by Jason Zandri
***
Matthew sat alongside the edge of the kickball field on one of the benches and watched the pick-up game. His mind drifted in and out of attention as he watched.
Elizabeth Wellsworth crossed his line of sight twice, but he didn’t react at all, so she walked right up to him. He didn’t focus on her until she’d come nearly right up to him.
“Well, I was wondering what it might take for you to notice me,” she said, sitting down next to him. “I’ve been looking right at you and crisscrossing in front of you, my whole walk here. I waved twice.”
“I’m sorry. I was thinking and just staring off into space,” Matthew replied.
“Penny for your thoughts then, friend. What’s on your mind? School and grades?”
“No, those are cool—”
“Girl trouble?” she said with a grin and raising and lowering her eyebrows.
“Well, not really, because mainly I’m thinking I’m invisible.”
Matthew felt embarrassed to be discussing the topic and with a girl no less.
“What are you talking about?” Liz asked and took her brush out to comb her long red hair. “Girls think you’re cute. As a matter of fact, because you and me sit a lot and talk, they like you more.”
“What’re you talking about?” Matthew asked, excited but confused.
“Well, we’re friends. We sit and talk here. Sometimes at lunch too. I walk up to you and talk, like today. You come up to me sometimes. The other girls … they ‘bip, bip, bip’ to each other and they all say, ‘what’s the big deal with those two?’ Then they wonder about you.” Liz smiled and put her brush away. “Watch this,” she said, moving a little closer and leaning in to whisper into his ear. “Now, don’t look around, but look out of the corner of your eye to the home-base side of this kickball field.” She took his hand and put it on her knee, and then twitched it in the direction she wanted him to look.
“Okay,” Matthew said and did as instructed. “I can see the other bench there, and the girls watching the game.”
“Look a little closer, if you can without turning your head a lot.” A short giggle escaped her. “They’re looking at you. You’re sitting here, with a girl, talking. She’s whispering in your ear. …Your hand is on my knee …”
Matthew focused, and when she mentioned the fact that his hand was there, he became conscious of it and jerked.
“No, no … leave it there. It makes them all wonder.” She placed her hand over his.
“Wonder about what?” Matthew asked.
“Who you are, what makes you tick,” Liz said and leant sideways into the bench since she sat facing Matthew. “You have to remember, a couple of months ago you started classes here. Most of us have been here since Kindergarten. With fifth grade, this is our sixth year together. You’re the new
guy. The other boys? We girls have been friends with them for a while, some since day one. It’s hard to think about them, well … you know, as cute or anything.”
“So you think I’m cute?” He wanted to know what she thought.
“Well,” she said in a sing-song voice, “you ever see me sit out here with other boys?”
Matthew smiled at the answer and relaxed his hand on her knee.
***
Melissa walked over to the bench by field three and looked at the kickball game. “Who’s playing?” she asked one of the girls standing near the bench.
“I’m not sure,” a girl with blond hair replied. “I don’t think it’s class on class; I think it’s just a pick-up game.”
Melissa pointed past second base and toward the outfield. “That’s Jimmy Killmore. I’ve watched him play before. He’s really good.”
“Hmm,” the girl said as Carrie and Alecia moved past the bench and on to the far side of the other girls standing there. Melissa followed up slowly behind them.
“… you think so?” Veronica said to one of the girls.
“Kissing? No way. He’s friendly, but there’s no way they kiss.”
Carrie turned to Melissa. “Missy, has Matthew Sanford ever kissed you?”
“No!” she said, taken aback, but also feeling a little guilty because of the two occasions when she’d kissed him on the cheek. “Why would you ask me that?”
“He’s over there with Elizabeth Wellsworth on the far bench in the outfield,” Bethany said. “They’re holding hands and everything. I’m telling you: Heather Lockwood said she saw them kissing on the lips.”
“Where?” Melissa asked. “I’m friends with him. I ride the bus with him, and I see him every day. He never said a word to me about Liz, or kissing, or anything like that.” Melissa craned her neck to see better. What she could see bothered her.
“Ooooh, nice. He doesn’t brag. He’s cute too.” Veronica twirled her
hair.
“You’re all acting like idiots,” Melissa said.
“First you’re defending Tim Cafferty,” Carrie said. “The known bad boy, and making him sound not so bad. Then you’re telling us that Matthew Sanford isn’t kissing the girls when it sure looks like he is from where I’m standing.”
Alecia looked over at the group of girls and grinned. “Or maybe it’s just that he isn’t kissing you that has you all upset?”
“Are you kidding me?” Melissa said. “We’re friends. That’s it.
Besides, he’s not that cute.”
The group of girls giggled and squealed. “Yes, he is,” Veronica called out.
“Well, if you think so why don’t you just walk up there yourself and kiss him, Veronica?” Melissa then turned to the whole group. “You all seem to think he kisses the girls; why don’t any of you? You’re all talk behind someone’s back, but you don’t do a thing.”
Kelly Brown stepped forward. “You’re so brave. How much talk are you?” She turned her tone sing-song, “You’re friends, so why don’t you walk over and kiss him?”
The taunts made Melissa steaming mad, and she whipped around and made a line straight towards Matthew. The girls’ voices faded behind her, but she caught what they said. “Oh my God, is she going to do it?” “She’s going to kiss him.” “She’ll chicken out before she gets there.”
When she got closer, she could see both of their profiles. While the bench faced her, they sat on it halfway, so they could face each other. She could clearly see them holding hands, with Matthew’s hand on her knee and hers on his. Liz leaned in to the side of his face. She kissed him! Melissa thought as she quickened her pace. Right in front of me like that. Cheek kiss.
Like I’ve done. I’ll fix that.
Matthew looked up and realized Melissa was standing there.
Instinctively, he stood up to give her a place to sit down but she pushed him right back down into his seat. Liz looked up at her in surprise, and Melissa glanced at her then turned her attention back to Matthew.
“I was getting up to give you the seat. Why did you push me down?”
Matthew asked.
“Because,” she answered, leaned down, and kissed him right on the lips. It only lasted a second before a whistle blew a few times, and a teacher came running over.
“You two!” Miss Haddleword, an older, portly woman screamed.
“Stop that this instant! School is no place for that. Miss Bancroft,” she said, finally reaching the trio, “I expected better from you. Off to the Principal’s office with you.” She turned to address Liz while Melissa stomped away.
“Miss Wellsworth, it’s your lucky day. I was watching you. It didn’t appear you did anything, but your whispering into his ear to make it look like you did isn’t going to serve you well, now or into the future. A little chastity would likely serve you better, else you’ll be labeled a little tramp like your older sister. It would be wise to not take after her. Go on. Run along.”
Liz got up, and her faced flushed crimson. She averted her eyes from the teacher. “I’m sorry, Miss Haddleword,” she said softly with some sincerity in her voice. “I’m sorry, Matthew. I didn’t
mean to get you into trouble.” She left quickly and ran in the opposite direction from which Melissa had headed in.
“Master Sanford,” Miss Haddleword said. “You’ll need to go to the office too. While you’re more a victim here because you’d been minding your own business when all the tartiness started, you own your share of the responsibly. Off to the Principal’s office with you as well. When you get there, Miss Bancroft will be down there, obviously. I want no talking, and I expect to see you sitting on different benches in there.”
Matthew watched Liz run down the far hill of the playground toward the swings then turned his attention to Melissa, who was entering the building through the near-doors at the library. He sighed as he got up to walk inside.
CHAPTER NINE
Mark wrapped up the final bit of trim paint in the expansion area of the store just as the door behind him opened, and Diane walked through holding a large, brown paper grocery bag.
“Well, this is it.” Diane pointed to the trim he’d painted. “That’s the last of the construction work in here. Now it’s just a matter of getting the subleases done.”
“I never got the chance to tell you,” Mark said, standing up and groaning slightly from the effort, “I have someone who’s going to try homemade ice cream. I know we have the soft serve place there, but this guy makes his ice cream himself and uses all natural things. He took a six-month lease on the space, which takes us basically into September. He has the option for a month-to-month to the end of the year, and then full renewal as he wants.”
Diane hopped up and down at the news then set the bag down.
“That’s wonderful. Any news on the sandwich guy or the one that made the gourmet coffee blends?”
“The coffee guy is tentative for September. I told him I’d let him know if someone else wanted the space. In the meantime, we’ll expand our coffee stuff out into this area. The sandwich guy and I are going back and forth on terms. I think he’s going to be a pain in the ass.” Mark smiled and wiped some sweat from his brow, and transferred a smudge of paint in the process.
Diane stepped forward and extended her thumb to wipe it off. “And what did you decide as far as the garage bay?” she asked, taking a rag off the table to wipe the paint.
“Well, for now, as I have time, I’m going to do fluid changes, tires, belts, hoses, tune-ups, and so forth; all the small stuff I know how to do myself. I’d still rather have a full-time professional mechanic in there, but all the ones I talk to just want to work for someone or they want too good a deal on the space, considering all the tools and equipment I already have in there.
It’ll work out one way or the other.”
Matthew headed across the street with a sour look on his face. Diane and Mark watched him. “Well now, that look doesn’t look great.”
Marked stepped into the main store area and Diane cut in right behind him, taking the brown grocery bag out with her, and then moving around Mark to the main store counter.
Matthew entered the store as a customer pulled up at the pumps and, when the tires hit the cables, the old full-service bells rang.
Mark looked up at the bells then over to Diane, “I guess I still need to decide what to do about those.” He pointed up. “So, sport,” he said in a lighthearted tone and turned to his son. “I’ve seen better looks on midshipmen ready to go on duty, as the saying goes. What’s going on?”
Matthew dug the note out of his pocket and handed it to his father. “I have to stay after school, on a Friday, and clap erasers.”
“Why?” Diane asked with some concern. “What happened?”
“What happened is your sister is crazy!” Matthew blurted out. It was so abrupt that Mark had to stifle a small laugh. Diane remained stoic.
“I think we’ll need a little more than that, son,” Mark said, fetching him a root beer and handing it to him.
“I’m sitting with Liz Wellsworth, minding my own business, when your crazy sister comes out of nowhere and kisses me right on the mouth!”
Dead silence rang loudly for only a second before both Diane and Mark guffawed. It didn’t last long, and they composed themselves quickly.
The customer from the pumps came into the store to pay, bought a newspaper, and left. Matthew stewed quietly. He knew better than to continue with a customer around.
“Thank you,” Mark said to him. “Come again.” Then he closed the door and glanced outside. “Okay, well there had to be more to it.”
“No, really, that was it. I was sitting there. She walked up, did that, the teacher saw, and sent me and her to the office. Liz got let off because she didn’t do anything, but now she won’t talk to me. I don’t know what I did to her. Missy’s the one who came up and got us in trouble. And Liz isn’t in trouble at all, so I don’t know … man, I swear, all girls are crazy. First Mom, now this with Missy; Liz blaming me for nothing, I guess … she won’t even talk to me …” Still upset at the events, he turned to Diane, “What’re you going to do? You’re a crazy girl too!”
“Hey!” Mark yelled. “That’s going over a line. You had some issues today, and we can talk them out, but Diane didn’t do anything to you.”
Matthew immediately recognized his error and acknowledged it. “I’m sorry, Diane.”
“It’s all right; you’re upset,” she said softly.
“It’s not all right,” Mark said with steel in his eyes and tone. “I’m glad you immediately apologized, but I expect better from you.”
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Diane,” he said, turning partly to go into the back office area. “I won’t apologize for the ‘girls are crazy’
comment, though. That part’s true, and I’m sticking with it.” Mark and Diane held back their laughter until Matthew got part way down the hallway. “It’s not funny!” he shouted and slammed the office door, which only made the two laugh more.
After a moment, Diane wiped her eyes. “I haven’t had a good laugh like that in a while. I’m sure Missy is upset. As long as there’re no customers, can I give the house a call to check on her in case my mother’s late?”
“Sure,” Mark said, finishing off a laugh, and then glancing over at the bag Diane had moved between the rooms. “You carried the bag back and forth between the two rooms. Did you need to show me something?”
Diane sighed, reached into the bag, and took out a seven-inch, round, deep tin. “I wanted to get you something. To celebrate the grand opening of the expansion.”
“Thank you; that was thoughtful but completely unnecessary.” Mark held up his hand.
“Please,” she said and held the tin with both hands. “I couldn’t get you anything. The family needs the money I’ve been earning, so I couldn’t buy you anything, so I baked these instead.”
Mark was surprised about the money comment; he’d assumed with both her parents working and Diane pulling her weight that things would be okay there. He made a mental note of the comment and took the tin and opened it. Inside were a couple dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies.
“My favorite,” he said with a smile. “With the chocolate chunks.”
“I made a small tin full for Matthew, too. I know you need to talk to
him, and I can give it to him later.”
Emotions swelled up inside Mark, but he pulled them back to deal with Matthew. He smiled at Diane, set the tin down on the counter, and put the cover back on. “You’re such a wonderful person. I hope life sees fit to deliver back to you at least half what you give out to others. It would be such a full and rich life.”
***
Mark made his way into the back room, and Diane folded her hands together and brought them up to her lips. Tears welled in her eyes. She’d never gotten such a kind and compassionate comment from anyone, except maybe from her mother. She stared at the doorway for a moment then picked up the phone to call home.
“Hello,” Melissa said.
“Hi Missy, it’s Di. I wanted to call to make sure you’re home and everything.”
“Okay, well given that, are you going to come down the store for something to eat?” Diane asked.
Melissa hesitated then answered, “No, I’ll just have some cereal.”
Diane grinned. She didn’t want to ask her outright because it was always harder to get Melissa to talk if she felt forced. “I’d feel better if you came here so I could make you a sandwich or something more hearty. It’s not that cold out. We can walk home together later.”
Melissa again hesitated with her response and eventually said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Diane asked, feeling more confident that she would now open up about her day.
“Well … I got in trouble at school today. Not a huge thing. Mom has to sign a note, and I have to stay after to help the teacher clean up the classroom.”
Diane waited to see if Melissa would continue from there, but that was all she offered. “So, what happened that you don’t want to come here?”
This time, a much longer pause lingered, and a slight sob warped her voice when she did speak, which caught Diane off guard. “It was stupid. The girls were talking garbage about Matthew. It made me upset. I was trying to defend him, and I couldn’t do it well. He was sitting with that Liz. She’s nothing but trouble for the boys. I see the boys fight over her.” Melissa’s sobs became outright crying. “So Matthew was sitting there, holding her hand, and all the girls are like, ‘he kisses all the girls’ and then when I defended him, Alecia said, “well, maybe he kisses all of them except you,’ and I got mad. I walked over to Matthew and kissed him on the lips. Right in front of that Liz.”
Diane held her hand up to her mouth to stifle herself as she smiled, remembering back to her first kiss.
“Of course,” Melissa continued, still crying, “Miss Haddleword saw everything, and I got in trouble. I got Matthew in trouble and I didn’t mean to. He wouldn’t talk to me the whole way home on the bus. I tried. He moved seats. Now he hates me.”
“I don’t think he hates you, Missy,” Diane said. “I think he’s confused over what happened, upset that he got punished, and wasn’t sure how his Dad would take it.”