December/ January
Tommy:
"So, what did they say when you told them?"
Chuck sighed. Even though we were on the phone, I knew that he was tugging on a lock of hair.
"Dad was cool. He was surprised, but proud. But Mom said she thought that I was going to MIT. She said that I should at least put in an application there, in case 'this art thing doesn't work out'."
I replied thougtfully, "I thought it would have been the other way around."
He chuckled bitterly. "So did I. Mom's the one who's always telling me to follow my dreams. I guess she means only if it's a dream of being an engineer."
"I'm sure she'll come around," I tried to reassure him.
"I hope so, because I'm not backing down."
"Well, good. You always told me to do what I had to, even when other people might not like it.
Listen, I have to run. We are supposed to meet everyone at the movies."
"Yeah, okay, I'll talk to you then. Bye."
We hung up and I turned my attention to trying to retrieve something underneath my bed. I had
almost succeeded in getting it when Dil entered the room. Startled, I swung up too fast and made myself dizzy.
"Whoa, head rush," I said weakly. "Dil, change your mind about the movie?"
"Joe's gonna help me study for my history final. Thanks anyway."
"Are you sure? Joe can come too, if he wants."
"Yeah. I can already tell that my good looks will not get me through this test." Dil grinned, and
started throwing things into his backpack.
"But you guys are coming to the party later, right? I mean, you can't study all the time. It's winter
break! Live a little!"
"How could I miss our traditional New Years' party?"
"Okay, just remember- it's at Uncle Drew's at 8."
"Aren't Uncle Drew and Aunt Charlotte out of town?"
"Precisely." I waggled my eyebrows up and down.
"Wonder how Angelica talked her parents into that. Wait, she is 18."
"And I plan to take full advantage of that."
A horn honked outside. "Well, that's for me. I'll tell Joe about the party. See you later, Tommy."
"Bye, Dil."
As he left, I checked myself in the mirror a final time and walked out of my bedroom. I listened for my parents. Not hearing them, I went downstairs and out the door. Walking out into the chilly air made me glance up and hope for snow. Not a lot, but enough to be picture perfect.
As I knocked on Lil's door, I noticed that Angelica's silver car was in front of their house. When she got back in town a couple of weeks ago and told me about her and Phil's relationship, I was
surprised, to say the least. Those two were known for their barbs and sniping at the other's
expense. I had once thought that they would kill each other or screw each other's brains out. It was vaguely disturbing how accurate that was.
Mr DeVille answered the door. "Come on in, Tommy. Everyone's in the den."
"Hello," I greeted him and Mrs DeVille as I walked through the house. In the den, Phil and Angelica were sitting on the couch while Lil was on the computer. "Hey you guys. Ready to go?"
"Hey Tommy." Lil turned around from the computer desk. "I'm chatting with Kim. She's waiting on Tim, and then they'll be over here." A soft beep issued from the computer, and Lil turned back to it. "Scratch that. They want us to meet them at their house."
"Okay," I said, picking up the coat that I had recently discarded. "Is everyone riding with me?"
Angelica snorted. "Let's see. Choosing to ride in my new silver Corvette or my cousin's hoopty.
Decisions, decisions."
"Did you just call my car a hoopty?"
"I call em like I see em, Pickles."
"I just wanted to know when you flashed back to 1990."
Phil, who had been contentedly asleep on Angelica's lap, shook a lazy hand at us. "Now kids, be nice."
"She started it," I defended myself.
Angelica responded by sticking her tongue out at me.
"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I'm driving," Lil announced. "Since I'm always riding somewhere with you, Tommy, or Phil, or Chuck, I forget about the fact that I have a license and a car, too! Come on, guys."
Smirking at my girlfriend's speech, I followed her out the door. Lil and I got into the car that Lil and Phil shared, a green Camry. "So, how long have you been waiting to say that?"
"A while. But there was a good reason I wanted to drive."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Because I wanted to tell you something that might make you run off the road. Last month, do you remember how I told you that I had a doctor's appointment?"
"Yeah." Suddenly, my mouth dried up with fear. "You're not sick, are you?"
"No! No, it's not anything like that. Um, Kim and I went to the clinic."
"I'm still not following you," I said slowly.
"I got birth control," Lil said patiently.
In my resulting shock, I reckoned that Lil was right. If I had been driving, we would be in a ditch right now. "Wow."
"Well, we've been dating for five years. We're both seventeen, and we're responsible, so... I think I'm ready."
"Wow," I repeated.
Lil giggled a little nervously. "Is that all you're going to say?"
"Um. No?"
"I know this is kinda out of the blue, but I've been thinking about this since July." She pulled up in front of the Finster-Watanabe house and killed the engine. "If you need to think about it..."
My first thought was, 'what's there to think about? I'm 17! And a guy!' But I was not going to say that out loud. "Well, if you're sure..."
"I'm sure that I want my first time to be with you," Lil said honestly. She turned to face me on the
seat. "Tommy, I'm not going to pressure you. I just thought you should know."
"Okay. Um, can we discuss this later? Preferably not around our friends?"
"Deal."
Dil:
Silence.
Silence.
Dil was looking out the window of Joe's car. Joe hadn't been very talkative. He had just told Dil,
"Hey," when he got into the car, and that's where the conversation had ended. Dil was trying to see if Joe was mad at him, but he wasn't getting enough clues to decide one way or the other.
He spoke up timidly. "Hey, um, thanks again for your help."
"No problem," was the clipped answer.
'Okay,' Dil thought to himself. He looked back the window again and was surprised to see that they were on the highway. He started to ask where they were going, but decided against it. As trees whizzed by, Dil couldn't help but wonder how he had made Joe upset.
Joe took an exit and turned into a small park. "I come here sometimes with my family," he said to Dil's unspoken query.
They got out of the car and walked over to a small area with picnic tables. The park itself was huge, and Dil could hear children screaming in the background.
"Um, I have something to tell you." Joe sat down at one of the picnic tables, carefully not looking at Dil. When he didn't say anything for a while, Dil was certain that Joe was mad at him. But then, he started to talk.
"I... I know I should have told you this a lot earlier, but... I'm just going to say it. Dil, I'm gay."
Dil's heart soared. He was on the verge of spilling everything in his heart out, but instead he settled for grinning widely and saying, "Man, that's... that's great!"
"Why? Because that leaves more girls for you?" Joe teased.
Dil's face fell. Joe, seeing the expression change, asked, "What?"
"Okay, I wasn't going to tell you this right now, but... I like you. A lot." He waited tensely for Joe's reaction.
"Oh," Joe breathed. "But Dil, you aren't..."
"Gay? Why do you think that?"
Joe made a floundering motion with his hands. "Because, you've always got girls fawning over you! You're the most popular guy in your class!"
"The girls follow me. It's not the other way around." Dil stood up and raked a hand through his hair. "Look, if you don't like me, just say so and I can die of embarrassment in peace."
"I didn't say that! It's just that, you're like my best friend! I don't want to wreck our friendship."
"Now see, I see it as 'best friend with benefits'," Dil said, his sunny personality breaking through his sour demeanor. "I'm not asking for you to be like, let's run off and get married tomorrow." Realizing what he had just said, a light flush stained his cheeks. "But I've liked you ever since last year."
"When we first met?"
"Yeah."
---------------------------------------------------------Flashback------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dil was wandering around the building, trying not to look hopelessly lost. Tommy had told him horror stories about what happened to freshmen who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the stories ended with someone's head in the toilet.
"Hey..." Some guy ran past Dil, almost knocking the backpack he was clutching protectively out of his arms.
Feeling abused and exposed, Dil was seriously contemplating just giving up and going home when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, I saw you looking around. Is there anything I can help you with?" Dil turned around to look at a guy with the palest blue eyes he had ever seen. Checking him out carefully, Dil noted that the guy had very pronounced cheekbones, curly blonde hair and a nice build. He blushed, realizing that he had been staring for a while.
"Um... yeah. I'm looking for room 312?"
"Okay. What you need to do is go up this hall and take a left. Keep going and you'll see the three hundreds. It'll be on the left side of the corridor."
"Thanks," Dil said, making no move to go. "Are you some kind of helper?"
The guy laughed. "Naw, I just noticed you with the same expression that I wore the whole of last year. My name's Joe Wellton."
"Dil Pickles."
"You must have been very hard on your mother in the womb for that one."
Dil blushed. "It's actually Dillon. But no one calls me that except for teachers."
"It's cool. I'd use it. Anyway, the bell's set to ring in," Joe checked his watch, "Two minutes. Tell
you what. We can get together after school to discuss the 'Dos and Don'ts of SHHS'. Meet me at the gym after school, okay?"
"Sure!" Dil said, the day suddenly looking a lot brighter.
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Joe, too, stood up. "That's a lot of information to take in at one time."
"So, what do you want to do now?"
"You mean, about this situation?"
"I was referring to actual activity, but that will work too."
"I'd be lying if I said that I don't have feelings for you. But..."
"No buts." Dil's hazel eyes were sparkling. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it anymore, that's okay. Meanwhile, Tommy wants you to come to a party my cousin's having tonight. I want you to come."
"Well... okay," Joe relented. "But only because they'll be food there."
"Cool. You know my cousin Angelica, right?"
"Yeah, I've heard of her..."
"She's hell on wheels, but she's nice, at least to us."
"Nice description," Joe said sarcastically.
"And Susan Carmichael and Tim McNulty will be there, too.," Dil added, ignoring Joe's comment.
"So it won't be a big crowd, but my friends and family..."
"Do they know?" Joe asked abruptly.
"Know?" Dil repeated blankly. Then he caught on to what Joe was asking. "No. I haven't told
anyone. My family thinks of me as the same annoying little brother who happens to be the daddy
mack of SHHS. Kinda hard to tell them that their image of me is as wrong as it can get. Does
anyone in your family know?"
"My parents know. They're not happy about it, though. The only reason they haven't kicked me out is because my siblings would kill them."
"Oh," said Dil sympethically. Even though he hadn't told his parents yet, he knew deep down that they would be surprised, but not judgemental. Oh, sure, his mom would go grab a copy of Dr Lipshitz' book 'What To Do if Your Teenage Son is Gay', and his dad would fumble for words for a while, but they would be okay with it.
"Well, I've had enough of nature for one day," Joe said, standing up. "Plus, I think it's going to
snow."
Dil looked up in the sky and watched the grey, heavy clouds. "I agree. Where are we heading now?"
"To my house. I just didn't want to tell you in my parents' hearing. Denial is the standard they live
by."
As they got back in the car, an insistent little voice inside Dil's head whispered, 'Now there's hope...'
Chuck:
The party was in full swing. Everyone, with the exception of Dil and Joe, had paired off and was
dancing. Chuck and Susan were swaying to the slow song with their eyes closed.
"Chuck?" Susan whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Come with me for a second..." Susan led him to Angelica's bedroom, which was fortunately vacant.
Once they got inside the door, Chuck began kissing her frantically.
"You nut! That's not why I brought you here!" she said, lauging as she gently shoved him back.
"It's not?"
"Actually, I have to talk to you." Susan's face sobered. "Let's sit on the bed."
"I'm probably not going to like this, am I?"
"No," Susan said bluntly.
"You're... we're not breaking up, are we?" Chuck whispered, suddenly not able to look her in the eye.
She laughed, a rich chuckle that immeadiately warmed Chuck's heart. "No! How could I satisfy my redhead fixation? But seriously, it's about SMU."
"SMU? What about it?"
"It's not working out. I mean, the classes, my roommate, my whole college life... it sucks. And their nursing program is sub-par. I'm going over stuff that I did in high school biology."
"Are you transferring?"
"Yeah. I'm going to... Purdue."
"Purdue? As in Purdue in the midwest?"
"Yeah, it's in Indiana. They have a stellar nursing program and they even have programs for
minorities. I know that's it's a lot farther away than SMU, but what's the purpose of going to college if you get a bad education out of it?"
"But... we won't see each other on the weekends."
"I know, and believe me, if there was another school closer to home, I'd jump on it."
Chuck smiled ruefully. "And here I was worrying about how going to SFAA would affect us."
"We'll still be together," Susan stressed. "Just not... as often."
"Okay." Chuck caught one of Susan's hands and held it gently. "You know I'll miss you more than ever."
"You always knew what to say to a girl to make her cry," Susan said, as a crystalline tear fell from her brown eyes. "I'm so lucky to have you."
"So am I."
Phil:
"Spill! Now! I want details!" Lil shrieked.
We were all sitting in Angelica's living room, cuddling our respective partners and talking. Lil was currently trying to get Angelica and I to tell everyone how we started going out. I finally got annoyed with her pestering and said, "Okay! If we tell, everyone has to."
"Deal," my friends and sister chorused.
"Okay, basically during the summer, we realized we liked each other- a lot. End of story."
Loud boos greeted my rendition. Angelica stood up and after winking at me, mock-grumbled, "Can't even tell a story right! Never send a boy in to do a woman's job. Anyway, this is what happened..."
------------------------------------------------------Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Phil, whatcha doin'?"
"Watching grass grow. Wanna join me?" I smiled up at Angelica. She was wearing some kind of
short shorts and a little top. She looked totally hot, and she knew it.
"Sure!" She flopped down on the blanket beside me. "Um, you seen Tommy?"
"He's probably still at work. Hmmm, work. That's where I should be but don't want to be."
"You skipped out?"
"No, just have a day off. You?"
"Being the boss's daughter has its advantages." She grinned her famous 'I love it when I get my
way' grin, and I felt my stomach flip flop. Mentally asking myself 'what the hell?' I casually flipped over on my stomach and looked across the yard.
"So... ready for college?"
"I've been ready since kindergarten. So tired of this town." For a second, her face fell, then she
brightened up. "Let's go!"
"Go where?"
"Anywhere! Come on, it'll be an adventure." She stood up and frowned. "Now where have I heard that phrase before? Never mind. Let's take my car!"
We leapt into the seats of her convertible, with the top down, and took off. As we cruised down the highway, I yelled at her over the wind, "Why me!"
"What!" she yelled back.
"Why did you pick me!"
"Because you're dead sexy!"
After she said that, we looked at each other briefly before Angelica focused her attention on the
road and I went back to reading billboards. After a while, Angelica pulled off at a rest area and we got out to stretch our legs.
I followed her to the vending machines before touching her arm. "Hey Ang... what did you mean by what you said on the highway?"
"Oh... forget it." She was blushing, uncharacteristically.
"No! Do you really think I'm sexy?"
"Well, yeah," she admitted relunctantly.
"I think you're sexy, too."
"Yeah, well, that's a given." She smiled and flipped her long blonde hair. "Ready to hit the road
again?"
"I'm going to grab a soda. Want one?"
"Sure, thanks. Oh, and could you get one of those soft chocolate chip cookies? Thank you," she
sang.
I got the requested items and went back to the car. Before we pulled off, a thought popped into my head. "Stop the car!"
She did so immeadiately, shooting me a look of annoyance and fear. "Shit, Phil, you scared me!
Now what?"
"I... have to see..." I muttered. Her face changed from annoyance to confusion as I leaned over
towards her. Once she realized what I was about to do, her face relaxed and she smiled slightly as we kissed. My stomach flip flopped again, and when we finally parted, I could see the bemused expression on her face.
"Did you see what you were looking for?" she asked.
"Yeah."
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"So, what happened after that?" Lil asked.
"Basically, we knew that if we had that much chemistry in a car, then we'd be perfect for each
other." Angelica bowed, and then came back to sit next to me.
"Hey," I whispered into her ear, "you left out the most important part."
"I'm not telling them that I fell in love with you that day. That would totally kill my reputation."
I just smiled, knowing that that was true for both of us.
Kim:
After Angelica finished telling her story, I jumped up. "I want to go next!"
Everyone laughed as I ran to the middle of the room and said, "This is the story of two people. One was tall, light, and handsome. The other was short, dark, and beautiful. This is the story of... Kim and Tim."
"Been thinking about this a while, haven't you Kim?" Dil asked dryly, making everyone laugh harder.
"Shut up Dil, you're killing the mood! Anyway, as I was saying... It was a typical spring day. I was fourteen and the world was mine. I had everything I wanted, except for love."
Loud 'awws' greeted this statement. Ignoring my friends, I continued, "However, I did have my eye on this one guy. Um... he's not the one I'm with tonight." I caught the surprised expressions on my friends' faces. "What! And you thought you knew everything about me! So, this guy was trouble, but I couldn't see that. He asked me out one day, and I was so happy, until someone dropped an anonymous note into my locker, saying that anyone who went out with this guy would be in for trouble. Not being stupid, I heeded the note's advice and broke the date. Seeing the guy's reaction told me definitely that I had made the right decision."
"Not trying to rush you or anything, but where does Tim fit into all of this?" Lil asked impatiently.
"Being the nosy butt that I am, I decided to find out who exactly had sent me the note. I ruled out you, Lil, because you would have just told me face to face. That actually ruled out most of you, except for Tim. But I still thought it was someone in our immediate group."
"Let me interrupt here," Tim interjected. "I knew the guy that Kim's talking about personally. He was always bragging about how he 'got' girls, and when Angelica told me about Kim's date, I knew I had to do something."
"So I didn't know that Tim even knew about the date. After all, this was my freshman year and we barely saw each other, let alone spoke," I explained. "So, Angelica let it slip that she had told Tim about it, I put two and two together, and I thought it was so cool that he would try to help like that. So I asked him out."
"And I said yes..." Tim started.
"And we've been going out ever since."
Everyone clapped at the end of our story. Tim and I laughed, and shared a private glance, with
knowledge of what was to come.
Chuck:
"So... I guess we're up next," Chuck sighed. "Can't we just say that we're together now and leave it at that?"
"C'mon Chuck. You wouldn't even tell me what happened, and I'm your sister!" Kim tried to look exasperated, but ended up giggling.
"Well, we do owe them, so..." Susan looked over at Chuck with her patented puppy dog eyes.
"How do I get myself roped into this?" he mock-grumbled. "Okay. Remember how happy I was to be skipped ahead in middle school, because it meant that I would only be a year behind Samantha Shane in high school?"
"Yeah," Tommy said.
"Well, by the time I was a freshman, she, and all of our older friends, were sophomores, and popular ones at that. Two weeks after the school year started, Sam told me that she didn't want to go out with a 'freshie'. She said it would ruin her reputation."
"Harsh, man," Phil sympathized.
"So here I was, the biggest nerd of SHHS. I felt like I was always one step ahead of a swirly, just because of the way I looked. Anyway, someone took notice of that..."
-----------------------------------------------------Flashback----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chuckie sat dejectedly in the cafeteria. He never wanted to eat in there, because he usually ended up alone at a table for seven, and nothing screamed 'loser' faster than eating alone.
"Hey! Got room for one?" He looked up to see Susie Carmichael standing next to him.
"Sure, sit down wherever you like," Chuckie replied sadly. "It's not like anyone else would sit here anyway."
"What? They just don't know you yet. In another month, I won't be able to get to this table, because it'll be full up with people." Susie patted his arm reasurringly. "And... I brought cookies!"
"Did you make them?" Chuckie asked, perking up.
"Sure did. And who better than to share them with than one of my best friends?"
"Better save some for Angelica," Chuckie warned.
Susie chuckled. "I already dropped off a bag at her locker. Never stand between Angelica and
chocolate chip cookies."
"Better believe it," Chuckie said, laughing.
Before long, Susie's prediction came true. Chuckie made friends with his classmates, especially
the ones in his art class. He wasn't exactly popular, but he wasn't facing daily swirlys either. But
Susie still remained one of his closest friends and supporters.
"Guess what?" she said one day, bouncing up to him in the cafeteria. "The dance is on!"
"Which dance again?"
"The Fall Fling! It's the first dance and the coolest. Hope I can get a date in three days, because
faculty is moving fast."
Chuckie felt a sharp twist of jealousy in his stomach just thinking about anyone else taking Susie to the dance.
"So, will you go?"
"To the dance?" Chuckie snorted. "Let's see. I can't dance, have no hope of asking anyone, and no one will ask me. I'd say that's enough reasons to stay home."
"Well, think about it, kay?" Susie touched his arm and got up and walked out of the cafeteria.
That night, a wild plan grew inside of Chuckie's head. 'It sounds like something Tommy would try to pull off. I'll do it!'
He dialled the familiar number and anxiously waited. "Hello?"
"Susie?"
"Chuckie? What's up?"
"Nothing. Um, wanta go to the dance with me?"
"What!"
Chuckie blushed furiously. "If you don't want to go with me..."
"Oh, it's not that," Susie said rapidly. "I just thought that you would never ask! Pick me up at seven, okay?" She laughed and hung up.
'Okay, that was easy!' Chuckie grinned as he hung up.
The dance went great. No, Chuckie didn't develop the ability to dance overnight, so he stuck to the slow songs. But everyone was surprised to see him, and they made him feel welcome. He felt as if he was walking on air as he and Susie went home.
As he walked her up to the door, they both started to talk. "So..." they said together and then
laughed.
"No, go ahead," they said together and laughed harder.
Susie waved her hand. "No really. What did you want to say?"
Instead of saying anything, he leaned forward and kissed her. She was surprised for a second
before she responded. "Okay," she said breathlessly when they parted. "Was not expecting that,
but good."
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said honestly.
"Well, nice to see you acted on that. I think," Susie said with a twinkle in her eyes, "that you are no longer Chuckie. Or Charlie. What was Angelica thinking with that nickname?"
"Beats me."
"So, I dub thee Chuck."
"I like that. You do realize that if I'm Chuck, you should go by your real name."
"Susan? It seems so weird. And plain."
"I like it."
"Sold."
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"So that's why you switched to Chuck overnight," Tommy said.
"Well, yeah."
"And I switched to Kim right after that." Kim looked smug.
"I have a question for you, Tommy. Why didn't you switch with everyone else?" Joe asked.
"I tried my freshman year, but I felt like I was constantly in trouble. 'Thomas! Thomas!' I was always looking over my shoulder. Besides, Tommy's a cool name. And some adults are still called that. How seriously would you take an adult called Chuckie or Susie? No offense."
"None taken," Chuck and Susan answered together.
"They're still doing it! It never stops!" Angelica sighed dramatically.
Tommy:
I glanced at the clock. "Guys! It's almost 11:30. Do we want to turn on the television to watch the ball drop?"
"We can at 11:45. Who wants to watch a bunch of canned performances by bands we don't know?" Angelica answered practically.
"Okay, bro, you're up," Dil said. "Although everyone knows how you and Lil started going out."
"Joe doesn't. So Joe, this is for you!" My friends snickered as I stood up. "Basically, it was the
summer before 7th grade. We were twelve. All of my friends basically had girlfriends, and I was like, I didn't see the appeal of girls yet. But Lilly was patient."
"Yeah, real patient," Lil interjected, rolling her eyes. "I hounded Tommy that whole summer. It's a wonder that he still speaks to me."
"Anyway, one day, I went over to the DeVilles to see Phil, and for some reason, he wasn't there. Lil was, and we hung out. I was like, why does everyone want to pair off? And she gallantly offered to go out with me to keep the females away. I was all like, 'score!' When we entered 7th grade, all of the sudden I noticed that Lilly was a girl! And I never looked back."
"Well, that was straight forward," Tim said.
"I'm a straight forward kind of guy," I said modestly.
"It's a quarter til'," Angelica said. She hit the remote and the television was filled with people,
screaming and watching the ball spin in place in Times Square.
"I kinda wish we were there," Lil said wistfully.
"Maybe next year." I smiled at a couple getting married on the platform.
Dil:
As he looked at his friends and family, Dil smiled, and then thought of something. "Quick! What's everyone's New Year's resolutions?"
"To be a eviller person. Phil here's making me soft." Angelica smiled wickedly.
"To gain ten pounds. That way, if I break it, I'll be happy." Kim said, grinning.
"To read more. Cereal boxes count, right?" Phil cracked.
"To not kill anyone." Tim said succinctly.
"I want to graduate." Chuck said.
"Like you're in any danger of not doing that. Anyway, mine is to do something new." Susan looked hopeful.
"I want to become the man my daddy was," Joe said. "Or not."
"I think that I want to do something new too." Lil looked at Tommy. No one else noticed but Dil.
"Know what? So do I!" Tommy laughed as he took Lil's hand and dragged her out of the room.
"Look at the screen!" Angelica pointed to the countdown.
Everyone started shouting out the numbers. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Happy New Year!"
The various couples started kissing. Joe turned to Dil. "So, what's your resolution?"
"Come with me."
The two of them went outside into the crisp night. A light snow had started falling and the night was picture perfect.
"Really want to know what my resolution was?"
"Sure."
Dil leaned forward and kissed Joe. He thought briefly 'Oh, this is totally worth it. And yes, I'm gay.'
They stood there for a while, chastely kissing. When they finally parted, Joe said, "So, that was
your resolution? To kiss me?"
"Pretty much."
"Was it worth it?"
"Oh yeah, but... I think I need more practice. You know, just so I can get it right."
"Sounds good to me."
Tommy:
"Well, drive safely!" Angelica waved to Lil and I as we walked to the car.
"See you tomorrow!" I got in the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt. As Lil turned the engine, I mused, "I wonder what everyone else is doing."
"Phil is staying over Angelica's, obviously."
Both of us involuntarily made faces. "New subject. Um, I don't know what Kim, Tim, Chuck and Susan are doing. Joe's dropping Dil off at home. So, that leaves us." I smiled at the thought.
"Why don't we go to my house? My parents are at some party that won't be over until way early in the morning," Lil suggested.
"Okay."
Lil:
I pulled in front of my house, noting the absence of cars. "See! No one here. Come on."
I opened the door and we went to the living room. We sat there for a moment before I said, "Okay. Come upstairs."
"To your bedroom?"
"Yeah."
"Are.. are you suggesting what I think you are?"
"Yeah. I mean, I thought you wanted to, based on what you said earlier."
"I do!"
"Could you sound any less enthusiatic?" I teased him.
"Aw, do we have to?" Tommy mock whined.
Hesitantly, we moved up the stairs. Although we had been in my room plenty of times, we had never been in there at night with no one else in the house. We perched side-by-side on the bed.
"Um... is it me, or is this really umcomfortable?" I finally said.
"Yeah, this is. I guess I want to do it, but I also don't want to feel like we have to, you know?"
Tommy looked thoughful. "I mean, we've got plenty of time. And... I kinda want to wait. Until
marriage."
"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You never told me that."
"I've never really thought about it. But I feel like I could be married to you. So if we wait, it will be better. Did that make any sense?"
"Yeah it does. If you want to wait, that's okay. I mean..." I smiled softly. "Wow. You want to marry me?"
"Yeah. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday."
"Cool. Well, wanna make out instead?"
"All right!"
Kim:
"So don't want to go to school," I sang in the shower. "High school... is lame!"
"Kim, get a move on!" my mother called through the bathroom door.
"Okay!" I yelled. I rinsed off and jumped out. Throwing on my bathrobe, I ran to my room and got dressed quickly, fixing my hair in two braids that were threaded through with wired ribbons. The effect made the braids stick out, kinda like Pippi Longstocking.
"I'm ready," I announced, plopping down at the kitchen table. My dad was already at the table,
reading the paper.
"Good morning, Kimi. Sleep well?"
I nodded. My dad was the only one still allowed to call me by my old nickname. "Where's Chuck?"
"Still getting dressed, I suppose. Anything special after school?"
"Thanks for reminding me. I have a meet today. Coach Griffin said that I might be the anchor in the 500 relay."
"What time does it start?"
"At 5. We have practice first."
"Your mom and I will be there."
"Thank you," I said sincerely. Chuck came running in, slinging his messenger bag on his shoulder.
"We have to run. Hi, Dad."
"Morning. Why the rush?"
"It's almost seven, and I'm supposed to drop off a letter on the way on to school."
"Okay. Have a good day."
"Bye," I said, running out to the car. Chuck was right on my heels.
"Okay, what's the hurry?" I said. "I'm sure that you can mail that after school."
"It's important. Can you be late for first period?"
"Sure. Are we stopping by the post office?"
"Yeah." Chuck drove through the streets. As he parked, he said, "You need to get out?"
"Nah." I sat in the car and mentally twiddled my thumbs while I waited. As I was waiting, Chuck's cell phone rang. I saw that the phone call was from SHHS. I answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
"Kim? This is Lil. Where are you?"
"At the post office. What's up?"
"You called and said that you needed to talk to me, but I didn't get your message until late. What did you need?"
"Um. Are you kinda alone?"
"I'm in the phone booth. Why?"
"I meant to tell you earlier, but... Tim and I, we..."
"You did the dirty- dirty!" Lil gasped.
"I've never heard that phrase used so correctly." I quipped. "Yeah, we did. I wanted to talk to you... you told Tommy, right?"
"Yeah, I did, but we decided to wait. Um, was it what you thought it would be?"
"It was so fun! I know that's an odd phrase to use, but it was. We kept laughing the whole time. So why did you decide to wait?"
"Tommy wants to wait until marriage. I didn't know that. We talked about the limits we wanted to set. And... I told him that I heard him."
"You did?"
"I actually didn't mean to, but it just came out. And he's not upset or anything. He said that he's
glad that I told him. That had to be the most embarassing conversation that I ever had."
"Are you blushing?" I teased.
Even over the phone, I could hear her deep sigh. "Yes. I'm sure that I'm purple by now."
I saw Chuck emerge from the post office. "Okay, Chuck's coming out. Talk to you at school."
I hung up the phone as Chuck got in the car. "Who was that?"
"Lil. She was wondering where we are."
"Okay."