Melinda’s Journal
Wednesday, November 30
When I was in middle school, there was a girl who was really mean to me. She teased me for being short. She laughed at my clothes. She made fun of the books I would read when I finished my classwork.
Even though she was so mean to me, I never actually hated her. I avoided her whenever possible. I didn’t respond when she harassed me. Eventually, she got bored with my lack of response and moved on to annoy someone else.
This week, I’ve encountered someone whom I am starting to truly hate. Someone I’ve never met. Unlike middle school, I can’t avoid this person because she’s everywhere. And, she has no idea I even exist.
Melinda’s Story
Thursday morning, I walked into the kitchen to see my mother watching one of the morning talk shows while drinking her coffee.
“Morning.”
“Hey, baby girl. It looks like it’s gonna be too rainy to go tubing today.”
I grimaced as I took a bowl out of a cabinet. “Yeah, Pat already texted me. We’re trying to think of something else to do.”
“Well, there’s the mall, or the movies. Or there’s that place Joey goes to with his friends with the arcade and laser tag.”
I made another face as I took out a box of cereal from another cabinet. “Yeah, we already ruled all those out.”
“Well, he’s welcome to spend the day here, although I would think that would get pretty boring.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. As I poured crispy rice cereal into the bowl, the television caught my attention. Or rather, the perky celebrity on the screen did.
The middle-aged host flashed a knowing smile. “We caught the two of you together.”
“You didn’t!” Poppy’s face filled the screen, her expression clearly suggesting she was feigning surprise. I could tell from the gleam in her eye that Poppy was only pretending to be caught off guard.
The host smiled, thrilled to be sharing the celebrity gossip, as she pointed to the screen behind them. A moment later, the television was filled with the video. Pat was walking along a city street with Meghan and his mother beside him. They were all bundled in hats and mittens against the winter chill, although they had not attempted to disguise themselves. Even from a distance, I could tell it was them.
Poppy advanced from the opposite direction. Pat opened his arms and Poppy walked right into them, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him. I couldn’t even pretend this was an old clip. The storefronts behind them were decorated for Christmas.
“Melinda!”
I snapped back to the present. Cereal was still pouring out of the box, cascading off the mountain in the bowl and bouncing onto the floor.
I put the box on the counter and ran upstairs. I couldn’t even see where I was going. My eyes were blurred with tears. I clutched my phone in my hand as I tried to form a complete thought. I wasn’t sure what I should do first. I wanted to ask Pat what was going on. I wanted to search the internet for as much information as possible about that kiss I had just seen. I wanted answers and didn’t know how to find them.
Eventually, I decided to find the video clip of the interview I just watched and text it to Pat. I didn’t include any question or comment. Just the link. I would let him make the next move.
An hour or so later, the doorbell rang. I didn’t even need to look outside to know who it was. I was just surprised he would show his face.
I heard the voices downstairs and a few minutes later, my mother knocked on my bedroom door.
“Melinda? Pat’s here. He said you texted him the video clip and he wants to talk to you. Do you want me to tell him to go home?”
I sniffed. “I didn’t invite him over. I know you said I could, but I didn’t.”
“I gathered that when he apologized for showing up unannounced. He’s in the family room. He looks upset.”
My mother left the room. A moment later, I followed.
I stood in the doorway a moment, watching Pat pace the small room. He looked nervous. My mind flashed back to my two previous relationships. Both had ended with arguing and me storming out of the room. Would my relationship with Pat end the same way?
I wasn’t exactly sure where my mother was, but I hoped it was far enough away to give us at least a little privacy. I shut the glass door behind me as I entered the room.
Pat turned. “Daphne!” He came toward me, but I turned away and sat on a couch. He sat on the opposite end, facing me. “I’m sorry!”
“You kissed her!”
“No, I didn’t! Please, let me explain what happened?”
I sat back with my arms folded. My eyes were already burning with tears, but I struggled to hold them off. Not trusting my voice, I nodded for Pat to continue.
“Tuesday, Meghan had a doctor’s appointment in New York. Walter had to go in to the studio. Dad’s at Uncle Vinny’s studio with the band. I could either sit home bored all day, or I could go into the city. I opted for the city.”
Pat was wringing his hands in his lap as he spoke. Were his eyes glistening a little as well? I let him continue his story.
“We dropped off Walter and then went to the doctor with Meghan. I wanted to just wander around, but Mom wouldn’t let me. So, after the doctor, we decided to go get lunch. I don’t know how she found us. I really don’t. She saw me coming and ran right at me.”
“You opened your arms to hug her.”
“No. I put my arms out to stop her. She took that as an invitation to kiss me. What that clip doesn’t show is me pushing her off me. Yelling at her. It doesn’t show the screaming match between our mothers.”
I felt a smile escape the corner of my mouth as I pictured the petite Mrs. Evans screaming at anybody. It quickly faded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Pat closed his eyes and sighed. “I didn’t know there were cameras.”
“You were hiding it from me?” I heard my voice crack. The tears were welling. Pat inched closer on the couch.
“I wasn’t. I swear! You have to understand, Poppy is crazy. Literally, crazy. Once I realized that, over the summer, I wanted nothing to do with her. After that incident the other day, I just tried to forget about it. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you. I was just trying to pretend it hadn’t happened.”
“I know I don’t have a lot of experience, but I’m pretty sure when your ex kisses you, you’re supposed to tell your current girlfriend!” Angry tears escaped onto my cheek, but I left them.
“You’re right. And, I should have called you that night. But, I forgot. We went to lunch and Mom told me she would talk to Uncle Brennan.”
“Who?” I wiped a tear with the back of my hand.
“One of her older brothers. He’s our lawyer. I want to see if we can prove Poppy had the cameras waiting there. Anyway, by the time lunch was over, I had more or less forgotten about the kiss. I didn’t want to just text you about it, and I figured we could laugh about it today.”
I closed my eyes a moment, and Pat wrapped his arms around me, drawing me close. I buried my head in his chest, feeling his head resting on mine as he gently rubbed his hand up and down my back. He often did this when I was agitated, but I had the feeling that today he might be trying to calm himself as much as me.
We were silent for a while. Eventually, I turned my head slightly so I could speak.
“This is hard for me.”
“I need to know you trust me.” Pat held me tight.
“I do. But, things like this keep happening.”
“This is all new for me, too. I’m learning from my mistakes. Now I know the next time a crazy ex-girlfriend kisses me, I should let you know right away.”
I laughed weakly. “Crazy fans, too.”
“Noted.” Pat kissed the top of my head, sitting back to look in my eyes. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know. So, my mom said you could spend the day here. I didn’t get to invite you because it was right when she was watching that interview. But, you can stay if you want.”
“I’d like that.” He stroked my hair and kissed me gently, causing my heart to stop beating normally. Before I could kiss him back, he stood, extending a hand to help me up. “What board games do you guys have?”
“None? We’re not really a board game family. We have playing cards.”
Ultimately, Pat managed to convince me to play Walter’s WTTE. He even invited my mother to join us. I had a feeling he was trying to make a good impression, especially in light of the rumors about him and Poppy.
The three of us sat at the kitchen table, and I did my best to explain the game, with Pat helping when I forgot an important point. We didn’t keep score the first round, and I got the impression Pat was picking easy words on purpose, especially when he went the entire game without using his favorite word, qat.
After my mother had a good understanding of the game, she agreed to play a second round. This time, Pat showed no mercy and I was proud when I only scored five points less than him.
I was still reflecting on the game as we finished our lunch. “I still like the regular game better.”
My mother gestured toward the papers. “You play this often?”
“Walter and Pat play daily when Walter doesn’t have sports practice. I join them when I can. Now what should we do?”
“We have some jigsaw puzzles in the study.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” I held my hand out to Pat. “Come on!”
The spare bedroom at the top of the stairs had always been used as a study, although there was an air bed in the closet for the occasional overnight guest. A table stood in the corner and craft supplies were usually stored in a cabinet in the closet. I found a 500-piece puzzle that had never been opened and grabbed a sheet of poster board, bringing both to the table. Pat sat beside me as I opened the box.
“Okay. I have a system.” I showed Pat how I separated all the outside pieces onto the poster board while putting the center pieces in the lid of the box. As we sorted the pieces, we assembled the puzzle until we had built a frame. We then spent the next several hours building the puzzle.
“Pat?” I could hear my mother calling from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you staying for dinner?”
Pat looked at his phone. “Mom wanted me to get Walter from the train station. Lemme see if she can get him.”
I went to the top of the stairs as Pat called home. “He’s calling his mom now.”
“Okay. Melinda, can you come here for a moment?”
“Sure. BRB!” I called over my shoulder into the study before jogging down the stairs. My mother spoke in a low voice.
“I have to go get your brother. He’s going to Michael’s house and I offered to pick them up at school. I also need to run to the grocery store. Can I trust the two of you alone for a couple of hours, or do I need to send Pat home?”
“I promise. We’re only going to work on the puzzle.”
My mother didn’t look pleased, but she did seem to believe me when she left a few minutes later, after Pat confirmed he would be eating with us.
“Everything okay?” Pat asked when I returned to the study.
“Yeah. My mom had to run a few errands and wanted to make sure we would behave.”
Pat put down the puzzle pieces in his hand and smiled mischievously. “We’re home alone? Sick. What should we do? Raid the house for junk food? Ooh. We can bring it up here instead of eating in the kitchen. Or we could—”
I laughed, hitting Pat playfully on his shoulder before picking up the next puzzle piece. A little while later, after we were both fairly certain we were home alone, Pat grabbed my waist, pulling me close for a very long kiss.
I never heard my mother return home, but I felt her standing behind me in about half the time she had said she would be gone. She stared at the half-completed puzzle.
“You did all that in the past couple of hours?”
Pat flashed her his famous smile. “Yeah. We’d probably have gotten more done, but Melinda won’t let me look at the box. She says it’s cheating.”
“She’s always been that way.”
“Thanks for letting me stay while you were out, Mrs. Luzzelli. I can’t remember the last time I had time for a jigsaw puzzle.”
“It’s supposed to be much nicer tomorrow. Would you kids still like to go tubing? Maybe you can eat at the lodge before I pick you up.”
I liked that idea. “That sounds great. But, I don’t know about eating there. If I remember, they don’t have the best food.”
“You can bring your own food. Pack a little picnic.”
Pat smiled. “Oh! I like that idea. I’m free. I’ll check with my mom and let you know later today, if that’s okay?”
“Sure.” My mother glanced at the puzzle one more time before leaving the room.
Pat and I managed to finish about two-thirds of the puzzle before giving up for the day. Since it was too early for dinner, we went to the family room to watch television. After finding an old Christmas movie, we cuddled together on the couch. Pat played with my hair absently as we watched a man wonder what his life would be like if he had never been born.
“Dinner’s ready,” I heard my mother calling.
I sat up quickly. Pat and I had both fallen asleep watching the movie. I shook Pat gently. He sat up sleepily.
“Wha?”
I spoke in a loud whisper. “We fell asleep watching the movie. My mom just called us to dinner.”
Pat swore under his breath. “I was trying to make a good impression.”
“I’ll talk to her tonight. Let you know if we’re in trouble.”
My father had come home, picking up Joey on his way. I hadn’t told my father about my famous boyfriend but, since he didn’t fall down in shock when we walked into the kitchen, I guessed my mother had.
“Dad, Joey, this is Pat. Pat, that’s my dad and brother. Joey, you be nice and act normal, or Pat will never visit again.”
I had to give my brother credit for swallowing whatever obnoxious fan statement he was about to spew. Dinner was awkward. I could see my family was struggling to treat Pat like he was normal. Pat tried to make them more comfortable by asking Joey about school and karate. By the time we finished eating, Joey was able to provide more than one-word answers and had told Pat all about his most recent tournament.
After dinner, my parents made Joey go upstairs to finish his homework while they went to watch television. I had just enough privacy to kiss Pat goodbye.
He ran his fingers through my hair as we stood just out of sight of the family room. “I had a lot of fun today.”
“Me, too.”
He pulled me close. “I’ll text you when I get home.”
“I’ll let you know about tomorrow.”
After a gentle, but quick, goodbye kiss, I walked him to the door, standing in the open doorway until he pulled out of the driveway. I locked the front door and shut the porch light.
I heard my father call as I passed the family room. With a sigh, I popped my head in the doorway. My mother glanced at me.
“Did Pat leave?”
I nodded.
“Did he say whether he could go tubing tomorrow?”
“Yeah, his mom said it was okay. So, you’re not mad at us?”
“Why would I be mad? Did you do something wrong?”
“Well, we kinda fell asleep while we were watching a movie.”
“Baby girl, everyone falls asleep watching that movie. I will admit, I was not pleased when I saw you two on the couch together, but you really did seem engrossed in the movie. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea of you having a boyfriend. Give me a little time.”
“Okay. Night.”
Before my parents could interrogate me, I ran to my room, texting my roommate to share all the details of my day.
Pat’s Story
I was invited to go tubing with Melinda on Thursday. Unfortunately, when I went for my morning run, it was raining. I texted this fact to Melinda and we began brainstorming ideas of what we could do instead, but nothing sounded very appealing. After a while, she texted hungry and disappeared, so I figured she had gone in search of breakfast.
A short time later, my phone chirped. Melinda had texted me a link. I opened it and nearly dropped my phone. I ran to find my mother.
She was in her sitting room, still in her bathrobe. I wordlessly shoved the phone in her face. I had to hear Poppy’s giggle all over again. I wanted to be sick.
Mom stood as she returned the phone. “That girl went too far. She set you up.”
“What are we going to do? You said something about suing for defamation? Should I get a restraining order?”
Mom sighed. “I’ll call Brennan, let him see what he can do. You try not to worry about it too much.”
On my way back to my room, I stopped in to see Walter. He was reading his scripts on his bed. He nodded his head in acknowledgment as I straddled his desk chair. Like I had with my mother, I simply shoved the phone in his face.
He watched the clip before returning the phone. “When did this happen?”
“Tuesday while you were recording. But I’ve got a bigger problem. Melinda’s the one who sent it to me. You don’t think she believes it, do you?”
Walter put down his tablet to look at me. “You saw how upset she was the other day. Yeah, I’m willing to bet she believes it.”
“I was afraid of that.”
When I explained the situation to Mom, she agreed I could go to Melinda’s house to talk to her. I spent the entire car ride trying to figure out what to say. When I rang the bell, I was still clueless. Melinda’s mother answered and I quickly apologized for being there.
“I’m sorry to just show up uninvited, but Melinda sent me something and I really need to talk to her.”
Mrs. Luzzelli pursed her lips as she considered me a moment. I realized she must have seen the clip as well. I began to wonder if I would be allowed through the door.
She stood aside and gestured to a small living room on my left. I wiped my feet and removed my shoes as she closed the front door.
“I’ll go tell Melinda you’re here, but I’m not sure she’s going to want to speak with you.”
I watched her go up the stairs, then I started pacing the room. My closet was larger than this room. I began to wonder what the rest of the house looked like.
Melinda came in and closed the glass door behind her. That provided us with at least a little privacy. I moved in to hold her, but she backed away. The look in her eyes pretty much broke my heart.
She sat on a couch and I chose to sit on the opposite end of the same one, even though there were others in the room. I angled myself to face her.
“I’m sorry!”
“You kissed her!” Melinda was almost shouting. I hoped her mother couldn’t hear us. Monday was embarrassing enough.
“No!” I needed to make this point clear. I needed Melinda to understand. “I didn’t! Please, let me explain what happened?”
Melinda’s eyes were glistening, but tears weren’t falling. She pushed herself further into the corner of the couch, crossed her arms and nodded for me to continue.
I did my best to set the scene and explain how we ended up in New York. I made sure I never even mentioned Poppy by name, just referring to her as she.
“I don’t know how she found us. I really don’t. She saw me coming and ran right at me.”
“You opened your arms to hug her.” Melinda’s icy tone stabbed my heart.
I could feel tears in my own eyes as I struggled to make Melinda understand. Even if she broke up with me, I needed her to understand the truth, not Poppy’s misguided reality.
“No. I put my arms out to stop her. She took that as an invitation to kiss me. What that clip doesn’t show is me pushing her away. Yelling at her. It doesn’t show the screaming match between our mothers.”
Melinda’s mouth twitched, but the smile didn’t last. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “I didn’t know there were cameras.”
When I opened my eyes, I could tell immediately that had come out wrong. If I didn’t know her so well, I would have thought Melinda was ready to hurt me.
“You were hiding it from me?” Her voice broke and a single tear escaped. I longed to brush it away. Instead, I moved a little closer to her and tried to explain.
“I wasn’t, I swear! You have to understand, Poppy is crazy. Literally, crazy. Once I realized that, over the summer, I wanted nothing to do with her. After that incident yesterday, I just tried to forget about it. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you. I was just trying to pretend it hadn’t happened.”
Melinda’s reply was icy. “I know I don’t have a lot of experience, but I’m pretty sure when your ex kisses you, you’re supposed to tell your current girlfriend!”
“You’re right.” I inched a little closer. “And, I should have called you that night. But, I forgot. We went to lunch and Mom told me she would talk to Uncle Brennan.”
“Who?” Melinda wiped a tear from her cheek.
I waved a dismissive hand. “One of her older brothers. He’s our lawyer. I want to see if we can prove Poppy had the cameras waiting there. Anyway, by the time lunch was over, I had more or less forgotten about the kiss. I didn’t want to just text you about it, and I figured we could laugh about it today.”
Melinda closed her eyes. I took the chance of closing the gap between us and pulling her into my arms. I knew she might push me away, but she buried her head into my chest. I rested my head on hers, gliding my hand gently along her spine. I often did this to calm her, but today I found it settling me as well.
After a long while, Melinda fidgeted slightly, whispering into my chest. “This is hard for me.”
I pulled her even closer. “I need to know you trust me.”
Melinda sighed. “I do. But, things like this keep happening.”
“This is all new for me, too. I’m learning from my mistakes. Now I know the next time a crazy ex-girlfriend kisses me, I should let you know right away.”
Melinda tried to laugh, although it came out as a pathetic little cough. “Crazy fans, too.”
“Noted.” I kissed the top of her head and sat back a little. I looked into her mesmerizing chocolate eyes, still glistening with tears. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know.” She sniffed. “So, my mom said you could spend the day here. I didn’t get to invite you because it was right when she was watching that interview. But, you can stay if you want.”
I stroked her hair, ecstatic she had understood. “I’d like that.” I glanced surreptitiously out the glass door and, not seeing an audience, kissed Melinda gently. Then, I stood and reached out a hand to help her up. “What board games do you guys have?”
I was in shock. I grew up in a family that played board games nearly every night. We still did. When Melinda told me her family didn’t have any board games, I thought she was kidding.
It turned out they were a card-playing family, but I only knew how to play a handful of baby games. Since I didn’t want to admit that to my girlfriend, so I kept suggesting WTTE. With a sigh, Melinda agreed. She led me down the hall to her kitchen, where I found her mother making herself some coffee.
I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. I couldn’t tell if she liked me or was mad at me. Was I still invited to spend the day? I got the impression that offer had been extended before they had seen the interview with Crazy Poppy. I hung in the doorway while Melinda went to her mother.
“Hey, Mom? Do we have any graph paper?”
“In the office. Why?”
Melinda left the kitchen without answering her mother. I decided to explain before an awkward silence could fill the room.
“There’s this game my family plays and we taught it to Melinda. Would you like to join us? It’s really easy to learn. Especially this version, since my brother left the game tiles at school.”
Melinda’s mother raised her eyebrows, but she joined us at the kitchen table when her daughter returned to the room. Melinda explained the game, with a little help from me, and I suggested we not keep score the first round.
I tried to play small, easy words and not make too many combinations, purposely keeping my score low. I had never done this before, but I was pretty sure winning right off the bat would make a bad impression with my girlfriend’s mother.
After the first round, we played again. Melinda started using larger words, although she was still struggling to make combos. I forgot to let them win, but I only beat her by five points. I was so proud of her.
Melinda’s mother made us some sandwiches for lunch and even ate with us while Melinda explained how we played Weddas a lot at school. Then, we tried to think of what we should do next. I knew Melinda would not play more WTTE.
Melinda’s mother suggested jigsaw puzzles like we were five, but Melinda grew excited at the idea. When she dragged me up the stairs and I figured I could humor her for a few minutes.
She brought me into another room, not much bigger than the living room. Though it looked like a bedroom, it had a table where a bed should be. Melinda opened the closet and I saw several unopened puzzle boxes along with an assortment of craft supplies. Melinda pulled out a large poster board and one of the puzzles and brought both to the table.
The last time I had done a puzzle, it was about twenty or thirty pieces. This one was over five hundred. They were tiny, too.
Melinda opened the box then turned the lid upside down and opened the plastic bag containing all the pieces. After dumping them into the bottom half of the box, she picked up a handful.
“I have a system. So first, I go through all the pieces, sorting them. If you see an edge, leave it on the board. If it’s a middle piece, put it in the empty box. If you start seeing a lot of a certain color, you can pull those, but I would just focus on edge pieces for now.”
Melinda immediately began sorting what was in her hand. She worked so quickly, dropping some pieces beneath her and tossing others into the empty box. I tried to mirror her actions, although I was much slower. This took a lot more concentration than I had realized.
Eventually, I found a corner piece. I tried to pick up the lid to see which corner it was, but it had a lot of pieces in it already and I had to be careful not to spill it. Melinda looked up.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to see where this piece goes.”
“That’s cheating.” She said it so simply, turning back to her sorting without a second thought. It was absolutely adorable. Glancing at the door to ensure we were alone, I kissed the top of her head before looking for more edge pieces.
I lost track of time. Completing that puzzle became a type of mission for me. Suddenly, my life was not going to be complete until the puzzle was. After assembling the frame, Melinda showed me how she sorted the pieces according to similar colors or patterns. We ended up with about six piles on the poster board. She gave me the smaller one to see what I could do with it, and I created what looked like possibly the head of a cat. We did this for several hours until her mother called upstairs.
“Patrick? Are you staying for dinner?”
I checked my phone. I had lost all track of time. “Mom wanted me to get Walter from the train station. Lemme see if she can get him.”
Melinda left the room and I called my mother. As the phone rang, I heard Melinda call BRB a moment before my mother answered.
“Hey, Munchkin. Things go okay with Melinda?”
“Yeah. I explained everything. We’ve been just hanging out all day.”
“Are you on your way home?”
“Well, that’s why I called. I know you wanted me to get Walter. But, Melinda’s mother invited me for supper. Can I stay here a little longer?”
“I suppose. Meghan invited your brother to eat with her as well. Call me when you leave.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
I went to the top of the stairs, where I could see Melinda talking to her mother below. I wasn’t sure if I should interrupt them, but her mother looked in my direction.
“My mom said I could stay.”
Melinda smiled at me. “Okay. I’ll be up in a minute.”
I shrugged and went back to the puzzle. I was working on something that might have been a ball of yarn, but I wasn’t positive. I was determined to figure it out.
A moment later, Melinda returned to the room. I glanced at her for a brief moment.
“Everything okay?”
Yes! That piece fit just right. But, where did this one go?
“Yeah. My mom had to run a few errands and wanted to make sure we would behave.”
I put down the puzzle pieces. A million thoughts raced through my head. I smiled at some of the possibilities. “We’re home alone? Sick. What should we do? Raid the house for junk food? Ooh. We can bring it up here instead of eating in the kitchen. Or we could—”
Melinda hit me lightly on the shoulder as she sat back down beside me. I waited a good ten minutes until I was pretty sure her mother was gone before pulling her close and kissing her deeply. It was almost as intense as the kiss in the limo last week. It took a long time for my heart to stop racing.
Melinda had said her mother would be gone for a couple of hours, but she was home in less than one. I saw her enter out of the corner of my eye. Melinda was standing on the opposite end of the table, working on a different section. Her mother gestured to the puzzle.
“You did all that in the past couple of hours?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “We’d probably have gotten more done, but Melinda won’t let me look at the box. She says its cheating.”
“She’s always been that way.”
“Thanks for letting me stay while you were out, Mrs. Luzzelli. I can’t remember the last time I had time for a jigsaw puzzle.”
She changed the subject. “It’s supposed to be much nicer tomorrow. Would you kids still like to go tubing? Maybe you can eat at the lodge before I pick you up.”
Melinda bounced up and down a little in excitement. “That sounds great. But, I don’t know about eating there. If I remember, they don’t have the best food.”
“You can bring your own food. Pack a little picnic.”
A picnic and alone time with my girlfriend? Sign me up!
“Oh! I like that idea. I’m free. I’ll check with my mom and let you know later today, if that’s okay.”
We had probably assembled about three hundred pieces when my eyes started glazing over. I tugged on Melinda’s hair gently.
“My eyes hurt.”
“Yeah, I think I’m losing interest in this. Wanna watch a movie?”
“One of mine?”
She raised her eyebrows at me as she took my hand and led me back to the living room. “Do you? Watch your own movies?”
I shook my head. “Not often. It’s kinda like watching home videos, I think. Not that we have a lot of those. I might go to the premiere of the movie, but then I don’t usually watch them beyond that.” I followed her to the couch.
She grabbed a remote and started searching through the menus. “Do you watch your mom’s films?”
“When I was little, we went to the premiere of—I have no idea. Pick a movie. I was probably about four or five. Mom had a scene where she kissed her on-screen husband. It wasn’t even like a big kiss or anything. Just a quick peck. But I remember shouting That’s not my dad! Or something like that.” I shrugged. “After that, I didn’t want to watch anything where she might kiss someone. Missed some of my own premieres that way.”
“Well, then we can do our best to try to find a movie not starring someone in your family. But you do realize how hard that is, right?”
She snuggled close to me as we looked through the movies, finally setting on an old black and white Christmas classic that neither of us had ever watched all the way through. I held her close, toying with her hair and just enjoying being close to her.
The next thing I knew, Melinda was shaking me gently. I blinked a few times. “Wha?”
Melinda answered in a loud whisper. “We fell asleep watching the movie. My mom just called us to dinner.”
I closed my eyes and muttered a curse. “I was trying to make a good impression.” After the whole Poppy scandal, I wanted Melinda’s mother to think good things about me. I doubted falling asleep with her daughter put me in the good boyfriend category.
Melinda turned off the television. “I’ll talk to her tonight. Let you know if we’re in trouble.”
I followed Melinda into the kitchen, surprised to see her father at the table. I hadn’t thought about meeting her father. Was I supposed to shake his hand or something?
Luckily, I didn’t have to sit next to him. I was between Melinda and her mother at the oval table. Melinda made the introductions as we sat down. Then, she threatened her brother that if he didn’t act normal, I would never visit again. I had to smile, especially when I noticed her brother close his mouth without saying whatever he was intending to.
At first, Melinda’s family seemed a little uncomfortable with me there. I knew I was the first boyfriend Melinda had ever brought home. Was that what caused the awkwardness? Or was it because they were eating with Patrick McGregor? I did my best to remind them I was a normal person. I turned to her brother between bites of truly wonderful pork roast.
“So, Joey. How’s school?”
He shrugged. “Not bad. We had a test in math yesterday. There’s this one kid, Brian, that no one likes. Everyone hates the teacher, too. So, a few of the guys told Brian the entire class was planning to fail the test on purpose and he should, too. Brian sits next to me. Just before the teacher passed out the test, I passed Brian a note that said everyone had lied to him and he should do his best. So, today, the teacher returned the tests and Brian got one of the highest scores.”
His father smiled at him. “That was a good thing you did.”
“It was the right thing.” Joey shrugged again. He looked uncomfortable, so I tried to change the subject.
“Melinda told me you do karate. What belt are you?”
“I’m a brown belt. Master said I might be eligible for a belt test next month.”
“Then you’d be . . .”
“Brown belt with one stripe.”
This meant nothing to me, but Joey kept telling me about some of his competitions and using the staff. I listened attentively, with the occasional that sounds cool and other similar interjections.
After supper, I figured I should probably be heading home. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. Melinda walked me to the front door and, when her parents decided to watch television in the living room, we stood out of their line of sight.
I ran my fingers through her hair. “I had a lot of fun today.”
“Me, too.”
I pulled her close, nuzzling my head in her hair. “I’ll text you when I get home.”
She nodded, pulling away slightly. “I’ll let you know about tomorrow.”
I kissed her goodbye gently, fully aware that her parents were in the next room. She walked me to the door, waiting until I pulled out of the driveway before returning inside.
Attention Hammerheads
Melinda is always trying to build her vocabulary. What were some words in this episode that were new to you? She will add them to her vocabulary journal.
Hartfield Chronicles 