Ok, before I go on, let me tell you about our gym. It's got all your gym basics, hard floors, echoey walls, balls in every corner, a few tether ball posts here and there. But we have one thing a gym usually doesn't have. A balcony. That's right, a balcony. A staircase is against one wall, and and balcony leads to the room where we keep our balls. The balcony has a railing so no one falls off and it looks kinda fancy.
So anywhoo, I peek inside. And much to my surprise, my hunch was correct. Every single kid from the cul-de-sac is inside. Sarah and Jimmy have a rope tied to one of the tether ball posts and are playing jump rope, Jonny and Plank are playing ping-pong, and Rolf, Kevin, and Nazz are in beanbags, looking at magazines. But I didn't see the Ed-boys, to coin a phrase.
We stepped inside and my eyes must have shown I was looking for someone...ok, I guess it was the fact that my head was darting around faster than a fly on the run from a fly swatter.
Sarah quit turning the rope for Jimmy which made him fall, as usual...giving me a funny look. Paula had stepped in after me. She glared back at Sarah and then kept looking.
Pretty soon, my friend Jackie came up beside me. I said hi to her, ruffling her hair. After introducing her to Paula, we kept looking, adding a new pair of eyes this time. But we failed to look up to the balcony.
Suddenly I heard a familiar voice call my name. "Hannah! Hannah!!
I look around and by now not just Sarah had realized we were there. Everyone was watching us, Rolf especially. I guess we were foreigners to him.
Well, we finally glance up to the balcony and see the Eds!!! They come running up in their usual fashions, DD first. He comes to a stop and waves down to me, showing the cute gap in his teeth as he grins. Eddy comes to a stop beside him, smiling suavely at Paula. Ed runs up and narrowly misses running into the other boys. Jackie smiles and jumps up and down, waving her hand in the air. "Ed, Hi!" Ed's eyes bug out and he jumps up on the railing of the balcony, yelling back down to Jackie. "JACKIE!!
I look at Paula. Paula looks at me. I look at Jackie. Jackie looks at me. Paula and Jackie look at each other, then all three of us make a bolt for the balcony, standing under our Edward.
Paula nervously throws the note in the air, Eddy snatches it out of the air and reads it. Afterwards he smiles at Paula, wiggling his eyebrows. "Of course, Paulie." She smiles as big as her whole face, giggling gleefully.
Suddenly I get an idea. I hold my arms out in front of me, calling up to DD. "Jump!
He starts to shiver, looking at me like I'm crazy. "Jump? Are you out of your mind?
I laugh and shake my head. "You trust me, don't you? I won't let you fall.
So he climbs over the railing, shaking like a leaf. He jumps, covering his eyes on the way down.
You'll be glad to know that I caught him.
Ok, you know how in old weddings, the groom sweeps the bride off her feet and holds her as they enter their new house? Well, that's how me and DD ended up, except reversed. Embarrassing, I know. So we both look at each other, blush, and giggle shyly as I set him on his feet. We look up to meet the stares of Jackie, Ed, Paula, and Eddy. We both blush even redder and chuckle, turning away from each other. Eddy rolls his eyes, laughing.
"Glad you ladies finally found us. Whatcha wanna do?
He leans over to Paula, raising his eyebrows, which makes her laugh.
I lean over to DD, whispering in his ear. "DD, will you go with me to the dance?
He starts to sweat, pulling at his collar. "Why, of course...
I smile and clap my hands together, leaning back. "YES!
Jackie looks up at Ed, batting her eyelashes. "Will you take me to the dance, Ed?
Ed blinks, looking confused. Then he grabs Jackie up, hugging her so tight her face turns blue. "Yes I will!" When Jackie finally gets loose from Ed's grip and catches her breath, she looks at Eddy. "In answer to your question, I don't know. Shouldn't we get ready for the dance?
DD scoots over to his friends and Jackie and Paula do the same, so we're lined up facing each other.
"Dance! Dance dance dance..." Ed cries out suddenly, putting his hand on top of Eddy's head and dancing in a circle around him, which make Jackie laugh.