By: CNJ
PG-13
5: Things To Come
Early December of 10nth grade...
Stacey:
This month, December, we
had the sleepover at my house. We saw a movie, then headed to my place.
We had Chinese take-out and played pictionary. Claudia the artist loves
that game. We stayed up until a little after midnight talking, then drifted
off to sleep. I woke at around three in the morning. I heard a strange
noise, then a hiccup, then gasping next to me. Mary Anne, I thought. Then
I saw her huddle up in her bag, her shoulders jerking.
"Mary Anne?" I whispered.
Mary Anne continued to cry. I touched her gently and she squirmed. "What's
the matter?" I stroked her until she crawled out of her bag. Her face was
hot and wet with tears and snot. "Come on, let's have a mint cocoa..."
I wheedled her up and out of the room. She buried her face into her hands
and sniffled. As I made some more cocoa, Mary Anne gained some control
over her tears. "Did you have a nightmare?" I sat with her. "Or are you
still upset about earlier this week?"
"N-no..." she whispered.
"What is it?" I whispered.
"You can tell me..."
"I just..." Fresh tears
ran down Mary Anne's face and I handed her tissues.
"H-had a rotten day today...I
mean yesterday...especially when I sat for the Hsus...I th-think...Scott's
jealous...remember when I pulled Timmy out from drowning back after eighth
grade...well, Scott's jealous and was teasing Timmy and pinching me...it
hurt...I kept telling him to stop...and he wouldn't...then I came home
and tripped over Tigger and fell in his water dish..." Mary Anne sobbed
harder again and I hugged her.
"I know," I soothed. "Bad
days suck...I know. And the worst part is that they seem to last forever."
I remembered that at today's BSC meeting, she'd seemed a bit gloomy. "But
the best part?"
"What best part?" Mary Anne
blew her nose.
"The rotten day's over."
I smiled. She managed a weak smile also. "Feeling better?"
"A little," she looked into
her cup. "I still feel sad, but I know it won't last forever...thanks,
Stace." She reached over and hugged me. Before I drifted off to sleep,
I thought about the group at school that's considered the "in" group. I
noticed that they often ridicule other kids and I hoped they wouldn't come
after us.
