Hey guys! I'm writing this at midnight. Why so late? Two reasons: 1.) I'm just a night person and 2.) I'm really excited to reveal Marissa's mystery dude.
Finally, school started. I set the date for the avengement on the Thursday of the first week of school. But, there were other things to worry about. One was the guy who has an "insanely huge crush on Marissa" as Casey had said. Marissa was positive that it was Danny. I wasn't so sure. After all the freakish things that have happened in my life, I was used to surprises.
Casey told me that Marissa's guy wanted to reveal himself in the west courtyard after school on the first Tuesday of our 8th grade lives. I passed this on to a squealing Marissa.
I knew she would be mad about this, but I was just so curious to what would happen. I knew it wasn't positive that Marissa would tell me everything about her encounter with her guy.
So, like the certified snooper I am, I was going to spy on her.
The west courtyard was the quietest courtyard by far. But, it was also my favorite. The overhang was white wood with vines lacing through it. There was something about it that made me feel really calm. I think it was the fact that it was the only courtyard that didn't have gaudy couples that liked to make out right in the middle of public, where everyone can puke in front of them. No, the west courtyard was for the couples who actually liked each other, not the ones who were just going out for their image.
I hoped this was a good omen to who Marissa's guy would be.
I decided that I would watch from the balcony. The building surrounded the courtyard Mexican-style, which was perfect because I could see everything.
Marissa casually walked in the courtyard and sat on an unoccupied bench. I saw through her nonchalance. I was pretty sure she was doing the McKenze dance inside her head.
Someone walks through one of the entrances.
It's Danny.
Marissa sees him too. Her eyes are brimming with happiness.
Danny starts walking her direction.
"Hey Danny!" She sends him her best megawatt smile.
"Hey Marissa," he smiles back.
"So… what are you doing here?" she asks timidly.
"Oh, just came here to study. It's the quietest courtyard and it doesn't have all of those makeout couples." He frowns. "What are you doing here?" He seems to notice that she doesn't have anything except her backpack with her.
"Oh… just waiting for someone," she responds, not bothering to cover up her disappointment.
Danny looks at her, oblivious to the fact that something is obviously wrong. "Awesome. Well, I gotta go study. See you around?"
"Yeah. See you around."
Danny walks over to the tree on the opposite side of the place where Marissa is sitting. He sits down, takes out his books and reads.
By now, the hairs on my back are standing up. It's that weird feeling that I get when I know something weird is coming up behind me.
"Sammy!" someone whispers sharply. Every nerve in my body relaxes at the voice I would know anywhere.
Casey sits down next to me and looks through the holes in the cement railing like I am now. "Wanted to watch the show, too?" He looks at me with a lopsided grin.
"I don't understand. If it's not Danny, then who is it?"
He doesn't respond. He just grins again, his chocolaty eyes staring gently into mine.
I get sucked into the strange but wonderful hypnotic powers his eyes have on me. It takes me a few embarrassing moments to recover, but eventually all four of our eyes are back on Marissa in the courtyard.
I notice a few people in the courtyard in 9th grade. I scope faces for guys who could possibly be Marissa's guy. Billy Pratt is in the corner of the courtyard, showing a small group of people a new trick where he "pulls" off his thumb. He walks over to a few more people and shows them the trick. Then he goes over to Marissa.
"Not now, Billy, I'm waiting for someone. Maybe tomorrow, in homeroom?" She looks at him, her eyes pleading him to leave.
"Oh, I just need to ask you a quick question. It will only take a few minutes."
"Ok, fine. What is it?" She asks blindly, her eyes still scanning the crowd.
"Do you want to go out with me?"
"Huh? Sorry what was that?" She says, still distracted.
For the first time ever, Billy's face was dejected. "I said, do you want to go out with me?"
Marissa's eyes shoot wide open. My jaw drops to the floor.
"Billy? I thought you meant one of your 9th grade friends!" I whisper to Casey.
"When did I ever say that?" He winks at me.
Marissa stammers "Uhh… I don't know… I thought you had a harem!"
"Umm… no… I just said that to make you jealous." Billy admits, looking at his shoes. "I get it if you wanna say no. Some people think I'm kind of… you know, crazy."
I read Marissa's face. It's confused, but nevertheless she stumbles out a "No, it's ok. I'll go out with you."
"Really?" Billy grins from ear to ear.
"Yeah!" She smiles back, but it's forced.
"Awesome!"
"Yeah...," she repeats. "Listen, I gotta go… I have tennis lessons." I snort in laughter. Marissa hates tennis, and she always makes sure I know that. She dashes out and leaves a beaming Billy behind. Once she's out of the courtyard vicinity, my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. Of course, it's Marissa. I show Casey the front of my phone, so he can see this, too.
He nods. "I'm gonna go talk to Billy." He gives me a quick kiss, and dashes down the stairs. My heart went through a temporary seizure, like it does whenever he kisses me.
I open up my phone. "Marissa? What's up?"
"It's Billy! He's the one who wanted to ask me out!" she blurts.
"Really?" I say, trying my absolute hardest to act surprised. "What did you say?"
"Yes. I felt bad for him!"
"Well, do you like him?"
"I haven't really thought about it, but he's pretty cool. I just don't know if I can handle it."
"Handle what?"
"You know… all of the crazy."
"Oh, give him a chance, Marissa. He might be a romantic softie inside." I giggle at how ridiculous that sounded.
"Ok. Fine."
"How about we double-date tonight? You, Billy, Casey and I can go out to the movies."
"I don't know."
"Come on, it will be fun."
"Ok. But, you promise you'll keep the PDA to a minimum?"
I sighed. "Deal. But you guys should follow that, too." I teased.
She snorted. "I don't think there will be a problem there."
"You never know." I muttered.
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