The BSC Legacy – Book 4: Adolescence Passing
By: CNJ
PG-13
7: News Of The New Year 2001
Mona:
I was glad Mary Anne got
back from Iowa to be back here in time for New Year's Eve. Iowa had gotten
several inches of snow and Stoneybrook had gotten a light powdering of
snow for the holidays. Caitlin Giotti was throwing a huge New Year's bash
at her house and invited all of us BSC, the ones who would be in town for
the party. Some of us spent the night; in fact, a whole bunch of us did.
Kristy's cousins Singer, Brenda, and Linda were there too. Stacey, Claudia,
Abby, and Anna were still out of town, so when midnight came, we clinked
glasses and cups in a toast for them too. It seemed like there were about
fifty kids there and we crowded into the den to watch the ball drop in
Times Square. I remembered how last year the BSC had been in New York City
for Y2K and had seen the ball drop from a high office window.
"...seven...six...five...four...three...two...ONE..."
almost everyone chimed in along with the announcer and the crowd in NYC.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!" Kids whooped as the ball dropped and I giggled
as I saw Kristy and David Amesworth smooch. Mary Anne and I hugged and
I could see tears in Mary Anne's eyes. I can't believe it's the year 2001!
I thought as I watched kids laugh, whoop, and hug. Couples also smooched.
I even saw a couple on the couch with their hands into each others' clothes,
whooping noisily and I wondered if they'd had too much to drink when they
thunked to the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
The BSC and about a dozen
other kids had stayed for the night, so we spread out sleeping bags all
over the den and living room.
"Four more months," Mona
whispered after all the lights were out.
"Yeah..." I knew what she
meant. In four more months we'll be through with high school. Graduating.
We've all sent out our applications for college. I've sent mine to Staten
U. in NYC, Arizona U., Farar U. in upstate New York, and New York U. Dawn
said she'd applied to Tucson U. in Arizona. She wants to go back west for
college. Now we're all just waiting for responses, waiting to see where
we're accepted. I turned in my sleeping bag and realized that my hand was
in my mouth. I took it out quickly, realizing that I'd been nipping on
my index finger nail. It's a good thing I don't bite my nails as much as
I used to because if I did, they'd be bitten down by now with all the worrying
and waiting.
"Mary Anne..." Mona whispered.
"You still awake?"
"Yeah..."
"I can't stop thinking about
how it's all going to be so different next year."
"Me either," I whispered
back. "I really can't wait to be on my own, but at the same time, it's
going to feel really weird not seeing you all on a daily basis."
"Yeah...same here." Mona
stretched out in her bag and I think she was looking up at the ceiling,
but it was too dark to tell for sure. "I applied at Staten U., Hartford
U., and Connecticut U. I just hope my grades are good enough and my applications
convincing enough for me to get in....hey, you applied at Staten U., didn't
you?"
"Yes, I did," I whispered.
"If we both get in and we
both decide to go there, think we can be roommates?" Mona asked.
"Hey, that's a possibility,"
I twirled the edge of my pillowcase. "I just hope we're both admitted."
"You'll make it in," Mona
told me. "You're always on the honor roll and a great student."
"I guess..." I remembered
ninth grade home ec class where I didn't do so swell that first quarter.
"I just hope they can overlook the C minus I got in ninth grade home ec.
I got into an argument with Ms. Brauman then. It was a stupid argument,
but I would up with a C minus."
"Oh, wow, that's too bad,"
Mona whispered. "I'm sure they won't turn you down based on one C minus
in four years, considering that you've gotten mostly A's."
"Well, at least they'll
know that I don't plan to be a chef," I quipped and we both giggled softly.
I've never been good at cooking and I don't like to cook, so that was part
of the trouble. We whispered a few ponderings on our futures before drifting
off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up around dawn having
to pee. I slowly got up and walked around the bags where everyone else
was still asleep, being careful not to trip over anyone. Once I got to
the bathroom, I almost fell over Kristy and David, who were making out
by the stairs.
"Oh..." I gasped. "I didn't
know you were up. Hi."
"Hi..." They said softly.
"Happy New Year," Kristy
grinned.
"Happy New Year." I swallowed.
"I'm just headed to the bathroom...to pee and all." I groped my way to
the bathroom and nearly collided with Tim Hastings, who'd also spent the
night.
"WHOOOOPS!" He hooted and
laughed.
"Ooops, sorry..." I muttered.
"My, you're very polite,"
Tim grinned down at me.
"Thanks," I blushed and
ran into the bathroom, closing the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We'd rolled up our sleeping
bags and most of the other sleepover guests were headed home. Kristy, Caitlin,
Mona, Dawn, and I cleaned up the kitchen and started out for a walk.
"Heeey, can I get a lift
from one of you?" Tim was near his car...or I think it was his parents'
car. We looked at each other.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
"Back at Applespires Way,"
Tim told us.
"I can," I offered. "Mona,
Dawn, and I live near there." Mona and Dawn nodded.
"Thanks."
"We're going for a walk
first," Mona told him. "Want to come?"
"Sure." Tim trotted over
to us. He walked next to me and we talked more about college and our futures.
It was freezing out and there were patches of snow and ice that we had
to dodge over.
"This year is jumping by
us," Dawn told us.
"It is," Mona agreed. "Our
last New Year's day as high school students."
"Then look out, world, ready
or not, here we come!" Kristy bellowed.
"Yeah, the world ought to
look out especially when Kristy steams her way into it next year!" Dawn
joked.
"Yep, I plan to revolutionize
the world!" Kristy picked up a snowball and lobbed it at a tree. "After
all, we changed Stoneybrook High for the better with last year's Operation
Today's Good Youth."
"We sure did," I agreed.
I remembered how back in tenth grade, SHS used to be ruled by an In clique
that harassed other kids, then at the beginning of eleventh grade, Abby
spearheaded the campaign to deluge the editors of the local newspapers
with letters on the negative image the media had of today's teens. That
and having a lot of new kids last year gave us the pull we needed to weaken
the In clique. The In clique broke up for good at the end of last year
when they got into trouble for shoving and punching other kids at a baseball
game in the SHS bleachers, an event we'd dubbed the Storm.
"We're the conservative
establishment's worst nightmare..." Mona intoned. "We'll be adults ready
to change the world for the better!" We all whooped and hi-fived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know, I have a thing
for big brown eyes," Tim grinned at me as I pulled up to his house a half
hour later.
"Oh...thanks," I blushed.
Mona and Dawn grinned at each other. I cleared my throat and reached over
to open the car door, my heart pounding. As I watched him walk to the door
and go inside, I sat a minute blushing more.
"No way am I...getting a
crush on Tim Hastings," I muttered.
"Turn around?" Dawn asked.
I did.
"You do!" Mona crowed.
"You are beet red, Mary
Anne!" Dawn chimed in as I started home. "You and your giveaway face!"
I smiled ruefully. I haven't felt that way about a guy since eighth grade
when I had a crush on Logan Bruno. In ninth grade, however, we'd drifted
apart and went through a really heart-wrenching breakup. I remembered how
both of us had really wept. I thought I'd never get over the heartbreak,
but eventually I did. Oh, boy, I thought. Am I willing to risk going through
another possible heartbreak? I tried not to think about it on the way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mary Anne!" Stacey rushed
up to me in the hallway that first day back from the holiday break. "How
was Iowa and your grandmother?"
"Swell and Grandma's doing
all right," I slowed to let her catch up. "How was your holidays? How was
Vermont?"
"Great! Lots of snow, skiing,"
We laughed. All around us, was the post-vacation rush of kids getting re-organized
for their classes after a long break.
"This year is just flying
by," I said. "I can't believe we're graduating soon."
"Me either."
"Heeeey!" Kristy, Claudia,
and the others in the BSC caught up with us.
"Hi..."
"How was Virginia?" Stacey
asked Claudia. "Was it cold?"
"It was, but there wasn't
any snow."
Abby and Anna had gone to
Long Island for their break, so they told us about it and they hadn't had
a lot of snow there, just a light dusting.
"We saw two of our old friends
there," Anna told us. "Another cousin of ours, who's living in Newark came
up to visit also.
"Hey...speaking of cousins,"
Kristy put in. "Guess what...Singer's pregnant." Singer is our age and
a high school senior like us.
"What?" I gasped. "God...did
she use protection?" I looked around nervously, hoping no one had heard.
It didn't look like anyone had.
"I don't know," Kristy shrugged
as we opened our lockers. "Maybe she did, but some kids just don't get
adequate instructions on the rubber or pill."
"So...what is she going
to do about the pregnancy...how far along is she?" Abby asked.
"She thinks she's about
three months, so abortion's out for her, it seems. And anyway, I don't
think she wants one." Wow. Singer wasn't showing at the New Year's bash
a few days ago, but then I heard some women don't show until late in the
pregnancy.
"So, does she want the baby
or does she want to give it up for adoption?" I asked as I pulled out my
German and economics books.
"If she's going to put it
up, I'd start looking now," Claudia put in as we closed our lockers.
"She hasn't decided yet,"
Kristy told us. We carried out this conversation in low voices, making
sure no one was listening in. No one seemed to be; everyone seemed too
busy getting ready for class. We then parted to our homerooms. Kristy,
Mona, and I are Ms. Fedders' homeroom, so as we walked down together, I
thought things over. What would I do if I were sexually active and found
myself pregnant and it was too late to have an abortion? I wondered. Part
of me would want to keep the baby, but then if I did, I'd make sure I finished
high school and got a good job to support the baby. But then, I want to
go to college and be a teacher. It would take longer and be harder if you
had a baby to worry about...good argument for giving it up. I love babies,
but I know to have one full-time is a LOT of work. I just deal with kids
when I'm baby-sitting and know that it's just an hour or a few hours, then
it's over. Isn't it easy for many adults who've never been through it to
preach what they think is "proper?"
"So...do her parents know
about this?" Mona asked as we entered homeroom and sat. We were a bit early,
so we had a few minutes to talk more.
"Yes," Kristy told us. "Her
dad nearly had a cow at first, then calmed down, but her mom was all right.
Her mom wants her to at least finish high school. I think her parents want
her to put it up for adoption, but aren't really saying it out loud. She
just senses it from their conversation."
"She's got a job, right?"
I asked. Kristy nodded. "And she will finish high school?"
"Yeah, she wants to," Kristy
said. Just then the first bell rang and Ms. Fedders came in along with
a stream of kids. We sat back, promising to discuss it further at our next
BSC meeting. Ms. Fedders is one of my favorite teachers ate SHS. She was
our English teacher for freshman and sophomore years and is the moderator
for the SHS Beacon, which I'm the head editor of. She's a very good
listener and is easy to talk to. Whenever I've had a problem in the last
four years, I could always talk to her. I hoped Singer had someone like
Ms. Fedders who she could turn to, somebody who could give her sound, non-judgmental,
caring guidance about her baby.