I knew Chris and Teddy were right, though I hated to admit it. I had to say something to her. I couldn't just ignore her and wait for something to happen.
I stared at Vern. He simply stood alone near the treehouse, not saying a word. He was such an unusual boy at times.
"What do you think Verno?" I asked him, "Should I talk to her?"
"Talk to whom?" He asked me, cluelessly, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Typical, I should have known.
Sighing, "The girl we just talked to at the baseball field."
After a moment of thinking, (I could literally see the gears turning inside Vern's pea-sized brain), there was a sudden light bulb, "Oh, right!" Vern jumped up enthusiastically, a smile spread across his face, "Sure, talk to her. She was pretty."
The way he said pretty, with a faint redness in his face and distant look, made me think of a little boy being put in a trance by something like fireworks.
Fine, I was overruled. I had no excuse anymore not to talk to the girl. I was outnumbered. Three guys against me, even Vern.
Sighing again, I shrugged. I had no choice.
Readjusting my canteen, I left Vern to fend for himself. If I didn't get myself to talk to her now, I would never be able to do it.
It was back to the field, back to the scorching sun of Castle Rock summers. It was back to the streets that no outsider ever saw, back to the hidden secrets with in the town.
Walking, I mowed through new story ideas, mumbling to myself with every step.
After only a few minutes of strolling, a churning began to grow inside of me. It became so powerful, it threatened to come up out of my throat at any moment. I tried swallowing, but to no avail. I tried breathing deeply, still nothing. I even considered going back, but when I began to hear Teddy's voice inside of my head... "Pussy!", I decided it best to keep moving.
The scorching heat of August didn't help my nervousness. My shirt was clingy and suddenly I felt like I was sloshing in my own sweat within my keds. I wondered, "How can one girl make someone so nervous?"
It was a question left unanswered.
After an eternity of walking, as I had tried to make myself take a long time, I arrived at the field.
I took a quick gulp as I glanced at the girl. She was still in the midst of her game, and as far as I could tell, she was good at it. I kept hearing the pang of the baseball bat against the ball and the dust flying up into the air, spinning into miniature tornadoes.
I stood silently in awe watching this enticing girl, until my eyeballs went dry.
And then, I heard the sudden whirring of a baseball. It seemed to be growing louder and nearer. It took me a moment to look up and locate the sound, but when I did, sure enough, it was too late. I was already on the ground. My head was pounding and I lifted my hand to feel the damage. There didn't seem to be any blood, but there was definitely a big bump.
"Jesus," I murmured.
Before I knew it, I saw a pair of keds next to me. Then, I saw a head of long blonde hair with eyes etched with worry.
"Shit, how does this keep happening?" The girl whispered to herself, "I'm so sorry."
I shook my head, "No problem," I managed.
She smiled and reached out her hand in an offer to help me up. I accepted, taking her hand with one of mine, and holding my pounding head with the other.
"I'm Jessica," the girl said immediately as I faced her.
"I'm Gordie," I replied, trying my best to smile at her.
"Nice to meet you," she then stated, firmly gripping my hand.
"Nice to meet you too."
"Sorry again about that. I don't know how something like that can happen twice in one day," Jessica said, looking down at the ball that had landed by the fence.
"Don't worry about it," I replied, "Honestly. It's alright."
I immediately wished I would say more. Damn the shyness!
Jessica continued to smile at me, but she finally dropped my hand from hers.
"Look, I'd love to talk more, but I have to go back home now. My mom wanted me home a half an hour ago," she looked at me a truly apologetic look.
"Oh," I managed a small laugh,"Okay, I'll see you later then."
"Definitely," came the reply, "It'd be cool to see you again soon."
I nodded, about to say something more, but she was already off in the other direction, baseball in hand.
I stared at her a moment longer, watching her disappear into the distance.
It took me a moment to realize, she had said she wanted to see me again.
A glowing in my stomach replaced the churning. A smile spread onto my face and I could ignore the pounding on my head. Yes, it had been a good idea to talk to her.
I knew Chris would be incredibly proud. He was like a father in that sense. I could picture him already, a gleam in his eye. He would immediately hang his arm around my shoulder and congratulate me.
Teddy I could also picture. He would simply shout around and perhaps jump a little, exclaiming his joy and happiness for me.
Vern would be unpredictable, because that's the type of person he was. He was simply Cherry Pez- loving Vern, the unpredictable, jolly little boy. He always seemed to be in a good mood, except for the times he was out in the woods and suspected coyotes.
I marched happily and carelessly back to the tree house. What did I expect? A happy return, with the boys playing gin rummy and smoking a cigarette. What did I get? Not that, that's for sure.