He could hear Lee's voice in the back of his head and he tried to
concentrate on what the man had told him. "Stay steady, don't flinch and go
with your first instincts."
He knew he probably looked silly with his fists clenched but it really
helped him move forward and so he kept them that way. It was almost like
his hands held that way, would actually make his feet move from the car to
the front of the school. That was something his mother had always told him,
'go with what works for you.'
He felt like nerve ending in his body was on full attention and sweat was
trickling down his neck. Suddenly he wondered why was this necessary? And
who's idea had it been anyway? Life was good the way it was now, why would
he want to change that? There was absolutely nothing wrong with not going
to dance. As he reasoned this out, he could breathe a little better now and
his heart had slowed down to only about 60 mph. And it was so easy; he just
didn't have to do this. He had plenty of time to worry about such things
later. After all he was only 13. Surely he still hadn't lived quite half
of his life. And if so, he still had plenty of time to ask a girl to a
dance.
But not this girl the thought began taking over his processes. This moment
in time might be the only one that he could ask Carmen Montoya to a
dance. Because
if he didn't now, then some other guy might and what if they had a really
good time and started dating and ended up getting married and having five
children and a house in Alexandria or something, with a fireplace and a dog.
And then it would be too late to ask her. He needed to go through with it
now, while she was still a free agent.
He took a deep breath and approached the group of girls hanging out before
school on the stone steps. This was an old building he knew, built even
before his mom had been a kid, which in his mind was a very long time ago. He
knew that someday he wouldn't think that, but right now, he did. He was
only 13 okay almost 14.
"Carmen?" he heard her name before he felt his throat say it, but since it
was a boy type voice and he was the only boy in the vicinity it must have
been him.
"Yes, Jamie?" her brown eyes focusing solely on him, a small smile, tugging
at the corner of her mouth.
"Carmen?" he said again, beginning to feel like one of his grandmother's
78's. Once they got stuck they just played the same word over and over
again. He needed someone to bump him he thought, to loosen his needle so he
could go on to the next line.
He stepped closer, seeing her sparkling eyes and the expectant look on her
face and thought this might not be so bad. She hadn't run away yet or
anything.
"Carmen?"
"Yes, Jamie." she said just as patiently as before.
Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly" he heard someone say and he couldn't
help but look down to see if it were true. And that's when Ken Marlowe
stepped in between him and Carmen and asked her to the dance.
"I'll pick you up at 8 and then we can go for pizza or something
afterwards."
"No thanks Ken." Carmen shook her head.
"Jamie's already asked me."
"He did?"
"I did?"
"Yes, of course, right before Ken interrupted us." she said reaching for
Jamie's hand. "Come on, you can walk me to class."
If his fly really was down, please no one tell me he thought. He owed that
zipper a lot right now.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I really don't own them, but I sure wish I could even for 5 minutes. Warner
Bros is so stingy. :)
Bros is so stingy. :)