Margaret Fisher, her husband, Dean Fisher and their two sons, eight-year-old Kenny and six-year-old Brandon lived on 19 Cedar Drive in Brick Hill, two doors down from the Fleming's. On Kenny's eighth birthday, the Fleming's moved out and two days later, I moved in.
I'm Sarah Brighton. My parents are Jennifer and Brian Brighton. I have an older sister, Tami and two younger brothers, Jay and Ethan. It was a Saturday, the day I moved in. I was stuck between Tami and Ethan, with Jay in the front in our sky blue mini-van, driving on our way to the new house. I had already memorized the address, and I kept repeating it over and over in my head. 23 Cedar Drive, 23 Cedar Drive, 23 Cedar Drive.
I was only eight, just like Kenny, but I didn't know him yet. My old address was 98 Elgin Road, back then I lived in March Park. When we finally arrived at the house, I was sad, but the others didn't seem to mind it. My room was across the hall from Jay's and next door to my parents. It was a small house, but I liked it for the most part. I went walking to see the neighborhood, and I ran into a small boy with reddish-black hair and green eyes.
I fell on my leg, and the boy picked me back up when he saw I was crying. He didn't pick on me like Colin Karat or Judah Spencer did back on Elgin Road. I was still rubbing my nose, when he took my hand and said, "I'm Kenny Fisher. Do you need a band aide?" I nodded shyly, and he walked me to his house, my hand still in his. For some reason, Kenny always felt warm to me. Even when he handed me the band aide, his hands were warm. I sat down on a chair in his kitchen, my knee up to my chin. Kenny's mother came in and sighed.
"Kenny! Stop bringing people into our house because you think they need help!" Margaret Fisher said sternly, looking into Kenny's eyes. He whispered, "I'm sorry. But, Mom, she's new." Mrs. Fisher pulled my chin out from under my knee and gasped. She took my hand and kissed my cheek.
"Oh, I'm so sorry dear! I didn't know you were one of the new neighbors! From here it looked like you were Paige Brooks! Oh, dear, I made a mistake, sorry Kenny!" Mrs. Fisher said, and she pulled Kenny into a hug. His ears turned red, and he smiled sheepishly.
"What's your name dear?" she asked, holding my hand again. I told her I was Sarah Brighton and that I lived two houses down from their house. After awhile, Kenny and I were down in his basement acting like we were in Miami Vice. For the next three years we were the best of friends.
He used to always sleepover my house, and we would watch scary movies like American Werewolf in London, Children of the Corn, and Cujo Every night, he had to sleep with the hall light on. And the thing I loved about him was that he always bought me stuff. Kenny and I were best friends, but then the sixth grade happened.
It was high school graduation, and I was sitting on the bench, thinking about the past few years. A couple of flashbacks appeared in my mind.
"Kenny! Kenny!" I shouted, running up the steps of Kenny's house, crying. Kenny jumped outside and we sat down on the porch steps. When I had settled down, he whispered in my ear, "Okay, Sarah, what happened?" I was still shaking, and when he put his warm hands on my shoulders I stopped. We were about ten, it was 1984. My dog, Pete had died. The only person who could help me was Kenny.
"Pete… he got run over!" I cried, and Kenny held me. That night, we rented my favorite movie, Popeye and he slept over my house. At about ten at night, he reached over my sleeping bag to reach for the popcorn and I rolled over to kiss him. Our faces got close, and then we turned away to watch Quantum Leap. That was awkward.
Another time, we were watching The Fox and the Hound and we had a biiiig bowl of Swedish Fish and he must have eaten about eighty of them and at eleven, he was blowing chunks all over the bathroom. We both thought it was hilarious.
And I remember the time that Kenny found out that he had to move to Michigan. His father had been transferred, because he worked in the military. And we were crying and packing his stuff and his father came in the room and started to laugh harder than ever before. Me and Kenny started to hit him in the legs when he finally stopped laughing and said, "Kenny, we are not moving! I was joking!" We were so mad at him! Every Valentine's Day, Kenny would buy me a card and a bag of candy hearts. When we turned ten, he told me something I never forgot. "Sarah, I promise, we'll be friends forever." Kenny lied. That's all I knew.
"Sarah. Sarah... its Preston. EARTH TO SARAH!" Preston Myers yelled in my ear. He shook me and I awakened from my trance.
"What, huh? Oh, hey Preston. Sorry, I was daydreaming." I said. Preston was my new best friend, ever since Kenny stopped talking to me. I don't know why he did that, but he wanted to sit with the people that were trendy and I was mad. I really thought Kenny and I would still be together.
"So, we've graduated. You excited?" Preston asked me. I shrugged and said, "Well, at least high school is over."
"Well anyway there's a party tonight" Preston informed me.
"Dude! Rock on!" I said.
"Guess who's gonna be there, and currently single?" Preston asked.
"Let me guess….. AMANDA BECKETT!" I was being sarcastic. Suddenly Kenny walked by and said, "Yo, I gotsta have sex tonight!" I rolled my eyes, simply annoyed at what Kenny just said.
I can't believe Kenny is actually like this nowadays, I thought to myself. Again, Preston interrupted my day dreamy state by saying, "Yeah, Amanda Beckett!"
I rolled my eyes again and jumped off the bench. Preston followed me. I passed William Lichter and his two friends, Geoff Love and Murray Hall. I heard them talking about this jock, Mike Dexter, who I thought was a complete ass. Then we passed Molly Hewitt, who was having the party tonight, and Mike Dexter and his three jock friends, Jake Paulson, Ben Embry and T.J. Michael and their girlfriends, Beth Zanier, Cindi Reilly and Rachel Cosmo. They had been together forever.
There were others, but we didn't notice. There was the exchanged student, Olaf Rodriguez. There was Ron Beckett, Amanda's cousin, Jimmy Green, Sammy Martin, Richie Jayne, Dan Palatino, Brian Whaled, Carl Pressly, Woody Jones, Lynn Peterson, Matt Waco, Ashley Paulo, Jana Owen and the druggies, Flower Shannon and Steve Sounded. I got into Preston's car and we were off.
"Stephanie McClain, Mary Nichols, Candy Saber, Vicki Silverback, Walter Siegel, Trip McNeely! Oh, my God, look. Trip is right next to Amanda! Look, look! Sarah, look." Preston yelled through the music. I looked over, and there was Amanda right next to Trip McNeely. Preston rushed over, and then stopped.
"Are you going to be okay?" Preston asked me and I nodded and looked around.
"Yeah, I'll get a ride from Sydney Moss. I'll be fine. Go get her, Tiger." I said, and walked away. I went into the kitchen and sat on the counter, as Molly passed me, her hair all messed up. She was muttering something about stains and towels, when my cell phone rang. It was Tami. I went into the quietest room and talked to her.
"Tami? I'm at a party." I said, whispering.
"Ooh, sorry, I forgot, Sarah. I'll call you later." Tami said, and I interrupted her.
"No, it's alright, how are you?" I asked.
"I'm okay. Listen, I can't watch the little ones tomorrow, can you?"
"I dunno, I'll talk to you later." I said and we both hung up. When I came out of the room, Vicki Silverback was standing right beside me.
"Hi, Sarah! You forgot to sign my yearbook!" she squealed. I quickly signed it and rushed out of her way. I went back into the kitchen, and looked through the window that led to the other room and saw Kenny talking to himself in front of the mirror. I sighed and ignored him. An hour later, I met up with Preston again, who had had no luck with Amanda and decided to give up.
"No! Never give up, Preston!" I yelled, poking him.
"But she doesn't even know who I am." I sighed and grabbed his shoulders and said, "Make her notice." He shook his head and went to go find her again. An hour later, I had to go to the bathroom but the line was way too long. I went over to Molly, and asked her if there was an upstairs bathroom. She turned around and screamed.
"YEAH! GO AHEAD, I DON'T CARE! OH, WAIT, YEAH I DO!" So I went upstairs, trying not to bother Flower and Steve. I went up the stairs, wiping the dust off of my skirt. I looked around the hall and found the bathroom. It was only a little bit open, so I went straight in. I opened the door and practically screamed. Kenny Fisher was at the closet door, his baggy jeans all the way down to his knees, and his red boxers showing. He was blow drying himself and had packs of condoms in his mouth. He looked up at me and screamed, "SHUT THAT DOOR!" I slammed it and he ran over, tripping on the wires.
"No, I mean get out!" Kenny yelled again, his pants up now.
"I'm trying!" I yelled. I jiggled the silver doorknob and Kenny yelled, "Move it, woman!" He pushed in front of me and pulled hard on the door. Then, the doorknob came off. We looked at each other and started to pound on the door and we both screamed, "NOOOOO!" We were stuck.
Kenny was banging his hands on the door for about three minutes yelling, "Let us out ,bitch!" The banging got quieter and quieter and I finally said, "Kenny, you know they can't hear us, right?" He stared at me and rolled his eyes. He walked slowly backward, in defeat and then her ran towards the door and screamed. He ran into the door and fell, finally defeated.
I looked at him and asked, "You good?" He stared at me and grumbled.
"Woman, this is all your fault. Bargin' in here like a moose. Going, 'RAHHH!'" Kenny shouted.
"Well, if I'd known you would be in here with your pants down, I wouldn't have come in." I said, pointing to his love kit on the counter.
"Yo, don't touch that!" Kenny yelled, smacking my hand, "I was just getting my shit ready!"
"Your, um, shit?" I said. I couldn't believe him.
"Yeah, my shit! For your information, there is a super-mad honey down there, just waiting—dying—to have sex with me!" he said and I rolled my eyes again. Well, later I heard that the girl and her boyfriend got back together right that minute. What irony.
Kenny sat on the toilet and softly banged his head against the wall behind him. I looked at him and asked, "Do you like that, Kenny?" He glared at me again and said, "Damn, woman, why you gotta be such a ragin' bitch?"
"Dude, I don't know if you realized this, but, uh, you're white!" I yelled, pointing at the mirror.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. In his normal voice, he nodded and said, "I don't always talk like that."
"Yeah, that's what I thought." I said and punched his arm. He rubbed his arm weakly and glared again.
"Yeah, but what about you, huh? You're Miss Social Butterfly! You and your little giggly friends think you're soo superior than everybody else and shit!" he whined.
"Okay, I am not superior. I'm more inferior!" I added. I walked over to the sink and leaned over it.
"So why do you care about what I think about you anyway? I mean you haven't spoken to me since the sixth grade!" I added. He looked up again and said, "No, you stopped speaking to me!"
"Alright, okay, whatever." I replied. He sat up and said, "Damn, you got—you have no idea what you're talkin' about." He rubbed his arms and added, "You don't even know me anymore."
"Yeah, yeah I do know you! I know exactly who you are. You're Kenny Fisher...we used to...we used to play Miami Vice in my basement. You used to sleepover my house...you had to leave the hall light on every night. You're Kenny Fisher who used to buy me a card every Valentine's Day and a bag of those little hearts with the words on them. And you're Kenny Fisher who suddenly got too cool to hang out with me when we hit junior high. Cause, I was in all the smart classes, and cause my parent's didn't make a lot of money. And cause you desperately needed to sit at the trendy table in the cafeteria." I said, I was beginning to see his real side.
He got up and lay in the bathtub and I sat on the toilet. I stared to stare at the ceiling. He hopped out of the tub and stood in front of me, jumping around.
"Get up," he said. I stared at him and asked, "What?"
"I gotta pee!" he yelled, still jumping. I freaked.
"No, you're not peeing in here!" I yelled.
"It's a bathroom!" he yelled.
"Yeah, I know!" I yelled back. He jumped in front of me and said, "Okay, are you gonna move cause I'm going!"
"Okay, be my guest!" I said and got up and turned around. He looked at me and then at the lights above him and back at me, not sure what to do. He turned down the lights and looked back at me again. He lifted the toilet seat and started to pee and I sat in the bathtub and just waited.
"So, what were you like saving up all that stuff to tell me?" he asked. He was still peeing and I said, "Okay, let's wait until you've stopped your business?"
"Well, waiting for six years isn't very smart!" he snapped and zipped up his fly and flushed the toilet. He even put the seat down. So, so polite.
"Well, you could've mentioned something", he said. I realized I loved his voice. He slouched onto the sink and I added, "I couldn't talk to you. You always ignored me in the halls. Or maybe when you were writing, 'Sarah Brighton is a tampon,' on my locker freshman year."
"I did not write 'Sarah Brighton is a… tampon' on your locker!"
"Yeah, like you didn't kill my Cabbage Patch Doll in second grade either!" I yelled.
"You remember second grade? And besides, I admitted that right away!" he replied.
"No, uh-uh! I picked her up, her head fell off and you started to cry! It kind of tipped me off!" I added.
"I did not cry…" he added, "Much," he muttered, "Okay, I told John Kaiserman to write, 'Sarah Brighton is a tampon,' but I swear I felt REALLY bad afterwards," he admitted. An awkward silence, and then "It's okay, I told Sydney Moss that you were a dendrophiliac." He chuckled and said "Wait, what is that?"
"It's someone who has sex with trees." I replied. We laughed and he stopped and said, "That's not funny." We looked at each other and laughed again. We started to reminisce and singing "The Right Stuff" by New Kids on the Block. I clapped my hands and slid to the floor.
"God, acid-wash jeans!" Kenny laughed and I clapped again.
"Yes well, you were a fashion victim from the womb!" I laughed and he nodded and said, "Well, I've gotten better since then."
"Yeah, if you want to fit a family of five in your pants!" I added. He snapped, "Oh, shut up these are cool."
"Alright, but what's up with the goggles?"
"Everyone is wearing these!" He took off the goggles and said, "Okay, but look at you… your shoes! Those shoes!"
"What about my shoes?"
"Do they serve an… orthopedic function?" he asked. I took them off and added, "Well, I wouldn't be talking about your shoes! Are you going to the moon later?" He took them off and muttered, "Your feet smell." We laughed and I shoved him. He leaned over and kissed me, really fast. We looked at each other for a while, confused and I kissed him back, we kissed again and I pulled him down to the bathroom floor with me. He kissed me again and he took off his shirt. We were under the sink now and he bumped his head on the pipe, and bumped it again.
"Ow, ow!" he yelped and we kissed again. I took my black tee off and he took his pants off. We kissed and he pressed me on the floor and said, "Have you ever done this before?"
"Yeah… once with this one guy…" I nodded.
"I don't want to know, no, I don't want to know." He kissed me again and we smiled. He paused, stared into my eyes, and kissed me passionately, it was the best kiss of my entire life. He looked me in the eyes again and kissed me again and again and again. His tongue and his whole body felt so warm, I couldn't stand it. He pushed his chest up against me and kissed my eyelids and my arms and my cheeks and my stomach and my legs. I was out of breath. I leaned against him again and kissed him hard and long.
"I love you, Sarah." Kenny whispered. I kissed him and said back, "Just shut up." When I first met Kenny he was weak, but now, I felt his muscles, his arms and chest and stomach. His whole body was hard and strong and warm, and my love for Kenny overwhelmed me and we thrusted over again and moaned. We thrusted and kissed and I never knew how much I felt for Kenny. I pulled on his lips again and again and he pulled me up with each kiss, my love for him stronger than ever before.