I turned quickly around and saw Jen, another one of our group, sitting with her back turned to me. Her black pony tail falling out of its high self, she sat there looking out at the park’s track. I thought it was a perfect and easy opportunity. I quietly snuck up to her, brought my face to her ear, tapped her slightly on her shoulder and whispered, “you’re it,” and dashed like a madman. It wasn’t till I was off the playground that I noticed her still sitting. I stood there, puzzled. If there was anyone to get up and tag the first person she found, it was Jen. Her face looked as puzzled as mine did and I walked up to her. “What’s wrong? Jen.” She looked up at me, then at David, who also noticed Jen’s annoyance, and at everyone else there of our group. “Don’t you guys ever think we are too old for this kind of thing? I mean we’re in a park that we’ve been to since kindergarten, playing TAG!” she was ranting now, “Gosh guys, we’re sophomores! Can we please get out of this park?” I wasn’t quite surprised at the rant Jen was giving.
~
It’s been like this ever since she found Brad. I laugh at the idea of her dating someone. Now, out of my friends Jen was always the one to sneer at the lovey-dovey couples making out at the park or in the mall. Ever since we were little kids, eating glue in kindergarten, we vowed to each other that we would never give our hearts to any boy who tried to come and sweep us off our feet. It seemed over the years that we were going to keep that promise forever. I mean Jen wasn’t an eyesore. Jen had the most beautiful features with her long, straight, polished black hair that swept her face kindly, big brown eyes that gave her doe-in-the-headlights look. She had a tiny frame that made the guys take a second look anytime we walked down the school hallways. I, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. I having thick wavy/curly/crazy red/brown hair, a chubby round face. My body matching my face in its chubbiness. Jen was always my partner in everything we did and now everything has changed. ~
Jen continued her rant, even after no one was listening to her. She got up and walked to the end of the playground. It was then I saw why she began her rant, Brad pulled up into the parking lot next to the gates of the park. In an instant, her face lit up and skipped to his side. Her face smashed up against his window to get him to open it, I look at her with a great upset. I gave her a nasty look and looked back up at David; he had the same face I had. ~
It began to rain that day. It was after Jen left with Brad, that the small, fat drops of rain began to drizzle. “I think I’m going to head out now, See you tomorrow? Lunch?” David asked looking up at the sky, turning from the bright blue to a heavy, gray cloud that seemed to take up and swallow every bit of happiness there was in the day. I nodded to him and continued to stay, even after he started his way home, followed by the rest of our friends. I walked to the slide and climbed up, trying not to get my pants wet. I wiped off the top of the slide and sat. I thought about a lost promise and sisterhood that seemed to be fading. Was I too immature for my age? Should I start to care more about what others thought of me? No. I wasn’t. I was happy the way I was and nothing was going to stop it. I was getting aggravated at nothing, thinking of Jen and her “I’m too old and mature to be playing with little kids” was on my last nerve, but then I really thought the reason I was upset. I was full of envy. Jen had it all, the looks and the boy. I had a mind of a 13 year old and played childish games. I wanted that feeling of knowing someone could take me in and see everything good about me, more than I could myself. Sadly, there was no one. Silly to be mad at her because she had Brad, but I couldn’t help myself.
It wasn’t until I came out of my intense thoughts that I noticed how fast and hard the rain was coming down now. It was as if the rain absorbed what I was thinking the way it sloped down my face. I pushed myself with my elbows and down the slide I went. My pants came out very wet and I didn’t really care this time. I decided to take the long way home. I was getting soaked and it never occurred to me that maybe I needed to get home quickly. I looked left, right, and then left again and crossed the street. I was not paying much attention to where I was. Near the crossing of the Lamon and 47th I never expected it and didn’t see the curb elevated and my toe met the cement.
It was cold and it stung like fire. I had hit the asphalt harder than I thought. I braced my fall with my arms and toppled onto my side. The rain didn’t make anything better, as I fumbled getting up. Man, was I getting soaked. Frustrated, I attempted to stand up and couldn’t with feeling a heated pain from my left ankle. Gosh, can anything get worse? I was soaked, injured, and already angry. So, I gave it one more try to get up and continue on my way. I had just used all my strength to get up off my knee and stood up. The pain in my ankle was excruciating and I winced as I lifted my foot. As I set it back on the pavement, I felt a force pulling me back by my elbow. I was pulled against someone and just then I felt the spatter of water hit my back, a horn blowing, and a car zooming through the rain past the curb. I gaped at how close I had come to being hit. With an injured ankle, how much better would that have been?
“Are you crazy? Jeez, you could’ve been hit!” came from the voice holding me…still.
I took a moment to collect myself, a near death experience can really shake a person. I noticed my hands were clasped around his arm and I let go. I tipped my head up to look at who this person was and it was Danny. I knew him from school, even though a junior, I encountered him during lunch with friends and the occasional “hi,” in the hallway. His eyes met mine, his shiny, mysterious brown eyes, and I quickly glanced down, I stepped away from him, “thank you, very much.” I exclaimed. He smirked, “No problem, lucky I was there to get to you in time, or imagine what could’ve happened!” I agreed with a tipsy nod. I again realized it was raining and shivered in my sweater. “Better start heading home,” I whispered as another shudder came upon me. I looked up at his face and watched as the rain fell onto it, and sloped his eyes, cheeks, lips. “I guess so, see you at school tomorrow.” As I turned to leave I felt something warm hit my shoulders, it was his jacket. I didn’t understand what he was doing but his response said it all. “It’s an excuse to see you tomorrow.” With that he turned and left. I thought then and there, maybe I should give another thought about this "promise".
It was the jacket that kept the idea warm.
