MANDY
(Summer before 3rd Grade)
Mandy ran up to Wyatt's door and
rang the bell while Luci tumbled onto the grass, popped up, and threw punches
and kicks she learned in Taekwondo. Luci tried to get her to take lessons, too,
but Mandy's parents said she played too much soccer to devote enough time to
learning a martial art. If she wanted to give up one of her leagues, they'd
consider it, but she couldn't imagine that. She played in four soccer leagues
throughout the year, one for each season, and Mom and Dad claimed that was
enough. Anyway, Luci taught her a few moves, and while she thought it was neat,
especially since Taekwondo relied on a lot of footwork, soccer was a million
times more fun.
She reached to ring the bell
again, but before her finger found the button, the door opened. The smells of
lunch, possibly grilled cheese and tomato soup, drifted out of the house. Mrs.
Faulk, Wyatt's mom, smiled at her, and then over at Luci. "Hi, girls. Good
timing. We just finished eating." She turned around and yelled,
"Wyatt! Mandy and Luci are here."
"Thank you, Mrs.
Faulk," Mandy said. Luci jogged over from the lawn.
"Are you two excited about
third grade?"
"I am," Luci said.
"I heard Miss Heather bakes cookies each weekend and brings everyone in class
some on Monday."
"I heard she brings donuts
on holidays," Mandy said.
"We don't go to school on
holidays," Luci said.
Mandy rolled her eyes at her
best friend. "We do on Halloween and St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's
Day. Things like that."
"Oh, yeah," Luci said.
"Cool!"
"Sounds like it's going to
be a yummy school year," Mrs. Faulk said. "Wyatt is most looking
forward to the field trip to City Hall and the police station."
Mandy gave an enthusiastic nod.
"That's going to be fun, too."
Wyatt came up behind his mom and
gave Mandy and Luci a small wave. As always when she saw him, a funny feeling
hit her in the tummy. Most boys were dumb and yucky, not good for much more
than playing soccer with. But not Wyatt. He was as much her best friend as Luci.
Mrs. Faulk bent down and kissed
the top of his head. "I have to leave for work at four, so I want you home
by then. Do you have your watch?"
He held up his arm to show her.
Mandy saw it was his Batman one. Maybe they could let him act as Batman today.
Neither she nor Luci paid attention to the comic book characters like he did,
but he never got to choose what they played.
"Good," Mrs. Faulk
said. "Aunt Sandy will be here by then to watch you tonight."
"Aunt Sandy? Dad isn't
coming home?"
Mrs. Faulk shook her head.
"We'll talk about that tomorrow. Okay?"
Wyatt nodded and stepped outside
between Mandy and Luci. Mandy's parents had talked in whispers about the
trouble Wyatt's mom and dad were having, but she could never hear much. Her
aunt and uncle had gotten a divorce last year, and her cousin, Brenda, told
Mandy how difficult it was. Both Brenda's mom and dad had worked extra-hard to
be nice to her, but not having them both at home stunk big time, even if all
they did was fight when they were together. Mandy wanted to give Wyatt a hug,
as he looked sad, but this probably wasn't the best time.
"Have fun," Mrs. Faulk
called, and she closed the door.
They walked through the
neighborhood on the way to their school where they could hang out in the playground.
Luci told a story about her little brother acting up and almost disrupting one
of her Taekwondo classes, and while Wyatt kept pace, he didn't react even at
the funniest parts. Once they neared the school grounds, Mandy took his hand,
finally getting him to look at her.
"I don't think my dad is
coming back," he said. "At least not to live with us." Neither
Mandy nor Luci knew what to say, so they simply led him to the playground.
"Do you guys want to play
house?" Luci asked, once they reached the big plastic playground
structure. They'd done it often enough, with the huge toy making a perfect
house, complete with stairs, slides, a cargo net, monkey bars, and plenty of
other cool things to climb. "I'll be the sassy mom, and you two can be my
kids."
"No way," Mandy said.
"I'm the wife, Wyatt's my husband, and you can be our precocious
daughter."
Luci clucked her tongue.
"What kind of daughter? That sounds like a vocab word I don't
remember."
"I didn't learn it in
school. Besides, it's a compliment."
"It basically means you're
good at stuff at an early age," Wyatt said.
"And usually precocious
kids are sassy," Mandy said. "At least on TV."
"Oh, okay. But how come you
and Wyatt always get to be the mom and dad?"
"Duh," Mandy said.
"Because I'm going to marry Wyatt someday, and this is good
practice." She immediately threw her hands up to her mouth and felt her
face heat up. No doubt she was as red as a tomato, as her dad always said when
she blushed. Wyatt's eyes went wide, but his face turned pale instead of red.
Luci's hands also went to her mouth, but she did it to stifle as much laughter
as she could. Mandy couldn't believe she'd let her feelings for Wyatt slip out.
Once Luci got herself under
control, she said, "So the truth comes out. If you're going to marry him,
you need to kiss."
"Luci!" she squealed
in a mix of horror and surprise. Kiss him? She'd never kissed a boy before.
She'd never even wanted to kiss a
boy. But as she looked over at Wyatt, his eyes still wide, she had to admit she
wouldn't mind. Not with him.
"Okay, Wyatt," Luci
said. "Pucker up. You need to kiss Mandy."
Now he did blush, and he nodded
his head ever so slightly. "Okay."
Mandy chewed on her bottom lip,
but quickly stopped. She needed both of her lips to kiss him, right? They took
a step towards each other, hesitated, and then took another. Luci nudged them
even closer. "Come on."
Their faces moved together, and
then it happened. When their lips touched, it was shock of static electricity,
like when you scraped your socks across the carpet and touched someone. But a
nice feeling, not a jolt. His sharp intake of breath proved he felt it, too.
The kiss only lasted a second, maybe two, but in that instant, Mandy knew she
was right; someday she would marry Wyatt.
"Eww!" Luci shrieked
between howls of laughter. "That was gross! I don't want to play house
anymore. Let's go on the swings."
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