“Yes, but I do,” she replies and then turns to the girl who yelled at me. “Jillian, I told you bullying will not be tolerated on this bus. You know full well we do not have assigned seats on this bus, and I suggest you pick another seat.”
The girl looks as if she is about to spit nails, she’s so angry. The last thing I want to do is to cause trouble. I would have moved to another seat. There are plenty. But I guess from the driver’s perspective, if she did not intervene, it would be as if she was condoning Jillian’s behavior.
Jillian sits in the seat next to me, and when the driver turns back toward the front of the bus, she leans in and says, “You have just made an enemy, new girl. Remember that.”
I know she is trying to scare me, but it doesn’t work. She is just embarrassed that she was called out in front of the whole bus. Her threat is nothing more than a way for her to save face. So I made an enemy, big deal. She doesn’t scare me. And frankly, she’s not the first and most certainly won’t be the last.
The next several days go without instance. I see Jake every day, and although I feared his attentions toward me would waver, I am pleasantly surprised to say they have not. I see a real friendship developing between the two of us and hope to get to know him better. There’s a story there; I just know it. I mean, come on. A guy like that with all his charm and good looks has got to be a jerk, right?
By Friday, I’ve settled into an acceptable routine at school and have made a new friend, Melissa. She’s sweet and kind, and I genuinely like her. We exchanged phone numbers and have talked on the phone a few times over the week, basically about classes and teachers. She doesn’t say much about the other kids and never mentions other friends, which I find curious. I would think someone as nice as she is would have an abundance of friends. Maybe she does and just doesn’t talk about them. I really want to ask her about Jake, but I refrain. Melissa and I make plans to go see a matinee Saturday calledI Wanna Hold Your Hand.It’s a comedy about six girls who do whatever it takes to see the Beatles during their first US appearance. I’m looking forward to it.
After school, Melissa and I walk to the track field. I notice there are not many students watching the meet, which is probably why Mr. Seymore encouraged us to attend. I’ve never been a big fan of watching a track meet. I always participated in girls track at my old school. But it’s something to do for today, and who knows, maybe it will be fun.
The teams are warming up. I look at my watch; it’s 3:45 p.m. Meet starts in fifteen minutes. I watch them do their stretches and catch a glimpse of that scruffy blond hair I love so much.Jake runs track! He never mentioned it.Suddenly what was just something to do has become more interesting.
The meet starts, with several events happening at once. To the left of the field is pole vaulting and long jump. The runners are lined up on the track right in front of us, getting ready to run the hundred-yard dash. I’m pleased to see Jake is one of them. I run the hundred too.Check, something else we have in common.
The whistle blows, and they are off. Melissa and I jump out of our seats and cheer him on. It happens so fast, before I know it, Jake has won. As he’s walking back to his teammates, he looks up into the bleachers, spots us, and smiles and waves.
Jake runs in a few other races, and Ridgefield wins them all. The other events finish, and the judges tally the scores. While the teams are waiting for the results, Jake comes up to the bleachers to say hi.
“Hey, Jayden, Melissa!” he says. “Thanks for cheering us on. I think we won this one, but the final announcement hasn’t been made.” He sits next to me.
“It was fun,” I say and look over at Melissa.
“Yeah, fun,” she says.
“So, Jayden, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie tomorrow.”
I look back at Melissa and then at Jake. “Oh, Jake, I’m sorry, but Melissa and I already made plans to see a matinee tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh, what movie?”
“I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” I reply.
“Mind if I come with? I heard it was pretty good.”
Before I can respond, Melissa chimes in and says, “Sure, the more the merrier.”
Wow, she is amazing. I was dreading having to answer him because it’s an understood rule among friends that you never blow off your gal pal for a guy. Luckily for me, she’s cool with him tagging along. Oh, it just occurred to me. Maybe Melissa likes him. I need to find out. The last thing I want to do is mess anything up for them. That’s another understood rule among friends: don’t date the guys your friends like, or their exes.
“What showing are you all going to?” Jake asks.
“Two o’clock,” Melissa replies. “Wanna meet us there around one thirty?”
“Yeah, that works.” He grabs his bag and turns to leave, calling behind him, “See you lovely ladies tomorrow.” He runs back down with his teammates while the “Ridgefield wins!” announcement blares over the loudspeakers. Everyone cheers for Ridgefield, and we prepare to leave.
As I gather my jacket and purse, I keep going back to our conversation with Jake.Who does he like? Is it Melissa or me?Not getting an answer from myself, I shrug. Guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Melissa gathers her things. We say our good-byes and leave the field, heading toward the parking lot. When we get closer, I see my dad is already here waiting for me. I turn toward Melissa, “I gotta go. My dad is already here.” I jog away from her toward dad’s car. When I get to the car I turn back to Melissa and say, “Have a good night.” I wave to her as she walks by. “See you tomorrow.”
Melissa waves. I get in the car and shut the door.
“Hey,” I say to my dad as I pull my bookbag into my lap.
“What do you have in that thing?” he asks, shaking his head. “It looks like it weighs a ton.”
“Things, Dad. Things I need. And books. Books are heavy.”
