Her Journey Begins (7 page)



   Chris is standing next to the field when Brandon walks up to her.

  
“
You came.
”

  
“
I told you I would.
”

  
“
You can sit on the bench with us if you want.
”

  
“
No. I
’
ll sit over on the bleachers.
”
and Chris nods her head in that direction.

  
“
Okay, but don
’
t leave right after the game
’
s over. Wait until I come out from the locker room, okay?
”
A look of anxiety crosses her face.
“
Don
’
t worry. I
’
ll hurry so you don
’
t wait long.
”
The referee blows his whistle. Brandon glances over at him and back at Chris,
“
I gotta go.
”

  
“
Good luck
”
Chris calls out to him as he jogs away. Brandon looks back at her and smiles. Maybe she should have asked dad what she was supposed to say. Good thing she didn
’
t say break a leg, Brandon would have thought she was an idiot.



     Chris glances around and notices everyone is pretty much gone. Her heart begins to pound faster as she clenches and unclenches her fists.
What if he doesn
’
t come back out? What if he
’
s just going to be like the other students?
Brandon walks up behind her.

  
“
Hey you ready to go?
”

Surprised, Chris spins around.

   
“
I told mom, I wouldn
’
t ride in your car.
”

  
“
I know, I
’
m going to walk you home.
”

   Chris furrows her brow and tilts her head.

  
“
But how
…
?
”

  
“
Come on, I
’
ll show you.
”
They walk out to the parking lot and Chris sees Brent in the driver
’
s seat of Brandon
‘
s car.
“
Tell Brent where you live and he
’
s going to meet us there. But hurry, it
’
s going to get dark soon.
”
Brandon looks out at the horizon where the sun is starting to set before taking Chris
’
books and tossing them in the back seat.

  
“
Brent can bring those so we don
’
t have to carry them.
”



   For the most part they walk in silence. Chris can
’
t understand why she has such a hard time talking to him. She talks to mom and dad, Tim and Judy and her friends in the neighborhood with no problem, but when she
’
s with him she becomes tongue tied for some reason. The clouds have started to move in and they are about 2 blocks away from her house when the first few drops of rain start to fall. She looks up and one drops on her nose. Brandon smiles.

  
“
Come on, time to start jogging.
”
While they are jogging Brandon turns around and starts making funny faces at her to get her to laugh.

  
“
Stop it. You
’
ll make me pee my pants.
”

Cracking up, Brandon faces forward, grabs her hand and they start running. They turn the corner and see Brandon
’
s car parked in front of the house, but no Brent. They slow down to a walk and  both of them are a little out of breath as they walk up to the porch and find Brent sitting on the porch swing. Chris looks at Brandon shyly and tucks her hair behind her ear.
“
Thank you
”
Brent gets up and walks down the steps towards the car. Brandon doesn
’
t kiss her but squeezes her hand before he walks out to his car. Barb must have heard them come up, because when Chris turns to go in the house Barb is standing by the screen door with a smile on her face. Brad pulls up in the driveway as Chris walks into the house. Barb puts her arm around Chris.

  
“
Come on, we
’
ll set the table and dip up dinner. I won
’
t ask anything until we sit down to eat, because your dad is going to want to hear all the details too.
”

   They sit down to eat and Barb remarks,
“
That
’
s quite ingenious.
”
Chris looks at her and slurps a spaghetti noodle into her mouth.

  
“
What?
”

  
“
How he had his friend drive his car just so he could walk home with you. That was really sweet. I would have liked to have met him, but if he
’
s anything like his friend Brent, I
’
m guessing he
’
s probably really nice.
”

Chris slurps another noodle before commenting..

  
“
I was wondering why Brent was sitting on our porch swing. I take it you were wondering who the guy was, sitting in a car in front of our house?
”

Barb smiles at her.

  
“
Just mom, being nosy.
”

Brad puts down his fork.

   
“
So when do we get to meet him?
”

  
“
I don
’
t know.
”

Then Barb asks,

  
“
Did he ask you out?
”
Slurping another spaghetti noodle into her mouth, this one whips around and smacks Chris in the nose. Using the back of her hand she wipes the sauce off of her nose as Brad tells Barb.

  
“
Well if he did, let
’
s hope he
’
s not taking her out for spaghetti.
”
Chris laughs,

  
“
No he didn
’
t ask me out.
”

  
“
So when are you seeing him again?
”
  Chris puts down her fork, seeing as they aren
’
t going to let her eat until they hear everything. Interlocking her fingers together, Chris puts her elbows on the table, and rests her chin on her folded hands.

  
“
Probably at school on Monday.
”

Brad
’
s turn,
“
Did they win?
”

  
“
Yes they did.
”

  
“
What was the score?
”

  
“
Hmm
…
17 to 14, I believe.
”

  
“
And when
’
s their next game? Maybe we can all go.
”

  
“
I don
’
t know. I can ask him on Monday.
”

Barb looks at her.

   
“
Chris honey, eat your dinner before it gets cold.
”

Chris looks at Barb then Brad.

  
“
Are you done asking questions?
”
They exchange glances and nod. Chris unfolds her hands and picks up her fork.

  
“
No wait, I have another question.
”

  
“
Mom
…”
Chris says exasperated and Barb laughs.

  
“
I
’
m just teasing. Go ahead and eat.
”



   Saturday morning Brandon pulls up in front of the house. He gets out and walks up to Brad, who is trying to start the lawn mower.

  
“
Need some help?
”

Shielding his eyes from the sun, Brad looks up.

  
“
Know anything about lawn mowers?
”

Brandon shrugs and smiles.

  
“
A little.
”

Brad stands up and puts his hand out to Brandon.

  
“
Brad
”
Brandon takes Brad
’
s hand in his.

  
“
Brandon
”

  
“
We were wondering when we would get to meet you.
”

Brandon points to the lawn mower.

  
“
So what
’
s wrong with it?
”

  
“
Just doesn
’
t want to start. It
’
s not out of gas, so I have no idea what
’
s up with it.
”
Brandon gets down on one knee and takes off the spark plug cable and tries to untwist the sparkplug by hand.

  
“
Do you have a sparkplug wrench? Maybe it needs to be cleaned and gapped.
”
Brad goes into the garage and comes back out with the wrench. Brandon takes out the plug, cleans it and puts it back in before he checks the oil and the air filter. Standing back up he pulls the cord a few times, gets it started and then shuts it back down. Brad hands him a rag to wipe some of the grease off his hands.

  
“
Thanks. Come on, you can wash up in the kitchen.
”

They walk in and Brad points towards the kitchen. Chris has the swinging door shut and is rinsing her rag out in the sink. Hearing the door open, without turning around she says,

  
“
Don
’
t even think of walking in here on my clean floor.
”

  
“
Well that
’
s no fair, how come you get to walk in here then?
”
Chris turns around and meekly answers with a question.
“
Because I don
’
t have my shoes on?
”
 

Brandon smiles and locks eyes with her.
“
Okay fair enough.
”
Holding the door open with his back, not wanting to touch anything with his greasy hands and using toe to heel, he kicks off one shoe, then the other and pushes them against the wall with the side of his foot.
“
Okay?
”
Chris grins and Brandon walks in letting the door shut behind him.
“
Hi, your dad said I could come and wash my hands in here.
”
Chris reaches down under the sink, grabs the nail brush and the dish soap and places them on the sink for him.
“
Thank you
”
Brandon tells her as he lets his eyes linger on her breast. Until that moment Chris had completely forgotten that she
’
s wearing a tank top without a bra and crosses her arms.

  
“
I should go change. I didn
’
t know you were coming.
”

  
“
Why? You look okay.
”
Brandon knows he
’
s made her feel uncomfortable by checking her out, so he refrains from telling her that he likes what he sees and changes the subject.
“
Did you enjoy the game?
”

  
“
Yes I did. I
’
m going to have to learn a little more about the rules though. First down, five yards, penalty, it was a little confusing. I mean you guys are out there tackling each other to
…
? I
’
m guessing the goal is to get the ball from this side to that side without getting stopped
…
?
”