Melinda’s Story

After lunch Saturday, I followed Walter to his dorm, although I was a little apprehensive about it. I had run out of excuses not to play Weddas with him and his brother.

I hadn’t exactly been avoiding Pat since Tuesday night. I couldn’t play Wednesday because I had decided to spend my afternoon studying at the coffee shop while waiting for my CCD class. On Thursday and Friday, they played in the common room of Pat’s dorm. I refused to step foot inside it. Just the thought of being in an upper-form boys dorm made me uncomfortable. I thought for sure I would see Pat at our Friday night NeoGenesis viewing club, but he skipped it in order to meet with a teacher.

The problem was, whenever I was alone and could think rationally, I could list nearly a dozen reasons why being with Pat was a bad idea. But, as soon as I saw him, or thought about kissing him, those ideas grew fuzzy. And when we touched, I started to think about why we should be together.

I followed Walter into the common room, where I went to reserve a table near the back while Walter ran upstairs. I watched people coming and going until Pat arrived. Then I didn’t notice anyone else.

He saw me almost immediately, smiling as he crossed the room. Instead of a chair, he sat on the table, close enough that our legs were nearly touching.

“Hey, Daphne. You joining us today?”

I couldn’t help but return his infectious smile. “Yeah. I figured it was time I beat the two of you.”

Pat laughed, reaching towards me. I had the feeling he was going to play with my hair. I wouldn’t have minded. But, at the last minute, he changed his mind, scurrying around the table to a chair opposite me.

Walter sat between us, his back to the room. He was all business. He didn’t even say hi to his brother before setting up the game.

He pulled a tile from the bag. “C.”

He held the bag towards me and I withdrew one. “E.”

After reaching into the bag, Pat held up his tile. “F. Walter’s first.”

We sat in silence as we examined our tiles. I shuffled mine around. I could make a few little words, but nothing that would really progress the game. Of course, it would depend on what Walter put down.

Except, he was grumbling about his own tiles. “I have the worst letters ever.”

I shook my head. “No way. Mine are worse.”

Pat rearranged the tiles on his rack. “There’s no way either of you have tiles as bad as mine.”

“Let’s not count this round and just show each other our letters.”

The boys nodded and we all placed our tiles in front of us. Pat sighed as he pointed across the table. “Melinda. You have a bunch of words you can make. Bad. Bag. Mad.”

I frowned. “But, three letter words aren’t good because it’s hard to build on them. Find me a single four-letter word.”

“Okay. I’ll agree with you, but you definitely do not have the worst hand.”

I stared at his letters and found a word almost immediately. “Flu.”

“And I will point out what you just said about three-letter words.”

“At least you guys can make three-letter words. I’ve got nothing.” Walter was practically whining.

He was also wrong. I shook my head. “Yew.”

“Yes, me.”

“No, silly.” Giggling, I rearranged his tiles. “Yew. Like, the tree.”

“Okay. Redraw. No penalties.” Pat scooped the letters back into the bag.

As Walter picked new tiles, I saw Sarah and Larry entering the room, with Crystal trailing them. I knew immediately from Crystal’s scowl that Sarah was ignoring her again. The three of them came to sit at the couch nearest to us.

Crystal started waving at me, but I saw her eyes land on Pat. They grew wide and she glanced between us a few times. Slowly, as if she was having trouble forming the letters, she spelled out Patrick McGregor.

I wanted to introduce Pat. Sarah obviously wasn’t going to. She and Larry were already snuggled in the corner and it was only a matter of time before their lips would be glued together.

Nodding, I pointed to Pat and myself before signing friend. Walter turned around long enough to wave at Crystal, but was too engrossed in the game for pleasantries. I pointed to him, then Pat, before signing brother.

Pat waved at Crystal, signing slowly as he spoke. “Hi. I’m Pat, Walter’s brother. Nice to meet you.”

Crystal was obviously starstruck, since she didn’t reach out to shake the hand Pat extended. However, it was enough to have Sarah turn away from Larry.

“Um, how?”

I tried not to giggle. Despite the fact that Pat had been spending so much time with us, I knew Sarah was still not comfortable around him.

Pat flashed her his famous smile, continuing to sign as he spoke. “I learned to sign for the movie I just finished filming. I’ll tell you about the movie first, then how I learned to sign for the audition.”

I sent him a curious look. “You have to audition? I mean, I thought people just handed you roles.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sarah translating for her sister.

Pat laughed. “Well, sometimes producers or directors might ask me to read for a specific part, but I still have to audition. I mean, they have to make sure I’m what they’re looking for. Anyway, I saw the script for this movie and I fell in love with it and wanted in. It’s about this boy who comes to America and has trouble fitting in. He befriends a lonely boy named Alex, who is played by Matt King.”

Crystal seemed to recover enough to start signing frantically. Too fast for Pat, it would seem. He turned to Sarah.

“Um, I think I missed some of that.”

“She’s a big fan. Matt used to go to school with her, until he went of to become famous, as she phrased it.”

Pat smiled. “So, I play Alex’s brother. Before I read for the role, I took an immersion class at your school.” He pointed to Crystal. “Found a mentor to sign with me outside class. By the audition, I was fluent enough to have a conversation. Still am.”

Crystal’s eyes were full of excitement. “This is so cool! I can’t believe I got to meet an actual celebrity. Can I take a picture with you?”

Pat smiled and posed for a selfie with Crystal before pointing to the table. “Wanna play?”

Crystal shook her head. “I don’t know how.”

Pat smiled. “Not a problem. Melinda, why don’t you give Crystal your seat. You can sit over here.” He grabbed a chair from a nearby table, pulling it close to him and patting the seat. “That way, Crystal can see me easier.”

I wasn’t sure that was the only reason he wanted me next to him. I didn’t mind being close, but I knew I would have trouble concentrating. I moved the chair a little closer to the window before sitting.

Pat explained the game to Crystal as I examined my tiles. Walter placed the word bunt on the table. Crystal pointed to it and held up four fingers, smiling when Pat nodded. Walter replaced his tiles and groaned.

“These still stink.”

Since Pat and Crystal seemed to be having an exchange, I had the impression Pat wasn’t translating his brother’s words literally.

Crystal used Walter’s u to form quit. Walter passed her the letter bag and she refilled her tray while I stared at my tiles. I still didn’t have great letters. I rearranged them a few times and found my word.

“Klutzy. That’s six points!”

“Great job, Daphne!” Pat gently ran his hand up and down my back before placing hint on the board. I thought I saw Walter raise his eyebrows, but he said nothing.

Instead, he stared at his tiles. “Ha! I’m using qat before you can!” He looked at me. “He has used it every day this week. I told you. Literally every game.”

I smiled as Walter put his letters on the board beside Pat’s to form three words and earn seven points. Meanwhile, Pat was signing with Crystal.

I shook my head. “You’re not winning by that much.”

“It’s still early.”

We each took a few more turns, slowly catching up to Walter. Then, Pat placed inhume, taking the lead as we all sent him quizzical looks. Walter didn’t even bother to ask the definition.

After searching his phone, he showed it to Crystal as he explained it to me. “It means to bury, like a dead body.”

Walter made many faces at his tiles for a while before shaking his head. “Okay. I’m gonna risk the penalty. I need new tiles. I’ve got nothing.”

Walter dumped his tray into the bag, shaking it very hard before withdrawing seven new letters. He smiled at Crystal. “Your turn.”

An hour later, Walter had stopped smiling. “I can’t make any words. There are no more vowels. I just counted. And, there’s too many three-letter words on the board, so it just doesn’t work. And, how is it none of us has an F?”

Pat glanced at his watch. “Football?”

“YES.” Walter answered so quickly, I wondered if he realized he had just agreed to join his brother at the MAC.

Pat turned to Crystal. “Want to watch football with us?”

She made a face, shaking her head as she signed, “No.” No one had to translate that one for me.

Pat rested his arm on the back of my chair. A warmth radiated through me as his fingers danced along my back. “How ‘bout you, Daphne? Wanna watch football with us?”

“I think I’ll pass. We can find something else to do.”

I turned to the couch to get my roommate’s opinion. Sarah and Larry had disappeared. I gestured to the couch as I turned back to the table. “Where’d they go?”

Pat interpreted for Crystal. “I don’t care. Let’s get out of here.”

They had probably gone upstairs. I turned to Walter as I stood. “If you see them, tell Sarah to text me.”

Pat nodded at his brother. “Oh, hey. Who won?”

Walter shoved the score paper in Pat’s face before stomping towards the staircase. Pat held it out for me. “Not bad. You beat Walter by one point.”

I had to stand close to him to see the page. He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me slightly closer. I loved the way he smelled. I had to force myself to look at the page instead of kissing him.

“Yeah, but you still beat both of us.”

“Only by a few points.” He tousled my hair before turning to Crystal. “Have fun.”

As we left the dorm, I texted Crystal to ask what she wanted to do. She didn’t have any ideas. It was cold and damp outside, the air threatening the first snowfall of the season. I was content to stay in my dorm.

When we got back to the dorm, I crawled under my bed, pulling out two packages of hot chocolate. Crystal’s eyes lit up. I introduced her to Sally while we waited for our water to boil, then we brought our mugs back to my room.

Crystal was telling me about a boy at school she liked, using a combination of signing and writing in a notebook, when Sarah finally returned.

“Hey. Sorry. Larry and I lost track of time.”

I smirked into my mug. “I don’t need details.”

Sarah made a face. “We were watching a movie. How was your game?”

I thought Crystal was telling Sarah about the game, but they were pointed at me a lot. It made me very uncomfortable.

“Um, it feels like you guys are talking about me behind my back.”

Sarah smirked. “Well, technically, we’re right in front of you. Crystal was telling me she thinks Patrick McGregor likes you. So, I told her you don’t want to be his girlfriend, then she said you were crazy and I had to agree with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. Can we not talk about this?”

“Fine. What should we do tonight?”

“Pizza,” Crystal signed.

Sarah and I both nodded. “Definitely.”

Sarah pulled out her phone. “Should we invite the boys?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What boys? Obviously, you mean Larry. But, who else were you thinking?”

“Walter, of course. Who did you think I meant?”

Melinda’s Journal

Saturday, November 11

Cool autumn breezes

Cold winter winds

Misty rain

Blinding snow

Scarecrows

Snowmen

Leaf piles

Snow angels

Pat’s Story

Mitosis and meiosis were confusing me.  It was so bad that I had trouble with my lab report. My teacher suggested I meet with her during the study hour break Friday night. Unfortunately, this made me miss the NG Viewing Club. While I didn’t mind missing the show, I was disappointed I wouldn’t be able to spend time with Melinda. I had been avoiding her at lunch, trying to give her and Walter some space.

I had the feeling she was avoiding me, too. Wednesday, she didn’t want to play Weddas with Walter and me. She said she wanted to study at the coffee shop before her religion class at the church. I had a feeling that was an excuse. On Thursday and Friday, we played Weddas in my common room. Melinda, however, refused to set foot in my dorm. When I won Fridays game, I declared we would play in Walter’s common room the following day.

I entered the dormitory and saw her sitting at one of the study tables, looking around. She was adorable as always and I sat on the table, close enough to brush my leg against hers.

I smiled, truly happy to see her.  “Hey, Daphne. You joining us today?”

She returned my smile. “Yeah. I figured it was time I beat the two of you.”

I laughed. Was she flirting or just being herself? I wanted to be closer to her, to touch her. My hand was halfway to her hair when I heard someone shout across the hall. He was calling a buddy, but he reminded me Melinda and I were not alone. I put my hand down and moved to a seat across from her.

Walter sat between us, his back to the room and immediately began the game set up. We drew tiles and Walter went first.

I was staring at my horrible letters when Walter declared, “I have the worst letters ever.”

“No way. Mine are worse,” Melinda insisted.

I shook my head. “There’s no way either of you has letters as bad as mine.”

“Let’s not count this round and just show each other our letters.”

We laid our tiles on the table. I looked at Melinda’s and sighed. Would she never learn? “Melinda, you have a bunch of words you can make. Bad. Bag. Mad.”

“But, three letter words aren’t good because it’s hard to build on them. Find me a single four-letter word.”

“Okay, I’ll agree with you, but you definitely do not have the worst hand.”

Melinda studied my letters. In only a few seconds, she said, “Flu.”

“And, I will point out what you just said about three-letter words.” I hadn’t seen it, but I wasn’t going to let her know that.

“At least you guys can make three-letter words,” Walter whined. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Yew,” Melinda replied almost immediately.

“Yes, me.”

“No, silly.” She giggled, rearranging his tiles. She pointed to the word she had made. “Yew. Like, the tree.” I hadn’t seen it either. Maybe she was starting to get the hang of this after all.

I collected all the letters and put them back in the bag. “Okay. Redraw. No penalties.”

I saw Sarah and Larry enter the dorm followed by a miniature Sarah, probably about the same age as my cousin Julie. She was glaring at her older sister as they sat on the couch nearest us.

The girl waved at Melinda, then her eyes grew wide. I waited for the screaming, but it didn’t come. Instead, she started finger spelling my name in ASL.

Melinda nodded and pointed to me. She pointed back to herself and signed friend.

Walter turned towards the couch. “Hey, Crystal.” He gave a small wave before turning back to the game and taking his letters from the bag.

Melinda pointed to him, then me and signed brother.

Walter passed me the letter bag, but I let it sit in front of me as I turned to Sarah’s sister. I signed as I spoke, and I saw Melinda’s jaw drop slightly as I did so. She was so cute.

“Hi. I’m Pat, Walter’s brother. Nice to meet you.”

I extended a hand, but the girl didn’t take it. Sarah stared at me. “Um, how?”

The poor girl just couldn’t seem to get used to me. I smiled, trying to sign as I explained.

“I learned to sign for the movie I just finished filming. I’ll tell you about the movie first, then how I learned to sign for the audition.”

“You have to audition?” Melinda interrupted. “I mean, I thought people just handed you roles.”

She was so cute, I had to laugh. I babbled a little about auditioning, but then remembered the point of my story.  “Anyway, I saw the script for this movie and I fell in love with it and wanted in. It’s about this boy who comes to America and has trouble fitting in. He befriends a lonely boy named Alex, who is played by Matt King.”

Crystal started signing so excitedly, I missed some of what she said. I had never seen signing that fast before, and I had spent nearly three months with Matt and Frankie.

I turned to Sarah, hoping she had understood.  “Um, I think I missed some of that.”

“She’s a big fan. Matt used to go to school with her, until he went of to become famous, as she phrased it.”

I smiled at Crystal and told them about how I found out about the movie and started ASL immersion classes at Crystal’s school.

Crystal eventually got over her shock. “This is so cool! I can’t believe I got to meet an actual celebrity. Can I take a picture with you?”

How could I say no? We took a selfie together and I invited her to play Weddas with us.

“I don’t know how,” she signed.

“Not a problem. Melinda, why don’t you give Crystal your seat? You can sit over here.”

Melinda looked at the fourth edge of the table, which was pushed against the wall, but I moved over and pulled up a nearby chair, tapping the seat with a smile. “That way, Crystal can see me easier.”

She gave me a look of distrust and moved the chair closer to the window before she sat down.

I took my tiles and did my best to explain the game to Crystal. It wasn’t the language giving me trouble. I had never had to explain the rules before.

Walter played the word bunt and Crystal pointed to it, holding up four fingers. I nodded and she smiled.

Walter grumbled. “He’s mad about his letters,” I explained to Crystal silently. “He must have a bad hand.”

Crystal took her turn and Walter passed her the bag to refill her tray. Then, Melinda placed the word klutzy on the table. The six points temporarily gave her the lead and I could see she was excited.

I put my arm along the back of her chair, letting my fingers play along her spine. I could feel the electricity through my entire body. I tried not to let my voice give me away as I praised her. “Great job, Daphne!”

I saw Walter raise his eyebrows as I played my word, but he said nothing about it. I couldn’t have explained myself anyway. I just had this need to be as close to Melinda as possible.

Walter grew excited as he placed his tiles on his next turn. “Ha! I’m using qat before you can!” He turned to Melinda. “He has used it every day this week. I told you. Literally every game.”

I had to move my hand from the chair in order to interpret for Crystal. I had never gotten the hang of one-handed signing.

“My brother gets mad because I use qat every game.”

“What does it mean?”

“It’s a type of tree. I’m not sure how to sign it. It stays green all year and its found in—” I spelled out the words Africa and Arabia and she showed me how to sign the countries.

The game was actually pretty close for a while, but this was a game about vocabulary building. It was time to use some big words, I decided.

I played inhume, smiling when everyone looked at me quizzically. I waited for someone to ask what it meant, but Walter just looked it up on his phone, then passed it to Crystal as he explained it to Melinda.

Walter got progressively more cranky as the game continued. He can be a big baby when he doesn’t win. After about an hour, he started whining.

“I can’t make any words. There are no more vowels. I just counted. And, there’s too many three-letter words on the board, so it just doesn’t work. And, how is it none of us has an F?”

I realized he was right. I glanced at my watch, noticing it was still relatively early. “Football?”

“YES.”

I turned to Crystal. “Want to watch football with us?”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No.”

I put my arm on Melinda’s chair again, my fingers playing across her back. I wished I could hold her. “How ‘bout you, Daphne? Wanna watch football with us?”

“I think I’ll pass. We can find something else to do.” She looked around the room, presumably for her roommate. “Where’d they go?”

“I don’t care,” Crystal signed while I interpreted for Melinda. “Let’s get out of here.”

I assumed Sarah and Larry were making out in his room. Melinda must have as well, because she asked Walter to have Sarah text her if he saw her.

As we pushed in our chairs, I remembered the game. “Oh, hey! Who won?”

Not Walter, I decided, since he pretty much shoved the scorecard in my face and huffed upstairs to his room. I held it out for Melinda, but made sure she had to stand close to me in order to read it. When she did, I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her a little closer.

“Not bad. You beat Walter by one point.”

“Yeah, but you still beat both of us.”

“Only by a few points.” I wanted to kiss her. Even it was just the top of her head. Instead, I played with her hair a little before releasing her and turning to Crystal. 

“Have fun!” I signed and watched the girls leave the dorm.

Walter took his sweet time coming back downstairs. I waited for him in the common room. Eventually, he returned and we headed to the MAC together.

“Find Larry?”

“They’re cuddled on his bed watching a movie.” He emphasized his word with air quotes, then paused a moment. “You’re crazy about her, aren’t you?”

“Who?”

“Melinda, doofus.”

“Sorry. Was I making you uncomfortable?”

“Nah. Her eyes light up every time you touch her, but I think she’s a little embarrassed, too.”

“She tell you that?”

Walter shook his head as we crossed the street. “Nah. It’s her body language.”

“So, you’re saying I should leave her alone?”

Walter didn’t answer me until we were at the base of the MAC steps. “No. She likes you, too. Just, be careful with her.”

My brother was giving me permission to be with his best friend. I could not believe it. I felt as if I were flying as I followed him up the steps.

When we got to the MAC, Walter found one of his friends already watching a football game. As Walter sat on the neighboring couch, I headed to the other television. Halfway there, I realized some girls were watching a tearjerker.

“Doesn’t your brother want to join us?” I heard the friend ask.

“Oohh!!!” the girls all cooed at the same time.

“Football is better than whatever that is.”

I didn’t need any more convincing. I immediately sat on the third couch. Walter was sending his friend a puzzled look. “How’d you figure out he’s my brother?”

The friend ignored Walter and instead looked at me. “Hi. I’m Andy. I live across the hall from Walter. Ouch!” He glanced at the screen. A quarterback had just been sacked and lay motionless on the field. As the tv went to commercial, Andy explained.

“My sister is one of the biggest CAVEmen fans ever. She said she met you at lifeguarding.”

I thought a moment. I had met Frank at his lifeguarding class a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to introduce me to a third former he thought was cute. He was going to ask her to the ball, but she already had a date.

“I remember her. I forgot her name, but I remember her.”

Andy waved a hand as if his sister’s name wasn’t important. “Dre saw the two of you hanging out at the dance last week. Then, she said you guys have been hanging around a lot lately.”

“I spend a lot of time with Larry,” Walter pointed out as Larry sat on Andy’s couch. “That doesn’t make us brothers.”

“Yeah, but Dre thinks you two look alike.”

“No we don’t,” Walter and I said in unison.

Andy held up his hands defensively. “Her words, not mine. Oh man. He’s still down?”

The ads had ended and we all returned our attention to the game.