MY NOTES: To Shannon, since you wanted a "Beth original." (I hope to see Lone Star State of Mind soon. It doesn't have to be a good movie. Ryan Hurst's prescence in it will make it worth my time. ;-) )
Chapter 1: California Dreaming
Ronnie 'Sunshine' Bass was on the front porch of his family's big white house in Alexandria, Virginia. He sighed. As much as he loved playing football for the TC Williams Titans, he couldn't imagine ever calling Alexandria home. He couldn't stand the chill in the fall air. He missed the warm California sun.
He wondeed what Rachel Shannon was doing. Rachel. Just the thought of that girl made Ronnie ache. She had been his girlfriend for a little over a year in California. She was so pretty! Tall, slim, with a deep tan, brown hair with natural blonde highlights, and green eyes. She had made all the guys stop and stare. But her heart belonged to Ronnie Bass. And his belonged to her.
Ronnie tugged at the turned out ends of his blonde hair. "She even liked my hair the old way," he thought.
"Dad," Ronnie called, "I'm going for a walk!"
"OK, son. See you later."
Ronnie grabbed his heavy jacket and set off, pulling the jacket tighter around his shoulders as the wind picked up. "Thank God mom bought me tennis shoes," he thought. Then he rolled his eyes. In California, he'd never worn shoes, except football cleats. He's always preferred sandals, or flip-flops. He hated to have his feet stuffed in shoes. He loved flip-flops.
Rachel liked flip-flops, too. She'd always looked so pretty in the peasant blouses, bell bottoms and flip-flops... Leather headbands, blue sunglasses, hemp necklaces... Ronnie sighed. He missed her so much.
By this time, his breathing had become a little more labored. He looked back, then ahead. He guessed he'd walked almost a mile, then run two. He was headed toward the 'Burg, but it was still at least five miles away. He bit his tongue to keep from cursing the cold out loud. Then he grinned, "Yeah, that'd be just my luck. I'd start cussing and Rev'd be coming around the corner."
But it was cold. Really cold.
Ronnie let himself cool down a bit, then went into a little store. He was thirsty, and he wanted something hot. When he walked up to the counter, he was pleasantly surprised to see an old black man and his wife. They seemed equally surprised. "Hello," the man said. "Uh... are you sure you're in the right place?" Surely this young white man wasn't in a "colored" store on purpose.
"I'm not going anywhere in particular," Ronnie replied, "I just wanted a cup of coffee."
The man smiled and reached behind him for a foam cup. "Cream? Sugar?"
"One of each," Ronnie replied, a handsome smile lighting up his face and eyes.
"OK," the man replied, filling up the cup.
He handed it to Ronnie, who began to dig in his pocket for the money. Just as his hand closed around his wallet, the man said, "Hey, don't worry about it, kid. It's on the house."
"Thanks," Ronnie replied. "Thanks alot."
"You're welcome, son. Not to often we have a white boy in here."
Ronnie laughed. "My friend Rev says that me and my frined Lewie are just light-skinned brothers."
"Rev?" the old man said with a smile. "You mean Jerry Harris?"
"Yessir, Jerry Harris."
"That's my grandson."
"Really?" Ronnie asked.
"Yeah. My name's Marshall Harris."
Ronnie stuck out his hand to shake the black man's. "Ronnie Bass. Rev calls me Sunshine."
"Well, Sunshine, it's nice to meet you."
Ronnie smiled. "Nice to meet you, too."
He sat down on a stool and sipped the hot coffee. It seemed to flood his body with warmth. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander back in time. If he were in California, he'd be drinking a cold Coke, maybe skateboarding, and hanging out with Rachel. In flip-flops, probably.
Ronnie finished his coffee and said goodbye to his new friends. He tossed the empty cup in the trash can, and walked back out onto the sidewalk.
As he began to run, he could almost feel the caffeine traveling through his body. And he began to wonder why Rev's grandparents had thought it so strange for a white guy to enter their store. This Alexandria was a strange place indeed for the somewhat liberal, and very tolerant, California boy.
He kept running until he was standing in front of the white Baptist church that Rev attended. Ronnie had gone their before, and he really liked it. The people there weren't afraid to yell "Amen!" or "Hallelujah!"
Ronnie decided to go into the church for a rest. He sat down on a pew, then looked at the altar. "What the heck?" he thought. "Couldn't hurt."
He went down to the altar and kneeled down.
Ronnie prayed a while. Prayed that he'd see California again, and more importantly, that he'd see Rachel again. He hated the fall in Northern Virginia!
When he stood up, he found himself face to face with the preacher and Rev.
"Hey, y'all," Ronnie said. THen he bit his tongue. "Did I just say 'y'all'?" he asked himself. "Crap. Alexandria's gettin' to me."
Then he wondered if "crap" was an OK thing to think in church. "What're y'a... you doing here?"
"Cleaning up the church for tomorrow," Rev said. "And how about you?"
"Just takin' a rest," Ronnie replied.
Ronnie said goodbye to Rev and the preacher, and left, taking another long look around him.
He once again cursed Virginia's cold fall. He ran home from there and took a long, hot shower. He couldn't believe how tired he was! He hated the feeling of weakness that burned in his legs, and decided to run every day until his legs no longer felt weak.
He got out of the shower and pulled on his robe, towel drying his hair. "Man!" he thought, "A shower does wonders!" He thought, "I can't wait for supper!" Then he pinched himself, saying aloud, "You big idiot! You're even thinking Southern. It's dinner!"
He got dressed quickly, then ran down stairs to eat. It was tomato soup, which he liked, but never ate in California. He considered tomato soup cold weather food. But after running all day in the cold, the hot soup hit the spot.
0o0o0o0o0
Monday morning, Ronnie was in the parking lot at school. He liked school pretty much, with the exception of those who still believed this far into the year, that he was gay. Or a "CaliFORNnian." Or a "fruitcake." Or...whatever they wanted to call it. Even his new best friend, Petey, wasn't sure. He almost laughed when he thought of Petey saying, "Being your roommate and all, I gotta know."
Ronnie's reply had been, "Know what?"
Petey had stood up and pointed his finger at Ronnie, saying, "You know what I gotta know, don't mess with my mind!"
Man, Petey was funny. A little on the nutty side, but funny.
Ronnie grabbed his bookbag, then ran up to the school. He stopped abruptly at the door. Stupid hall moniters. And of course, before classes, teachers roamed the halls.
The first person Ronnie saw that morning was a tall linebacker named Gerry Bertier, who was, as always, roaming the halls with his best friend, Julius "Big Ju" Campbell. "Sunshine!" Julius called.
"What's up, man?" Ronnie asked Julius as he gave the tall black guy five.
Then he turned to Gerry, also giving him five. "What's up, ya fruitcake?" Gerry said with a smile.
Ronnie smiled. Gerry Bertier was the only person Ronnie allowed to call him "fruitcake." He guessed that Gerry had earned that right. Especially considering that, as payback, Ronnie had kissed him.
"Not much, Bertier. What's up with you?"
"Ah, nothin, I guess."
Ronnie looked over Gerry's shoulder and saw a girl standing behind him. Ronnie caught Gerry's eye and looked toward the girl.
"Whoops, my bad!" Gerry said, smacking his forehead. "Uh, Ronnie Bass, this is my cousin, Julie Bertier. Julie, this is Ronnie."
She offered her hand timidly, and Ronnie shook it, a handsome smile spreading across his face. "Nice to meet you."
"You, too," she replied with a smile.
It was obvious that she was related to Gerry. Her hair was the same shade as his, but it was curly, and her eyes were the same. When she smiled, Ronnie caught a glimpse of her braces. Ronnie smiled. "Not bad for a Bertier," he thought. In fact, he wasn't sure he didn't think she was pretty.
"She's in your grade, Sunshine," Gerry said. "I thought maybe you could help her find any classes y'all might have together. Maybe she has some classes with Petey and Alan, too."
"Okeydokey," Ronnie said, immediately kicking himself mentally. "What idiot," he thought, "says 'Okeydokey'?"
Gerry gave him a warning look and said, "Take care of my cousin, fruitcake."
"Get off his case, Gerry," Julie said, rolling her eyes. "Gah! That's some way to ask a guy for a favor!"
"OK. Just..."
"Gerry!" she said, a warning in her voice.
"OK. OK. Fine!" he answered. "See ya later."
"See ya!" she replied.
Ronnie offered his arm to Julie, and she took it. As they walked off, her soft voice said, "I thought your name was Ronnie."
"It is," he replied.
"So why do they call you Sunshine?"
"It's a nickname I picked up for being a blonde guy from California."
"Oh," she said. "Wow! What I wouldn't give to go to California."
"Maybe you can go someday," he replied.
"Well, I get the 'Sunshine' thing now, but where does my cousin get off calling you a fruitcake?"
"It's a long story. But the Reader's Digest version is that when the guys at camp saw my hair, it was longer than this. And they assumed that I was gay. Or a CaliFORNian. Or a fruitcake."
And Gerry still thinks you're...Well, you know..."
"Nah. Gerry earned the right to call me fruitcake. I sorta payed him back the first time he called me that. And the way I got him back, he can call me fruitcake 'til kingdom come."
Julie laughed. She rested her eyes on Ronnies face a moment, and was taken aback. She hadn't noticed his eyes before. They were beautiful, blue, and seemed to catch the spirit of whatever his face was doing. She was glad to have this "Sunshine" lighting up her day. "Yeah," she said, "I don't see Gerry sending me off to class on the arm of a 'fruitcake.'"
"Hey!" Ronnie said, "I could see him doing it. I mean, at least he wouldn't have to worry about him hitting on you."
Julie laughed. "Yeah. That's true." She wondered if he knew just how handsome he was.
"¿Qué es su primera clase de la mañana?" Ronnie asked with a grin, eager to see if she understood that he was asking her what her first class was.
She replied easily, "Es la clase de español."
"Wow! You speak Spanish!" Ronnie said. This girl was amazing! And her first class was Spanish, the same as his.
"Yep! she said. I like it better than English!"
"Me, too!" Ronnie replied. "Well, let's get to Spanish. It's my first class, too."
"Good," Julie replied.
The two of them walked into the classroom, and Julie said, "Wow! Y'all's Spanish classroom is way cooler than my old one."
"Yeah," Ronnie said, looking around the Latino themed classroom. "Señora McLamb is real big on getting us 'into it.'"
She walked around the room looking at different items that were spread throughout it. "Do y'all use Spanish names?"
"Yeah," Ronnie replied.
"What's yours?" she asked.
"Um..." he looked at his feet sheepishly, shy for the first time. "It's Ronaldo."
She giggled a little. "No big deal," she said with a wink. "It's better than 'fruitcake'!"
Ronnie smiled. "True...so what's yours?"
"Julia," she replied.
Ronnie sat down and settled in for an interesting day as students began to flood the room.
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OK, so there's my first chappie! Let me know watcha think! Is it aweful? Is it great? Is it just there? Let me know with a little r/r!
