Chapter 12

The next morning I woke up early again. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I went to the sink and found Lily brushing her teeth. "Yo" I greeted her. After she finished rinsing she replied with a good morning.

"Mel's up on the roof. I think you should talk to her. You sound like you all are better friends then anyone else here. Plus you have more tact than Amanda."

I wasn't awake yet. "What should I tell her?"

"Talk to her about our dear friend Spot." Blanking, I looked at her in confusion. "Let me tell you a story. Short so that no one else will hear. Spot's from Brooklyn." This was common knowledge to me so I was still confused. "It's a rough place. Tough from what I hear. I hear a lot too being from there and all. You gotta give him a little credit for surviving and he's done that without having major feelings to think about. The best thing for Mel would be to talk to him and tell him how she feels. If he likes her back, and I think we all know he does, it won't be scary because he'll know his feelings are returned."

"Should I tell that story to her?" I asked washing my face.

"Omit the Brooklyn part because it's obvious from your accent that you aren't from there." Lily smiled and put her toiletries away. She left me to go eat breakfast. I went upstairs to talk to Mel. And I told her the story.

She stood up and yelled at me. "That's all a bunch of crap!"

I sat with a bemused expression on my face. "It could be true." Swinging my legs over the side of the building, I waited for her retort.

"There's no need for me to embarrass myself in front of him like that. And I think from yesterday's adventure," adventure had a sarcastic tone, " we all know that he doesn't like me." She stomped her way around the roof.

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No."

"Maybe Bumlets coul-"

"No."

"Jack and Amanda. They're both pretty stub-"

"NO! I don't like him that much anyway. I'm way more excited about Big Spender. We need to go talk to Medda about costumes for the big show."

"We have the strike too remember?"

"But Denton has to do his thing before we do ours. I can almost bet that his article wasn't ready yet and therefore not in the paper."

"Well, we're about to go look aren't we?" I stood up and prepared to go down to breakfast.

Mel shook her head. "I'm not selling papes today. I'll work on the choreography and go see Medda too."

I couldn't believe she was being this stubborn. "Fine. We'll see ya once you come back to your senses." I started to go.

"Robyn. Wait a sec."

I turned to face Mel.

"Look, I appreciate what you are doing for me, but you know this is hard for me and it's causing me to be on edge. So if I snap at you, it's not personal, I promise. So as you said, to come back to my senses, I'm going to stay away from people right now." I nodded, and we said our good byes. I went back downstairs.

Bumlets laughed the whole thing off at breakfast. "He's such a heartbreaker!" he chuckled. However, Jack and Amanda were more concerned. All four of us decided to sell together and off we went to pick u p papers. On the way, Jack pressed for details. Amanda and I told the story almost exactly the way Mel told us.

Amanda was the first to suggest a plan. "Lemme talk to him. I'll straighten him out." With her hands on her hips she looked sinister.

Bumlets and Jack both said that was a bad idea. "I'll talk to him," said Jack.

"No." They looked at me surprised. "She'll do it herself or she won't. She's gotta learn to do this on her own. This is a learning opportunity." I sauntered ahead and gave my last paper to a fruit seller at the corner.

Spot appeared behind me. "Hello." I screamed and tripped over a loose piece of concrete. Bumlets ran to catch me, but I fell hard on the curb. Jack and Amanda were laughing. "I didn't mean to scare you sorry. I just wanted to know if you guys were gonna come walk with me back to Brooklyn. Remember the swimming thing?"

"Swimming's not my thing. Go ask Mel." I stood up and brushed myself off. Bumlets enveloped me in a hug. I was beginning to like the guy.

Spot winced. "Only I haven't been able to find her. She disappeared from the park yesterday. That pissed me off. I wanted to talk to her about it but I couldn't find her." Spot looked up from where he had been staring at his feet. Everyone had a look of disbelief for him. "Are we going or not?"

Jack made an instant decision. "Lets." He and Spot started walking.

I asked Amanda, "What's going on?"

"Jack has a plan." She started after them.

"A plan?" My disbelief was greater than before.

Bumlets grabbed my hands and pulled me along. "Jack always has great plans. You'll see." He smiled at me so I consented and went along with him.

It was a long walk. Along the way, I talked with Amanda. "What's up between you and Jack?"

She smiled innocently. "Nooooooooooothiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnng."

"I noticed he picked you up rather quickly after dumping Sarah." We were going uphill now. And it was hot in this city, especially during noon.

Amanda gave me a surprised look. "Well, of course! I am waaaaaaaaaaaaay so much better than her." We burst out laughing. The guys looked back but said nothing.

Sweaty and dehydrated, we reached Brooklyn an hour before dusk. Rather the pier, and then the water we were going swimming in. "But I'm not going swimming," I protested.

Amanda yelled, "Quit being a wuss!" as she cannonballed into the water.

Bumlets had his hand on my arm. "What's wrong with swimming?" he coerced.

"I can't see, I can't swim, and I hate the way I look in a swimsuit. Water makes me uncomfortable. I even hate pools!" But he didn't know what pools were. I continued, "I just don't swim. Period. End of story."

He gave me the strangest look. "Let's dance then." He did little jig on the pier.

"Dance?" What the hell was he talking about?

"Yes." He grabbed me and started to dance. I kind had to go along with him or we were gonna step on each other's feet. He twirled me over the water and I screamed. "Chill out. I'm not gonna drop you or anything. We had everyone's attention as we continued. We were doing some kind of waltz thing and he wasn't half bad. I know I was pretty bad. People began to hoot and holler. I lost count. "Don't pay any attention to them." He smiled at me. I guess the music in his head ended because just about then he bent me backward over his arm. Then he flipped me into the water.

I hit the water with a splash and came up sputtering. "Help me!! Oh my god, help help help help HELP!!!!!!" I was flailing my arms around in the water and kicking furiously with my feet.

Bumlets dived in then came up laughing beside me. "You're fine, a natural born swimmer."

I was seething. "I…hate you….."

"No you don't, " he replied cheerfully. By that time, Amanda and Jack swum over to us.

They congratulated Bumlets on his dancing talents. "I didn't know you had any," said Jack truthfully.

Amanda was even more impressed. She clapped me on the back. "You all were good, but wait until he sees you at-" I slapped my hand over her mouth.

Unfortunately, Bumlets noticed her last remark. "See you at what? What do I get to see you at?"

I was still pissed at him. "Nothing. But you can see me get out of here. I'm going home. Later." I pulled myself onto the pier and desperately tried to wring out some of the water in my clothes.

Bumlets climbed up and sat facing me. "You're not really mad, are you? I knew you would be mad, but it was really all in good fun. It was rather clever."

"My pride is hurt way more than anything, but I'm still going home. I gotta check on Mel anyway and we need a progress report on the strike. So, I need to talk to Denton." And it's almost dark, but I figure he could see that for himself. "Bye."

"Bye." He slid back into the water. I walked back to the boarding house feeling strangely guilty.