster on my face. I want her to know I’m super happy for her and Drew.

  “Oh my gosh, Cici,” Aggie says hurriedly. “Did you see us together? I can’t believe I really just did that! It was horrible!”

  “What? How?” I sputter, totally confused. From where I was sitting it looked anything but horrible.

  “I completely messed up!” she wails. “I just know I sounded like an idiot. My hand got greasy from the butter and then I couldn’t read my notes. And he was asking me questions about some CD or something and I said I liked to listen to rap, and he said I thought you hated rap and … ugh. It was awful.”

  “No, Aggie, you’re not seeing what I was seeing. Drew totally likes you. I could tell by the way he kept sneaking peeks at you when you weren’t looking,” I say.

  Aggie sniffles. “Really?” she asks, sounding hopeful. “And I was thinking he likes you, not me.”

  “Me?” I spit out, shocked. “Why on earth would he like me?” My heart is beating so hard I can feel it in my ears.

  “No, I mean, he likes you, Sera Frosted. He kept accidentally calling me Sera. ‘Want some popcorn, Sera? Want me to go get you a pop, Sera?’”

  “Oh, Sera. Right.”

  “Yeah, and then he was asking me stuff like, ‘Did you really build an Eiffel Tower in Minecraft and how did you do it?’ and I was all, oh no! No clue what he was talking about so I said, ‘I’ll tell you later, this is my favorite part,’ trying to get him to re-focus on the movie. It was crazy,” she says.

  “Do you … think you’ll go out again?” I ask hesitantly.

  “I don’t know,” Aggie says. “It was awkward.”

  “It was only the first date. I just need to prep you better next time. I should have told you about the Minecraft stuff. I’m sorry,” I add.

  “He asked if he could have my phone number so we could text or he could call me. And I panicked for a sec but then said, ‘Oh, I can’t technically date until I’m sixteen and I’m not allowed to text boys. My mom reads my texts so I can’t give you a number.’ I told him we’ll just keep chatting on Twitter like we’ve, I mean you’ve, been doing.” She checks my face. “That’s okay, right?”

  “Oh, yeah, no problem,” I tell her. “I can keep chatting with him.”

  Aggie walks toward the bathroom door. “So do you think the coast is clear? Can we get out of the bathroom?”

  I had told my mom that Aggie and I were watching the movie together and asked if she could pick us up around seven PM in front of the theater, giving Drew enough time to clear out. “You better be the one to check the lobby, just in case. We don’t want him to see me here.”

  Aggie peers out into the lobby. “Yep, he’s gone. Let’s go hang out in the arcade until your mom gets here.”

  I follow her out the door. I can still feel my adrenaline pumping. I can’t believe our plan really worked.

  Back at home after dropping Aggie off, I head straight for my room and my laptop, dying to see if Drew has written me yet. I know it’s a bit silly to think he’d rush right home and message me after seeing Aggie only an hour earlier. But he could have. Unless he doesn’t actually like her. Maybe Aggie’s not his type at all? Maybe he’ll never write me again? Oh, who am I kidding, of course Aggie’s his type. All the boys like Aggie.

  I log on and gasp. There is a message there. Why am I so nervous? It’s not like I just spent the afternoon at the theater with him. Well, not that he’s aware of anyway.

  Hey Aggie, can I call you that now? LOL. Thanks for seeing Superman with me today. I had fun.

  I immediately start to type back but then stop myself. It looks too eager to respond right away, doesn’t it? Don’t boys like when girls play hard to get? I stand up and walk around my room, straightening things up. I pick up a few pieces of clothes that missed the hamper and toss them in. The framed poster of a medieval castle on my wall is crooked and I realign it. I log out of my SeraFrosted account and sign into my regular YogaGirl4Evr account. I have a tweet asking me what’s the hardest pose I still haven’t mastered. I reply:

  Cici Reno @yogagirl4evr • 0s

  Eight-Angle Pose is SO hard. Can you do it? #notyet #yoga

  I sweep up the pile of change off my nightstand and drop it into the head of my light-up Yoda bank. “Mmmhmm, smart saving your money is,” the Yoda voice in my bank says to me, just like it does every time I add money to it. I giggle. I was just telling Drew about my bank a couple of days ago. He said it sounded cool and was going to hunt one down for himself. Drew, Drew, Drew. Okay, that’s enough time. I race back to my seat, sign back into the SeraFrosted account, and type frantically at the keyboard.

  I had so much fun too. <3 Superman. Great flick.

  What about the guy sitting next to yo
u …?

  He was ok too

  I’m practically giddy getting to chat with Drew again like this, but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m just doing it for Aggie. It makes no difference how well we get along online. I need to keep my feelings under control and just help my best friend get the guy who’s perfect for me—I mean, her.

  I couldn’t believe YOU are SeraFrosted.

  Is that bad or good?

  Disappointed?

  What? No, not at all. I just met you at my last hockey game is all. Were you there checking me out?

  No, I wasn’t.

  I type that fast. We don’t need him thinking Aggie’s a stalker.

  I was there with my best friend, Cici. I’ve gone to a bunch of her brother’s hockey games with her. Guess you never noticed me.

  Right. Luke’s little sister. I hadn’t seen you before.

  Ouch. Luke’s little sister. I knew that’s all he thought of me. A lump forms in my throat. I don’t know what else to say. I just stare at our open Direct Message box, the cursor blinking at me, waiting for me to write anything at all.

  I liked seeing you now …

  I half-smile at my screen. That’s nice of him to say, I guess. Even though it isn’t me he’s seeing.

  You’re very pretty, Aggie.

  Ugh. I wish he’d stop calling me that. And the more he goes on about how he thinks me, Aggie, is pretty the worse I feel about the real me, Cici. I think I better stop typing for now. I’m not in the right frame of mind for this.

  Hey Drew, I gotta run. Message you later.