"Detweiler!" Coach called. TJ puffed over to the coach, hoping that the coach wasn't about to grill him for the stunt he had just pulled. Nervously, he attempted to flatten his unruly hair. It was so unlike Coach's severe buzz cut. Coach chuckled as TJ's hand collided with the plastic of his helmet instead.
Argh! Crap. TJ winced mentally.
"Yes, Coach?" He looked the coach straight in the eye; it was unlike TJ to be disrespectful even when he was self-conscious.
"That stunt you pulled there was highly unconventional. Highly unconventional. Any other player would have broken his neck. Very risky, very risky. Well done," he barked, and dismissed TJ with a stern nod. TJ grinned and walked into the changing rooms. A couple of his teammates grinned at him and one or two clapped him on the back. Receiving compliments from Coach was indeed a rare occurrence. Feeling satisfied, TJ hauled himself into the shower.
Ten minutes later, TJ left the changing room with Paul and Farley, who walked a similar route to him. He found himself drifting away from their conversation about their French paper. French wasn't a subject he took and he had little interest in it. The setting sun cast a harmonious glow in the air, the sort of thing TJ liked to watch from the top of his roof. He recalled one memorable time when he had crawled out of his parents' bedroom window onto the roof with Spinelli. Uncharacteristically, her brow was smooth, and the little dimple on the side of her mouth that appeared when she angry had departed. She had laughed a lot; more than usual, and her face was radiant. It seemed that that afternoon was too far away: lately Spinelli was overcome by volatile mood swings. She would carelessly laugh and then suddenly frown, withdrawing into herself. TJ could make no sense of it, and it concerned him. He was worried about her, but every time he voiced his concern she would say that he wouldn't understand…
- flashback –
Spinelli doodled aimlessly in her History notebook. To the unpracticed eye, this behavior was characteristic for her, but TJ saw how her left fist was clenched, and her mouth pulled down, forming a dimple on her left cheek.
As the bell rang, TJ tapped her arm.
"What's wrong, Spin?" She stared at him with a troubled expression.
"Nothing." He wished she wouldn't lie.
"Don't lie, I know something's wrong…"
She smiled falsely.
"Nothing's wrong, TJ. If there was, you wouldn't get it anyway."
"TJ!" Gretchen touched his shoulder. "Want to come to Kelso's later?" TJ spun around to answer her before Spinelli could get away, but before his mouth even opened, he heard someone stomp out of the classroom. He didn't need to turn to see who it was.
- end flashback –
If Spinelli would just tell him what was going on, he could help her. TJ could think of only one cause for those abominable mood swings: guy-trouble. And, as likely as this was, he was in utter denial about it. She was being so stupid about everything. Gretchen, on the other hand, talked about things. She didn't bottle it all up and try and work it out with a fist and a soccer ball.
Yeah, but if it was Gretchen on the roof that day, seeing her laugh wouldn't have been nearly as nice, TJ thought. It was true. Making Spinelli happy was something he enjoyed immensely; whereas making Gretchen smile was run-of-the-mill. He supposed that if Gretchen was his best friend it would have been the other way around.
He shook his head as if to clear it, and heard Paul and Farley's loud voices charged into his head. Absently looking around, he caught sight of a strange figure doing something that made him want to play detective. He felt a sense of excitement fill him, as if he was a five year old.
"Hey, guys, I'm gonna head off here… See ya 'round," he said to Paul and Farley. They bade him farewell and he waved, turning into a street he knew better than the back of his hand. He had spied a small figure climbing over the fence of Third Street Elementary. It intrigued him that the figure was too big to have been some kid who left his yo-yo on the playground. He squinted forward when a familiar voice cried:
"Hey! TJ!"
Spinelli? What was she doing there? As he walked towards her he wiped his hand across his forehead, hoping that no sweat lingered there, before remembering that he had showered. He grinned as he took in the tatty orange ski cap she had pulled over her hair. He remembered that.
"Hey Spinelli! What're you doing here?" Something that makes you happy, I hope… he thought slightly bitterly.
"I was… just remembering. Thinking, really. I miss it here." TJ nodded. He got that. He also missed the simplicity of elementary school. Good guys fight bad guys and everyone's happy in the end. He missed pranking daily and he missed messing around at recess, not sitting at tables in some dumb white cafeteria.
"Yeah, I know, I do, too," he said. Maybe Spinelli would smile now, remembering the good times when – no, she bit her lip instead. So she had something on her mind. TJ was determined to find out this time. Maybe being back at her old school had made her realize that she was being stupid about not telling him.
"Let's, um, walk," Spinelli said in a peculiar voice. She sounded hesitant. He looked over at her, expecting the dimple and frown, but instead found her gazing up at the night sky, a thoughtful, inquisitive look on her upturned face. TJ relaxed. This was Spinelli. Momentarily satisfied, he let his thoughts drift off; remembering a certain time when he and Vince had pulled a prank on –
"Teej…" Spinelli said softly. He turned to her.
"Yeah?"
"You know when I said I was thinking on Old Rusty?"
"Yup?"
"Well, I… I was thinking about something I wanted to tell you…" Relief washed through him. No more worrying about what was eating her. Surely he could help her; she'd be happy again.
"Yeah, what?" He asked lightly. Myriad expressions seemed to cross her twilit face at once, and then one blazing look took over.
"I love you." TJ felt himself blink. He felt strangely disembodied, as if he couldn't control his limbs. For a moment, there was silence while he attempted to make sense of the situation. Was he sweating? No, no, he had just showered.
"Uhm," he grunted. He didn't know what to say. Within some part of him, his chest he thought, a great creature seemed to be hooting in delight. And then suddenly the creature's monstrous joy consumed him and he grabbed Spinelli by the shoulders, planting a kiss on her bewildered lips. He let her go, smiling so widely he thought his cheeks might pop.
"Um…" he said, and to his surprise, heat flooded to his cheeks. Spinelli looked flustered, but her eyes were shining brightly as if two stars were captured within them.
"I... I love you, too. Always," he said giddily.
Then he took her small hand in his and walked her home, all the time smiling at her glowing face.
