Living the "Normal" Life

The next day in class was moving day. Our teacher liked to give everyone a chance to sit up front if they wanted so we would get to choose our seats again. It had only been two weeks since the last time, and I had a feeling she needed a break from me sitting across from her every day. I chose a seat in the very back. Steven plopped into a seat next to me and grinned. I felt my cheeks flush as I remembered his kiss and shyly looked down at my hands. "Hey!" he whispered. I looked up. "Did you get in trouble?"

"A little." I managed, "My uncle was in more trouble, though, so it wasn't too bad." Steven nodded.

"Class! Pay attention! Everyone needs to finish finding their seats," Mrs. Bradley announced over the chaos. She was a new teacher, very new. I liked her, and I think she really liked me, too. One day she told me, "You ask very good questions, Tammy. They make me think." I felt very proud of myself!

Having Steven sit next to me proved to be quite the distraction for me, and he didn't help much. He was always talking to me so we were always in trouble. One day Mrs. Bradley embarrassed me by announcing, "Okay, you two lovebirds, if you cannot sit next to each other without talking, I am going to have to separate you." I was humiliated! I only talked because he was talking to me, and I didn't want to be rude. While I really wished I had invisibility powers, Steven actually seemed to enjoy it, but he did quit talking. He wrote me notes instead and, of course, I had to write back. It was the polite thing to do, and Nan was always on me about minding my manners.

Steven and I would quickly become close friends. We never called each other boyfriend or girlfriend but I guess we sort of were. He would walk me home from school and we would stop at the playground along the way. We would race each other to the swings and challenge each other to see who could go the highest. He always won, but his legs were longer!

On Friday nights we would go roller skating. He would laugh when Bobby would knock me down but would always offer me a hand up. After Bobby made a scene, singing, "Steven and Tammy kissing in a tree.." I absolutely refused to skate with my brother again. Soon after he got bored and didn't want to go anymore much to my relief. Now Steven and I could skate together alone!

For a while things seemed to go smoothly in most areas for me. Life seemed good and normal for a bit, but something I learned quickly was...it hardly ever stays that way.

The Meeting

The dismissal bell screeched me back to reality. I hadn't really heard any of my afternoon classes; I was still sulking over confession. Confused by my own behavior, I found myself trying to understand it all and make some sense of it. Hours later and I wasn't any closer to figuring it out.

Like a zombie I filed into line and, somewhat in a fog, shuffled out of the school building, quiet and pensive. My teacher gave me an odd glance but was probably relieved she didn't have to deal with me for the day. "Hey!" I almost kept walking, forgetting my meeting.

"Oh hi!" I said without much enthusiasm. Steven searched my face for a moment but whatever he thought he saw he never let on. He grabbed my schoolbag and shoved my lunchbox into it, swung it over his other shoulder, and took my hand. The next thing I knew we were running down the street away from my house. Laughing I managed a "Where are we going? I live that way!" reaching back to point in the direction of my home.

"I know. I wanna take you somewhere." We ran all the way to Hoffman Park, a local hangout that I had never been without adult supervision before. My uncle and I would often come here with Puddles who bit at rocks in the creek...such a strange dog. The trellis extended over the water, and Richie would make me walk across it. He never did, though. He would always make me do the craziest, most adventurous things, but it just dawned on me, he never participated. Interesting.

Steven came to an abrupt halt with me almost running into him. "You wanna cross over to the other side?" I had done it easily before, skipping across the tops of rocks, without any trouble at all so I nodded. The playground was on this side of the creek; the other side was definitely quieter. It was like being in the woods and because you had to cross the creek to get there, not many people would venture over. This time, though, would present a challenge I wasn't expecting. My patent leather school shoes were not conducive to hopping from rock to rock, and I found myself slipping all over the place. All I could think was how I would explain coming home soaking wet to my grandmother. Luckily, I wouldn't have to.

Hand outstretched Steven helped me jump the rest of the way to land. We climbed up to the top of the bank and sat silently for a time. He shot me a concerned glance. "You aren't going to get in trouble, are you?"

"Probably." I answered. "But it'll be okay. You?"

"Nah. My parents are both working. No one is there when I get home."

"Oh.' I whispered thinking that was sad. My parents were never home during the work week, which could be perceived as a good thing, but at least my Nan was there for me.

We chatted about most everything: skating, school, classmates but both of us steered clear of talking about our families like it was some unwritten agreement. Just as I was thinking, I had better be getting home before my grandmom had a search party out looking for me, he kissed me. Not just a peck on the cheek kind of kiss, but my first real kiss, a long one on the lips! Whoa! Staring into my eyes, he said, "I better get you home before I'm never allowed to see you again." I was, for once in my life, at a loss for words. Did this mean I officially had a boyfriend?