Greetings, fans of Rugrats fanfic in general & my writings in particular. Here, as I said it would be, is my latest creation. Unless you're easily bored as to whys & wherefores --- in which case you will want to skip down a paragraph or two --- let me tell you how this came about.
As some might have guessed, I'm a country music fan. A few months ago I heard the song 'I Miss You a Little' by John Michael Montgomery. As soon as I heard it again, I knew I had to make a songfic out of it. But who would be the one to be missed? I first thought of Phil from Hey Arnold, but there are already a couple of fics covering his 'Last Tango In Paris', as he erroneously calls it, and besides I have my own plans for that event in my stories over there.
So my thoughts came here, to a certain Rugrats character, two of them actually. You'll figure it out, probably already have.
So, I had the idea for this. Well if you're familiar with my writings, you know that once I have an idea it has this tendency to grow, and so this one did. It wasn't long before it was too big for a songfic, so it became something that afaik is something completely new, a multi-part songfic (if this isn't the first one, someone please tell me).
Then I thought of something else. An opportunity to tie it in with the background for my Rugrats Weddings series. Bits & pieces of what happened to the gang in high school & college had been mentioned there, but like I said it was just bits & pieces. I needed to expand on what they went through to get to where they are in TRW. I needed to explain how they ended up the way they did. That explanation starts here.
So, without further filibustering, here is I Miss You a Little, Part I. Please read it, and when you've finished, please review it. Thank y'all.
Rugrats and all Rugrats concepts are created, owned, and / or copyrighted by Klasky-Csupo and / or Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom.
Crazy Arms by Ray Price, referenced here, was done in 1956 on the Columbia label.
I've been thinking about it, & I have come to an obvious and inescapable conclusion: this past few days have been the absolute worst of my life, no contest.
Today might be the worst of all time. It would have stiff competition from the few days before it, but tell me this. What day would be worse than a day on which you say good-bye forever --- at least, in this world --- to two of the best & closest friends you have ever known? Two people who have been there for you since the day you were born.
All right, only one of them was human, but the other one has meant more to me than many of the people I have known, and that's saying something.
*knock knock*
I'd better get that. Excuse me while I go open the door to my room.
"Mom?"
"It's time. We're ready to go."
"Uncle Drew & Aunt Charlotte?"
"They and Angelica arrived five minutes ago. Angelica's already in the limo. You're the only one we're waiting on."
"I'm sorry. I, "
"You don't have to explain, sweetheart. You're probably suffering the most of any of us."
"Yeah," I whisper.
That sends her over the edge a bit. She cries, we hug, et cetera.
"You going to be all right now?"
"I'm your mother, I should be asking you that question."
"If I see a need, I'll ask."
"You always were so sweet and nice."
"Yeah, tell that to my friends. If I still have any left."
"Oh..." she calls my name. Followed by more hugging. And more crying. And more comforting. And each of those goes both ways. I know it's not cool for a teenager to be seen with his or her parents, but I really don't mind. Especially at times like this.
Anyway, we stop hugging, and I know it's time. I open my mouth.
"I'll get my coat, turn the light off, and I'll be there. You go ahead."
"All right. Don't be long, dear."
"I won't." I give her one of my famous smiles, the kind that has been known to charm females of all ages. You think that's conceited? I've seen it at work.
She leaves, and I do what I said I would do. Better hurry; the rest of the family is probably already in the car.
Remember I said this is one of the worst days of my life? And it's hours until noon yet. Both funerals are still in front of me, of us.
The limousine is white. Appropriate for a funeral home? I don't know. My first thought on the subject is that it should be black, but I just don't know. I remember once, I heard Mrs. Finster say that in certain parts of the Orient they wear white to funerals. Makes me re-think weddings.
Speaking of, I wonder what the Finsters are doing right now. And the Devilles. Um, I'll get back to that later.
The limo has three seats, not counting the front. It's about full. Dad & Uncle Drew & Grandma Lulu are in the first seat, Mom & Aunt Charlotte in the second, and us teenagers in the third.
We teenagers seem to be arranged according to age. Angelica's on one side of me, Dil on the other. And to look at us, one would think I'm the happy one among us. I'm not the happy one; I'm just the one who thinks he has to be strong for the others.
I look to one side. Angelica. Mom said she was the first one in the limo. With the a/c on it's hard to tell. Not that it helps her looks or her mood. Mind you, she is turning out to be gorgeous, but... Y'know, I get the feeling that if I waved my hand in front of her face, or even snapped my fingers in front of her, she wouldn't react. She seems catatonic. Not that I would dare, not at this time or in this place.
You wouldn't know she'd just snagged her best friend's boyfriend. At least, I think she & Susie are still best friends; I haven't really been paying as much attention to the goings-on across the street as I should have been lately. If they're on the outs it would be par for the course. Why not burn all relationships while we're at it, so many have gone down lately. Not that I'd want that. Everyone loves Susie, she's the only sane one. Our mentor. It wasn't right, what Angelica did; I feel sorry for Susie because of it, but... I just don't know.
I turn to my other side. Dil. Talk about feeling sorry for someone. These past weeks, months, have been Hell on the little guy. Chuckie's been like a second father to him, and Lil like a second mother. And Phil like a crazy uncle, Dil's picked up his perverse sense of humor I'm afraid. And Kimi, um, I'm not sure what she's like to Dil. The point is he's gone through unimaginable sufferings because of the strife in the group. I can see him withdrawn far inside himself, keeping the dam inside him from exploding by any means necessary. He's trying to be strong too, because I am I know. That's my brother, copying me. Sometimes it's annoying, sometimes not. Like now.
Wait, what's that they're saying up ahead?
"Didi, you should be up front with our husbands & Lulu."
"Oh, I don't know, Charlotte."
"Now now, you were closer to Lou than I was. It's my own fault, but that's how it was. You should take the other seat up front when we get there."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure. I'll be fine in the second pew with the ki- uh, the teenagers."
A gust of carbon dioxide involuntarily leaves my nose, the telltale sign of a snicker. Hiding my face behind my hand, I have to smile. I glance sidelong at my cousin to see if she picked up on her mother almost calling us kids. She didn't. She really is gone. So to speak.
This really means something to Aunt Charlotte; she left her cell phone at home, on purpose. And she's doing it at no small risk to her career. Aside from the usual crisis Jonathan calls about every five minutes, she's in line for a seat on MergeCorp's board of directors. She's been president long enough & successfully enough that she's earned it, but if the calls that she'll miss in the next hour or three are important enough she might not get it. Have I mentioned that life is not fair?
I don't have a clear view of what's going on two seats ahead of us, and something tells me I don't want to. Dad & Uncle Drew have been inconsolable. And who could blame them. It would be the same for Dil & me if we lost... I don't want to think about it. Then there's Grandma Lulu. My heart goes out to her, really, it does. I mean, Grandpa met her before he met my grandmother Trixie, my real grandmother. After fifty years the two of them finally found each other again, and then after only fourteen years... Fourteen years is not long enough. And I heard she woke up next to him with him like that. I guess that's the way I'd want to go, in my sleep, but it's a bit hard on the one next to whom I wouldn't awaken. *shudder*
We're here.
Nervous is not the word for the way that I feel right now, to paraphrase Ray Price. I've been asked to say a few words. I still have no idea what I'm going to say.
How do you eulogize your own grandfather? If anyone has any idea I'd appreciate it if you'd clue me in. And soon. All of this on top of the fact that what was the tightest-knit circle of friends that ever existed not six months ago is now in ruins. Augh, I don't need this pressure. I'm only fifteen.
Fifteen.
That seemed to be his favorite number. Every time he'd talk at length about anything it seemed, that number would slip into the conversation. He'd walk fifteen miles, or go fifteen times at something or other, or do something for fifteen years; you know, if you added up all the fifteen year stretches he claimed to have spent doing this job or that, He'd have been closer to 900 than 90, I tell ya... Wait a minute.
Could it have been a sign all these years? Was he trying to tell me that once I turned fifteen, that was it for him? I dunno, I've never been one to put stock in signs. Unlike my dad, I've never been superstitious, knock wood. Mahogany wood of course; we're in a classy funeral parlor. But I dunno, maybe there's something to it. I mean, I'm fifteen, and he lived to the age of ninety. That's fifteen times six. Chuckie pointed that out to me, at the birthday party, one of the last times the group was together.
That reminds me; I wonder if they're out there. I mean, they might not be getting along with me or with each other, but this is bigger than all of us. I'm going to sneak a look.
We're in the family section. You know the place I'm talking about if you've been to any funerals. It's at the front of the, whatever you call this, a chapel? To the side of the casket. You'd have to be in a choice few positions here to see out in the audience, or vice versa.
"Tommy? Where are you going?"
"I have to know."
"Know what?"
"I have to know!"
I walk to the edge of the family section and peek out.
There they are, and together nonetheless. All in the same pew. Phil. Lil. Kimi. Chuckie. Chuck, I mean; I'd better get used to calling him that if I want to be taken seriously as Tom. Not that either one matters any more to them. I'm pretty sure the only reason they came together is Chuckie's the only one of us with a license. Oh, they could have come with their parents, but since some of their parents are pallbearers the logistics would be problematic. Did I just say that? Wow.
*sigh* Seeing them again brings it all back.
We'd been a happy, carefree group of friends all our lives. Well, aside from whatever crap Angelica laid on us we were. And that usually didn't amount to much thanks to Susie. That those two could be best friends and worst enemies at the same time testifies to Susie's forbearance. Huh, another complicated word; I guess Chuck's rubbing off on me in that way too. He's an academic genius, you know. But more on that later.
Speaking of Chuck, that's kind of what started this whole snowball rolling: when he fell for Angelica's friend Samantha. It happened back in, when was it, sixth grade? No, it was fifth grade because that year I turned 11, or I had. Kimi's birthday was the same day, and the twins had already turned 11. Chuck was twelve; you'd think he'd be in the grade above us, but when he was about to start kindergarten his parents decided to hold him back a year so he'd be attending with the rest of us. That was nice of them if you think about it; the most important thing you can have in a public school is a circle of true friends, a pre-fab clique to defend against the cliques you know are going to be there --- the jocks, the geeks, the party crowd, the fashionable, the beautiful people, et cetera.
But I digress. The point I'm trying to make is this whole thing really started when he noticed Samantha. Not that it was really his fault; I guess when you enter puberty it comes with the territory. Look what it did to the rest of us.
About the same time, Susie was hooking up with Timmy --- who's a year older than them --- and Angelica with Dean. You know, that biker we met when he was four? He was quarterback & captain of the football team by then, taught me quite a bit about the game too; I give him at least partial credit for the success I've been having in j.v. and whatever success I'm going to have in high school. Oh, I got a girlfriend myself. Her name was Hannah; she was a stunning redhead. We're not together anymore, though. What's the term, we grew apart? I guess that's what happened.
Now we're in high school, and things have changed. We're a hardy group of freshmen & freshwomen and we've depended on each other. In some ways, going out among the established cliques, we need all the support from each other we can get. No doubt, we're much stronger together than separately.
In some ways we haven't had it so bad for freshme-, uh, whatever the gender-neutral term is. Freshers? Our elders and betters --- 'betters' applying in particular to Angelica, you can ask her yourself if you don't believe it --- had been working behind the scenes on our behalf. By the time we entered Eucaipah High School, the buzz was out. I wasn't just Tommy Pickles, cute guy (what? It's not bragging, we're all cute). I was Angelica's cousin, Dean's protege. There were seniors hitting on me. Me, a freshman! I'm not even shaving yet, much. The word was out about a certain junior's significant other too; the Chuckie-lovers were out & about. Phil had his fan club too, helmed by more seniors; it turned out Marti & Kayla remembered him from when he was their baby, briefly. And the girls, well, there was a pair of hubbas if you get my meaning. It's been relatively painless for us, and our togetherness has helped. We are a clique unto ourselves, our own little Rat Pack if you will. The jock (Kimi), the brains (Chuck), the clown (Phil), the star (Lil), the operator (me).
This past few months things had become very interesting on the romantic front. That junior whose significant other Chuck happened to be? One guess who that was. Yep, Samantha. And last year, when Chuck ended his "2.5 years" in captivity in braces, she took their relationship to the next level. At least that's the term he used. And something told me I didn't want to ask questions about it. Meanwhile, the rest of us were pairing off; Phil & Kimi, Lil & me. I didn't really figure out just how it happened; one moment we were all just friends fending off enough invites & propositions to shake a box of pick-up sticks at, the next we were more than friends. We'd gravitated toward each other. But just between us, I think I figured out how it happened. And there's the rub, a symptom of this big problem that has overtaken us.
Whuh-?
Someone has me by the elbow. I turn, & face my mother.
"Let's take our seats now, Tommy. It's about to start."
"Yes ma'am."
We return to the pews. I remember the arrangement:
First pew: Grandma Lulu, Uncle Drew, Dad, Mom.
Second pew: Aunt Charlotte, Angelica, me, Dil.
As I walk to my seat I glimpse some of the others. Grandma Lulu looks absolutely shattered. Uncle Drew & Dad aren't much better. I suddenly find the floor fascinating.
I slide into my seat next to Angelica; Dil had stood to let me in. As I slump, I can't stop thinking about them. The group. And how we undid 1 & 1/2 decades of friendship in 1 & 1/2 days or so.
And there we are, for now. Don't worry, the next part is already written & will probably be posted in a week or so. Please review, y'all. Please? Thank y'all. Of course, I'm Nftnat; on e-mail, I'm nftnat@aol.com ; and on IM I'm Nftnat .
As some might have guessed, I'm a country music fan. A few months ago I heard the song 'I Miss You a Little' by John Michael Montgomery. As soon as I heard it again, I knew I had to make a songfic out of it. But who would be the one to be missed? I first thought of Phil from Hey Arnold, but there are already a couple of fics covering his 'Last Tango In Paris', as he erroneously calls it, and besides I have my own plans for that event in my stories over there.
So my thoughts came here, to a certain Rugrats character, two of them actually. You'll figure it out, probably already have.
So, I had the idea for this. Well if you're familiar with my writings, you know that once I have an idea it has this tendency to grow, and so this one did. It wasn't long before it was too big for a songfic, so it became something that afaik is something completely new, a multi-part songfic (if this isn't the first one, someone please tell me).
Then I thought of something else. An opportunity to tie it in with the background for my Rugrats Weddings series. Bits & pieces of what happened to the gang in high school & college had been mentioned there, but like I said it was just bits & pieces. I needed to expand on what they went through to get to where they are in TRW. I needed to explain how they ended up the way they did. That explanation starts here.
So, without further filibustering, here is I Miss You a Little, Part I. Please read it, and when you've finished, please review it. Thank y'all.
Rugrats and all Rugrats concepts are created, owned, and / or copyrighted by Klasky-Csupo and / or Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom.
Crazy Arms by Ray Price, referenced here, was done in 1956 on the Columbia label.
I've been thinking about it, & I have come to an obvious and inescapable conclusion: this past few days have been the absolute worst of my life, no contest.
Today might be the worst of all time. It would have stiff competition from the few days before it, but tell me this. What day would be worse than a day on which you say good-bye forever --- at least, in this world --- to two of the best & closest friends you have ever known? Two people who have been there for you since the day you were born.
All right, only one of them was human, but the other one has meant more to me than many of the people I have known, and that's saying something.
*knock knock*
I'd better get that. Excuse me while I go open the door to my room.
"Mom?"
"It's time. We're ready to go."
"Uncle Drew & Aunt Charlotte?"
"They and Angelica arrived five minutes ago. Angelica's already in the limo. You're the only one we're waiting on."
"I'm sorry. I, "
"You don't have to explain, sweetheart. You're probably suffering the most of any of us."
"Yeah," I whisper.
That sends her over the edge a bit. She cries, we hug, et cetera.
"You going to be all right now?"
"I'm your mother, I should be asking you that question."
"If I see a need, I'll ask."
"You always were so sweet and nice."
"Yeah, tell that to my friends. If I still have any left."
"Oh..." she calls my name. Followed by more hugging. And more crying. And more comforting. And each of those goes both ways. I know it's not cool for a teenager to be seen with his or her parents, but I really don't mind. Especially at times like this.
Anyway, we stop hugging, and I know it's time. I open my mouth.
"I'll get my coat, turn the light off, and I'll be there. You go ahead."
"All right. Don't be long, dear."
"I won't." I give her one of my famous smiles, the kind that has been known to charm females of all ages. You think that's conceited? I've seen it at work.
She leaves, and I do what I said I would do. Better hurry; the rest of the family is probably already in the car.
Remember I said this is one of the worst days of my life? And it's hours until noon yet. Both funerals are still in front of me, of us.
The limousine is white. Appropriate for a funeral home? I don't know. My first thought on the subject is that it should be black, but I just don't know. I remember once, I heard Mrs. Finster say that in certain parts of the Orient they wear white to funerals. Makes me re-think weddings.
Speaking of, I wonder what the Finsters are doing right now. And the Devilles. Um, I'll get back to that later.
The limo has three seats, not counting the front. It's about full. Dad & Uncle Drew & Grandma Lulu are in the first seat, Mom & Aunt Charlotte in the second, and us teenagers in the third.
We teenagers seem to be arranged according to age. Angelica's on one side of me, Dil on the other. And to look at us, one would think I'm the happy one among us. I'm not the happy one; I'm just the one who thinks he has to be strong for the others.
I look to one side. Angelica. Mom said she was the first one in the limo. With the a/c on it's hard to tell. Not that it helps her looks or her mood. Mind you, she is turning out to be gorgeous, but... Y'know, I get the feeling that if I waved my hand in front of her face, or even snapped my fingers in front of her, she wouldn't react. She seems catatonic. Not that I would dare, not at this time or in this place.
You wouldn't know she'd just snagged her best friend's boyfriend. At least, I think she & Susie are still best friends; I haven't really been paying as much attention to the goings-on across the street as I should have been lately. If they're on the outs it would be par for the course. Why not burn all relationships while we're at it, so many have gone down lately. Not that I'd want that. Everyone loves Susie, she's the only sane one. Our mentor. It wasn't right, what Angelica did; I feel sorry for Susie because of it, but... I just don't know.
I turn to my other side. Dil. Talk about feeling sorry for someone. These past weeks, months, have been Hell on the little guy. Chuckie's been like a second father to him, and Lil like a second mother. And Phil like a crazy uncle, Dil's picked up his perverse sense of humor I'm afraid. And Kimi, um, I'm not sure what she's like to Dil. The point is he's gone through unimaginable sufferings because of the strife in the group. I can see him withdrawn far inside himself, keeping the dam inside him from exploding by any means necessary. He's trying to be strong too, because I am I know. That's my brother, copying me. Sometimes it's annoying, sometimes not. Like now.
Wait, what's that they're saying up ahead?
"Didi, you should be up front with our husbands & Lulu."
"Oh, I don't know, Charlotte."
"Now now, you were closer to Lou than I was. It's my own fault, but that's how it was. You should take the other seat up front when we get there."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure. I'll be fine in the second pew with the ki- uh, the teenagers."
A gust of carbon dioxide involuntarily leaves my nose, the telltale sign of a snicker. Hiding my face behind my hand, I have to smile. I glance sidelong at my cousin to see if she picked up on her mother almost calling us kids. She didn't. She really is gone. So to speak.
This really means something to Aunt Charlotte; she left her cell phone at home, on purpose. And she's doing it at no small risk to her career. Aside from the usual crisis Jonathan calls about every five minutes, she's in line for a seat on MergeCorp's board of directors. She's been president long enough & successfully enough that she's earned it, but if the calls that she'll miss in the next hour or three are important enough she might not get it. Have I mentioned that life is not fair?
I don't have a clear view of what's going on two seats ahead of us, and something tells me I don't want to. Dad & Uncle Drew have been inconsolable. And who could blame them. It would be the same for Dil & me if we lost... I don't want to think about it. Then there's Grandma Lulu. My heart goes out to her, really, it does. I mean, Grandpa met her before he met my grandmother Trixie, my real grandmother. After fifty years the two of them finally found each other again, and then after only fourteen years... Fourteen years is not long enough. And I heard she woke up next to him with him like that. I guess that's the way I'd want to go, in my sleep, but it's a bit hard on the one next to whom I wouldn't awaken. *shudder*
We're here.
Nervous is not the word for the way that I feel right now, to paraphrase Ray Price. I've been asked to say a few words. I still have no idea what I'm going to say.
How do you eulogize your own grandfather? If anyone has any idea I'd appreciate it if you'd clue me in. And soon. All of this on top of the fact that what was the tightest-knit circle of friends that ever existed not six months ago is now in ruins. Augh, I don't need this pressure. I'm only fifteen.
Fifteen.
That seemed to be his favorite number. Every time he'd talk at length about anything it seemed, that number would slip into the conversation. He'd walk fifteen miles, or go fifteen times at something or other, or do something for fifteen years; you know, if you added up all the fifteen year stretches he claimed to have spent doing this job or that, He'd have been closer to 900 than 90, I tell ya... Wait a minute.
Could it have been a sign all these years? Was he trying to tell me that once I turned fifteen, that was it for him? I dunno, I've never been one to put stock in signs. Unlike my dad, I've never been superstitious, knock wood. Mahogany wood of course; we're in a classy funeral parlor. But I dunno, maybe there's something to it. I mean, I'm fifteen, and he lived to the age of ninety. That's fifteen times six. Chuckie pointed that out to me, at the birthday party, one of the last times the group was together.
That reminds me; I wonder if they're out there. I mean, they might not be getting along with me or with each other, but this is bigger than all of us. I'm going to sneak a look.
We're in the family section. You know the place I'm talking about if you've been to any funerals. It's at the front of the, whatever you call this, a chapel? To the side of the casket. You'd have to be in a choice few positions here to see out in the audience, or vice versa.
"Tommy? Where are you going?"
"I have to know."
"Know what?"
"I have to know!"
I walk to the edge of the family section and peek out.
There they are, and together nonetheless. All in the same pew. Phil. Lil. Kimi. Chuckie. Chuck, I mean; I'd better get used to calling him that if I want to be taken seriously as Tom. Not that either one matters any more to them. I'm pretty sure the only reason they came together is Chuckie's the only one of us with a license. Oh, they could have come with their parents, but since some of their parents are pallbearers the logistics would be problematic. Did I just say that? Wow.
*sigh* Seeing them again brings it all back.
We'd been a happy, carefree group of friends all our lives. Well, aside from whatever crap Angelica laid on us we were. And that usually didn't amount to much thanks to Susie. That those two could be best friends and worst enemies at the same time testifies to Susie's forbearance. Huh, another complicated word; I guess Chuck's rubbing off on me in that way too. He's an academic genius, you know. But more on that later.
Speaking of Chuck, that's kind of what started this whole snowball rolling: when he fell for Angelica's friend Samantha. It happened back in, when was it, sixth grade? No, it was fifth grade because that year I turned 11, or I had. Kimi's birthday was the same day, and the twins had already turned 11. Chuck was twelve; you'd think he'd be in the grade above us, but when he was about to start kindergarten his parents decided to hold him back a year so he'd be attending with the rest of us. That was nice of them if you think about it; the most important thing you can have in a public school is a circle of true friends, a pre-fab clique to defend against the cliques you know are going to be there --- the jocks, the geeks, the party crowd, the fashionable, the beautiful people, et cetera.
But I digress. The point I'm trying to make is this whole thing really started when he noticed Samantha. Not that it was really his fault; I guess when you enter puberty it comes with the territory. Look what it did to the rest of us.
About the same time, Susie was hooking up with Timmy --- who's a year older than them --- and Angelica with Dean. You know, that biker we met when he was four? He was quarterback & captain of the football team by then, taught me quite a bit about the game too; I give him at least partial credit for the success I've been having in j.v. and whatever success I'm going to have in high school. Oh, I got a girlfriend myself. Her name was Hannah; she was a stunning redhead. We're not together anymore, though. What's the term, we grew apart? I guess that's what happened.
Now we're in high school, and things have changed. We're a hardy group of freshmen & freshwomen and we've depended on each other. In some ways, going out among the established cliques, we need all the support from each other we can get. No doubt, we're much stronger together than separately.
In some ways we haven't had it so bad for freshme-, uh, whatever the gender-neutral term is. Freshers? Our elders and betters --- 'betters' applying in particular to Angelica, you can ask her yourself if you don't believe it --- had been working behind the scenes on our behalf. By the time we entered Eucaipah High School, the buzz was out. I wasn't just Tommy Pickles, cute guy (what? It's not bragging, we're all cute). I was Angelica's cousin, Dean's protege. There were seniors hitting on me. Me, a freshman! I'm not even shaving yet, much. The word was out about a certain junior's significant other too; the Chuckie-lovers were out & about. Phil had his fan club too, helmed by more seniors; it turned out Marti & Kayla remembered him from when he was their baby, briefly. And the girls, well, there was a pair of hubbas if you get my meaning. It's been relatively painless for us, and our togetherness has helped. We are a clique unto ourselves, our own little Rat Pack if you will. The jock (Kimi), the brains (Chuck), the clown (Phil), the star (Lil), the operator (me).
This past few months things had become very interesting on the romantic front. That junior whose significant other Chuck happened to be? One guess who that was. Yep, Samantha. And last year, when Chuck ended his "2.5 years" in captivity in braces, she took their relationship to the next level. At least that's the term he used. And something told me I didn't want to ask questions about it. Meanwhile, the rest of us were pairing off; Phil & Kimi, Lil & me. I didn't really figure out just how it happened; one moment we were all just friends fending off enough invites & propositions to shake a box of pick-up sticks at, the next we were more than friends. We'd gravitated toward each other. But just between us, I think I figured out how it happened. And there's the rub, a symptom of this big problem that has overtaken us.
Whuh-?
Someone has me by the elbow. I turn, & face my mother.
"Let's take our seats now, Tommy. It's about to start."
"Yes ma'am."
We return to the pews. I remember the arrangement:
First pew: Grandma Lulu, Uncle Drew, Dad, Mom.
Second pew: Aunt Charlotte, Angelica, me, Dil.
As I walk to my seat I glimpse some of the others. Grandma Lulu looks absolutely shattered. Uncle Drew & Dad aren't much better. I suddenly find the floor fascinating.
I slide into my seat next to Angelica; Dil had stood to let me in. As I slump, I can't stop thinking about them. The group. And how we undid 1 & 1/2 decades of friendship in 1 & 1/2 days or so.
And there we are, for now. Don't worry, the next part is already written & will probably be posted in a week or so. Please review, y'all. Please? Thank y'all. Of course, I'm Nftnat; on e-mail, I'm nftnat@aol.com ; and on IM I'm Nftnat .