Sunday, October 25, 2015

Love in the Afternoon

Lennie was in love. He could hardly wait for three o'clock dismissal. He wrote her name in his notebook where no one could see it. Melissa. What a beautiful name. He wanted to say it aloud. Have a great day, Melissa. But he was tongue tied around her.
In three days he would turn eleven and he wished he could share this with her. He wanted to get her flowers, but his allowance wasn't enough.
As soon as the dismissal bell rang, he sprinted out of school. It was six blocks until he could see her and he tried to slow down and gather his thoughts. There had to be something he could say without embarrassing himself. It was Friday, which meant two days without seeing her.
When he reached her corner, there she was in her starched red uniform and stop sign. Such grace he couldn't imagine."Slow down, idiot" she yelled at a driver. He loved the musicality in her voice.
Okay, young man, you can cross. Lennie inwardly rejoiced. She called him young man. As he made his way almost to the other side, he whirled and said shakily, 'You look really nice.' But a bus passed at that moment, drowning out his words. She was facing the opposite direction and heard nothing.
Lennie got home, tossed his books on the end table and lay on his bed, sighing.
Two whole days without her.

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